Evil & Love

Breath of the Wind

She followed the man. He had brought her to a fortress. It startled her.

How can something be so big? she thought. Sure, there were creatures in the forest, who were large. However none of them were as grand and large as this castle.

“Since I agreed to come with you, may I know what your name is?” she inquired.

“My name is Ettrian. I come from House Waidal of the Empire of the Oari.”

He confused her. A house? “Child, come quickly, we must get you registered and assigned a room.” 

All around her, boys, of all ages, filtered about. She knew there was something special about them. From their expressions and colors that they wore made them stand out even more. Although she hadn’t seen a boy in her entire life until Ettrian appeared in her forest. 

“Hello Ettrian. How may I help you today?” a young woman grinned. She could tell that this woman was not like the boys and not just in the fact that she was female.

“I’m here—” Ettrian started, before being interrupted by her, “You aren’t like those boys are you? You don't have access to Em.”

The young woman, who should’ve been angry, smiled, “Yes, child that is right.”

Ettrian, who had been startled by this, gathered his senses and spoke again. “I need to register this girl. She has the ability to contact what she calls the Wind. Can we put her into Littlewood Corridor and give her the warm colors?”

The young woman did some typing on a machine she had in front of her. “We sure can,” she affirmed, not looking up from her typey machine-thing. The woman stood up after she finished typing. She walked into the room that was behind her desk. She came out with a key and a set of autumn colored clothing. 

The girl knew what autumn was and the colors it always brought. She always smiled during autumn. 

The woman handed the girl the clothing and the key.

“Ettrian, will show you your dorm,” the woman promised, smiling.

Ettrian led the girl away from the woman and toward a wide spiral staircase and was made out of vines and tree slabs. 

Together they climbed the intricate and beautiful staircase. A comfortable silence fell over them. Once they had reached the top of the staircase, Ettrian led the girl down a hallway with walls painted a warm calming shade of brown. She couldn’t help but think of the creature that had no known name from the Woods. She had a feeling that most of its kind had eyes the shade of the walls. 

“Now, girl—” she had a feeling that he was going to call her “girl” instead of the name he had called her earlier. “Now, girl, this is your room. After your classes and meals, you will report back here. If any of the boys give you trouble, then you will report that to Headmaster. You will not leave this corridor without an escort such as myself or another man of my level.”

She nodded as he opened her door and let her step inside. After she had gone in, Ettrian closed the door behind her.

The girl looked around her room. It wasn’t like anything she had ever seen. A bed sat in the far corner. What she assumed to be a wardrobe sat across from it. An object that she had never seen before was leaning against the wardrobe. She walked over and realized the object to be made of some kind of glass, that reflected what she assumed to be herself.

Her white hair was tied in knots and her hood did very little to cover it. She never realized that she looked so disheveled. 

A sudden discomfort came over her. Had all the boys seen her like this? Did they want nothing to do with her because of how messy she looked?

A normal seventeen year old girl would be able to look nice. She would be able to brush her hair and to dress nice enough and modest enough to attract the right kind of attention. She would be able to take care of the messes she makes, but our seventeen year old girl doesn’t know how to do any of that.

When she woke up the next morning, after sleeping in the most comfortable bed ever, she looked up to see a woman who looked similar to the one who greeted her the day before.

“My name is Nadine Rose. You may call me Nadi. I was assigned to help you prepare in the mornings. If you ever need anything, ring this alarm,” the woman, who is apparently called Nadi, gestured to a button that sat close to the light switch that ignited the flame in the lamp over her head.

The girl nodded and tried to make her voice sound like Nadi’s before speaking, “I have no name. At least not one that I remember.”

Nadi nodded and helped the girl out of her bed and into the uniform that Ettrian had assigned her. After she got dressed, Nadi handed her a note. It was written in an almost illegible handwriting.

Schedule (non-negotiable!)

7:00 am - Breakfast
7:30 am - History
9:00 am - Training (Female only)
11:30 am - Break/Lunch
12:30 pm - Training 
3:00 pm - Break
3:30 pm - Study 
4:30 pm - Classes
7:30 pm - Dinner
8:30 pm - Group Activities
10:00 pm - Lights Out

She sighed at seeing how long her schedule was. She wondered if the boy’s also had such controlling schedules. Part of her doubted it.

She waited until Ettrian arrived to take her to breakfast. For her first meal in real civilization, she had a piece of toast and an orange, as they were both familiar to her from the Woods. After breakfast, she let Ettrian lead her to the History classroom. 

Upon entering the classroom, she couldn’t help but notice the books and loose papers that lay scattered on the ground. Her eyes then wandered to the professor. He was a stocky old man with incredibly small round glasses that made his face look larger than it really was. She then surveyed the faces that were staring at her. They were all male and around her age, with the few rarities of a fifteen year old. 

“Gentlemen, please welcome your new peer. She has no name, yet, but please make her feel welcome.”

Before her eyes, a boy raised his hand.

“Yes, Faolan?” the teacher acknowledged.

“What do you mean she has no name? Her name is Nesrin. I met her when I used to live on Uninplariniv.”

“Is this true?” Ettrian and the teacher asked her in sync.

“I told you already, if I have a name, I can’t remember it,” her voice slipped on some of the words. Don’t cry, she thought.

“Very well. Mr. Karver, is this Faolan kid in the back a good student?” Ettrian prompted.

“He is the best in his year,” Mr. Karver affirmed, as he straightened his back and lifted his head high (which looked rather silly for an old man).

“Girl, from now on your name is Nesrin. All of you gentlemen will treat her with respect. Good day, Mr. Karver.” Ettrian declared as he turned and left.

“That man scares me,” Mr. Karver muttered to himself, “Anyway, Nesrin, would you please take a seat next to Mister Nirichu. Let’s continue our chapter on beasts.”