The frozen morning air hurt to breathe. Tugging her collar up around her ears, Faye skirted a patch of ice on the courtyard cobblestones. She had received permission to leave breakfast early in order to find Gustav before her first class.
The domed gymnasium complex loomed against the pearly horizon. As she swept in through one of the large oaken doors, Faye removed her gloves and breathed onto her frigid fingers. Frosty sunlight streamed down from the glass ceiling. She peered up into the spidery veins of gold framing that stretched the length of the cathedral ceiling. Dodging the ski team, she cut down one of the hallways leading to the boxing training area.
She entered the windowless room, the hardwood floor gleaming from a recent waxing. The ring stood in the corner where a coach was instructing a younger student in his proper stance. Gustav was practicing with a punching bag that swung heavily from the ceiling. He wore his PT uniform with the black shorts and crisp white tank, his hands wrapped without gloves. The silver snow leopard outline of the Empire was printed in the middle of his chest.
Faye paused at the center of the room, clutching her notebook to her middle. The rhythm of his punches to the massive bag grew more frenzied. She cocked her head to the side, moving forward one weak step. The cuffs of his shoulder blades rippled against the damp folds of his shirt, golden waves flopping over his forehead and flinging drops of perspiration. His green gaze was intense on the bag. A wave of interest washed over her for the Gazette editor.
Increasingly, she was drawn to Gustav, a feeling that left her ashamed. She remembered how her mother had turned up her nose at the young women in Clare who allowed Berchten soldiers to use them for trinkets like cigarettes and chocolate. Though some of them were sleeping with the invading soldiers for food to feed their families, Faye's mother refused to show pity. She said she would rather starve than watch her daughter pimp herself out for meager rations. Faye wondered if their situation at the school was any different.
"Enjoying the view?"
Faye jolted and face caught fire as she peered over at Anson Goldrick. He swaggered alongside her, a knowing look in his dark gaze. Her eyes cut away from his smirk, "I need to talk to Gustav about a piece for the Gazette."
"Of course you do." He replied curtly, his large hands folded at the small of his back. Anson wore his PT uniform as well with a tightly rolled, clean towel draped around his thick neck, "You should stick around. Gustav and I will be having another practice match as soon as he's done over there."
"Why? So I can see you get knocked out again?"
Anson shrugged, "I hear you have been volunteering at the hospital in town. Maybe you could nurse me back to health."
"Or maybe not." Faye replied with apathetic coolness.
Anson let out a low whistle, "Watch it, Ice Queen. You have been garnering quite the chilly reputation for yourself. Nobody will want to escort you to the Emperor's Birthday Gala if you keep that up."
"The what?"
Anson sauntered towards the ring, "Gustav! Someone here to see you!"
As Gustav's penetrating stare shot in her direction, Faye's stomach dropped. She stalked towards him.
"Yes?" He panted, wiping the sweat from his upper lip with his forearm.
"The article on the swim meet. There is a problem," Faye cut to the chase.
"What's the problem?" Gustav asked, brushing past her.
Faye followed, feeling like a puppy at the heels of its master. Gustav stopped at a bench on the other side of the room where a silver canteen sat alongside a fresh towel.
"Well?" Gustav prompted again with an edge to his voice.
"At the meet, the Antican girls won by a rather large margin." Faye answered calmly, refusing to be cowed by his impatience, "I was concerned on how to write that from a pro-Berchten perspective."
Gustav swallowed down a mouthful of water, eyeing her thoughtfully, "Why?"
"You said to see with the eyes of the Emperor. What can I use from an event where non-Berchtens beat those of the superior race in an athletic competition?"
"That's an easy spin." Gustav sat down, dabbing his forehead with the towel, "Remember that first week when Burns forced you to publicly apologize to the school for speaking Antican?"
Faye shifted on her feet, "Of course."
"He said something interesting that struck me. He said you betrayed your own race by speaking Antican, therefore implying you are Berchten."
"Of course I am, at least half. I wouldn't be in this damnable country if I wasn't."
"So the girls that won the swim meet, technically they are Berchten too. Right?" Gustav continued, nonplussed by her annoyance.
"Yes."
He smirked. Faye bit her lip as his point hit home, "Stop writing them as the Antican girls and begin to refer to them as Berchten."
Gustav rose and took a few lazy steps towards her, "Exactly. It's what they want from you anyway. It's why you're in this damnable country in the first place. To see if you can be molded into one of us, then married off and anchored here for good."
Faye snorted, "I'd like to see them try."
Gustav studied her face, his mouth parting and eyes reading a mix of pity and concern. The hair on the back of her neck rose with inexplicable fear. Gustav pointed towards her notebook before striding away, "My desk by the end of the day. Make this one count, Zimmerman."
That afternoon, Faye arrived at the library. She scanned the room and found Estella sitting with Belle and Gladys at one of the long, square tables. Estella already had her book and papers laid out.
"Better late than never, Faye." Estella's eyes flashed with amusement, "This certainly isn't like you."
"I'm sorry, I know. I had to drop off my story at the Gazette office," she apologized, sitting across from her.
"The one on the swim meet?"
Faye nodded briskly, retrieving her notes from the most recent history lecture.
"You make me sound good in it?" Estella grinned.
"I didn't have to make you sound good, Stell. You were good."
"Please don't feed the monster." Gladys droned, peeking up from her geography book, "Her ego doesn't need it."
Estella laughed. However, her smile swiftly twisted and fell as she gaped over Faye's shoulder.
"What is it?" Faye turned towards the door.
Cecilia ran into the library, her chin tucked to her chest as she tightly clutched her books. A boy that Faye didn't recognize raced in after her. Even from a distance, Cecilia's roommates could tell their friend wasn't comfortable with him.
"That's Leo Schwab." Belle cooed, "He's quite the catch. His father works directly with the Emperor's cabinet."
Leo Schwab backed Cecilia into a bookcase and closed the distance between them. He rested his hand on a shelf over her head and leaned in close. Estella rose slowly from her seat as he ran a lean finger down the side of Cecilia's face. Cecilia weakly swatted it away. In response, he roughly grasped her chin. Cecilia dropped her books to the library floor with a thud.
"Hey!" Estella snapped loud enough to be heard across the library.
Leo whipped his wolfish countenance towards their table, his lips curling back in bitter amusement. Taking advantage of his distraction, Cecilia scooped up her books and sprinted towards them. Leo shook his white blonde head, backing up to the door with his eyes glittering on Cecilia. He disappeared into the hallway.
"What the hell was that, Cil?" Estella demanded, her forehead puckering.
Cecilia's hands were trembling as she laid her books on the table and sank into a chair. She inhaled deeply, her pale blue eyes darting up to Estella's face, "Leo Schwab. He's been hanging around for quite some time," she whispered, opening her geography book.
Belle snorted, "Well, aren't you something else? You've bagged yourself a Schwab. That's a real achievement there."
"She looks thrilled about it, Belle," Gladys grouched dryly.
"Has he been bothering you, Cil?" Faye asked carefully, giving Estella a pointed look to take a seat.
"Do you remember when I told you that first day that it felt like some of the students had a predatory look about them?" Cecilia frowned, "Well, Exhibit A just left the library."
"Jackass," Gladys snarled under her breath.
"I think she should be flattered. You don't know what you've got there, do you?" Belle pouted, picking up her things, "My mother told me that we needed to take advantage of our situation. That we should find a good Berchten match and Leo Schwab is the very best. Don't waste your chance, Cecilia."
Cecilia's face blanched. Faye threw Belle a scowl as she stood from the table. Faye laid a hand on Cecilia's shoulder, "Don't worry, Cil. You don't have to talk to him if you don't want to. Just keep your head down, your mouth shut and we'll all go home."
"If you're all determined to go back to a ruined country without anything to show for it, be my guest. If you don't want him, Cil, I'll take him." Belle announced, arrogantly tossing back her toffee brown head.
"You're an idiot, Belle," Estella growled, peering up at her with narrowed eyes.
Belle sniffed and flounced away.
"New money," Gladys Albert chuckled and peered back down at her text book, "Desperate for anything to help their status, I suppose."
The Alberts were the richest family in Clare with one of the most prominent reputations in the country. They had helped build the flourishing economy that Antica had enjoyed up until the Empirical Wars. Gladys was the youngest daughter and rumored to be the plainest. With a snap temper and pessimistic outlook, her family was more than happy to send her to Berchta while they tried to establish relations with their invaders. Though she was down to earth for the most part, Gladys had a lingering air of snobbery that occasionally reared its ugly head.
As Cecilia's thin frame relaxed, she rested her pointed chin on the heel of her hand. She thoughtfully tapped the end of her pencil against her text book, "He did say something interesting though. Something about a Gala."
Faye nodded, "I have heard about that recently as well."
"It's to celebrate the Emperor's birthday," Estella interjected, "I was in Tyr the year before the invasion with my mother and we attended it."
"Will we have to go?" Faye asked incredulously, "Surely as Anticans-"
"We aren't anymore though, can't you see?" Gladys snorted, "We just had this entire conversation in Berchten without one word in our mother tongue. Even Cil managed it flawlessly."
Cecilia smiled, "Thank you."
"I'm not sure that's a compliment. They are acclimating us and we are getting used to the water," Gladys leaned back in her chair.
"Not all of us." Estella murmured.
Faye wet her lips with a cringe, unwilling to have a conversation about Estella's rebel leanings, "So we are going to be forced to attend said event?"
Cecilia shrugged, "That's what Leo Schwab was talking about. He was asking to be my escort. I wouldn't be surprised if Mauntrel announced it in the next couple days."
"The Emperor's birthday is Friday so the event will probably be held this weekend." Estella added.
Faye swallowed hard, "What if we don't want to go?"
Estella scoffed with a sardonic smile in her direction, "Do you actually believe they will give us the choice?"
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