The bells sounded one chime to start the day, and Elica surprised me by being an uncomplaining early riser. I had her pegged as a "just five more minutes" kinda gal, but instead she sat bolt upright and glared at me like I'd kicked her dog. "Don't even think of making me wait for the shower!" she snapped.

  This is her in a good mood.

  "I showered last night, it's all yours," I said, rising, yawning, and pushing back my blanket. I shucked my silk headscarf and started brushing out my hair. I sat on my mattress and unsnarled it all, taking my time. I could use sorcery to make this easy, but why spend mana first thing in the day? Never know what I'll wind up needing it for. I've got thirteen points that need to last me all day.

  During the night my Untethered Essence had spread about, seeping into every material around me. The stone here was different from back home, the cotton of the mattresses was woven differently. I sampled the wood of the bed, the feathers in the pillow, down to the flowers used to dye the fabrics. At my bedside was a small locked box that held numerous trinkets from essences I was still working to master and assimilate. I could never tell what was going to be easy and what would not. So far, the crocodile is building affinity faster than the wolf is, the teeth fit side-by-side in that box but my sorcery just understands one of them better than the other. Cats are almost entirely impossible for me.

  And in the morning, I carried all that back into my body as I reabsorbed into it, ready to start the day.

  It's gonna freak Elica out hard when she finds out that I can walk around in that state. Not well, but I've been practicing.

  When the shower was running strong, I walked over to use the commode; there's a door that separates them. I washed up in the sink, washed my face real well, and started picking out clothes. I really was tempted to grab something unpretentious and easy, but the first day of school is for making a big impression. I picked out the same gown I had worn for the scholarship exam. Harigold colors, red and white, both of them as bold and pure and iconic as possible. Scalloped and shaped in layers to bind those two colors together, a white to match my skin and red to match the blood that was, metaphorically, on my hands. Sleeveless and scooped just a little at the back to reveal a curve of shoulderblade, it was right now the cutting edge of fashion, but with a collar that rose out of the neckline and came up behind my neck, flaring outward to frame my head from behind.

  My long white hair was mostly left loose, but I braided a long thin lock on either side. These were drawn up and over the top, close together, ends woven in and the loops secured with silver combs. It was not a tiara, but it created the same visual effect as a tiara. In low slippers I stand five-foot-six, just enough to be considered tall for a woman, and I wore ballet flats because I don't have the calves to really look good in heels. It is five weeks 'til midwinter and cold as hell out there, so I grabbed a light carmine jacket that I could slip over without being too much or too little. I want to make an impression, but I don't want that impression to be "trying too hard".

  I picked out some books, inks, pens, paper, notebooks, charcoals and a coin purse with a small selection inside, just in case. It was too much for a purse, not enough for a satchel. I opened a door into the void, just a small one. I set everything inside, and closed the portal again. It's not just a teleportation spell, it's also a pocket dimension. Then I walked out and down the hall, down a fight of stairs, and found a specific door. I tapped at it.

  A shorter, mousey kind of girl opened the door a crack. She gasped. "L-lady Harigold," she said, without raising her voice.

  "Hi Rinnie. It's Natalie to you, please. I just wanted to let you know that Elica's in the shower, and when she gets out she is definitely going to want your help getting dressed. Everyone's day will go smoother if you're there before she realizes she never sent for you."

  "Oh, yes," she said, wincing. I don't think she really likes this 'handmaid' role that Elica's shoving her into. I paused. "Um, Rinnie? If you need help- like in general, or just with Lady Elica, this is a good time to ask."

  She sighed. "No, L- Natalie. The money's good, more than I would have asked for, and it's not like any of this work is actually hard. After the teachers I've had, she's actually rather pleasant company."

  "Oh dear," I said, one hand up to my mouth. "That's worse than I thought."

  She let a smile peek out, and then she left her room to head up to mine. If I timed it right, she'd get there just as Elica realized that she was going to need to learn to do things for herself, or learn to take better care of Rinnie.

  I was running early, but I headed for the lunch room early. I walked into the stairwell, where I wouldn't bother anyone, and I stepped through. The light inside the void was blinding, I usually wore sealed goggles or a blindfold if I was going to be in and out of it a lot. I pressed my eyes into the crook of my forearm to block out the light, and I closed the door behind me. I opened another door that led to the student center, and I stepped out of it. My feet whisked across the tile floor here, and I surprised the janitor that was mopping outside the kitchen.

  "Sorry about that," I said. "It's sorcery, it's a little hard to control."

  I walked over to the dining hall, where the campus staff were laying out the steam tables and serving stations. Somehow I was not the first person here to eat, three others in a corner with filled plates and thick books, arguing over something. It better not be anything that bothers me. I hung back and waited for the kitchen staff to finish so I would not be in their way. Right now, Nathan should be just entering the city, his carriage rattling over the stone roads, with Filita Coltorn in the opposite seat and Madame Cushnere riding along, all three of them staring at this wondrous, glittering city they were going to live in, under a star-studded sky of crystals and gems. That sense of wonder would stay with him for a while. I've had five weeks in this city to get acclimatized, and before that three years to get tired of looking at that false sky, staring out the window of my prison cell.

  I was trying to hold a giddy feeling inside, like laughter or butterflies roiling in my stomach. I was nervous, really. I've been waiting my whole life for one moment, after all. In just over an hour, he will step off the carriage's running board and onto the campus of the Hearstcliff Academy, and that's the moment that the game actually begins. That's the fixed point in time that I need to synchronize to. I've gone fifteen years making sure I don't do anything to disturb that moment, that opening cutscene. And it's almost here. As soon as we pass that moment, one of the biggest shackles on me will be gone. I can move and act and do things and change things and I can make a difference. I've never had that freedom before. It starts today. I feel like there should be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for me.

  I'm sitting in a doorway, holding both my own elbows, almost alone in the campus cafeteria, and I'm even more excited than I was the day I was released from prison after three years. And I can't even tell anyone why. Can't explain to them that this is a video game, that this is a fixed point in time, that we are finally beginning a part of the story I'm allowed to change. Something that only matters to me, but I am so wound up I could scream. Or laugh hysterically.

  And instead of doing any of that, I walk over and get a plate, some toast, some steamed carrots and turkey-bacon. I pick up a fork, a knife, and some butter, and go to sit by myself.

  Bells chime outside, the bell tower sounds the hour. Two lighter ding sounds, second bell. On this campus, that means breakfast is served and all students are expected to be done with their morning ablutions. The schedule here is rather regimented. Partly because the school's charter is ancient and requires authority from the monarch and the high council of the Houses to make any changes at all. Partly because all of this has grown out of a video game and clear signals are important.

  Right now he's found the right district and they're trying to find the service entrance to drop Filly off. She's in my dorm building, but unlike yesterday there's nobody to help her get her bags upstairs. This will hold him up long enough that he has just enough time to drop off his bags with the carriage driver and Madame Cushnere before he has to grab a piece of toast and run to homeroom for his first class and orientation.

  I take my time with breakfast. I'm a light eater, and a full hour for each meal is a bit excessive anyway. There's a constant stream of students entering, hungry and nervous and eager and tired and anxious. I spend my time people-watching. Technically there's no uniform for this school, in the sense of "mandatory homogenous outfit". But the school has its colors, gray and blue, and the school store only sells clothes in those colors, and the laundry spells here are calibrated to those colors and the fabrics used in the clothes from the school store.. It is hard for students to get a pass off campus, so eventually everyone winds up buying from the school store.

  At a markup of course. Someone's making a mint on this racket.

  So the freshmen are distinguished by wearing their brought-from-home clothes, the second-year students are distinguished by their crisp new uniforms, and third-years are marked by their broken-in uniforms they've had long enough to get tailored.

  I pick out familiar faces. Delizabeth, Zauria, Frednick, Crash, Wayter, Vancy- she spotted me from the corner of her eye and turned, smiled, waved. Lady Elica, Rinnie and Countess Ebonder were right behind, and they followed her gaze. Elica stepped right past all the lines, and a kitchen aide ran out of the staff-only passage, bringing her a tray and plate of her own, clearly not the same fare that was served to everyone else. This woman is something else- how did she manage to bribe the kitchens staff into giving her special considerations on the first day of classes?

  The four of them arranged themselves around my seat, staking a claim as the dining hall began to fill up. Elica's dress was gold and silver, mermaid skirt with long asymmetrical draping and a halter bodice that showed more of her upper back than was currently fashionable, but was worn with a gauzy shawl that toned down the effect. Rinnie was carrying a stack of coats that she set down carefully. Elica's family colors were orange and gray, but she had interpreted these as gold and silver, which said so much.

  She sat down, looking around with concern. "There's no signs or anything telling the poor students to stay on the other side of the room," she complained, as if obviously nobody without money should be allowed near her. To her this was actually self-evident and automatically assumed. She's a total bitch but I need her help for something I can't explain to her.

  "Natalie," Vancy said cautiously. "Um, someone mentioned, and I wanted to check. Are you, um, a sorceress?"

  "Yes I am," I said. My plate was empty, why was I sitting here? Was I desperate enough for companionship that even This Bitch, Cheerleader and Silent Goth were welcome to my time?

  Vancy looked uncomfortable. "And you... like us, right?"

  Fuck I did not want to tell her to her face that I thought she was vapid and insufferable and that the other two were worse. But I also don't actually want her to think we're friends for real.

  "Vancy, could you tell me what this is about?" I asked, settling my hands together in front of me.

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  She squirmed uncomfortably. "Just... please don't make me eat any poisoned apples!"

  I restrained my smile as best I could. "All right. Vancy, unlike the fairy tales and stories, real sorcerers and sorceresses hardly ever do that. Only a small number of us can make any kind of food at all, and of those, it's usually their only ability. And, it's not actually poisoned, but I understand why people think that. When a sorceress conjures something, like an apple, or a leg of mutton, and they let or make someone else eat that- well, it goes through their digestion like normal, and tiny pieces of that food become part of the person's body. And then later when the sorceress can't keep the food conjured any longer it disappears, and that causes all kinds of damage inside the person's body when those pieces vanish. I think most sorcerers who hurt people like this don't even know that's what happens. And even though I did use that ability, it's not something I habitually do. Sorceresses are just people, really. And we don't poison people or hurt them just because we like it, any more than non-mages do."

  Countess Larianne Ebonder looked up from her nails, and fixed me with the most direct look I've seen from her so far. "You really did that."

  "It was a ship full of pirates who were-"

  Elica stared, mouth dropped open. "What? I thought that was just Tosia talking shit! Just bitchy nonsense! You really killed people?"

  I looked from her, to Vancy, to Larianne, who all had such very different reactions to this information. "Yeah?" I said. "It's a matter of public record that I used vanishing mutton to kill a shipful of pirates in Port Noit."

  Larianne's eyes narrowed. "And you really burned down a dozen city blocks?"

  "It was one foundry. And a scrivener's shop."

  Larianne nodded approvingly. "Very nice. I wouldn't have expected that from you."

  Vancy blurted out, "You seem so nice!"

  "Yes, Vancy, I am nice," I said. "But the people I went after weren't."

  She looked doubtful, and betrayed, but she did nod to indicate that she understood. God, she's like a cocker spaniel with authority over thousands of human lives.

  "So when-"

  "Hi Natalie!" Yheta said, sliding into a seat nearby. "I was starting to think I wouldn't see you at all on your first day! Are you settling in all right?"

  "Yes, Yheta, thank you," I said. "Your advice was very helpful. I haven't seen your sister or my brother around, I think they're running late. Have you eaten?"

  "Oh, I just grab a handpie on my way to homeroom," he said, and smiled. "Introduce us?"

  "Right, yes! Elica, Vancy, Larianne, this is one of my friends from back home, Yheta Snairlin. He's been training to take over the merchant branch of House Snairlin from his uncle, Lewot Snairlin. He's a third-year student, and I've known him almost my entire life. He and I invented egg-spoon races together. Yheta, these are Lady Elica Dandston of the Brunbling Dandstons, earl of her realm, and Countess Vancy Tarcelle, and Countess Larianne Ebonder of House Ebonder."

  "Hi!" Vancy said.

  Larianne gave him a slow, deliberate nod.

  Elica gave a small smile and a huge blush. "Senior," she said, deferentially.

  I looked from her to Yheta, who did not see her reaction at all. No fucking way.

  Elica was fucking smitten. Instant crush before she even knew his name. He could've been a commoner for all she knew. What have I done.

  Larianne looked from Elica who was blushing and couldn't take her eyes off of Yheta, to Yheta who was blind to everything but me, and the to me, who was sitting here helplessly watching it go down. Larianne grinned with a private quiet malicious glee, and it looked like she was almost going to laugh. Out loud.

  Vancy on the other hand noticed nothing.

  I tried to manage the conversation. Tried to phrase questions so that Yheta would look at Elica and speak to her. It did not work. Or to get Elica to talk to anyone except Yheta. It did not work. I've been back in high school for half a day, it's breakfast before orientation, and I'm already caught up in a soap opera love triangle drama.

  Ding. Ding. Ding. Third bell. End of breakfast. Go to your homeroom.

  "Well, Yheta, thanks for stopping by," I said, as we stood. "I know you've got your own social circle to attend to, but thanks for taking the time to help get us acclimated."

  Elica curtseyed to him, still blushing. She had not stopped blushing for half an hour. Larianne stood back with one hand cupping her elbow and the other clasped over her mouth in a way that almost looked casual like she wasn't going to start laughing any minute. Vancy leaned over and gave me a one-armed side-hug. "It's so great meeting Natalie's friends! I was worried she wouldn't have anyone because she's a sorceress!"

  Yheta smiled at her. "Oh, Natalie's special, and I'm sure she'll always find people who recognize that. You all have a great day, pay attention in orientation, I'll probably see you again later on!"

  He swept over to a steam table on the far wall and grabbed something that I swear looked exactly like a Hot Pocket, and he jogged out the door. I looked at the other three, and I was at a loss. Elica was still nonverbal, Larianne was going to break something inside her body if she did not let that laugh out soon, and Vancy needed a pat on the head.

  "I've got my homeroom over in the math building, are you all...?"

  Larianne coughed hard, and shook her head. "I'll get her to her homeroom," she said in a strangled voice, and grabbed Elica by the elbow.

  I patted Vancy on the head. "You're a good friend."

  "Thank you!!"

  I stood back for a minute while they left. I walked over to the near-side wall to the entrance door, and sat down where the angle of the door frame would make me inconspicuous. A few minutes later, Nathan came skidding in, looked around desperately, grabbed a piece of toast from the table that had not been cleared yet, and he sprinted out. I gave him a minute's head start, and then I opened my portal.