Starla was early as always to her next class: literature. That was because it was taught by her Aunt Crystallia, who might just have been her favorite person in the world (other than herself).
"Come in."
Starla opened the door and entered the room. There sat her aunt at her desk with a book. Even sitting, she was a tall woman. She looked like a character out of an old gothic poem in her simple tan dress that covered her long, elegantly crossed legs. She had a narrow face framed by fine blonde hair.
"Good afternoon, Aunt Crystallia," she said.
"Good afternoon, Starla," her aunt said with a smile, placing a bookmark in whatever book she was reading.
"Here's my essay on Land of Tales," Starla said, placing a stack of papers on her Aunt's desk.
"Excellent. I look forward to reading it," she said with a warm smile. "Would you like some tea before we start?"
"Yes please," Starla said, and they shared some tea and discussed books for a few minutes until other students started to trickle in and turned in their own essays.
"Good afternoon, students," Aunt Crystallia said a moment after the clock stopped chiming 2 'o clock. Starla went to take her seat at the front of the room.
"Good afternoon, Master Crystallia," the students said in unison.
"Paper and pen," Crystallia said crisply, and Starla felt the anxiety in the room spike as they scrambled to pull out a sheet of paper and a pen. They all knew what was coming next. "We're doing a timed write on the other book we're reading, The Lesson by Pinela Silver. If you are on track with the reading, then you should be able to answer this prompt."
"Discuss the role that magic and the unnatural plays in this story and how..." Crystallia began, but Starla had stopped paying attention. Starla felt a buzz of excitement as Crystallia began writing on the chalkboard. She was ahead on the reading. Her gamble would pay off and give her an edge. She already knew exactly what she would write.
"You have fifteen minutes. Go," Crystallia said, and the students took off in a fervor of writing. Starla felt good about her writing, everything flowing out of her.
"And... stop," Crystallia said, walking between the desks to collect papers. "That means pens down." She looked disapprovingly at the young man sitting to Starla's right, who was frantically trying to finish his sentence.
After Crystallia had collected all the papers, she looked up. "Who would like to volunteer their paper to be read aloud right now to be discussed?" Dead silence. Aunt Crystallia was a nice person, but she was a vicious grader. No one wanted to face their writing being picked apart by her in front of everyone.
"I will," Starla said immediately, and she internally lit up from her aunt's grateful/proud smile.
"Great, thanks Starla," her Aunt said, then continued scanning the room.
"Really? NO one else wants to volunteer?" Crystallia said, disappointment heavy in her voice as her gaze swept across the room. Starla shook her head empathetically.
After a beat, someone spoke up.
"I'll volunteer, Mistress Crystallia," said a girl with gorgeous brown hair but ears that were much too big for her face. Ashleigh. Starla frowned. She didn't like competition.
"It's— it's probably wrong, and I wasn't going to turn it in, but—" she said timidly, and Aunt Crystallia cut her off.
"I'm sure what you wrote was lovely," she said. "Let's start with Starla's. Starla, why don't you come up and read your essay to the class."
YOU ARE READING
Mirror, Mirror
FantasíaStarla has a destiny, which she'll remind anyone who does or does not ask. She is an Ice Princess, a magical sorceress blessed with the power to keep the ever-advancing Winter at bay. At least, that's what she's SUPPOSED to be after a lifetime of ri...
