Two young ladies in saggy black uniforms perched on bathroom sinks when the phoenix feather appeared for them. The one with a red demon tattoo picked it up and her mouth curved into a wicked grin.
"Good job." Hester whispered, then glanced at Anadil. "Things should be back to normal before long."
Anadil looked up from where she was feeding her rat, red eyes wide.
"Sophie and Agatha have returned at last."
"An army dedicated to producing stories just like yours," explained Dean Sader, Professor Sader's sister, clacking through the sun-washed breezeway from Valor to Honour in her blue-glass heels. "Your tale was just a taste of what princesses and witches can do together. Here you will lead an entire school!"
"A school-" Agatha choked, chasing her down the Honour stairs. "We need to go home!"
"You see, the former deans and I have a difference of opinion," said Dean Sader as butterflies flew in from every direction and vanished into her dress. "They think you must leave our world to find your happy ending together. And I think you must stay."
"But the boys are going to kill me!" Sophie said, bumping Agatha hard as she passed-
"Mmmm, let's say you do break into a castle full of bloodthirsty males," the Dean said, sweeping her through the foyer. "Let's say you free the Storian against all odds." She stopped outside the frosted doors of the Gallery of Good. "The wish won't work unless you mean it."
She gazed at Sophie. "How can you wish for Agatha if you know she wants her prince?"
The Dean turned to Agatha. "How can you wish for Sophie if you fear the witch inside?"
She leaned in so close the girls could smell her flawless honey-cream skin.
"How can you wish for someone you do not trust?"
Sophie and Agatha's eyes met dartingly, hoping the other would argue. Neither did.
"Your friendship must be fixed before you can go home. And here you will fix what is broken," Dean Sader said, a last butterfly fluttering into her dress. "Fairy tales have trained us to believe a beautiful bond like yours cannot last. Why? Because a man must come between you. A man so threatened by your story that he's willing to kill to destroy it. But at my school, we teach you the truth." She opened the door to pitch darkness.
"That a woman without a man is the greatest happy ending of all."
Her finger magically lit a torch, and the flame roared red to a burst of drums. The two girls leapt back-
Twenty rows of girls stood frozen, heads bowed, each wearing a white veil, royal-blue harem pants, and a light blue bodice stitched with a butterfly crest over the heart. There were more than 100 of them, stretching through the exhibits of the museum, past its open back doors, and into the vast ballroom of Good Hall. Faces obscured, they stood eerily still, arms raised with hands to opposite elbows as if summoning genies. Hovering above them, just beneath the ceiling, two more veiled girls on magic carpets beat snare drums faster and faster.
At the front of this parade was a lone girl without anyone else in her row. Her veil was blue instead of white, her hair ginger red, and the pallid skin on her thin arms dotted with strawberry freckles. Slowly she raised her arms...
The drums stopped.
With an untamed screech, the girl blew a blast of fire that singed the magic carpets and sent Agatha and Sophie quailing from flames. As the drums beat once more, the girl whipped into a whirling belly dance, punctuating each move with a wild whistle or trill.
YOU ARE READING
Fire Princess
ФанфикYears ago, once her fairytale had ended, Rapunzel married a prince who's entire family possessed the powers of phoenixes. That same power was passed onto her children. This is the story of her daughter, Phoenix of Firebirch, who attends the School f...
