Chương 7: Introductions - Alexandria Renard

Let the record show that this court is appalled by the jury's verdict in the matter of The People v. Derek Mallory. The evidence laid bare during this trial left no room for ambiguity. Derek Mallory did not simply commit a crime; he committed an act of cruelty so calculated, so devastating, that it defies comprehension. The disfigurement of a young girl is not just an assault on her body, but on her future, her identity, and her ability to live without fear.

That a jury could emerge from these proceedings and declare this man "not guilty" is not only unfathomable, it is a betrayal of justice. To the victim, I say this: the truth was seen, heard, and felt in this courtroom, even if it was not reflected in the verdict. To Derek Mallory, do not mistake your release for vindication; the law may be forced to let you walk free, but you will never escape what you've done. To the jury: your decision today will haunt more than headlines.

It will haunt the conscience of anyone who still believes that our justice system should protect the innocent and hold the monstrous accountable. I understand the anger at the end of the Dark Civil War, but a young girl is not the person to take it out on. Judge's closing remarks in The People vs Derek Mallory One more time. Alexandria told herself. She wiped sweat off her face, reset her practice wand, and went through the 44 fundamental wand motions again in an empty classroom. Her face burned.

It was like a thousand termites burrowing into her skin, like a million ants eating at her one bite at a time. It was an old pain, but it never went away. Never changed. It wasn't one of those things that she could adapt to or make better. Just another one of the massive heap of shit fate had thrown onto her. She finished the movements with a flourish and paused. It was graduation day. Was there anything else she should be doing? Anything better that could be done? Alexandria shook her head.

No, primary school graduation was pointless. Practicing her magic was a far better use of her time. Camelot was only a few weeks away, and she'd need every advantage she could get. There were only so many years her magical core would be growing, and Alexandria would be damned to the nine circles of hell before she missed any of that time. Damned if she missed any of that time because she needed to learn fundamentals. Alexandria's face flared up, and she grimaced. Damn the Morsins.

She could live with the pain, but it was going to be hard to find a coven, not with the brush they'd tarred her with. Alexandria heard familiar footsteps in the hallway outside. She grimaced, and tried to focus, hoping they'd leave her alone. No luck. It was probably the last day they'd ever see each other. Instead of hanging out with their friends before they scattered to the dozen different schools of magic, they decided to torment her one last time. Brittany and Nicole stopped outside of the room.

Brittany went in, refilling the bowls of milk, wine, and honey for the bwca, while Nicole stood at the door, leaning on it. Alexandria was trapped. Magic forbid she try to push her way out, that'd be 'attacking another student' and get her thrown out so fast. Nevermind the penalties the bwca would extract for messing with their offerings. No matter how bad things got, nobody messed with a bwca's offerings. The two girls staged a loud conversation with each other.

"Can you believe she's still practicing magic?" Brittany asked.

"Yeah, it's like she thinks she's a real person or something." Nicole responded.

"Frankly, I'd rather be a noonie than her." Brittany snarked. Nicole giggled.

"I think I'd kill myself in her shoes. Like, can you imagine having to touch that freak?" She shuddered dramatically.

"Well, they're well-matched. Gods knows nobody else would touch her with that face of hers if they didn't have to." Constant pain had worn away at Alexandria's temper and self-control. She wanted to run over to the girls and simply punch them, or otherwise visit violence on them. Except Alexandria had gone past her last warning. Primrose Preparatory had warned Alexandria multiple times. She'd gotten detention, suspended, and even expelled once.

Only her family's intervention - and a large pile of money - had gotten her back into Primrose, but Alexandria was on her absolute, last, no-amount-of-money-or-influence-will-change-things warning. One more fight, one more altercation, and she was gone. The secretary had made sure to leak the news to the girls, because fuck Alexandria's life, and they had pounced with a fervor. All they needed to do was get her to throw one more punch, curse them out with one more tool, and Alexandria was done for.

No graduating primary school, no magic school. No magic school, no magic. No magic, and the name of Alexandria Renard would never be spoken of in the same breath as Morgana Le Fey. More likely, she'd be compared to Merlin, may he burn for eternity in the ninth circle of hell. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Fuck Merlin. It was graduation day, but until she walked across the stage and got her letter, she wasn't done.

Magic made it likely that any letter waiting for her would vanish if she got expelled before walking. One more time. Alexandria went through the motions.

"Hey! Alex! If you don't know the fundamental motions by now, practicing won't help!" Brittany shouted.

"Yeah, moron, exams were last week!" Nicole added. She stage-whispered to Brittany.

"Do you think she knows there's no more time magic?" Hot rage coursed through Alex's veins, but she was saved from doing anything terminally stupid by Vivian. The vivacious blonde pushed her way past Nicole, daring her to do something. It was Wednesday, which meant Vivian was dressed in yellow. From her yellow ribbons on her black uniform robes, to earrings, ribbon tied in a bow to shoes, everything was color coordinated.

Vivian's anima was known to be a honeybee, the same as the rest of her family, and the minor signs of her magical heritage were her golden eyes and honey-yellow hair. In the same way, the Renard family's anima was the red fox. Both of them were common cores, the same as the vast majority of wixen.

"Alex! That's where you were! Come on, let's get going before we're late! I want to go shopping in Paris after, come with? My parents gave me three Aurelli to celebrate!" Nicole scuffed loudly. Vivian whirled on her, and sighed.

"It's such a shame about your knees." She said.

"What?" Nicole asked warily, sensing the trap but diving into it.

"They'll never look as good as they do now. Only way you won't fail out of Boot. A shame, they're your best feature." Vivian hammered the point home by repeatedly thrusting her tongue in her cheek. Nicole went red, and Brittany tugged on her arm.

"Come on, let's go." She said. Brittany couldn't resist one last parting shot.

"Everyone knows gingers have no souls!" Vivian held out her arm, stopping Alexandria. She breathed heavily, then shook her head.

"Thanks." She hissed. It was the loudest she could go.

"I can't have my ticket to Camelot go and get expelled minutes before graduating. You can get expelled after." Vivian teased. Alexandria knew the teasing was good-natured and well-meaning, and didn't take offense. She gave as good as she got.

"Yeah, how else are you going to marry rich." Alexandria hoarsely whispered. Vivian flipped her hair back.

"You make it sound so crass." She complained.

"I'm not looking to marry rich. But I know in the next eight years the odds are very good that I'll meet someone, fall in love, and get married. Teen Witch is very clear on the numbers. If I'm going to fall in love with someone, why not be in an environment where all the cute boys are well off?" Alexandria rolled her eyes and didn't comment. Vivian didn't like any comments about her being 'as shallow as a puddle', and they were inaccurate to boot. She was more nervous about the letter than she wanted to let on.

Her betrothal to Erik Morsin simply made it very likely that she'd get to Camelot. Her own efforts and work made it likely that the magic of the College and its Quill would select her. Just as magic would know if she was expelled, it also knew her grades were not representative of her efforts. Sabotage by her classmates and her teachers turning a blind eye mattered for the grade book, but not for magic itself. By the same token, if Vivan got a letter or not would be a strong indicator.

The queen bee of the school claimed they were BFFs, but Vivian was Alex's only friend. It was easy to say. It was harder to do, but Vivan had been a solid friend ever since they met. The letter would be the final confirmation. If Alex got one and Vivian didn't, it meant it was all a mask. A facade, a lie. It would prove that every mean word the other girls said had been true - that nobody wanted to be friends with the cursed girl, Alexandria Renard.

Vivian hooked her arm in Alex's and the two girls started to walk to the sports field, where graduation was. All around them the other girls were bustling around the hallways. Saying goodbye to each other, signing yearbooks, and cleaning out their locker. A few of the girls were doing some last-second Monsters and Magic card trades, or returning borrowed items. It was clear a number of them hadn't learned the lesson about books properly, and would be swiftly abandoned by their aids in a few weeks.

More members of Vivan's group gravitated towards her, and the two had to make frequent stops.

"Amelia! I can't believe it's the end. Did you get the unicorn grade in Modern Wardens and Commanders?" The girl in question shook her head.

"Oh no! Well, perfection is overrated. Djinn is just as good, and everyone knows it."

"Celine! Darling! You're looking smashing! I knew you could do it! The Initiates won't know what hit them!" Vivian had a kind word for everyone, and had made it clear years ago - Alexandria was off limits for mean remarks. None of them had particularly warmed up to the prickly girl, but there were no derogatory comments headed in her direction.

"I assume that's why you finally got your parents to buy you a maturation potion?" Alexandria hissed in a brief pause. She hadn't missed the butterfly pin in Vivian's hair either. The bouncy blonde winked.

"Just a drop!" She said, the two girls still walking arm in arm.

"Don't want to cause any problems for myself." Alexandria rolled her eyes.

"Only you Viv. Only you." She whispered. The girl beamed.

"Don't you know it." The two girls made their way out to the field, and went to find their respective spots. Merryweather ahead of Renard. The principal took the stage, and began her speech.

"It is my great honor to see another generation of girls grow up. To see you all complete your primary years, and move onto the next great phase of your life. To see you all grow up and become fine young Initiates. The Enlightening years are magical in every way. Not just in spellcraft, but in the magic of relationships and friendships. If there is anything you take away from Primrose…" The principal's speech took nearly an hour, and Alexandria finally spotted her family. Only her mother had come.

Her brothers were off at the Imperial College, but there wasn't a great excuse for her father not to attend. It was an expected blow, but the expectation did little to dull the disappointment. Eventually, the principal introduced the guest speaker, Countess Epine. She began her speech, waxing on lyrically for almost an hour about the 'wonderful phase of the life they were about to experience', all while the hot summer sun beat down on them.

Cooling and other environmental charms kept things comfortable, but there were no charms for the constant standing and sitting. No charm for the burning across Alexandria's face and neck. The Countess finished off her speech with a display of magic.

"... Argentum Anima!" She shouted, thrusting her ringed hand into the sky. The magical core on the ring glowed, and a silvery goat-like creature manifested next to her. It trotted around the stage, its four horns looking particularly sharp. Alexandria dutifully clapped along with everyone else, and finally it was time. The graduating class lined up, and names were called.

"Abbot!" The principal called, and the girl in question walked across the stage. The girl was handed a fancy diploma and a thick envelope with the Primrose sigil on it - naturally, a rose. Alexandria wanted to roll her eyes at it. It was only primary school, a diploma meant nothing. What was hidden in the envelope meant the world. The next name was called up, and Abbot walked off the stage. Her family was waiting for her, and Alexandria ignored the diploma being granted in favor of watching Abbot's face.

With her whole family watching her, she unsealed the envelope. Her smile wavered, and suddenly looked like broken glass. Not what she wanted, but not The Boot. A miracle of spatial enchantment, the entire building - or the entire boot, depending on how one looked at it - persistently smelled of old feet. Witch after witch, their fates were decided by a large envelope. A couple of them were lucky enough to pull two letters from their envelopes, given an option of how they wanted to spend their Enlightening Years.

"Merryweather!" The principal called, and Alexandria couldn't keep her eyes off the girl. She bounced across the stage, shook the principal's hand with great enthusiasm, and was ripping her envelope open the moment her feet touched the grass. Vivian's eyes lit up, and she waved the letter inside over to Alexandria. A smile worked its way across Alexandria's face, pulling painful scar tissue the whole way. She had a friend. She was going to Camelot, and she had a friend.