Ethereal

Chapter 3

I plopped down on my bed, completely exhausted. It was only about seven, but today had been a complete whirlwind of emotions. I didn't even get a full minute of peace before there was a knock at the door.

"Yes?" I called, sitting up.

Eolande came in. "Your tutor has arrived."

"Oh, great," I muttered. Eolande turned to leave when I said, "Why am I already being tutored? I literally just got here."

Eolande turned back around. "I...I do not know, Your Highness."

I groaned. "This is all too much," I muttered.

"Hmm? Did you say something?"

"No, you can leave," I said louder. Eolande nodded, exiting the room. As soon as she left, a female faerie strode through the door. She must've been the tutor. She was thin with a wasp waist. Her hair, which was braided in tight cords and twisted around her head, was white—whiter than any white I had ever seen. Small objects dotted her hair, glittering in the fading sunlight. As she came into the room, I realized that they were snowflakes.

"Your Grace," the tutor said. Her voice was cold, much like the air that had followed her into the room.

"Good evening," I said, attempting to sound refined. The tutor's eyes narrowed.

"Always address your acquaintance by their title," the tutor snapped.

I was getting really fed up with all this bullshit. "Look, lady," I snapped back, "I don't know your goddamn name. This morning, I was in my dorm in California. Then, some guy pretending to be a cop, which is against the law by the way, tells me to come with him. Then, he tells me that I'm some royal-ass faerie, and my parents have been waiting for me. And now they want me to be tutored? Who says I have to stay here anyway? I haven't had any say in any of this!"

The tutor looked like she was about to hit me. A vein throbbed in her forehead. Instead, that same gold dust that I had seen several people at this point use flowed out of her hands, heading right towards me. The gold dust shot at me, gripping my body until I was forced to stand up straighter that I thought possible.

"In time, you will learn to become a proper lady. Fit for a queen. As for my name, it is Maurelle Winterspell, but you shall always refer to me as Madame, understood?"

Madame? I thought we were near Russia not France. Then again, I vaguely remembered something about Russian aristocracy speaking French in a French class I had taken this past year. The golden shimmer tightened around my arms more as if in threat. "Yes," I replied, my voice strained.

The magic pressed on me further, my tutor's eyes narrowing into thin slits.

"Yes, Madame," I corrected. Finally, she let me go, the sudden shift in pressure causing me to stumble forward.

"Good," Madame said. "Now, first things first, we need to do something about your appearance. Faeries outside of the Court of Vines are typically not as welcoming to humans. Your ears, for example, are too round. Until you complete your transition, you shall wear these ear cuffs whenever you leave the palace." She produced two ear cuffs made of twisted cords of metal, the metal forming golden vines that met at a pointed tip, replicating the point of a faerie ear. "Slip this on now. I need to be assured these fit you."

I took the ear cuffs, walking over to the mirror to put them on. The cuffs slipped easily over the edge of my ear. For the briefest moment, I truly looked like a faerie.

Madame walked over, touching the cuffs. "They fit. Now take them off. I will alert your handmaidens to obtain more in this size." Madame then clapped her hands. "Let's begin with titles, as you evidently do not know them. Titles are extremely important to faeries, so one must always know which one to use." She then suddenly swiveled around, walking over to the sitting area and instructing me to sit down at the table. A notebook materialized on the tabletop, a feather quill beside it. "Take notes," Madame said.