Rebel

Chapter 5

24/07, 20th Year of the Rebellion.

Government Territory, East, Hazandria.

"Felicity?"

Squee's anxious call echoed through the house. Felicity knew that she should go down to her – her aunt had taught her how to be a proper hostess a long time ago – but she just couldn't bring herself to.

Especially not looking like this.

It was a monumental occasion when Felicity Coal admitted that she didn't look good, and right now, she had to confess, was one of those times. Her face was tear-streaked and blotchy, her hair in need of a wash, and she was wearing a ratty, faded bathrobe that she hadn't known she owned.

All in all, it was a very bad day.

Of course, this reminded her of other bad days, and one thing led to another, and she had to stop having these flashbacks, and...

*****

25/07, 1st Year of the Rebellion.

Government Territory, East Hazandria

"Felicity?"

"Go away!"

There was an audible, overly dramatic sigh, and a dull thump. This, she knew, meant that he had resigned to sitting against the door until she came out. He usually did this when she had a wardrobe malfunction, had said something embarrassing in public, or when it was a specific time of the month.

She hated that what was usually a fleeting joke between them (generally featuring puppies with orange eyes) had turned so sour.

She didn't know what to do.

Whenever something truly awful happened, Felicity had always had Liam – whose shoulder she could cry on, who always assured her that everything would be alright.

They had always raised eyebrows, the two of them – partly because they were so unafraid to be unconventional - but there had always been whisperings, rumours that what the two of them had wasn't strictly platonical.

They had shrugged it off, laughing away nagging suspicions. People just didn't understand quality friendship.

Felicity wondered just how naïve she'd been to believe that.

She realised now that she'd been in love with Liam since they'd met. He was the bright flame in the dull world Felicity was trapped in. Her partner in crime, her companion in adventure.

Felicity had had a good life thus far. Born into one of the wealthiest families in these parts of Hazandria, she'd been orphaned at a young age after both her parents and most of her extended family had been lost to an epidemic of Witchfever that wiped out half the population of the East. She remembered neither of them.

Until moving to The Academy, she'd lived in the country home of her aristocratic aunt Beatrice. It was here that she'd developed her luxurious side; until she'd moved to the city, she'd had no idea that flannel pajamas even existed. In the sprawling Coal estate, she'd learned the skills of hosting and ettiquette, both of which she'd found quite enjoyable. She'd received a good education of maths (which she'd rather liked, contrary to popular opinion), history, accountancy (which she'd despised), reading and writing. The latter two had always been her favourite, sparking a lifelong love of literature.

There had only been one catch: she'd found it all inexplicably boring.

So, when the letter had come from The Academy, proclaiming that she, Felicity Coal, was too talented to miss, and the likes of such talent had only been seen in one other... She was annoyed, yes. These government sorts had always struck her as somewhat fishy, and she had a perfectly acceptable life that anybody else would kill for. Indeed, she was annoyed.