The Maiden [Wattys 2018 Longlist]

five

When the group of six (as Henry's older brother Sebastian and Michael's older brother Peter were also invited) entered the schoolhouse on the day of the admittance test, the first thing they noticed was the myriad of knights.

They forced the five boys to take off their vests, empty the pockets of their pants, and take off their shoes.

On this blazing July morning, she forced herself to wear a Western dress — one that had a wide skirt with itchy ruffles and ribbons and made of cotton; one that had embellished bell sleeves and could only be put on lacing up the back. Luckily, it was a light, pastel pink with white embellishments, so it wasn't completely unbearable in the heat.

The knights made Tabitha raise her skirt to mid-thigh for a bit. They made her untie her French braid, and one of the knights ruffled her hair.

They were physically inspected in front of a whole group of young men their age or a little older.

Henry quickly walked to her left side, Charles in front of her, Michael on her right, and the two older boys behind her.

"You alright?" Henry asked.

"That was definitely uncalled for," Peter said hushedly. "Talk about disrespect. Do you think they would do that to an aristocrat girl?"

"C'mon, you guys," Tabitha said, trying to mitigate them before anybody could hear them. "Your vests were taken away, and you had to do things too."

"But did you see the look on some of their faces when you had to pull up your skirt?" Charles commented, shaking his head. "If they had to do that kind of gross inspection, they should've acted mature."

At last, they came into the large commons area where a finely-dressed man in a powdered wig stood. His face was just as white as his hair, and his lips were as red as blood. He wore a gold-embroidered coat and breeches. He had a pair of thin, gold-framed glasses high on his nose. His back was straight, his shoulders held up high. In short, everything about this man just screamed "aristocrat."

"Good morning, sir," the six of them greeted. Henry, Charles, Michael, Sebastian and Peter bowed while Tabitha dipped into a deep curtsy. The man only let out a click of his tongue in response.

"I see they're smart enough to dress their vultures into falcons," the man said under his breath.

The six of them exchanged glances before standing up straight.

"You're two minutes late," the man said, much louder. "The Academy doesn't accept tardiness. Take your seats in any corner of the room. Sir Robinson will arrive soon with the tests and testing supplies."

The six exchanged another glance.

'Talk about hypocrisy...and not to mention idiocy. We came thirty minutes early...' Tabitha thought.

Tabitha sat in one of the corners facing the large windows. Through the mud-stained windows, she saw groups of knights constantly patrolling the outside of the school building.

'They must think we'll get our answers from somebody on the outside...' she concluded.

She glanced at her friends, who all had confused and uneasy looks on their faces.

"Face forward!" the man exclaimed, slapping a ruler from nowhere onto a table. The sharp sound made Tabitha turn around immediately.

'The test isn't even in the building yet...'

Tabitha didn't know how long they waited. She watched the sunlight and its shadows shift over the trees and the rusting and rotting playground equipment, thinking about what could be on the test.