Aleeza-the Star Summoner

Winter Fete Fiasco

//Optional note// I had trouble deciding when to start my story as there are so many good parts. Even though this isn't the most eye-catching starting point, it has a lot of helpful background info that will be beneficial in the long run. I promise there will be more dialog in the coming chapters! However, the few lines of dialogue here are from my favorite, The Darkling. To my surprise, it has become a favorite scene of mine.

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Aleeza hated that it was her dream to go to the Winter Fete. She knew that in the grand scheme of life, one party simply didn't matter. But for her, going to the Winter Fete was more than a party; it signified her triumph over her parents' opinion and embarrassment.

Now she was here, but it wasn't a dream come true. Her parents had allowed her to go this year not because they thought she was old enough, or wanted it enough, or even because they had pity for her. The reason she was going was that her younger sister mentioned wanting to taste the food. Food.

One sentence from Aleeza's younger sister and her parents had allowed her to go and reluctantly had to take Aleeza. Her parents avoided taking her when she became old enough, and Aleeza knew it was because her family's opinion of her was worse than dirt.

It. Did. Not. Matter. Aleeza kept trying to tell herself. For years she tried telling herself the party wasn't important. Now she told herself it didn't matter how or why she got here. It just mattered that she was here, and finally, she would enjoy it.

And enjoy it she did. The whole evening was spectacular. She admitted she didn't know a lot of people at first. Her family rarely spent time in Os Alta. They were barely high enough on the social hierarchy to receive invites to the Winter Fete yearly.

No one knew Aleeza, but she looked good. Her new dress and jewelry all helped her acquire new acquaintances her age for the evening and run far away from her parents and younger sister.

She watched in awe as the Grisha performed, remembering when she thought she was an Inferni.

She was playing with her Mother's jewelry when she was about five-ish and had managed to reflect the sun just right in order to start a fire.

Luckily the fire was small enough that it got put out quickly, but young Aleeza was mesmerized by what she had done. She eagerly told her parents. However, they were less than pleased.

More concerned about the fire than any magical thing that transpired, rightfully so. When Aleeza kept bothering them, her father explained quickly and concisely that anyone could make a fire with glasses. The curvature of the lenses allowed light from the sun to concentrate and create smoke.

Aleeza stopped arguing but didn't believe it. She knew what had happened was special-right?

Later that year, her younger sister was born, and she had to deal with the lack of attention her parents showed her due to her new sibling. During this time, the Grisha testers came, and Aleeza was to be tested. She told her Mom that she still believed she was an Inferni.

Her Mom laughed and snorted hysterically for a full minute with tears in her eyes. Before eventually regaining her composure and telling her daughter that she could never be Grisha. That she was normal and wasn't meant to be Grisha. Ever.

Whatever her Mother intended didn't matter. Aleeza took it rather harshly and believed herself incapable of being special from then on. And if to prove her point, the Grisha testers agreed, and Aleeza was declared otkazat'sya, abandoned. The word certainly felt right, especially in the years to come.

When the Grisha performances concluded, they all started dancing. After their show, the Grisha seemed so miserable, Aleeza thought. They never joined them in dancing and stayed on the sidelines. Aleeza gathered that it was like this every year, but today The Queen wasn't tolerating it.