Malevolence (A School for Good and Evil Fanfic)

Chapter 1

"I'm starting to think the term 'Endless Woods' wasn't just metaphorical," groaned Hester as she trudged through the trees, trees that looked the exact same as every other set of trees in the woods. She'd thought she'd seen it all on the witches' journey to find a new School Master, but in the last two years, they had seen so many long stretches of forest that Hester doubted they would ever reach the end of it. At least there was some semblance of variety as of late, given that it was autumn; the leaves rustled in shades of orange and yellow, covering the trees and blanketing the forest floor. After several weeks trekking through a barren desert, Hester supposed the explosion of color was a welcome change, though she'd never admit that to Dot, who kept going on about 'appreciating the beauty of nature.'

"Of course the woods are endless," Dot quipped, strolling along in front of Hester in a practical yellow sundress. "Why else do you think it'd be called that?"

"Because the mapmakers got lazy," joked Hester halfheartedly. "I suppose that's why there's only regional maps. No one had the nerve to travel more than a few kingdoms away from home."

"But hey," said Dot, turning to face Hester. "We're back in familiar territory, so no need to worry about mysterious, unknown magical creatures or centuries long desert wars. We're almost in Foxwood! We're close enough to visit Camelot and see our friends!"

"How wonderful," Anadil said dryly from beside Hester. "Seeing the prissiest prince was certainly on this week's checklist." The albino witch was wearing a hooded cloak to protect her eyes from the sun, and the cloak shadowed her face and made her look even more sinister than usual. Foxwood was cloudy, but Anadil hadn't yet taken off the hood. Maybe she'd forgotten. Absentmindedly, Hester reached out and gently pulled it down. Anadil shot her a strange look.

"I just noticed that you were still wearing the cloak," Hester explained with an air of nonchalance, though her voice sounded a little higher than normal. "It's disconcerting to talk to you when I can't see your face."

Anadil raised an eyebrow. Briefly, her lips quirked up in faint amusement, but she didn't say anything. She stared at Hester for a couple of seconds longer before turning and asking Dot, who had the map, how far it was until the nearest town.

Hester suppressed the sudden urge to bang her head against a tree. What was wrong with her? It had been two years, two years since she'd sworn she'd banish the weird thing that had grown between her and her best friend, and she still sometimes acted like a total mess. Anadil seemed to be doing fine; she'd probably never had the confusing feelings that Hester had anyways, and Hester had been delusional to think that she did. She missed their early time at school, the easy, effortless banter, always knowing what was on each other's minds. She supposed that still existed, when the three of them were seated around a roaring fire, telling stories and laughing in the firelight, even as Dot drifted off and it was just the two of them. But when the conversation stopped and they laid down to sleep, Hester could never stop replaying moments from the night, how Anadil's red eyes had shone in the dancing lights and shadows of the fire, how she'd thrown her head back when she laughed. And then she'd shut the thoughts down, shove them into her dusty, cobwebbed box of "Hester of Ravenswood is a hopeless romantic," lock it, and never think about it again.

"Hester?" Dot was looking at her expectantly. Hester jolted out of her thoughts, cursing herself for spacing out while thinking about feelings, of all things.

"What is it?" she asked through her teeth.

"Anadil and I were wondering if we should stay the night in this town up ahead, or if we should just pass through, get some supplies, and sleep in the woods again. Anadil voted woods, I voted town."

"We're essentially living off generous donations," Anadil reasoned. "The last time we received any gold was when we defeated that sand drake in Pasha Dunes. We don't need to waste our money on frivolous expenses."