"For first choice, I put Witch," muttered Veheli, still feeling like scum.

"That's wonderful, dear!" smiled Nelia, completely missing the anger and pain in her daughter's voice. "First choice, though? What do you mean?"

"This year, you can put in a second choice," Veheli informed her mother. "Just in case, for some reason you don't fit the standers of the class you want, or something like that."

"Not get into the class you want to be in?" Nelia exclaimed, aghast. "Why, that's unheard-of! Imagine not getting your first choice! Oh, what would you do?"

"I'd be an enchantress," replied Veheli calmly. "I wouldn't mind."

"But I would!" cried Nelia.

Tines would, you mean, Veheli thought bitterly.

Oblivious to her daughter's thoughts, Nelia continued. "I'm going to go over there to complain! If you are denied your first choice, why, that's just criminal! I swear--"

"Look, Mother, they haven't told us yet, we don't find out until tomorrow what school we're going to. I'll almost definitely get my first choice, so there's no point worrying about it," Veheli told Nelia. I'm not lucky enough to be one of those few who have to go with their second choice, the bitter voice in Veheli's head spoke up. Veheli did her best to ignore it and continued. "Anyway, even if I am, you shouldn't argue with the Council. I'd be content to be an enchantress if that's what happens, so you should be too."

Nelia sighed and put a hand on Veheli's shoulder. Instinctively, the girl shied away from her mother's hand. She didn't realize what she was doing until it was too late, but the damage was done. Nelia seemed really hurt.

"Sorry," Veheli apologized falteringly. Though Veheli was not close to her mother, she did care about her and love her. She nervously looked around the room, noting everything, how it was so different from her old life. With all the shiny polished floors that Veheli was sure were marble, the pastel silk drapes, the huge feather bed, all the girl felt was that she'd much prefer the hard wooden floors, the cotton drapes, the chores that she'd had before the war.

"Sorry? For what?" Nelia said after a moment, put up a smile. Nelia always did that; if something was wrong, she never showed it. It was one of the few things that Veheli was both annoyed by and also admired in her mother.

"Nothing," Veheli sighed. Her eyes were still wandering the room nervously. Those crystal tables are really too much, she thought to herself.

"Alright, then," said Nelia, "don't you have chores to do?"

She must have really been hurt, Veheli realized. "I don't have chores. Remember, Mother? We have servants for that now, Tines would find it an insult if his step-daughter did the work of a servant?"

"Oh, yes, of course, that's right," Nelia's smile stayed firmly in place. "Well, then, practice your harp."

Veheli sighed and turned around. After she'd hurt her mother the way she had, there was no way that Veheli could ask her mother what she'd wanted to ask. She knew that the request that she had meant to make was hurtful; but really, how long was Veheli expected to stay here? She turned back towards her mother.

"Mother?" asked Veheli hesitantly.

"Yes, dear?" asked Nelia.

Now or never, Veheli told herself. "Mother … I was wondering … I mean, when I go to a Class…" Come on, just say it! "I think I want to go away to school." Seeing the hurt look on her Nelia's face, Veheli scrambled for more words. "I mean, there are only so many good schools near here. If I went away, I could go to a really good school then…it would be a good experience for me, teach me to be independent…I don't mean it to hurt you, Mother…"

"You haven't hurt me," Nelia lied quietly. "I expected this, in fact." The woman sighed. "I know that you don't like Tines, Veheli-- No, listen to me," she said as Veheli tried to say something. "I suppose it's only right that you get to make your own choices."

Like I couldn’t do on the biggest choice of my life, Veheli felt more and more like scum every day. She kept wishing that she'd made the other choice.

"So yes, you can, though I'll miss you," finished Nelia. Veheli went over and hugged her mother.

"Thank you," she whispered. She let go after a few seconds, and turned around to walk out of the room. At least, even if she wasn't pursuing the career she wanted, Veheli could at least be away from this house. She could at least start anew--the way she wanted to.

*******

Practicing harp was awful. Veheli couldn't get a single note that she should have, and after a while she was so repulsed by the sounds that were coming from the harp that she just stood up to leave, resisting the urge to throw the awful thing across the room.

"I don't think I've ever heard someone get the harp to make those sounds," an amused voice came from behind her. Veheli whirled around to see a guy standing there, grinning. She didn't know him, which was odd since she was fairly sure that she knew all of the people who were allowed into the house.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "What are you doing here?"

He held up his hands, still grinning. "Don't worry, I'm allowed. I'm being fostered here. Name's Pedon," he said, holding out a hand.

"Veheli," she said, cautiously shaking the hand.

"I know," Pedon's grin got wider.

Veheli sighed and looked at the harp. "I'm amazed you were able to stand there with me playing in here."

"Well, it was…interesting, I'll grant you that," Pedon laughed. "I was surprised you didn't throw the thing across the room in frustration."

"I was about to," Veheli answered.

"Yeah, well, you shouldn't let it get you that angry. You knew you were playing the wrong notes, so it's not that…why don't you like the harp?"

"Because I'm awful at it. I knew I'd be awful at it since the first moment I was told that I had to take lessons. The thing is pointless, it has no use!"

"Ah-hah!" Pedon exclaimed, shaking his finger at her. "There you have it. You 'knew' that you'd be awful. You gave yourself a block against learning it before you even began!"

"Or maybe I was just right," countered Veheli.

Pedon smiled again, and walked over to the harp. He plucked a few strings cautiously. "Well, it certainly sounds right. And I've heard that you're a great singer, so I know that you can carry a tune." He looked the harp over, and started to play a tune that Veheli didn't recognize. It was a beautiful tune, flowing and somehow sad.

He suddenly stopped, and looked up at Veheli from his seat. "Still think that the harp is useless?" he asked.

"I could never play that," replied Veheli, "So it's not useful for me."

He laughed. "Not if you don't think you can. Sit down," he stood up and patted the seat. She gave him a withering look, but sat.

"Now, just play. Don't worry about what notes you're supposed to be playing, don't hesitate, just play."

She did hesitate, but then she started. The sound didn't sound wonderful, definitely not like what she'd heard the other girls playing, but it didn't sound like a dying cow, either.

Nelia peaked in a moment, to see who was playing. She saw the back of Veheli's head, her long dark hair, then she looked up at Pedon, and smiled to herself.

"Only a few hours," Veheli whispered to herself. "Only a few hours, then my fate will be sealed." She allowed herself some hope; if she was disappointed, well, that's better than never having any hope at all.

She'd woken up early today. She couldn't remember falling asleep, but she knew that she'd only been asleep for a few hours. She woke up to a nightmare that she'd had when she finally managed to fall asleep after a night of tossing and turning. There was a gnawing feeling in her stomach, due to all her worry. Now she was wishing more than ever that she'd chosen Enchantress; then again, if she had, she'd have the same feeling in worry about what Tines and her mother would think, how they'd react.

She rolled over again, realizing she wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. She stood up, and drearily walker to her closet. Her clothes weren't quite typical for someone of her "station", but anything else would mean that someone had to help her get dressed into it. That was where Veheli put her foot down. She was not going to have someone dress her, no matter how "below her station" other clothes were. Who even cared? All her real friends had been there while Veheli was still poor, anyway, and quite frankly Veheli didn't want the people who did care about appearance to like her. Why would you want to be friends with someone like that?

Since today was important, she slipped into one of her nicer outfits, not really liking the feeling of a dress. Veheli hated wearing anything that she couldn't run in. It made her feel kind of…well, helpless. What if she had to get somewhere quickly, and was wearing shoes that didn't allow you to run?

Veheli went into the bathroom and washed her face, then brushed her hair and teeth. She spent slightly more time on her appearance today than she normally did, taking more care in everything. Not that Veheli was a slob; on the contrary, she was always clean and looked nice, except after sports. However, she didn't like to go overboard and do anything too fancy.

Veheli left the bathroom and walked down the stairs to the dining room to eat breakfast. Thankfully for her she'd told the servants that she'd need to leave early that day and to make her a breakfast, since she wouldn't be there for the family breakfast. There was plenty read for her, and Veheli looked over the food. She wanted all of it so much, but she wanted to break the habit of stuffing herself. She contented herself with toast with some jam, though all the tantalizing smells from the table made her mouth water.

Everyone in the house who were supposed to keep track of Veheli knew that she was leaving early today, so Veheli left without telling anyone or leaving a note. She headed over to Calie's house. Calie was going to be an enchantress; everyone knew it, Veheli and Calie were so alike. They were probably best friends.

"Veheli!" smiled Calie as she opened the door. "Hi!" Calie wasn't nervous or upset until she saw her best friend's face. Something was wrong with Veheli; people weren't normally upset on the day they were learning what school they'd be going to, after all they chose the Class they wanted. "What's wrong?" she asked, instantly concerned.

"Well…" Veheli hesitated. "Mom and Tines…wanted me to be a witch…"

"Are you worried about their opinion, or did you actually choose Witch as your first choice? And if it's the second one, then I am going to kill you!" exclaimed Calie.

Veheli remained silent.

"Veheli, how could you?" she cried. "What they think isn't worth your future! If they really cared they'd let you be what--"

Veheli cut her friend off. "Look, I already made the choice, so there's no point yelling at me for it now, I can't go back and change time."

Calie sighed. "Well, I really wish you didn't do that."

Veheli gave her friend a reassuring smile. "I'll do the best I can. Should we go now?"

"Yeah, just a moment, I have to get my overcoat." Calie ducked back into the house, and a couple minutes later she came out with her huge coat. It was a bit of a joke that the coat was as heavy as the girl wearing it was. While that was an exaggeration, Calie was quite thin, even though she was tall compared with Veheli.

"I don't see why you're wearing that, by the time it's noon it'll be warm, and you'll have to carry that bulky thing around with you," Veheli reminded Calie.

"Yeah, well I don't have any other nice coats, and I want to look nice," Calie defended herself. "After all, they are going to be judging us today as far as what school we ought to be in.

"They're judging our talents, Calie. They're not judging your appearance."

"Well, if I look poor, they'll never refer me to a private school," countered Calie, "and I've been saving forever so that I could go to a good school if I'm talented enough."

The old Hall was used every year to judge the children in Ueise who were ready to choose a Class and school. The Hall was right by the sea, facing east out over the deep blue ocean.

When they were almost there, Calie saw something curious. "Hey, Veheli," she whispered, nudging her friend, "Look over there. Can you sense something?"

Veheli turned to look over where her friend was pointed, and saw a man standing there. He was dripping wet, obviously just getting out of the ocean, even though it was freezing cold. Yes, Veheli could sense something, something very wrong. "There's something so…unfamiliar…about him. I'm getting a really bad feeling, too. It's like, when I look over there, I feel dread." She looked around. "Nobody else is reacting, though, not that I can see."

"Maybe we're the only ones close enough," whispered Calie, getting more frightened by the moment.

Cuiaree came up behind. "Hi, guys," she said. "How are you?"

"Shh!" hissed Veheli, concentrating. Cuiaree looked insulted for a moment, then noticed the look on her two friends' faces realized that something was wrong. "Guys, I think that he's a normal, I'm not sure wha--" Veheli was cut off.

"Guys, we have to get under cover, quick!" Calie cried suddenly, sounding very frightened.

"Why?" questioned Cuiaree, not looking like she was taking the other girl very seriously.

BOOM!

The sound came, and everyone looked up. The sound came from where the man was, and he was holding some sort of odd device, it was round on one end, then a place to grip it went off at an angle. It looked sinister, somehow.

Cuiaree screamed. Veheli wondered why the other girl, normally so strong and against weakness, was reacting the way she was, and she turned to face her friend.

Calie was lying limp in Cuiaree's arms. Veheli had enough power to realize one mind numbing, horrifying fact.

Calie was dead.