With questions rising faster than answers can be found my own headmistress has asked me to skive the first five lesons of the day.

Ashley carried on to the day’s first lesson for fifth formers unknowing that my excuse had been decided in my prior evening’s detention. Determined to not rethink on that now I raced back to the dorm, but not as I’d said to get my forgotten assignments. It had been easy to say I’d been given some evaluating assignments to be turned in before my first class. I just didn’t say the evaluating assignments were going to be held after lunch when the third through fifth year girls had tennis during the last three periods on Wednesdays. Coach Davis needed to evaluate my tennis skills before I could participate, and playing hooky ensured that was my first class.

By skipping the mornings five class periods I added another day while the girls assumed I was in the fifth form. That was the reason for the latest ploy, with Ma White holding the release of Beatrice from her sanctioning ‘till lunch time there would be no one bothering me in the dorm room, except for the twenty-minute break between the third and fourth class periods. Thus, I had nearly four hours uninterrupted to study magic. I set my alarm for ten fifty-eight and started reading and practicing my hexing. That way I could hide before the break when some girls might swing back to the dorm.

Hexes seemed the most useful with the frequency I seemed to get into conflicts. Though there were numerous flashy hexes for the next fight I got myself in, I was intrigued with the more subtle and insidious ones. There was a hex that caused the hemoglobin to not be interested in carbon dioxide until an extremely high concentration of the molecules build up. Another that caused every cone and rod on both retinas to fire rapidly for several seconds. A third would cause random movement of the fluid within the semi-circular canals.

When my alarm interrupted me, I was nearly a quarter of my way through my third-year hex book. True I had jumped quickly to that book, but hexes were one of the areas of magic I was talented in due to my primary pillar. I’d gleaned enough from skimming the first two years books especially as I’d started on them before breakfast. So far, I’d managed to augment my one primed illusion spell and one minor tripping hex to now include two primed hexes that each could be used multiple times, and three more that like my illusion could only be used once a day. I’d also got a handful of general purpose easy spells that like my minor tripping hex seemed to be able to be cast whenever I desired to cast them.

Finally, as I felt under armed last night with only one minor tripping hex, and even now with some moderate level offensive hex spells available for a day, I had been glad to get an illusion charm to obscure something already partially hidden to be ignored. It allowed me to wear the weapons I’d received from Ma White last night as long as I wore my school blazer or a similar shaped jacket.

Misses White had told me I couldn’t wear it ‘till I got the spell down so that had been my first task since the wee hours this morning. I was far happier when I took the harness from where it was hidden in my suitcase and popped it on. Especially as until I could no longer cast the multiple cast hexes, I wouldn’t know how many times I could cast them and when I could re-prime them. The three new single cast a day hex spells, I only knew after I cast them and discovered I wouldn’t be able to redo so ‘till tomorrow.

Putting all my magic books away into my rucksack, I slung it over my shoulder and exited Seagull. A quick walk to the next-door Fire Escape Two and I entered one of the third-year girls’ dormitories as the end of third period’s bell rang. Ignoring the room, I made quickly for the fire escape giving the dorm its name. It was a regular door in a column of wall in the centre of the dormitory. Obviously magic provided a flight of stairs instead of the closet it appeared to be.

Taking one of my thirteen throwing knives from the veiled harness beneath my blazer I made a small cut on the end of my thumb. Annoyingly due to my new shorter Tegan body I had to stretch on tip toes to reach the point of the door and door frame that was about three inches below the top of the door and allow some of my blood on both. I allowed a bit more blood to mark the door and door frame that was five inches from the bottom edge next.

I stepped back to ensure I was a good three foot from the door to not mess up and attach the spell to the wrong same blood then spoke. “Lives flow adjacent paired be, and adjacent even, if parted be. Disenthrall.”

As I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, I opened the previously locked fire escape door without tripping the alarms that ensured the door was not opened. I then quickly entered the staircase and closed the door behind me. “Enthrall.” I relocked the door. Of course, it would take until my blood was mostly coagulated for the spell bypassing the door alarm sensors to end. Also, until I cleaned it off it could be possible for someone to notice what I’d done. Hopefully four small smudges of blood would not be noticed by someone quickly changing books or clothing out. I couldn’t stop myself from imagining Rachel being satisfied that she hadn’t been wrong in her initial belief I’d be breaking school rules. Somehow my defense that the headmistress told me to do it likely wouldn’t be believed. Especially as I’m sure said headmistress would not corroborate my story.

Wiping the blade on the cloth I carried to do just that, I returned it to its home and as informed my small nick in my thumb healed as if never cut. The few drops of blood that had bled onto my blouse cuff though remained. It looks like I would be soaking blood off my blouse again this evening. It seems I packed too many of my uniforms in my not yet arrived trunk. I then held my breath as I heard the door of the dorm open.

I quietly slipped down the stairs wondering how someone could have got to the dormitories so quickly. I should have had a bit more time. Would they see the blood? I’d planned to clean it off when I returned this way after the break ended. Would they open the door and see me on the staircase? With heart pounding I descended while internally counting the thirteen steps constantly expecting the door above me to be swung open. Thankfully I reached the bottom and it hadn’t been opened.

I opened the door and exited onto the sheltered porch of the tennis pavilion allowing the door to close behind me. Walking to the centre where the tennis pavilions entrance door was, I noticed the door I had used merge back into the wooden siding that hides it from casual notice. The centre door was locked but a spoken word easily took care of that and I entered the pavilion.

Wicker hampers were stacked against the wall of the ten foot by six-foot-deep room. I had thought there was a table and chair I could have studied at in here but I either was mistaken in thinking they were in here or they’d been moved out since I had previously seen them. I wasted a good few minutes confirming that the place wouldn’t work to study in. Dropping my bag between a couple of hampers I let myself out and locked the door. I had over ten minutes to kill before returning to the dorm to study during periods four and five before lunch.

I entered the forest on one of the paths that wound into the woods from the tennis courts. I thought some students might decide to lie out on the south facing sundial lawn to soak up some sun and could then notice me if I stayed on the tennis courts. The woods offered a better place to hide. What I hadn’t thought about was that smokers and amorous couples would choose the woods as a good place to visit.

My luck held as in trying to avoid three boys smoking, I nearly tripped over Myles and Williams that had chosen to lie inside the cleared ground beneath over hanging tree limbs. One moment I am pushing a branch that trails to the ground to the side of a foot path, as I know there is a hollowed-out space that I can use to get through the fifteen feet to another forest path and avoid the three smoking boys I had heard and thankfully not been seen by yet. They were talking and goofing about but also heading toward me in fits and spurts on the path I was on.

Next, as I quietly crossed the area of the woods that due to the tree has limited underbrush and plants while looking behind me to ensure the three boys didn’t see the tree limb swing back over where I’d entered, I am just brought aware of what’s in front of me by a female moan prior to my foot making contact with the back of Williams’ shoulder. Unfortunately, my sudden stop caused some noise as with a startled ‘eep’ Sharon was rolling to her feet and straightening her uniform. That led to attracting the three smokers to barrel in to the now overly filled space.

“Wow Williams, well done.” Lewis made to offer a high-five then settled to pat him on his shoulder I’d nearly kicked. I glared at them upon realizing what Lewis had implied and found that Sharon agreed with my feelings as she glared too.

“Michael was just with me, his girlfriend, Lewis. I don’t share.” Sharon responded. “So, if the lot of you could go back to destroying your lungs, Michael and I would appreciate clean air.” She also looked toward me nervously, so I figured that most of that was a bluff.

Figuring and hoping she would likely move out of my way after our last confrontation, I decided to just carry on as I had intended. Hopefully the amorous couple would distract the smokers long enough for me to get into a different area of the forest. Having decided I walked toward Sharon and I as I expected she shrank back from me. Unfortunately, Williams and Young chose to step between me and my exit. The first was likely to defend his girl, and the second for reasons I could guess.

“Excuse me, I am just leaving.” I smiled at the boys. It worked on removing only one of my obstacles though.

“Hey new lass, there’s a toll. For a girl as beautiful as you, I’m willing to accept a kiss as payment.”

Wielding a blade before thinking it through I counter offered. “You could get out of my way before I castrate you. Choice is yours and I’ve not used this blade recently, so I’m hoping you’re too dumb to move.”

Young leapt to the side quickly. “What the fuck! Psycho!”

Well they would be distracted and allow me to make an exit. However, I could already hear the telling off for displaying the knife. But, it would be so worth it. Well I could deny pulling a knife on him. The veil hid them from view while in the harness and I was fairly sure I wouldn’t be patted down.

Unfortunately, my imagination saw pulling out a blade as a possible short term solution with huge long term issues and what if Mister Young chose to escalate, could I cut him. Back in reality I had a leering boy to get by. He stood left arm encroaching while right hand hung loosely at his side with his half smoked fag between thumb and fore finger.

Twisting my right side away I swung my left arm and snagged the cigarette. Quickly I switched it to the right hand and then attacked him with his fag instead of my earlier choice of a blade. I also swung it toward his face rather than my earlier thought target.

“Back off chimney breathe!” I thrust my right hand forward while palming a blade within my left. No one should notice it and hopefully I wouldn’t need to use it, but this seemed wiser to have a hidden back up. One I could deny even if I had to use, while I drew all attention on the cigarette that the boys wouldn’t want to inform any one about.

Young took a step to the side and the whole group looked on. “Hey that’s my smoke.”

“Think it’s hers now Young.” Lewis countered.

“So, Young what are you going to do?” Johnson just had to egg him on as I was nearly backed to the other exit from the tree. He also seemed to decide to move toward me. Throwing my minor tripping hex at Johnson caused him to stumble into Williams.

“Here, have your fag back.” I threw the cigarette slightly behind Young, and thankfully he stopped his new approach toward me to recover the fag as quickly as possible. Rubbing the side to ensure nothing from the ground was on it. I twisted out and begun running away on the next forest trail.

Once I was sure I wasn’t being followed I slowed down and slipped the blade back. Hell I hoped I wasn’t going to get tagged with ‘Runner’ or something similar as a nickname. I was beginning to set a pattern for running. The reminder of my break was thankfully nowhere near as exiting. I wasted a few minutes of fourth period as I didn’t want to head back to the tennis pavilion until I was sure there was no one to block my passage.

My next problem was I couldn’t work out how to open the secret door in the wall of the pavilion. Thinking back on the prior evening’s detention I realized I had assumed the return to the dormitory while the headmistress must have assumed I would stay in the pavilion studying for these two periods. So either this was a one way door, or I had not been given the means to open, which either way meant I needed to return to the manor house the old fashioned way.

I climbed the gentler trail along the right side of sundial lawn. If I’d chosen the left side of the lawn I'd have had better tree coverage, then after a dozen or so steps I would quickly get to a passageway that allowed access to the west side of the stack yard. However, it would have needed me to pass several classroom windows, where someone might query why I wasn’t in class. Going to the right meant I would only have one class, and the headmistress office to sneak past. Oh and hopefully not be noticed by any sixth formers that had a free period as I walked on the sixth form terrace behind the headmistress office.

Usually the sixth formers like to sit along the three quarters of the terrace that runs behind the library, one of the girls’ common rooms, dining hall and kitchen. The odds were thus slightly in my favor of getting to the rear door of the manor house with only the headmistress seeing me. Adjusting my backpack so the strap wasn’t twisting my bra strap I carried on my next rule breaking exercise. Also looking up at the terrace from sundial lawn I didn’t see any sixth formers currently sitting on any of the five benches.

I gave a jaunty wave to the scowling headmistress stood in her office with phone to her ear, as I quickly ran by. Leaping up the steps and through the door I was in the hallway outside the music rooms and headmistress’ office from yesterday evening with no students the wiser that I’d been on the sixth form terrace. Not waiting to see if Ma White had words of wisdom to share with me when her phone conversation ended I carried on running to, and then up the stairs. One detour to wipe four dried marks of blood clean and I was back in Seagull with almost none the wiser.

“I see you took my bed.” Beatrice stated. What the hell was she doing here? I was still reeling that my marks of blood had already been removed from the other doorway. Could they identify me by the blood? Was I in trouble for using the fire-escape?

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked on auto-pilot while panicking.

“What you didn’t want me released to the hallowed yet. When would you’ve felt I had been punished enough, this evening, tomorrow before fifth period bell, this weekend?”

I stepped back. Okay yes I shouldn’t be surprised at her vitriol, but I was. The thought, ‘she shouldn’t be here’ kept running in my head like a stuck record and I was having a hard time working out what to say.

“Oh, young lady I thought I would have got your attention, but was on the phone and you must have flown up the stairs.” Misses White was in the newly opened doorway and I needed to warn her that someone knew I’d used the fire-escape exit.

“Misses White, the four stains I wanted to clean, already were by someone else.” I hoped she would understand what I was trying to tell her.

“Ah, that’s why you did this. I should have told you last evening that I would remove those, so no one would ever see them. I’m fairly sure I took care of them the very minute after they were used.” She looked at me ‘till I worked out that she was the person I’d thought nearly caught me, and she obviously had expected me to stay until lunch inside the tennis pavilion. “Now Miss Walker you need to make your bed. You also need to thank this one for protecting your little sister from bullies. Louise has such high praise for your queen. I am sure I can count on you to be the best queen’s champion. Good day girls.”

“Oh, and both change into your tennis uniform. I’ll take your uniform to the laundry room as I’m going by there. That will enable it to be washed for tomorrow, as I don’t think your trunk with more uniforms arrives ‘till Friday.” Well at least Beatrice was taking her clothes off too. I would have been feeling extremely odd if I was undressing alone in front of the two of them.

The downside other than the tennis skirt being shorter, was I had to put my blade harness back in my suitcase. I did get to see Beatrice in her underwear though.

I felt a right nana in a tight white t-shirt that emphasized my breasts, pleated tennis skirt, bloomers, ankle socks and girly tennis shoes. At least my bloomers were plain. Beatrice’s were a pair with ruffles that drew attention to them more than a flashing neon sign would do. Well perhaps not quite that much, but way more than mine.

Unfortunately the headmistress then left with my skirt and blouse leaving the two of us in Seagull alone, in our tennis attire. She stared at me and I just stared back. Time ticked by.

Beatrice sighed and then started making her bed. She was making the last unmade bed, which was the bed below mine. I returned my suitcase beneath our bunk bed and then sat on a chair. In order to not ogle the cute girl in a mini bending over to make her bed I thought back over last night detention. Had I missed the headmistress telling me to stay and study in the pavilion?

I couldn’t believe it. I had arrived for this evening’s detention and find out I was set up to get in a fight with Beatrice. My Grandma and headmistress knowing I knew little magic felt the best solution was to get me beaten up and then ridicule my attacker as she was three years my senior. How much ridicule would carry through when it was obvious that Beatrice assumed we were the same age? It was the logical assumption from the information released.

I angrily demanded to be given information so I could improvise when their plans went off the rails as they were bound to do.

The headmistress responded. “I will, but I had only one way forward to weaken those who would align against you after you lost gaining a strong defender. Magic is based on three, five and thirteen. They are strong numbers where four is the weakest. Please tell me that before Matron Bell kicked you out of dinner that the Triumvirate has been weakened. The solid three weakened to four, after you have successfully been included in the Quadumvirate?”

“Susan proposed a Pentumvirate, The original three, myself and Beatrice.” I offered.

“Why would Miss MacLeod think you would agree to that? You have shown complete contempt for Miss Walker and set her up to lose badly, then spat in her eye at being a prefect. That makes no sense. She couldn’t risk you refusing as it would lead fifth form into immediate infighting that could only undermine her position of power.”

“What’s a defender?” I asked breaking into Misses White’s musing.

“It is a trick to use on a powerful witch. If a witch is threatened by an overly powerful witch then it is a way to remove them as a problem. The new defender are stuck having to fight and protect the witch they are a defender for until their next trial, which for Beatrice is over three years away. Her seventh year trials are the year after upper sixth year workers’ exams. No one could have challenged or attacked you during that time giving you time to become a queen. What your grandma and I were worried over, was you becoming a witch at fourteen means you were under the hallowed halls rules.”

Well I figured I would hold off a few minutes on informing Ma White that I apparently had to fight on behalf of all primary first and second formers until nearly Christmas. I was more intrigued about the hallowed halls being mentioned again. “What are the hallowed halls?”

“Okay Miss Wehl, first you need to stop judging our society as a worker. It is wrong to hold us by worker laws and rules. You are not a worker, you are a witch, and normally you would have been raised as one. Unfortunately, you had a minor birth defect that made us think you were a drone.” Ma White took a breath to ensure I was still with her. “Witches thrive on conflict. Our magic leaps forward when our lives are on the line. The hallowed halls are our arena, where all queens can challenge other queens up to two years younger and larva other larva, with the same two years age difference. They are the halls and rooms within this school where no worker or drone can follow.”

I slowly sank into one of the office chairs while wondering if every answer would constantly create more questions. Also with the whole warning to not judge by 'workers' laws and rules I'd been expecting something more sinister. Then again the headmistress hadn't said what a challenge entailed though. I think the headmistress noticed that I was a step away from losing it as she sat too and told me a tale. It was a tale of a different world than the one I knew.

In the witch’s world normal humans were known as workers. Workers were born from workers, but also sadly from witches too. Drones were the sons, nephews, grandsons, grand nephews, or great-grandsons of witches. Witches that hadn’t passed third year trials were pupa ‘till ten and then larva ‘till they passed the trial and became a queen. Just like an insect hive, the hallowed halls were geared to ensure the survival of the strongest. I’d not as I thought just turned from boy to almost girl. I’d turned from drone to pupa at the age I couldn’t benefit any protection of being a pupa. The hallowed halls would be just like a hive where a queen was late in emerging from their cell. All queens before they fought first stung every cell that the pupa had not escaped from.The analogy fell a bit apart with the way witches named their young pupa and the pre-queens larva at this point to me.

Thus the plan to get me a defender before I could fight to save myself had been born. When I won, the headmistress scrambled to make Beatrice my champion. It didn’t defend me against all threats and even those it did I was left wondering if they could be diminished at the start of next winter term. From what I could piece together at the first time after January that I’m challenged to defend one of the little sprouts I will need to inform the hallowed that I took third year trials the prior winter solstice and thus was no longer defender. When that comes out the cat will be amongst the pigeons.

I couldn’t be worried about that lost defending and what could happen once the truth of when I sat my trials got out as I was more worried at the confirmation that death was what greeted the losers of the third year culling. Being told it hardly ever happened in later fights including even the seventh year trials, did not provide the comfort my headmistress thought it would. I was too worried how I needed to learn enough to see next year. Sighing, I knew I needed to own up to being named a defender and see if my worries were correct, or if there was even worse to worry about.

“Well, in addition to bluffing my way from getting called into fights that I can’t substitute my champion to fight for me, I’m defender of the little sprouts.” I told the headmistress. I took a sip of my now cold tea as my mouth was as dry as ash. I figured I needed to let my headmistress know that I had more problems than she was aware of.

“How can that have happened?”

“It happened because you and Grandma didn’t provide me enough information to know what I was supposed to be doing. Your upper sixth year prefect obviously chose to remove a wrongly perceived threat of a too powerful queen by assigning me defender of the little sprouts when I stopped Beatrice’s little sister from being bullied.”

“She made you defender of all little sprouts. Not defender of Miss Walker?” The headmistress inquired.

“She said I was her defender of the little sprouts, but later she said that as I had chosen to specifically defend little Miss Walker it proved I didn’t count Miss Walker as my enemy, and Ashley made a point of calling me little Miss Walker’s defender. I don’t want to assume it isn’t both just because I didn’t understand something.”

“…And thus the reason for the Pentumvirate. We can recover this though as they think they have you snookered ‘till your seventh year trials. Oh, and yes, Miss Swanson was clever to firstly make you defender of the little sprouts, and then Miss Walker specifically as a precedent. She thought you would have to defend Miss Walker for more than five years. Further, every year there are more little sprouts to possibly need to defend.

Ma White ensured I understood what she was saying before continuing with the real kicker. “Within three years there could be a conflict between two previous little sprouts you had defended that are now lava and allowed to fight. You would fail your charge of defending one ‘till your next trial. By the loophole of defending them years earlier causing said little sprout to then be named specifically, as the case of little Miss Walker allowed.”

“So I am totally screwed.”

“Language Miss Wehl’s and no you are not, as none of your little sprouts will be lava before the end of your term of office, this year’s winter solstice. However, being one of the fifth year leaders, you will be the clear winner if Beatrice accepts the Pentumvirate before it’s found out that you’re in the third form.”

The headmistress did confirm that I had to declare when I took my trial only when I wanted to state I was no longer their defender. So unless something odd occurs it wouldn’t come to light ‘till my fifth year or beyond when I would have had at least twenty seven months to learn magic. I couldn’t defend them though after my trials, and then try to not defend them later. So if something happened next January I would have to allow it to get out that I’d messed with the system after having only seven months to learn magic.

Ma White was not understanding in how I worried about the winter solstice trials in which I might die. She was more concerned about protecting me from the additional conflicts caused by me waking to magic nearly too late to learn. To hear her, the conflict of me having to be in the top five percent will either allow my magic to grow fast enough to protect me, or not, if I wasn’t worth the magic. I guess it’s a convenient outlook on life without guilt. All the young girls that died weren’t worth their gift in magic, so no harm, no foul. Every time I tried to point this convenient logic, I was merely reminded that I wouldn’t think that if I’d been raised a witch from birth.

“Fine we can agree to disagree on that. Teach me about magic, as I am going to need it to survive.” I cut in after the last stalling conversation continued rehashing the same circular reasoning on what a witch should just accept.

“Fine," Ma White chewed back I think to point out how unthankful I sounded for all she had done to keep me alive. "The first thing to know about witchcraft is that it needs balance. The numbers three, five, and thirteen are the base that magic’s pattern is woven to. The five foundations and the five pillars are the warp. Each pillar has an area of order, chaos and balance. Those are the three twills. The witch’s magic is the weft weaving between the warp, twill and the wylds.” Misses White began.

I tried to interrupt, but the headmistress carried on after pointing me to a look at the floor. She swung her hand and said. “Disenthrall penumbra.” The floor’s mosaic shifted to show the pentacle once more.

“Magic is broken up into twenty subject areas.” She pointed to the twenty words that followed the inside circumference of the outer circle.“Five are wyld subjects rooted directly in a foundation, devoid of pillar and thus each is woven on a balance twill.” She cast a spell and the foundation ‘Course’ at just beyond the two-thirty position glowed blue along with the line that ran like a radian to the glowing word ‘Tempest’.

“The other fifteen are three groups for each of the five pillars. Your primary pillar is Decay, which is about change.” The Tuscan pillar at six o’clock was now glowing green. “Chaotic decay comes from hexes.” A green radian line ran from the ‘Decay’ pillar to the closer to seven side of the six o’clock position. Straight to the word ‘Hex’. “While ordered decay is transformative magic, and balanced decay is twisted truth.” At each point a green radian shot from the same decay pillar first to the slightly five side of six o’clock, then one straight to the six o’clock to the glowing magic subject words of ‘Chrysalis’ and ‘Gab’ respectively.

“Tempest spells will be your hardest to learn. It is the area you are most weak in magic. However, these three subjects in green along with the wyld subject of golems will be the easiest for you to learn.” Another green radian shot from the ‘Wood’ element above the top point of the pentacle to the twelve o’clock position and the word ‘Golem’ between ‘Demonology’ and Necromancy’ now glowed green too.

“My primary pillar is the ‘Illusion’ pillar.” The Egyptian pillar at three-twenty glowed red. A red radian shot to about the three o’clock position and the word ‘Divination’ glowed red. It was adjacent to ‘Tempest’ in the wheel of magic subjects. “The order twill of Illusion is the magic subject Divination, while the balance twill is the subject ‘Veils’ that I use to hide this pentacle. Lastly chaotic illusion is ‘Realm’ magic. It provides the ability to cross universes.”

“Parallel Universes exist? We can explore other worlds?” I interrupted.

“You already are. Belmare Moor School is not on your earth or in this universe’s equivalent of your milky way.”