The carriages stopped at a gate. The silver and gold reflections shone onto them, painting them in the radiant glow.
A foot popped out of one of the carriages.
The golden gates of Blackburn's Academy opened.
the grass, trimmed to an equal length, the trees, all brimming with life. Leaves, shiny and silky.
The pavement, so clean that one could walk barefoot on it.
Children walked through the gates, eyes wide open and dumb struck by awe.
" Wow! This place is amazing," a voice came from outside the gate.
Jake, one of Lilly's brothers, was in shock.
" I never thought I'd see any other place cleaner than our castle." He spoke.
A grim smile, going from ear to ear, appeared on his face,
His eyes glimmered as he rubbed his hands together while giggling.
" You know you'll be sent back home if you do anything stupid, Jake," said Scott, another one of Lilly's brothers.
"Come on dude, I have to leave a mark somewhere," Jake said.
He sighed with his eyes closed, and his shoulders dropped. The look on his face told a story.
" Jake, take a look over there," Scott said, tapping Jake's shoulder.
" Oh, it's Lilly," said Jake," Who cares about Lilly? I'm talking about Nisha, you idiot," Scott yelled after hitting Jake in the skull.
Nisha stepped out of the carriage. Her long brown hair blew in the wind, and her skin shone in the radiant sun.
The two brothers had their mouths open.
Time seemed to slow down for a moment. Her fragrance, like flowers blooming in the spring.
Their nose followed her dancing hair.
" She's as beautiful as always," they said.
" Sigh, you guys are so typical, you know no one's prettier than Lilly," someone spoke from behind.
Jacod, the son of Marther, the fifth wife to the king of Emberfall.
" Yeah, yeah, we know," the two said.
" We all know she's the prettiest girl in the whole world," they all spoke in simultaneously.
" To be honest, I still don't get how she acts," Scott said.
" Yeah, like the way she never looks sideways whenever she walks," Jacob says.
" I remember the last time we tried to play with her," said Jake.
" You guys will never change!" another person said from behind.
" Why should we? Nothing's wrong with us," said Scott.
" Besides, if anyone's weird, it's you, Travis," said Jake.
" No matter how many times you try to get Nisha, you end up failing and embarrassing yourself, and yet you keep on trying," Jacob said.
" Not to mention being rejected so many times," said Jake while he chuckled.
" At least I'm trying; all you guys do is stock her all day," Travis defended himself.
At a distance, Nisha watched the boys argue.
" So, they're back to their old habits again," Nisha said.
" Pay them no mind, Nisha, just focus on what's ahead," Lilly told Nisha.
" Who is she?"
" I don't know."
" Hey, look, it's the first princess of Emberfall,"
" Wait, you mean Lilly?"
" Yeah!"
" I knew she was pretty, but that's just off the charts."
" And the other one must be Nisha."
" Must be great to be the princess's pet."
" Some of us worked hard to get here."
" All she had to do was play dog for the royal family."
" Hah, well, what do you expect from trash from the forest?"
Whispers of the two girls circled the school.
Nisha was an obstacle for most.
Many had tried to win Lilly's favor. Nisha was the only one by the princess's side, which made the others grind their teeth.
" Nisha, I hope you're ready for your first objective?" Lilly asked
" Yes, princess, all preparations have been made," she replied.
" Good, I expect nothing but your best," Lilly continued.
" Oh my god, it's Mark!"
The path cleared, girls stood on the sides of the pavement, watching as he passed by.
The golden lining on the white coat he wore glittered in the sun.
his head held high with his hands in his pocket.
his blond hair, perfectly combed backwards, straight trousers, and shiny black shoes.
" Come on, just go," one of the girls in the crowd whispered.
A girl fell in front of him; she was pushed.
" No, th... this can't be happening," she panickily whispered to herself as she reached out her hands, trying to grab onto one of her friends as she descended.
Thump. " Huh?"
She faced the ground, which was a foot away from her.
" Are you okay?" Mark asked the girl.
The girl slowly turned her head, and her gaze met Mark's.
The wind seemed to stop blowing, the crowd, silent, and only Lilly's and Nisha's footsteps.
" Am. I... I'm fine, thanks for catching me," she shyly replied.
" Thank goodness, be careful next time," Mark said as she put her back on her feet.
Her hands, put together, covered her face, her eyes wide open, and her cheeks bright red.
" Well, have a good day, milady," he said.
She stood on that same spot, completely silenced as Mark walked off.
" Wow, Becky."
" You actually fell into his arms."
Her friends shrieked and danced around her.
" Becky! Becky!"
" Oh, I think she's still in love land," they all giggled.
Becky stared at him as he walked off.
" He looked right through me," Becky whispered." Like I was never even there."
His face flashed in her mind.
His eyes never looked at her.
He was completely focused on something else.
" Like I was just a destruction," she murmured to herself.
" Huh?"
Her friends paused around her and watched Mark walk towards Lilly.
" Princess, how was your trip?" Mark asked Lilly.
" Hey, guys, it's another Idiot trying to get Lilly's attention again," Scott scoffed.
" Well, he's up for a rude awakening," Jaske answered.
Lilly then said, " I'd had worse, but it was a quiet journey."
" What?" The boys shouted.
" She barely answers in two words, but she actually gave him a full statement," Travis said.
" It's obvious why she wouldn't talk to you, Travis, but she actually did a curtsy while saying that," Scott said.
" Who is that guy anyway?" Jacob asked.
" And who does he think he is, talking so casually to Lilly like he knows her?" Jake said.
" It's been a while, Mark, first prince of Frostfire," she put with emphasis on the prince's title.
Lilly knew her brothers had a habit of listening to her conversations.
" Nisha, this is Mark, and mark this is Nisha, my right hand," Lilly said.
" I can't believe this, they're still talking," Travis said.
Lilly's brothers shot arrows from their eyes.
" For some reason, my back feels like burning. Let's move to a quiet place to talk," Mark said.
" Oh! come on! now they're going somewhere?" Jacob shouted.
" Who exactly is that guy?" shouted Jack as they watched them walk away.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
Footsteps echoed from the corners of the huge building.
Lilly, Nisha, and Mark walked around the school without a word coming out of their mouths.
The school grounds were packed with students, and it was hard for them to find a place where they could talk peacefully.
" Finally, we found a place where we could talk," Mark said.
They were behind the school's training grounds change room. The only place in the school that had no one at that time of day.
" So, did you find anything useful for me?" Lilly asked.
" Wow, not even a sorry for the trouble."
" Well, what would I expect from the Iron Princess?"
"Anyway, back to business. I found some information on the files you wanted."
It was a little hard to get them though, so you know."
" How about my little payment?" Mark asked with anticipation all over his face.
" Fine, come to my room later this evening and I'll see what I can do," Lilly replied as she walked away.
" I can't believe this!" Jacob said.
" How is it that she's comfortable talking to a random stranger but can't bother talking to her own brothers?"
" It's not fair," Travis said as they all clenched their fists at the sight of Prince Mark.
Thump!
One last person came from the carriages and went into the school gate.
" Well, look at what we have here, it's our little crybaby," Scott mocked.
" Would you guys cut me some slack?" the boy said. " You always do this.
"Ever since Lilly came back from that griffin attack, you started acting all distant from her."
" You're so scared you don't even talk to her."
" At some point, we actually thought you were the one who caused the incident to happen."
Peter's head dropped, his eyes watered up, and his shoulders rose. He let out a tiny whimper, saying, "You're all the same," and ran off into the school.
They all stood there watching him run away like a baby running to his mother.
" Hm, I wonder why he never gets used to that?" said Jacob.
" Just forget about that guy for now, we need to find the others," said Scott.
"They probably found pretty toys to play with by now."
The boys then all ran off into the school grounds.
Meanwhile, Lilly waited in the school dorm hall. She waited for Nisha to get their dorm keys.
Nisha was at the register, getting their room booking and registering their names.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Someone walked close to Lilly.
She stretched her hand out to Lilly, saying, " Hello, my name is Britney Siverwine, nice to meet you, Iron Princess."
Lilly stared at her hand.
She scanned her from top to bottom.
Pink eyes, blond hair styled to perfection, bright pink lips, and a cheery face.
Meanwhile, Lilly was in her black covered dress, white long-sleeved gloves, and straight, flowing, shiny black hair.
" Wow, she's pretty bright," Lilly thought as she stretched out her hand.
" Nice to meet you too," she replied.
Grab!
Briteny pulled Lilly's hand to get her close.
" If you try anything like that little stunt earlier with Mark again, I won't be so kind next time," she whispered in Lilly's ear.
" I hope you like it here, and have fun while you can," Briteny said, smiling as she turned and walked away.
" Hm, another one," Lilly thought to herself.
" She actually looks like her, to be honest."
Her mind drifted off to her past. She remembered a blonde girl from back home.
" Jenny, I wonder what she's up to now," Lilly whispered to herself.
A picture of purple lips grinning at her flashed in her mind.
" I have our room keys, princess," Nisha said.
" Good, we have to start preparations as soon as possible," Lilly said with her eyes sharpened.
They walked to a door, " room number seven," Nisha said.
She opened the door, went in with Lilly, and closed the door behind her.
Sometime after, their bags arrived at their door.
Nisha took them in and closed the door again.
" Would you like me to start the inspection, princess?" Nisha asked.
Lilly answered, " No, I'd like some fresh air this evening, and I haven't even stretched yet."
" As you wish, Princess," Nisha replied.
She looked out the window as the wind blew the leaves in the trees.
In the school halls, an angry Briteny pushed through the crowd, walking towards Mark.
She spots the white jacket and the blond hair from a distance and marches straight to him.
" Mark!" she shouted, though right next to him.
Mark turned to see the blonde-haired Briteny and turned back to his friend and said, " Sorry, guys, I have to leave you here for now."
Though the corridors were already crowded, her footsteps hit the ground so hard that it sounded like she was the only one in the school hall.
She took him to a secluded place in the school grounds.
" Mark, can I ask you something?" she asked, her tone full of rage.
" Sure," he said with a sweat dropping from the side of his face.
Briteny clearly looked flustered about something.
She brought her breath together and asked," Who was that girl?"
She let go of Mark's hand and turned to look him in the eye and asked again, " Who was that girl?"
"She's an old friend from one of my family connections," he replied.
Britney then faced the floor, her expression darkened.
Then she asked, " Am I not enough?"
" Am I really not enough for you?"
"You've been doing this since we came to school."
"Why?"
" Am I really not enough for you?"
Tears run down her face.
She let out a deep breath and said, "Fine, since you don't seem to care about me, I'll make sure you do."
Mark just stood there with his hands in his pockets.
He lets out a sigh and says, " You really think I could be with a person like you?"
" Are you even in your right mind?"
"Just look at Lilly, she beats you in both your looks and your status."
" And here you are thinking you could satisfy me."
" Hm hm hm, how funny,"
" Maybe I would consider making you a concubine."
Mark looks at Briteny, towering over her, staring into her eyes.
She took a foot back.
Briteny's figure seemed to shrink.
She gazed into Mark's eyes.
Her eyes teared up, she bit her lips and clenched her fists with her arms straight.
She walked away silently, with her face facing the floor.
Mark straightened his jacket and dusted his shoulder.
" Hah... That what you get for making child hod friends," Mark thought
He closed his eyes and face the sky.
" The sky sure is beautiful today," he said out loud.
The wind blew past, pushing some leaves across the school grounds.
" Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen."
Chants of Lilly counting filled her room.
She stood at the side of her bed, counting as Nisha pushed herself up and down.
Nisha's body drenched in sweat, breath clouds blowing towards the window and disappearing into the air.
" Keep going, you still have seventy more pushups to do," Lilly shouted.
Lilly watched as Nisha's arms trembled as she pushed her body up and down with a weight on her back.
Knock! Knock!
There was someone at the door.
She told Nisha to stop and go put everything away.
Nisha dropped to the floor, her body all tuckered out.
She then pushed the heavy weight of her back.
It maid cracks on the ground.
'Nisha! what did I say about dropping equipment on the ground," Lilly scolded Nisha.
Nisha apologized and put away all the training equipment.
Lilly put on her long-sleeved gloves and went to open the door.
as the door opened, it revealed mark standing outside the door.
" May I come in milady?" he asked