Resary - excerpt

“Stop!”

“Please!”

Screams are heard behind the grand intricate door at the end of the hall. Every fairy attending Resary Boarding School sticks her neck out of her bedroom door, waiting to see what tortured soul would venture out. The door itself is beautiful, made from stained glass, showing the story of how our current Ta Ron became the leader of the fairy folk. But behind the door cages the office of the Mkra, the head of the boarding school and adjudicator of all punishments. The Mkra’s punishments vary from being sentenced to kitchen duty, to having your wings permanently clipped. So all pleading cries are met with great curiosity.

The door creaks, and the heavy footsteps of the House Mother, Ma, echoes through the hallway. Her broad stature and charred wings seem to demand the respect of every fairy at Resary.

“ Should you not all be in bed? The screams are none of your concerns. You are warriors, not gossiping trolls. Back to your rooms!”

The flapping of wings and light tapping of feet could be instantly heard all around. My feet however, stand unmoving as my eyes are glued to Ma’s wings. They are still there, but burnt so badly I doubt she could use them. She is the first fairy I have ever seen who might not be able to use her wings. I have been at Resary Boarding School for a week now, but the sight of Ma astonishes me every time. My gazing is cut short when I feel a tug at my right wing, pulling me into my room.

“Newbie, didn’t anyone tell you staring is rude?” voices one of my roomates, Goldi.

I do not think that it is her birth name, but given to her because of her vividly blonde hair, resembling a river of gold similar to the Eldorado stream. Her hair compliments her orange pupils very well, a trademark for all fire fairies. My other roommate Tracy, is an air fairy, we get along quite well, as most water and air fairies do because of our alliance a few years back. Fire fairies are a bit more temperamental, but Tracy told me that the Boarding School began to place fairies of different realms together as a diversity factor, so we have to put up with Goldi’s rude spurs and angry blasts for an entire year.

“Sorry, it’s just House Ma’s wings. Do you guys know how they burnt?”

“I do! And it’s the best bedtime story to welcome you to Resary” pipes Tracy.

“No she doesn’t, she just knows the rumour that is disrespectful to fire fairies and a blatant lie,” says Goldi.

Feeling the tension begin to thicken I try to dilute it, “Okay, how about Tracy tell me this rumour, then I’ll decide whether it has merit?”

As Tracy cheerily flaps her wings and Goldi rolls her eyes, I fly underneath my bed covers waiting for a story that will hopefully lull me to sleep.

“Before the genocide of the earth fairies, even before Ta Ron was crowned, House Ma was a young mother with seven kids. She lived in the fire realm then, with her wizard husband. He was a professor at this very school, so he was not home a lot. Ma was overwhelmed, she had seven kids to take care of, all alone! And they say that she was expecting another. One day, news broke that her husband was in love with the pixie that he would see everyday as he made his way to Resary. Poor Ma! She was so upset. And being a fire fairy, she didn’t hold back her wrath - ”

“There we go again with the fire fairy stereotypes!” Goldi interjects.

“It’s the truth! Fire was beaming out of her ears, eyes and nose! She set fire to her own house. With her kids still inside! It was too late when she realized what she had done. House Ma tried to save the youngest, shielding him in her wings as she ran through the fire. But he died in her arms from smoke inhalation, as Ma’s wings burnt.”

“ I’m with Goldi, that story does seem a little far fetched Tracy,” I comment.

“Thank you newbie. Like what school would let a homicidal fire wielder be House Ma to a bunch of kids after killing her own? It’s a bunch of lies made up by the pixie folks to make themselves seem relevant” says Goldi.

“Whatever, it’s what I heard” Tracy retaliates.

“And Tracy, if fire fairies couldn’t contain their anger, you would’ve been burnt faster than you can say fairy dust, the moment you uttered your first word to me” Goldi says.

The room becomes eerily silent after Goldi’s statement, but I think that’s a good thing. We need to be up at 5 A.M. tomorrow for archery training, and I do not want to be kept up by the bickering of my roommates. But as I begin to drift off to sleep, I feel a concentrated warmth against my cheek and hear a soft song in the wind from the open window.

“Be a good fairy, and you won’t get burnt. Be a good fairy. Don’t get burnt”

I strain my eyes open, wondering if there is anyone here, but I only see the sleeping figures of my roommates. Re-closing my eyes, I attribute the song to an impending dream as I fall into a sound sleep.

Resary Boarding school.

It should be an interesting six years.