t was the first time I was looking forward to a party at Spiritus and my mother was gleaming with joy at the thought that her daughter is finally into the parties. I didn't have the heart to tell her otherwise. This time the dress was an empire style one, with a fitted bodice ending above my waist and a loosely fitting skirt which was long to my ankles. What was eye catching about this dress was the color. It was grey-white above the waist and it became a deeper blue going down, until the last deep blue color. I loved the dress.
"Mum, this is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen." I told my mother who seemed very satisfied.
"I am pleased to hear as it is very hard to find a style that you will agree with." she smiled at me teasing. I gave her a hug before getting in the carriage. I brushed my hair with my fingers, away from my face. My braids didn't win this time as mother insisted on having my hair curled so I now had to keep all this hair from my face. The result was really pretty, though. The long, wavy curls of my hair were mostly hanging on my back, like a short train or a veil and a couple of locks were surrounding my face. The five stars pin I received on my birthday was trying hard to keep some of the hair away from my face. I was impressed that it actually held. Maybe it was easier due to all the hair spray that was invested in my locks.
When I saw the school from the carriage I became impatient again and wondered whether Damon had already arrived or not. When we finally arrived, I greeted some people whom I met at other parties and started to look after my friends. The first I met was Arild who was chatting with another boy in his last year at the junior section. They were talking about various activities where we were able to put our magic to test during the first two years. I greeted them and moved on, trying to find Noriko and Damon, but couldn't see any of them. Arild joined me after promising to meet the boy at school to become a member in his club or something like that. I hadn't had time to listen that well.
"Has Noriko arrived?" Arild was looking at me as if I was hiding her somewhere.
"I haven't seen her yet. You were here first, how do you not know?" I asked him. Of course he would know if she was there before me, but maybe he thought we would be arriving together.
"She is not...Look there she is." He pointed to the entrance where Noriko had just appeared. She also saw us and made her way here. After greeting both of us, she jumped directly to the subject.
"So, where is he? I want to see what kind of person he is." she asked me. Arild became stiff for a second and then looked at me with accusing eyes. It's not a boyfriend for Noriko, I transmitted to him with my eyes, but he must have understood wrong because he was looking around with a scary face.
"I haven't seen him yet, but he promised me that he will come." I said, averting my eyes from Arild who was now boiling.
"And who is this boy you are talking about?" He was staring at me again.
"He is a boy Fredrika has met in the town near her house. He is a commoner who can use magic and today is the first time he comes to a Spiritus party." She informed Arild while searching. He loosened up a little when he heard 'commoner', but not completely. I guessed that every noble thinks highly of their status. "How does he look? You never mentioned that." she asked me. The reason I didn't mention was his very black hair and eyes…
"He has really black hair and eyes." I informed them. They immediately looked at me in shock. "There are other people who have black hair, you know." I said.
"Yeah, there are others, of course." said Arild slowly "but there are few and even fewer those who can use magic."
"I think I've read somewhere that there was a very powerful house in the past, some hundred years ago, where the predominant hair was dark brown or black. They tragically destroyed themselves when one member was born with very powerful magic and was corrupted by an evil spirit. He tried to revolt against the king and was stopped by his family. But this led to the downfall of the whole family and now they are said to be scattered around the country and most of them cannot use magic at all. This is why most people might be more aware of those with very dark hair." I looked at Noriko with my mouth half open. I had no idea there was such a reason, I only thought that it was a superstition and that there would always be those who do not accept people with rare appearances.
"Really sad story." I muttered.
"Well, isn't that boy over there the one you are looking for." said Arild, pointing his finger to the place behind a column. There was someone who was feeling out of place and was heading to the window. I hurried there, with both Arild and Norikon a little behind me.
"Damon, you came!" I was very happy to see him. He turned with a big smile which faded quickly as he was looking at me.
"Fredrika?" he asked unsure. "You look so different, almost royal." his eyes were growing bigger and bigger. "Definitely not like a commoner." he finished.
When my friends heard that, they started laughing fanatically.
"Fredrika, to look like a commoner? I would love to see that!" laughed Arild at me.
"I actually saw her town clothes once so I understand the confusion." said Noriko and stopped laughing. "But have you never mentioned who you are, Fredrika?"
"Not really…" I blushed. "Damon, these are my friends, Noriko Kobayashi and Arild Mordt."
"It's a pleasure to meet you! My name is Damon Travers." he made a little bow with his head when greeting them. He was wearing a simple, but very elegant black costume which was looking good on him. I guess his family wasn't poor.
"Nice to meet you too!" Noriko smiled at him and added smiling. "And here is Fredrika Braathen!"
Damon immediately understood what the name Braathen meant and gave me a hurt look before bowing to me. "I'm sorry for my previous behaviour, Miss. Fredrika! It will not happen again!" he said with a stiff voice.
I didn't understand if he really thought that the way we interacted before was wrong or whether he was hurt by my lie. Although, lie was a bit much, I just didn't find the right time to tell him. I waited for him to look at me, but he started a conversation with Arild and Noriko about Spiritus and how it was really good that he could meet other students before school began. They were now chatting lively, while completely ignoring me. Noriko gave me a little smile to acknowledge my misery, but it was more like 'you did it with your own hand'. When the music started, Arild invited Noriko to dance, maybe to help me because he winked at me before going away. Maybe he was just glad to dance with Noriko though. Damon was still not looking at me, but was intensely staring at the couples who were now dancing.
"Damon" I said softly, "I'm sorry that I haven't told you who I am earlier, but I have never found the right moment. I didn't mean to lie to you, so please don't be angry." I pleaded.
When he actually looked at me, he didn't seem angry or mad as I was expecting, but hurt and shocked.
"I'm not angry, I don't think I could ever be angry at you!" he responded shyly "it's just that I don't know how to behave and there are things that I did in the past, not treating you as nobility at all."
"Is that what you're worried about?" I almost laughed, but stopped when I saw he was serious. "You treated me like a friend, why would you worry about that. You said it yourself on the night of the festival. We are friends now and that's how I expect you to treat me." I was determined, but he hesitated, looking around. I grabbed his hand to make him look at me. "We are friends, right?" I smiled at him.
He was shocked by the sudden interaction, but answered me. "We are friends." he sighed and returned my smile.
"Well, now that that's settled, come! I'll show you the best cookies here and introduce you to some people." I grinned and he started laughing. Before the end of the party we were back to normal. Noriko and Arild joined us shortly after we made up and we spent the rest of the party laughing and talking about school. Before going home, we made plans to meet again at my house in a few days. It was a really good party, I was thinking on my way home, and the fact that the princes didn't come that evening made the party even better.