It didn't feel like it had been one year since the surrender. The day Antica declared an armistice, Faye's father had come to fetch her from the train station. Her parents had let go of their chauffeur as the invading troops advanced. Supply routes to their allies were choked and the capital of Clare was in ruins from nightly raids. The train line Faye had ridden from her western boarding school was bombed by a zeppelin the day after her journey.
Marc Zimmerman had cut a towering figure, standing head and shoulders above the crowd. She had picked him out in his charcoal homburg hat as soon as she had opened the train car door. Racing through the clouds of steam and drifting flakes, she had thrown her arms around him. Her father had returned the embrace and kissed the crown of her head. Without a word, he led her through the chaos and drove them home. He didn't speak a word until they reached their end of the city.
The lower west side of Clare was a prominent area of the capital. Most of their neighbors were politicians or industrialists. Marc Zimmerman owned a factory that manufactured automobiles, a new but lucrative profession. With the coming of the war, his business had boomed.
"Things are going to look different Faye," he commented. His calm voice rippling with tension.
They passed the brick wall that edged the perimeter of their neighbor's yard. Faye's head spun as she gaped at the street where she had grown up. Her parent's home and houses on either side were intact as were the homes directly across from them. However, all that was left of the rest of the street were piles of icy, smoking rubble.
"It happened last night," Marc Zimmerman choked.
He parked the car on the clear stretch in front of their home. Faye stepped out onto the pavement. The wind caught her loose, dark waves as she stared numbly at the twisted masses of steel and granite. Emergency workers and civilians were peeling back the layers of destruction.
Her eyes fell on Senator Burkesen's mansion. When their home had been hit by the shell, it had fallen to pieces into their neighbor's yard. The fine rod iron fence and tiered fountain were untouched as well as the labyrinth stone pathway that was lined with begonias in summer. However their house had disappeared, leaving a blank piece of sky and the wintry promise of a well-groomed garden.
Faye stood in the eerie silence hemmed only by the stifled weeping and muffled voices of the workers. She had closed her eyes and listened to the snow.
"Faye."
She jolted from her memories. Blinking up into Estella's face, she remembered she was in the frozen courtyard of the Berchten academy.
"Faye," Estella attempted a grin, nudging her in the shoulder with a fist. "Come on. We're going to be late."
Faye stood stiffly as Estella trotted towards the west wing entryway. A snap of mountain wind threw a curl of snow into Faye's heart shaped face. Clutching her books to her chest, her gaze drifted up the side of the building. With a sigh she looked towards the windows of her next class.
Breath got caught in her throat as she realized she was being watched. The Gazette editor, Gustav Wolff, was leaning out the half open window. The breeze tufted his honeyed hair as he nodded to her. It was the first time he had publicly acknowledged her existence. Without returning the courtesy, she sped off after her friend.
"Why do you care so much about how well you do?" Estella asked Faye after she caught up.
The girls paused at the tack board by the classroom where the teacher had posted their latest grades. The scores from their first exam were posted right next to their names. Faye ran her finger down the piece of paper. She smiled.
"Good score," Estella shook her head, ignoring the obvious ogling of a passing Berchten student. "I don't understand your drive. Is it because of what happened that first week? With the reading? Are you trying to make up for it?"
"No, not at all," Faye whispered glancing around to make sure she wasn't heard, "How I see it, if I am going to be forced to graduate from here, I want to do it well. I want to prove to them that I can beat their best."
"So its pride," Estella smirked, "and a weird sense of rebellion."
Faye shrugged, "I suppose you can say that."
As she strode into her history class, the first person she laid eyes on was Gustav. He sat at the desk by the window where she had seen him. His text was open and he seemed to be taking notes. A broad shouldered, dark haired boy next to him punched him in the arm as Faye and Estella entered. They were only two of three Antican girls in the lecture. It was a novelty most of the boys had yet to get used to, though they restrained themselves with that cool Berchten regard. Faye guessed Gustav had recently transferred into the class. Gladys Albert made it just before Professor Hare entered the room.
"If you would open your books to page 57." The balding professor demanded in his nasally voice.
The intense need to make that next perfect score had become all consuming. How Faye saw it, they had never been told they had to marry into Berchten society. She would graduate with honors in the spring and return directly home to her parents.
"The First Empirical War ended with the surrender of Berchta. Undue shame and guilt was heaped on the country. This was particularly directed towards them from Antica." Professor Hare glared from the blackboard at the three girls in the front.
Estella grinned back at the professor as Gladys swallowed a smirk at her reaction. Faye half expected her roommate to wink at the man. Professor Hare's face reddened briefly as he crossed his bony arms over his chest.
"However, Antica soon fell from their fiscal success feeding off of Berchta's loss in the coming years. Their economy dipped at the second election of their ineffectual Prime Minister Harold Bent," He continued, lifting his chin, "I fear it never fully recovered, even as Berchta revived itself from the ashes of incredible loss."
Faye paused mid sentence in her note taking. Professor Hare failed to mention that Antica began to suffer once Berchta declared war on them after Prime Minister Bent had failed to reach a diplomatic truce. Forcing herself to write down the lies, she wondered how she would stomach the next months.
He scratched out in chalk the next point in his lecture. There was a sting at the back of Faye's exposed neck. A thumbnail tack at been thrown at her. She pivoted to see the black haired boy grinning beside Gustav. It was the first show of aggressive flirting she had experienced from a Berchten student. Gustav glanced at her apathetically before returning to his note taking. With a seething glower to the other boy, she focused her attention on the professor.
A paper clip was snapped in her direction and fell down the back of her khaki uniform jacket. There was a chorus of chortles from the black haired boy's row. She turned once more as she reached down the neck of her coat for the clip.
"Please stop," she whispered harshly to the boy. He leaned back in his chair, jutting out his handsome jaw with an admiring gawk in her direction.
"Miss Zimmerman." Professor Hare barked.Faye grimaced, realizing this was the second time in her life she had ever been called out by an authority figure. She peered over into his heavy glare. "I expect you to control yourself in my classroom," He snapped, "You may continue this mating ritual at some other time." The troublemakers could barely contain themselves at the accusation. Faye's face flared up.
"I'm sorry, Professor. It won't happen again." She managed.
"I don't know if she'll be able to help herself, Professor." The black haired boy chuckled behind her. Hare merely rolled his eyes in his direction and returned to the lecture.
As soon as the class was over, Faye shot from her seat before either Gladys or Estella could say anything.
"Where you off to so fast, Antican?" The black haired boy was at her side, trying to keep up in the busy hallway, "I thought we had some unfinished business back there."
"Please leave me alone," Faye replied blandly. She kept her eyes straight ahead.
"Oh come on, I was only trying to meet you. You girls are tough to talk to," he chuckled, attempting a breezy tone. "You never know which one of you will be able to understand us. After that impressive reading of yours a couple weeks back, I thought you'd be a sure bet-"
"Is this how you get all your girls? By bullying them?" she demanded, halting at the library doors and sharply pivoting to face him.
"I'd hardly call this bullying," he smirked, revealing divorced front teeth. "Just a friendly conversation."
"You Berchtens wouldn't know a friendly gesture if it hit you between the eyes."
"I could think of a few." He lifted a heavy eyebrow suggestively. Faye swallowed back a wave of nausea.
"Anson," Gustuv appeared at his side, "Are you two finished? I need to discuss the Gazette with Miss Zimmerman."
"I think we're done here for now," Anson kept his gaze on Faye as he backed away, "I hope to have another friendly conversation with you real soon, Faye Zimmerman."
With a shaky breath, Faye ducked into the library. Gustav silently followed her through the tall stacks of books, their boots clicking on the stone floor.
"You didn't have to rescue me back there." She snapped, pausing at an isolated study cubicle by a stained glass window, "I could have handled it."
"I honestly don't care what I interrupted," Gustav rested his forearm on the side of a book case. "What I want to know is if you are interested in the Gazette or not. I have given you a couple weeks. I cannot keep the position open for you exclusively."
Faye tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Honestly, she had considered refusing it. Despite the fact that it represented an escape and a chance to do what she truly loved, she sensed he had offered it to her from guilt. However, from his present tone, she realized he wasn't the kind of guy who did anything from pity or obligation.
"Well?" he persisted with a heavy sigh, leveling her with a weary stare.
She noticed shadows of exhaustion dusting his cheek bones. Absently, she wondered what stole his sleep.
"What kind of writing would it be?"
"Athletics and activities reporting."
Faye smirked. A glimmer of amusement brushed across his face. Gustav shifted on his feet looking towards the window.
"Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose." She murmured.
"Bring your portfolio by the end of the day and leave it on the desk in the office." He took a step back, "I'll read over it and let you know soon if you have got the job."
"I appreciate the opportunity," she blurted out with a shrug.
"After that display in the dining room, Miss Zimmerman, I don't expect to see any weak writing from you."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment," His expression hardened. "That was a challenge."
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