Twilight (Book 1 of The Shade Hunt Trilogy)

I

My name is Willow, Daughter of Nobody. And I have one wing.

It's not even pretty. It's just a simple, plain, white wing. It's a disgrace. I don't even know who my mother is, though I guess it doesn't really matter, since she's human. That's all that matters. My mother is human and I am half-fairy. And that makes me a shame to all faerie-kind.

Not that the Faerie Queen isn't kind. Titania Shaela is a caring and generous Queen, unlike some of the previous Queens. She issued a law assigning "safe districts" where half-fae can live in to protect the rights and safety of the half-fae and even banned the term "Halfling." It's not that she's mean. It's just that all fae are proud of being full-blooded fae, pure descendants of the First Faerie, with a full set of two wings. They can't help but look down on half-fae like me, a half-human with only one wing. So they push us out to the outskirts of the Faerie cities, treating us as outcasts in Faerie society.

And even worse, I'm weak, magically. Weaker than most fairies. Much weaker than most half-fairies, which are typically more powerful than normal fairies. Because of this, I rank lower than any other half-fae, who are already ranked lower than any other fae.

I am an outcast among outcasts.

~~~

I sigh. Half of me wishes that half-fae don't have to go to school, while the other half of me is glad the Titania Shaela allows half-fae to be a part of ordinary faerie society, at least to a certain extent. Starting with school.

I'm glad that fairy wings are retractable. That way, even if I'm mocked for not revealing my wings (since they don't know that I only have one), I can't be mocked for only having one. For example, Hydrangea, a half-pixie, can't retract her wing, so people like Kendra always pick on her. I guess you could call Kendra the school bully.

Kendra, Daughter of Crystal, is excessively arrogant, but she's still the most popular girl at school because of her noble bloodline. To Kendra and her followers, bloodline is everything.

She even has a list of all the people at school, ranked in order of social standing (in her opinion). She starts with herself, then her followers (all fairies): female nobles, male nobles, female commoners, and finally, male commoners. Then comes female fairies who don't consider themselves her followers, male fairies who don't consider themselves her followers, nymphs, female elves and pixies, male elves and pixies, me, and Hydrangea. Hydrangea is ranked last because she is the only half-fae at school besides me, and I'm ranked before Hydrangea because Kendra doesn't know that I'm half-fae. Still, being ranked second-to-last isn't much better than being ranked last. It just means that if Kendra has to choose between picking on me or Hydrangea, she'll pick Hydrangea. That's happened to me, like, once. The only for me to avoid getting picked on is for me to be with Hydrangea, and what are the chances of that happening, with over a thousand students attending the school?

Faerie Secondary School is a mixed-species boarding school and one of the two schools at the faerie capital. The other is Faerie Primary School, for younger fae. We don't get to choose our roommates, so I guess I'm lucky to have Hydrangea as my roommate. I don't think it was a coincidence, though. Whoever chose our roommates probably paired the two half-fae together on purpose.

The dorm room is rather plain and simple, mostly because Hydrangea and I don't bother to decorate it. It's rectangular, with plain white walls. There are wooden beds with clean white sheets and pillows, as well as magical blankets that can change color (mine is forest-green and Hydrangea's is pinkish-purple). A window takes up most of the wall opposite the door, and in between the two beds are two desks facing each other. Near my bed, there is a small walk-in closet where Hydrangea and I take turns changing in.

We don't talk with each other much, but just kind of being in our dorm room together, safe from Kendra's attacks, is comforting. Even if we don't say a single word to each other all day, we still understand each other. She's only person besides me who knows that I have one wing. I know that she envies my ability to hide it, but she understands. And I understand her as well. If I were her and she were me, I'd hate her for hiding her wing. But she doesn't hate me. And I'm grateful for that.