Reyna Academy

Hazel: The Puppet's Daughter

Hazel looked over the decently sized pile on her desk. Her father had left the daily post on it for her to sort, as he did every day. She would have to get it done eventually, even if she did not like it. Hazel sat down and got to work. The post all went into their own box. Each box was labelled for the type of post that went in it: Business, Important Notices, and Personal. Hazel put all the envelopes that were addressed to the Geppetto Toy Shoppe, in the Business box. A majority of today's post was comprised of these. She would have to dig through them later to find the toy orders. Anything looking even remotely official she put into Important Notices. There were none of this today. This made sense. Those only showed up around tax season. Finally she put anything addressed to her family, her grandfather, or her father into the Personal.

An hour later, Hazel, at last, leaned back in her chair. Finished. She knew that it was about time for her to be leaving so she could bring her father and Grandfather Lunch at the shop. She stood up to go into the kitchen and heard a paper rustle under her skirt. She must have missed a letter. She reached down and picked it up. From the thick creaminess of the paper she knew that this was definitely an important letter. Hazel was just about to drop it in the Important Notices box, when she saw the address:

Miss Hazel Geppetto
The Geppetto Residence
Verita Canal

Hazel immediately grabbed the letter opener on her desk and turned it over. She worked it under the read wax seal on the back. Carefully she pulled out the letter and read it.

Dear Miss Geppetto
I am pleased to invite you to attend the Reyna Finishing School for Young Ladies of Valiant and Magical Heritage. You have been invited because of your family's marvelous and magical history. Young ladies of royal, heroic, and magical heritage have been invited to attend from across all the realms, including Tale, Fairy, Rhyme, Oz, and Wonderland. I ask that that you send your response via the way most customary to your realm. All cross realm fees will be taken care of by us. I look forward to having you join what is quickly becoming the most diverse class in Reyna's illustrious history. I await your reply.
Sincerely,
Lady Elinor of Reynard
Former Ambassador of Realms, Advocate for the Rights of Damsels in Distress, Member of the Society of Heroines, and Headmistress of Reyna Finishing School

Hazel gasped. Everyone who was anyone knew about Reyna. It was the best Finishing School in all the Realms and was tied for the best school in all the Realms with the Kingston School of Courage for Young Men of Heroic Ancestry. Every girl dreamed of getting a letter like this. Around the fall of their seventeenth year any girl who had even a drop of magical blood in their veins would watch the mail for this letter. Girls would compare ancestries to see who was most likely to get in. Princesses and those of noble blood made up a majority of the student body that came from this realm. However, a few lower class girls whose family had been influenced by magic always got in. What lay ahead for them was a fairy tale existence. A life of adventure and very good marriage prospects. A few years ago, a girl had gone whose mother had been famous for being transformed into an ugly duckling and being so good hearted that she turned into a swan until a goat herd happened to hear her talking and broke the spell. The girl gone on to marry a rich noble man and build her parents a chateau by the lake where they met. This was Hazel's big chance.

She ran out of the house, almost falling in the canal, and all the way to her family's toy shop. She burst in the door, ignoring the customers who stared, and ran into the back.

"Papa! Grandpapa! Come and See!" She found her grandfather at his bench carving a beautiful puppet. "Grandpapa Geppetto! You must see what I have brought! Oh, where is Papa? He must come and see!"
"All I can see is no lunch." The old man grumbled. Hazel ignored himself she went towards the opening storage room door. Her father came in. She could see his large brown arms holding the basket of stuffed bears that completely hid his face from view. She ran over to help him set it down.