On the first day of the semester there were no courses, instead there was the opening ceremony where we were all welcomed by the headmaster who gave a short history lesson about the traditions at Spiritus. The first prince gave a speech as the president of the student council, looking as exquisite as always and slightly smiling towards the student. I could hear some girls sighting in 'Ah!' behind me. Well, that's understandable. At the last party he charmed all the female student body with his smooth talk and sweet smile.
After we went and spent the day outside in the sunlight, chatting happily about the new and exciting things we were going to learn and do. We stood in small groups in the garden, while other groups were seated and having tea nearby. The princes had their own table which they shared with their friends, but they were surrounded by girls. I could almost see a small heart in Noriko's eyes, but when she looked at me expectedly, I shook my head and instead I pointed to another place, further away from their table. She looked defeated, but followed me. Shortly after, Arild and Damon joined us, as well as another boy, Tudor whom I met before at the school parties. He was Arild's roommate. The noble blood ran through his veins as well as some beauty exotic genes. He had dark red hair that seemed black in dimmer light and his eyes were also dark red which I thought was really scary, but he wasn't scary at all. He always had a bright smile on his face which radiated to others around him. His smile was contagious so as soon as he seated himself at our table, we were all smiling without any problem in the world.
"Hear this out." he started "My family cat had kittens yesterday. I found the cat as a stray when I was 7 and now she had kittens of her own. I can't wait to see them, maybe I'll go home for an hour or two on the weekend. Will you come along?" he asked us.
Although we could get permission to go home and visit during the weekend, we weren't allowed to pay friendly visits to others.
"Not allowed." said Arild promptly.
"But I would have loved to see the kittens!" exclaimed Noriko with dreamy eyes, thinking probably at the small faces and soft purr that kittens usually do.
"Me too." join Damon. "I had an old cat when I was smaller, but it ran away and didn't come back."
"Cats are traitors." I said brutally and they all looked at me in shock. I didn't hate cats, but was more of a dog person, and Chopa was proof of that. He was now running freely in the woods near our school, but every evening after dark fell, I could hear him outside my window and brought him in our room.
"I guess Chopa wouldn't approve of a cat, right?" asked Damon and I agreed nodding.
"Chopa? You have a dog? I love dogs, but never had one. They are so lovely and loyal." said Tudor. He seemed to love most animals as he started talking about a wounded fox that he found last year and treated.
I saw Alex coming to us and got up to give him a hug which he received gladly. After quickly checking on me, he returned to his group of friends of the senior section. He also had some girls following him with their eyes while he was passing by them. Some of them glared a little at me when we hugged earlier and I started giggling a little. I was looking at him amused when something caught my eyes. The bully group passed us to sit behind me, at a table nearby. My ears were now focused on them.
"That stupid commoner!" one said. "He was actually offended when I got in front of him this morning during breakfast. I mean, my time is much more valuable than his so he can just wait, right?"
"I don't understand why they are allowed to eat with us. There should at least be separated tables and queues, if not a separate room altogether." another joined.
"Did you see that new balck-haired guy?" the first one asked. "How scary! He shouldn't be allowed to study here."
I felt chills on my spine when I realized they were talking about Damon. I looked at him chatting with Tudor about the kittens and how he laughed every time the other boy joked. If their next target is him, it's the same as if they were bullying myself.
"We won't allow them to bully Damon." Noriko might have read my mind again as she said that and Arild nodded. The other two were too focused on their discussion to hear us. I turned my head and glared at the bullies which, maybe they sensed me, looked back at me and started quickly to speak about something else. One of them stared back at me a little longer and I could see a displeased look on his face before turning his jade eyes away from me. What was his problem?
Noriko proposed that we should go and see in which class we were and to get our schedule for the next few weeks. I was in the same class as Noriko and Tudor, how lucky, but Damon and Arild were in another class. I checked the list one more time and ascertained that the second prince wasn't in the same class as any of us. Double luck!
The study day was divided into four hour in the morning and two in the afternoon after lunch. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays we had different languages during the morning and music, arts and ethics, respectively, while magic was on Mondays in the afternoon and Fridays in the morning. Monday morning was reserved for history and on hour for gym, before lunch. The students who haven't chosen an optional had the Friday afternoon free. I had my fighting lessons then. I looked at the list of people who took the optional course and there were around 60, from all juniors section. Most of which were first year boys, but I could see maybe 10 or 15 girls as well, some from the second and third years. This optional was available for older students as well if they haven't had it earlier. The second prince was also on the list. From my group the only one who won't be taking this class is Norikon and she looked very pleased with herself to have the afternoon free. I just rolled my eyes at her.
The next few days went by much more slowly than I thought. New languages was always exciting to know, but it took so much time until you could actually start a conversation. And the afternoon was just torture for me. I thought I was over this when my parents cancel my home lessons, but we had the same lessons here as well, a bit more advance though. When Friday finally came, I was excited to begin my training, both magic and fighting. But the first training day wasn't as exciting as I thought. In the morning we were just tested to see our affinity, which most of us already know. There were only a few who weren't show which affinity they had, most of who were commoners.
The most awaited fighting class in the afternoon proved to be very boring. We were divided by gender as boys were more powerful than girls and most boys had already received some training at home. Later in the term we will be allowed to spar with wooden swords together if we wanted. Half of the first lesson was about safety and during the other half we were presented with the weapons we were to study: the sword and the bow and arrow. While the swords were made of wood, the bows and arrows were real, but only used on specific targets in order to not injure anyone.
Just like that, the first week went by so quick I hadn't had time to think about the bullies or any war at all. When I arrived in my room, Noriko was doing her assignment for the arts class. We had painting this term, so her painting of a flower glass on a table stoos almost finished beside her bed. I squinted my eyes to look at it from across the room as I was too tired to actually move closer. I was really well done, she had a talent for all types of arts. Soon after I felt asleep.