The girls made it back to Madame LeBleu's with just enough time to find seats together for Ethics class
The girls made it back to Madame LeBleu's with just enough time to find seats together for Ethics class. Professor Evelyn Nutt was not a patient woman and in their first year, the Gits had quickly learned to show up for her class early. She was already writing on the chalkboard when the starting bell rang. Zelda quickly pulled out a notebook as Professor Nutt turned to reveal what she had written on the board.
The Standards of a Fairy Godmother, the board read, followed by the numbers one through five, all in a column for them to fill in.
"Just a quick review to start off the semester," Professor Nutt said, pulling out the class list from a drawer in her desk. Zelda hoped she would be called. They had reviewed these standards and discussed them in depth each year. "Iris Pickett," Professor Nutt called out randomly from the list. "Please list the first standard."
The mousy haired girl shuffled to the front and began writing. Zelda was called up third and Ava last. After Ava finished writing, and bounded back to her seat, the five standards were written on the board in elegant scripts, with the exception of Zelda's. Try as she might, her penmanship had never reached the level of the other girls. Thoughts often flew through her head so quickly, she had to write fast to get them all down, and thus compromised style.
"Read the first please, Miss Pickett."
Iris cleared her throat. "A godmother must be selfless and put her godchildren before herself."
"Very good," Professor Nutt said, making a mark in the ledger that sat on her desk. "And the next."
"A godmother must be conscious of the greater good and only grant wishes that will not harm it," Zelda heard Naomi Chen recite from a row behind her.
"Perfect," Professor Nutt remarked. "And Miss Ravensdale?"
"A godmother must be kind and respectful, treating each wish as if it were her own."
"Well done." Another mark in the ledger.
A smile flicked across Zelda's lips even though every girl in the room knew the answers. Each class was another chance to prove her merit for First Fairy and she was glad to already have a mark in her favor in Professor Nutt's book.
"A godmother must have her wand ready at all times," another student recited.
"A godmother must not use her magic for unnatural personal gain," Ava said, finishing out the list.
"I'm sure none of this is news to you fine, young ladies," Professor Nutt said, rising from her desk to write something new on the board. "These standards will be a major criteria in the selection of this class's First Fairy and the rank in which you will choose from the available placements. Throughout the year you will be asked to write essays on each standard to prove your understanding of these concepts." Zelda had figured as much. They'd drilled them into their heads from the first day at the school.
Professor Nutt then revealed the second list. Rules For Wishes. More of the basics. Zelda sighed and watched as six new girls were called up to complete the list. Ethics was the driest of her classes but granting wishes for people often delved into moral grey eras. Zelda knew she would have to be prepared with a clear and wise mind should someone wish for something that pushed her own conscience. That was one of the good thing about being a fairy godmother; there was no obligation to grant any wish, and each wish was up to the interpretation of each fairy and how she granted the wish. It was a lot for any young girl to wrap her head around.
1. Everyone gets one wish that they may choose not to use; wishes are not transferable and may not be sold, bought, or traded.
2. No wishing for more wishes.
3. No wishing for magical powers.
4. No wish will be granted which harms the greater good or the physical, mental, or emotional well-being of another. i.e. a godmother cannot make one person fall in love with another.
5. No person can or will be brought back from the dead.
6. These rules are binding to all wishers and may not be altered by wishing. Rules are subject to change only by the International Council of Godmothers (ICG). Awarding wishes is at the sole discretion of the godmother to whom the wish was wished.
Zelda could have recited that list forwards and backwards with her eyes closed. Professor Nutt gave everyone praise as she went through each article on the board.
"Since you will actually be granting wishes this year, I must emphasize that each wisher must sign a contract agreeing to these rules before they make their wish. This is both for their protection and yours. Once signed, the contract will be stored in the Library of Wishes, which is maintained by the ICG. In addition to the contract, the actual wish and the spells cast will go into that individual's file," Professor Nutt said, wiping the board clean as she spoke. "If you pass final evaluations, you will be certified by the ICG as a Happily Ever After specialist. These files are very important because they allow the ICG to check up on the specialists and make sure wishes are being granted properly."
Zelda sensed the mood of the room shift as a few girls rustled in their seats. It made sense that godmothers had to be regulated, but she wondered how strict they would be if wishes were to be granted based on the discretion of each godmother. By the end of class, her head was spinning. She imagined a bunch of fairies in a file room somewhere looking through her own file with looks of disapproval on their rosy cheeked faces.
"Do you guys feel like there is all this pressure on you now?" Imogen asked as they exited the Professor Nutt's classroom.
"Yes!" Zelda and Ava exclaimed in unison.
"I remember getting my acceptance letter and thinking Madame LeBleu's would be all ballgowns and glass slippers," Imogen said wistfully.
After Ethics, while the rest of the girls had choir, Zelda had a free block. And for the second time that day, Zelda left Madame LeBleu's. All fairies were thought to have beautiful singing voices, but there was, of course, one exception. Madame Olivier had tried to coax a tune out of Zelda with religious fervor, but after two years without success, she reluctantly deemed Zelda completely tone deaf and lacking all rhythm. "Zelda couldn't find a harmony if it at arrived at her doorstep in a pumpkin carriage," Madame Olivier wrote in a note to Madame LeBleu to permanently excuse Zelda from choir class. Zelda sometimes wondered if Madame LeBleu had the note in her permanent file, but today she was only glad to have the last block of the day empty. Normally during the free time she went to the library to work on homework assignments, but as it was only the first day, none of the teachers had assigned anything.
So Zelda headed back into the city with a very specific destination in mind. A few heads of curious tourists turned as she passed in her uniform. She didn't let their lingering gazes slow her as she moved steadily towards Founder's Square. The late afternoon sun was pleasant while the breeze through the narrow streets was crisp, a promise of the coming cold. Zelda filled her lungs with the fresh air and the smell of Erimount. Founders Square bustled just as it had the day before but today, somewhere in the square, a vendor roasted cinnamon nuts, filling the air with a new, sweet scent.
Zelda stopped in front on the fountain. She dug through her bag to find a small coin purse and pulled out a shiny, copper sovereign. The fountain featured an embracing couple upon the very top, the first King and Queen of Erimount, encircled in marble stars. Zelda closed her eyes to listen to the ambient hum of voices around her and the bubbling spouts of water that poured into the pool at the base of the fountain. She wasn't sure if fairy godmothers even got their own wish, but still she hoped as she pressed the coin tightly in her palm.
"I wish," she whispered, holding her hand out over the water. She considered, for a moment, all the things she could wish for, but there was only one things she truly wanted. "I wish to be First Fairy so I can call Erimount my home."
The coin fell into the water with a satisfying plop and Zelda took a step forward to gaze into the shallow pool. Her coin was already lost amongst the other thousands that covered the bottom, hundreds of little wishes overlapping each other like copper dragon scales. The godmother with Olisand in her charge must really have her hands full, Zelda thought. And her wish seemed quite insignificant now in the grand scheme of things.
Zelda took her time to get back to Madame LeBleu's. She stopped in a bakery with a window featuring colorful towers of macarons and bought a box of assorted flavors. She wanted to soak up as much of the city as possible since it seemed this year school would take all her extra time and energy.
After dinner, Imogen eyed the gold filigree box with a pink ribbon that sat on Zelda's desk.
"Did you get treats?" she asked, drumming her fingers together.
Zelda took the box and stashed it in her desk drawer under Prince Leo's two dimensional face. "I'm saving them for a special occasion," she scolded.
Imogen pushed out her lip. "Fine." She flopped down on her bed and pulled a magazine from her desk into her lap.
Zelda followed suit but opened her notebooks instead to review the notes she had taken. She only got through the history notes she'd copied from Imogen before Ava popped her head into their room.
"Hey!" she chirped. "Am I intruding?"
"Not at all," Zelda replied, setting the notebook aside.
"So I got a text from Alfred, you know, from Lord Scarlet's Academy?"
"Specs' friends?" Imogen asked.
Ava nodded. "Yeah. Apparently they're all heading to the Swan and Raven to catch up with everyone who's back in town for school. He told me to spread the word. You guys want to go?"
Zelda gave Imogen a nervous glance. "I'm not sure."
Ava's brow furrowed as she noticed the small interchange.
"Did Alfred say who exactly was going?" Imogen asked for Zelda's benefit.
"I didn't think to ask," Ava shrugged.
Zelda paused picking at the corner of her nail. She didn't know if she was ready to see Dante again after how things had ended and with so much left unsaid. No, she thought. They would run into each other eventually. Erimount wasn't that big of a city and she wouldn't be the one sitting in her dormitory all year just to avoid him. "Let's go," she said, finding her voice and jumping from her bed.
"Really?" Imogen asked, sounding a little too astonished. "Are you sure?"
"Yes!" Zelda insisted. "Now help me find something to wear."