Unseen Academy

VIII: A letter from Olivia

To my dearest friend:

I wanted to formally apologize, while I know I never officially promised to be there to help you acquire your uniform - I still feel awful that I could not make it. I did see Charles at the window, but with my father in the room, I could not even open the window to let him in from the rain. If he is not reading from your shoulder, please inform him that I am sorry for that. I know Charles is not exactly prone to getting sick from being out in the rain, but it still felt rude of me.

Father was in a bad way today. I think the rain was aggravating his old leg injury. It did not help that Abi had snuck out early this morning. Please do not tell anyone this, I doubt it is something that can be fixed, and I would rather it just stay between us: but when he gets angry like that…I just get this…awful feeling of dread. It is not like I think I am in danger or anything. I know my father would never hurt me - yet…I do not know. I hope it is nothing. I have not even told Abi about that, I suppose I worry too much, I know she means well, but sometimes she just gets a bit over protective.

On a brighter note - I am really looking forward to tomorrow. I plan on getting to the boat fairly early - unless Abigale plans on dragging me to the tournament. I do not mind watching a good spar, but the way everyone goes about it…I know I do not have to tell you how awful the crowd can be to any non-human entries…It is just something I hope to avoid if at all possible.

Abigale assures me that the school will be different. She keeps refusing to fully explain, but she says I will love it there. Supposedly Unseen has a library so big that she is afraid I will get lost in it and never be seen again. Does that not sound wonderful? We could find a nice quiet place to read and no one could bother us because no one would be able to even find us. With a seemingly endless supply of books, we could learn so much, and experience so many stories. I just hope that the lighting is made by lamp and candle, something just bright enough so that I can see, but dim enough that perhaps you could even let your hood down…
Forgive me, I have started going on and on, and am probably boring you at this point.

I know you are not a fan of the day, so I do not expect you to arrive early, however I do hope that you find me when we are both aboard the ship. Perhaps we can even find a quiet place to sit and read together before we get to the school. I am really glad that we both got accepted, and look forward to seeing you.

Please stay safe.

    Sincerely yours,