† Serafina †
All night, Serafina was unable to sleep. She put it down to the logical fact that she was vampire-born and thus had spent her entire life awake during the evening into night time and asleep from early morning through to midday. It was so unnatural to go to sleep at nine in the evening, expected to rise at five in the morning.
She dared not let the thought of the letter occupy her mind. She could not fathom the hurt that would be caused when her parents read such a letter. All she could hope was that the letter drifted and became lost on its journey to her home. Or perhaps that someone other that her father read it first; maybe if someone at the hospital saw it and realised what it would do, they may stop her father from reading it.
When the sun began to rise, Serafina forced herself out of the cell and dressed in her plain black clothes, as colour was frowned upon. Once prepared for her day, with her books for today ready to pick up from the desk, she raced out of her cell and towards the mail docket, hoping to reach it before the man arrived to collect the mail. If that was possible, he may allow her to remove her letter, even if it was against the rules.
Hovering at the edge of the ambulatory, right by the docket, she danced from foot to foot to ward off the morning chill, praying that the man would arrive soon.
After a few minutes, a cart finally trundled around the corner, just beyond the gates. Serafina thanked her good fortune for his arrival, but startled when a hand landed on her shoulder. She turned, dread filling her as she found Sister Destine standing over her.
"You must get to mass," she insisted, with no hint of emotion on her face. "If you are late, it will earn you demerits, increasing your duties within the chapel."
The warning was surprising and appreciated, but Serafina could not leave. Not yet. "But he is just outside the gate," she objected, hoping for a spark of compassion or something that would suggest she cared. When she saw nothing, she protested more vehemently. "Do you not understand? The pain I will cause with such a letter cannot be undone," she warned, refusing to accept that there was nothing to be done. Glancing over her shoulder, she found the cart paused outside the gates and the man unlocking them. She was so close.
"Which was something you should have considered before writing it or placing it within the docket," Sister Destine retorted, raising an eyebrow at her, as though to question whether Serafina would argue back or not. "Now, to mass with you."
When the Sister stepped between Serafina and the gates, she knew there was going to be no getting past her. Even if Sister Destine had to physically restrain her to prevent her from getting to that letter.
Turning to the one woman standing in her way, she leaned in and growled a protest to her cruelty; "You are evil!" And, one day, she was going to do something about it. She would get her revenge if it killed her.
***
After mass, Serafina was sent straight to her first lesson in magical training. What she really wanted to do was run screaming in the hopes of finding the man who had taken her letter and beg him to return him. Instead, she used the Princess attitude that she had always adopted at Royal events to remain perfectly calm and poised.
She walked into the school room as though she belonged there, taking one of the seats set out in a circle, a little frustrated that there was no ability to show hierarchy by sitting at the front or closest to the warlock who would be teaching them.
Sister Margaret walked into the room after Serafina, followed by seven more students. She paid close attention to what she could see and hear, identifying them before they could show they knew more about her than she liked. It was inevitable that someone would try to be brave, reminding her that she was the new girl and that they had all spent weeks together already. She had to know their names and suss out their attitudes and their hierarchy before they tried to place themselves above her.
Two boys were chatting quietly as they walked into the room, discussing some vague notion of festival preparations that made it sound as though they had not spoken for at least a few days. By listening, she figured out that the blonde boy with a scar on his lower right jaw was called Warren. He was the tallest of the entire group of students, but had a quiet voice and a hint of an accent that suggested he was local.
Serafina squinted as she tried to hear the rest of the information she needed. The boy Warren spoke to was fluent in Spanish, yet Warren spoke in a broken English that said he was new to the language. Neither showed any difficulty in understanding the other, but it took her a moment or two to discover the shorter boy was called Gabriel. He was Warren's opposite in many ways; short, dark haired and with a deep voice with a naturally loud volume.
Turning to two girls who spoke to a third boy, Serafina raised an eyebrow to see the boy nod to the warlock teacher as though they knew each other. The Sister offered him a faint smile, but continued to unpack books from a cupboard at the side of the room.
Curious.
The red headed girl called Clara had the most annoying laughter, which distracted Serafina from watching the teacher. But, perhaps it was just as well. When she turned back, she found Clara touching her hand to the boy's arm and fluttering her eyelashes in a pathetic attempt to gain his attention.
"Oh, Elías, you are so talented. I know of no other boy who has managed floral magic the way you have," she said, praising him so openly that Serafina was surprised by how innocent he looked. He seemed not to notice the flirting, despite how obvious it was.
"Well, I must admit that I am quite interested in plants and herbs. It soothes me to work with nature," he confessed, smiling happily as they entered the circle of chairs and took their seats together, directly opposite the circle to where Serafina had sat.
Apparently not caring that Elías was oblivious to their flirtations, barely turning his dark eyes or his dark hair in their direction when he spoke, and his body language perfectly relaxed, the girls continued to twitter over him. They could not see what Serafina saw so clearly; his eyes grazed the room, where Elías bobbed his head in greeting to the other boys and even managed a curious nod in her direction. He simply cared nothing for the fluttering fingers touching his arm or knee, nor the girls dressed in the finest black dresses who constantly tried to draw his eyes to their assets.
"Oh, but being interested in something and being good at it are two different things," the other girl protested, tossing her brown hair over her shoulder with a gesture that elongated her neckline.
Serafina almost rolled her eyes at the display. How many times had she witnessed young girls doing the same thing to Jaycob, unaware that he was not in the least interested in them, or any woman. It did, however, make her curious to discover if Elías was a vampire; was that why she wished to show off her neck? Or was it merely an overly dramatic 'look at me' request?
"I do not believe so, Rosa," Elías disagreed calmly. "My mother says that taking a personal interest in the subject of your magic actually makes your ability stronger. When the magic comes from your heart, and not from your academic head, then you will be more successful."
He seemed so proud of the advice, of remembering it and his firm belief that it was the right thing. Serafina figured that meant he was likely the most advanced student and one who didn't need to question his magic. That made him the one she wanted to keep an eye on and the one she would likely learn the most from.
"Your mother must be a very wise woman," Rosa said, grasping his arm to keep his attention.
Elías innocently nodded his head and replied; "She is. She is quite wonderful."
***
The first lesson frustrated Serafina, when it began with a simple introduction.
"Welcome, everyone. I am Sister Margaret, a warlock and your tutor," the Sister began calmly, standing in the centre of the circle of chairs and slowly turning to look them all in the eye. "Please welcome Sister Serafina, who has joined us from England. As she is struggling to drawing out and harness her magic we will spend the next few lessons returning to the basics of magic."
A few of the other students rolled their eyes or shuffled with a look of frustration that made Serafina sigh. Brilliant. She was now the reason that they were going through lessons they'd had before and they would undoubtedly take it out on her.
"Please remember how you felt attending your first lesson here, and treat Sister Serafina with the appropriate respect and compassion," the Sister insisted, raising a well sculpted eyebrow at them all. "As I have said to all of you, at one point in your lessons, every witch or warlock will develop at their own rate. We do not all learn equally. We cannot. We are all individual people and, for that, we must have our own way of thinking, of learning, and of developing."
A few heads nodded, offering Serafina a hint of relief. At least they had been through this speech before, so her arrival would not be something completely inconvenient for them.
"Perhaps we should start with an hour of meditation, to help Serafina focus her mental energies?" the Sister suggested.
She could not imagine anything more tiresome, so, taking a risk, she raised her hand and placed a smile upon her lips. Once the Sister nodded to her, she spoke up. "That is most kind of you, Sister, but I meditated for an hour this morning, before attending mass. Would you mind if we stepped straight into the lesson? I feel I cannot be more mentally prepared than I already am."
The Sister pursed her lips and a few of the other students watched her with disbelief, but Serafina stayed where she was – sitting straight, keeping her focus on the Sister. She would not allow them to treat her like a child.
"Very well. If you believe you are ready then we will begin." Turning away from her, the Sister gestured a delicate hand towards Elías. "Would you please partner Sister Serafina, for this lesson? We will split into pairs and begin with some simple spells," she explained, already crossing towards a cupboard at the back of the room.
"Everyone! Please choose your partner. Groups of two, please. I will collect the necessary elements, as you prepare yourselves. If anyone would like to take some time to meditate before we begin, you are welcome to do so," she called out, while opening an old oak cupboard and reaching inside. "We have hours at our disposal, so rest assured that class will not begin until everyone is seated across from their partner."
Serafina had no time to see what they would be working with, as Elías was quick to leave his chair and hover by her side. "What?" she asked, wondering why he just stood there.
"Would you mind if I headed outside for a moment of meditation? I am afraid that I prepared for the theoretical lesson on how to change our appearance, so have not prepared for performing magic of any sort," he explained, so calm and infuriatingly logical. He almost sounded like Sister Margaret. "Typically, Sister Margaret performs the magic during our theory lessons and we have a week to practice within our other classes, so today's lesson is most unexpected."
"Fine." Serafina crossed her arms over her chest, wondering why he had to run into long explanations. He could simply have said that he was going outside for a moment, without all the unnecessary chatter. Thankfully, once she agreed, Elías took off out the door, with three other students following. It seemed the boys were the only ones who needed to prepare, as the girls sat in a huddle, no doubt gossiping about her, if the looks sent her way were any indication.
The meditation boys were only gone for five or ten minutes, by Serafina's estimation. In that time, Sister Margaret placed a small round stool before her seat and between the other seats, setting three tall candles on the stool before leaving. When the boys returned, Elías moved his seat to face hers and smiled at the candles.
"Ah, one of my favourite exercises," he claimed, looking up to presumably share that joy with Serafina.
She was in no mood to hear his opinions. She wanted this lesson over with, as soon as possible, but at least it would be a success and she would not end up humiliating herself. Lighting candles was about the extent of her talents, so she could manage this one lesson.
"Now," Sister Margaret spoke up, as she weaved between the sets of seats, with her hands folded before her, "this is a simple exercise. Light a single candle, then, once your companion has lit theirs, lift your candle and tilt it until both flames light the third. Light only the candle closest to you, so that you do not attempt to light the same candle. As we know from previous exercises," she continued, glancing down at Rosa, who flushed furiously, "that can only end in disaster. Now, continue."
With no other instruction, Serafina sat there and stared at the candles in horror. How could she possibly light a candle and then lift it? Even lighting it would take most of her energy and concentration.
Looking around, she could see no sign of anyone else performing magic. There were no gestures, no whispers under their breath, nothing to indicate they were doing anything. Yet, nearly every group had at least one candle lit in the time it had taken her to look around the room.
When Serafina turned back to her stool, Elías had already lit his candle and was staring at her with an easy going, patient smile. Taking a deep breath, she watched the candle that was hers to light and focused all her attention on thinking "light" before lifting her right hand and waving it in a sweeping motion, hoping that it would encourage the flame to spark, as it had on her other attempts.
Though the flame did spark, it quickly blew out again, leaving her frustrated. A feeling that only grew as a hand landed on hers. Looking up, she found Elías frowning at her.
"Sister Serafina, you do not need gestures," he said, his smile wavering between uncertainty and pity. "Magic comes not from the head but the heart. If you truly will something with your heart then it will be done. You do not command it," he reasoned, as though she was stupid for not knowing such a thing.
Then again, perhaps she was. What was it that Jaycob always said? "Magic is a part of us, Serafina. It is not a foreign entity. It is part of our souls, our blood, our heritage. It makes us who we are. Without it, we would not be whole. Do not treat it like an invader or sickness." Was this what he had meant?
Serafina tried to take the advice on board, but even after four more attempts and Elías' reassurances, nothing beyond a quick flicker of flame happened. Finally, Sister Margaret appeared and sighed.
"Class, please gather your books and read up on transformations. It seems Sister Serafina will need one-on-one lessons," she called out, humiliating her all over again.