The Secret Plains

15

Narrator's POV

"So, did you miss me?"

Lucas ambushed her as soon as she stepped out of Runes class. "I did not want to do Runes Class, but unfortunately I have to take 2 languages, so I dropped it for Swedish."

"Swedish?" Kay had a look of utter confusion, "That's a human language."

"There is really no human language, Kay. Where do you think they came from, the sky?" Lucas snorted. "All languages originated from Velvimr, and some very sneaky velai managed to go to the human realm and share the languages. Velai normally don't want to be the same as humans, so any language they took, we dropped it. You know French?"

"Yeah, je m'appelle and mon ami."

"That was Franche, it was the official language of Flairya until it escaped to the human world. Then fairies switched to Flairen but it hasn't really stuck. So velai find themselves speaking English, the one language that didn't come from us."

"But–English came from other languages, especially Germanic ones."

"Kay, Kay, Kay," he said in an exhausted tone, "You're in Velvimr now, you might as well kiss human knowledge goodbye. It just doesn't make sense here, so don't try to make it make sense. It's not gonna happen."

He ruffled her hair and started walking. She chased after him, eventually falling into pace with him.

"So did you make any new friends? New seatmate?" he asked.

"Oh, his name was Eiren Camilleri," Kay says casually, not expecting Lucas' eyes to go wide.

"Camilleri? Eiren Camilleri?"

"Yeah, what's the huge deal?"

"He's the younger brother of Emris Camilleri and the older brother of Evanora Camilleri," he said as if that could make it more obvious, but it was only making Kay more confused.

He groaned in frustration, "The Camilleri's are one of the most influential families in the whole of Velvimr! Their mother, Emalyn Camilleri, was a Mynatt. Mynatts are the family that the sister of the King of Velvimr married into! And what makes it even more powerful is the fact that Mynatts were said to have invented some of the most useful stuff today! The father, Azreal Camilleri? Well, his grandmother was the most powerful seer to ever exist, and his cousin is the lady in waiting for the literal Queen! Azreal himself is a powerful member of the Velvimr Court, and they have a lot of power. Emrys? Well, he's a really good researcher. And Evanora? She hasn't started here yet because she's 12, but people say she has already been engaged to the prince!"

"Woah, I didn't realize I bumped into a VIP," she chuckled.

"More than VIP. Relations to the literal royals."

"I didn't even know there were royals of Velvimr."

"They live in the Middle Lands, with the Seers, and the biggest school in Velvimr, Eldorya Academy."

"What species are they? The Camelleri's are fairies, and since their mother is from the Mynatt family, is it safe to assume they are fairies as well?"

"It's kind of a 50/50. While some members of the royal family are fairies, and the main family are fairies, there are some uncles and cousins and aunts that are from other places. I heard a cousin from the Queen's side is part mermaid."

Kay turned to him, shock evident on her face, "You can marry outside of your species?"

"Yeah," Lucas shrugged. "Some people have mixed genes, but it all depends on which you're more of. If you have a elf mother and vampire father–"

"How does that even work–"

"It's an instance. Anyway, if you come out more like an elf, by social standards, you're an elf. Or which parent you end up with."

"End up with? Like divorce? Velai have divorce?"

"Of course we do. Mixed marriages never work out, they're not compatible, so most end up divorcing after they have a child. The child goes with one parent, and is automatically that parent's species, regardless of how much the other species is in them. Mixed marriages are rare now, because they end in divorce anyway, but back then, they were quite popular. You can bump into half adults anywhere, but half kids? Not so much."

"That's weird."

"What did you expect? It's Velvimr, everything is weird."

They get to their next class, Potions, and step inside. The place was quite empty, except for a few people in the front row.

"Huh, looks like we're early. Even Anastos isn't here."

"Who's Anastos?"

"The teacher. Come on, we get to pick our seats on the first day, the back is the best."

He grabbed her hand and they started to walk to the back row seats, as soon as his hand touched hers, she felt tingling sensations in her stomach.

This was going to be a long semester.