THE BEST part of the weekend, for Andorra, was sleeping in. However, that Saturday morning, Coralia was right at Andorra's bed side shaking her away. "C'mon! We're going to be late!"

When Andorra opened her eyes with alarm, the sun had barely come up outside. The sky was grey, lacking the sun, and Andorra pushed her face back into her pillow. "Coralia, what time is it?"

Coralia was already moving away from Andorra, towards a mirror. "Time for you to get up. The boys are meeting us in like, ten minutes!"

That had Andorra sitting up. She was blinking away the last bits of sleep, watching as Coralia brushed her long red hair. It was long enough to reach her waist. Long enough to sit on. It gleamed in the reflection, shiny and healthy and beautiful.

"Ten minutes is barely enough time to fully awaken," Andorra grumbled, rubbing at her eyes. Her head felt heavy with the remainder of sleep and her eyes just wanted to stay closed. She let out a long, loud yawn and stretched towards the ceiling.

All things considered, sharing a room with Coralia was like a dream come true. It was a fairly big room with large windows overlooking the mountainous landscape. It was big enough to fit two queen sized beds, two sets of dressers, and a large fireplace. There was even an arm chair crammed in the corner by the makeshift bookshelf.

Coralia didn't glance from the mirror. "Then guess you better get moving!"

Andorra tumbled out of bed and slumped to the dresser. She then remembered her lack of clothing. She didn't have to say a thing; Coralia waved her hand towards the dresser, and it opened on it's own, clothes filling it to the brim. "Take your pick!"

"Okay, but how do you do that?" Andorra grabbed a soft sweater and held it up to the light, watching the spun wool glimmer.

"All I'm doing is moving my things to your dresser. Kind of like how you can step in the in-between, except I'm doing it with clothes. I move my clothes from one place and put it into another."

Andorra wanted to know if she too could do that, but there wasn't time to waste. She grabbed a sweater and a pair of tight knit pants. It reminded her of wool leggings from back home, although Andorra had always been more of a denim person.

When Andorra was finished dressing, Coralia looked her over once. "Quick, run a brush through that golden mane we're all jealous of, and let's go!"

Andorra caught the brush Coralia threw to her, and she ran it through her bedhead. To Andorra, her blonde hair had always been average. Fine. Standard. She certainly never thought anyone would be jealous of it.

Coralia was already moving towards the door. "Hans, I swear if you try to break down this door!"

There was a jostling on the other side, from the hallway, and the sound of two boys talking. Andorra gave her hair a quick brush and then she was heading towards the door as well.

Hans came in first, barrelling through like he owned the room. "Leelee, you said you wouldn't be late. You're such a liar."

Bort trailed after him, smiling at Andorra. "Hope you don't mind that we're entering!"

Coralia was trying to push them back into the hall. "Stay out of a lady's room unless invited in!" She was crowing. "Get out!"

Hans looked at Andorra with a sharp smile. "Hey, Princess."

"Don't hey Princess her! Out!"

Coralia corralled the boys into the hallway, and Andorra followed her out and closed the door. Coralia was already marching down the hallway, chin up, and Hans was following her with a plea in his voice. "Oh, c'mon! Stop being such a sourpuss. You're no fun this early in the morning!"

Bort waited for Andorra before he followed them down the hall. "You look like you just woke up, Princess." He noted. His cheeks were red with the comment.

"I did. Coralia didn't give me much time." Then, she looked at Bort. "So tell me, what's so exciting about the city?"

Bort's eyes got wide and his smile bloomed across his face. The child-like excitement made Andorra wonder what made him like that. What made Bort so young at heart?

"There is everything! My dad used to take me into the city when I was young, and my favorite part was seeing the magicians! I know what you're thinking: magicians in Anlithamy? Why would that matter if we're all magic? But these guys are crazy-"

"Where do you think you're going?"

The voice sent a chill down Andorra's spine as she turned. It was Anders, his hands tucked neatly in his khaki pants. He looked every part rich kid with too much money to spend, with his hair parted down the middle, his sweater vest tucked into his pants, his smile a little too political. He looked like everyone's worst nightmare. He looked like rich privilege.

Beside him stood Jezebel, her arms crossed over her silk blouse. Boredom crossed her features, but she wasn't the one who drew Andorra's attention. No, it was to the man on Ander's left side, leaning against the wall, coated in a blanket of shadows.

Callum was baring his teeth at her. Not friendly, not welcoming, certainly not someone who cared to be in her presence.

"Oh, goodie. Two Spring Fae and a Winter, trying to intimidate us. Yawn." Coralia made her way to the front, blocking Andorra behind her. "Prince Anders, do us a favor and go back to your room. It's much too early for you to be out and about. I don't see your bodyguards anywhere."

Anders cocked his head to the side. "And where, prey tell, is your body guard? What, did mommy dearest decide to let you go without? Bold, since wasn't it an unlawful death that took your uncle?"

Coralia let out a low growl in warning. "Watch it, Anders. We all know who the real Royal is, and it sure as hell isn't you. Cornomus didn't declare you, so in my book, you're useless."

Anders turned to Andorra, his grin patronizing. His eyes burned with something far more sinister than just basic hatred. "Ah, and the human raised girl isn't useless? Interesting take, Coralia. Coming from a low class faerie, I'm not surprised you've decided to stick beside her."

Coralia's arms tightened over her chest. "I take pride in the fact that I wasn't raised amongst those who were given everything for title alone. No skill, no merit, and certainly no integrity amongst the royals, huh Callum and Jezebel? And don't forget, Anders. You and I, we're the same."

Anders didn't like that answer. Something about Coralia's comment made his face twist in anger, so potent Andorra took a step back, Bort grabbing her hand in comfort. For her or him, Andorra wasn't sure.

Callum kicked off of the wall. "Let's go, Anders. It's no use talking to them. You're just riling yourself up for no reason. But, Princess, you should stay here. Somewhere safe, for a Royal like yourself."

Jezebel's eyes flashed to Callum's in that moment, quick enough to not be noticed, but Andorra took note of it. Something akin to surprise was in Jezebel's face, something Callum had said was unexpected. Andorra couldn't figure out what.

Anders' didn't seem to expect that answer either. "What? Suddenly the Princess arrives and you're backing off?"

Callum held his hands up in mock surrender, the black of the shadows wrapping around his arms and spilling onto the floor below him. He made eye contact with Andorra for a moment, then looked back to Anders. "Don't be mad at me because you're betrothed to her, Anders."

Anders shot Andorra a look that belonged to the dirt beneath his shoe. "Fine. Let's get out of here."

The three of them turned down the hallway, walking away from Andorra and Coralia. When they were far enough out of arms reach, Coralia yelled after them. "Anders, you're nothing without the Princess! Don't forget that!"

Coralia didn't let Andorra see his reaction. She looped her arm through Andorra's and pulled her in the opposite direction. The confrontation, overall, had made Andorra uneasy. She knew, god she knew, that despite what Coralia said, it was Andorra who was nothing without Anders. She needed him as much as he needed her, and there was nothing she could do about that.

Anders was tied to her in a way that couldn't be destroyed. Yet.

Hornwell was an eight year school, and she was in year one. She doubted though that it would be another eight years before she took the throne, but she hoped the years in-between would give her enough time to find a way around marrying Anders.

If that was what they even called it here in Anlithamy. Was it marriage? Was it called something else?

Coralia pulled Andorra down the wide staircase. Bort and Hans walked ahead of them, both boys quiet after what had just gone down. It was obvious that Anders and his gang of royals were in charge at this school. The power they held was enough to make others quiet.

But they were all so young. Who had run the school before them?

Coralia could tell that Andorra was at war with her own thoughts. "Don't pay them any attention, Andorra. They're going to try and make your life miserable here. They hate that you've finally arrived. But I won't let them bully you. They're all a bunch of pricks."

Prick was a good word for Anders. "So Callum is Aihfie's brother."

Coralia's face was shocked. "How did you know?"

"I ran into him earlier this week. He was... cryptic. Who is his soulmate? He kept saying I would be friends with her."

"I didn't know he had one," she confessed, and the look on her face told Andorra the redhead was telling the truth. "Callum is older than we are. He's a fourth year here. What goes on in his life, well, that's always been a mystery. He's more of the quiet type, where as Aihife is in your face and in your business, and she wants you to be in hers. It's easier to track her."

Hans and Bort pushed against the main door, the one that they had entered in that first day at school, turning back to look at Coralia and Andorra. The two girls hurried, rushing through the door and entering the outside world.

The chill in the air blew right through Andorra, who held onto her jacket a little bit tighter. The cold rushed through her bones immediately, causing her teeth to chatter. It felt so much like Maine for a moment that the homesickness swept through her immediately.

"Callum and Anders are friends, though."

"Yeah. Hard not to be. We Royals are pushed together from birth almost. When your parent is a Prince or Princess, they're often in the different Courts. So Aihfie and Callum spent a lot of time in the Spring, Summer, and Autumn Courts growing up. As did Jezebel and Eve. It makes sense they became friends in this twisted world."

"And Anders?"

Coralia looked over at Andorra, a small smile on her face. A smile of sorry and I forgot you're new here. "Anders is Jezebel's cousin. He's a Spring Fae, like she is. Her mom is Anders' aunt. That's why they picked him to marry you. He was already royal family, in a way. The same way that I used to be, before my uncle died and my mom became Princess."

Andorra pocketed this information. He didn't look like Jezebel did, though. "So, how come Jezebel looks like a Spring Fae, and Anders doesn't?"

"A glamour. Anders has green skin too, but he pretends he doesn't. He's vain about his looks. His hair is true; the brown of the rich soil in the Spring Court. When he's back home, his hair will grow twigs and saplings, but he tries hard to make it normal here. Despite his hatred for humans, he sure does like to look like one, doesn't he?"

Somehow, this information knocked Anders off of the throne he was trying to sit on. Andorra now saw him as a boy who wanted to be someone he so clearly wasn't, and she found that almost endearing. Definitely hilarious. Certainly embarrassing, for him.

He wasn't any different than she was. Two faeries living in a body they didn't want or expect. Only, for Andorra, it was more about her heritage than her body. How she used to dream of being painfully human and nothing more.

"I had no idea they were related. They... they never even talk to each other, it seems." But suddenly, it explained why Jezebel had looked rather annoyed this morning. Why she hadn't really seemed enthused to be with Anders in the hallway. Maybe it had more to do with spending time with her cousin than it had to do with Andorra.

The blonde could only hope it had more to do with Anders.

"Jezebel and Anders aren't close. They grew up together, like siblings almost, but they weren't raised the same. Anders has always been the golden child. He's older than Jezebel by a year, so by the time she came around, all the attention in the Spring Court was on Anders. Jezebel was nothing more than a whisper of a thought."

Sad. That's what Andorra thought it was. Being an only child made it easy to soak up the attention and love, but Andorra had never considered what it would be like to be ignored, forgotten, left behind because of another.

The four of them approached the edge of the school grounds, towards the train station. There, at the corner, sat a cab idling. "I called ahead." Hans said. Then, he looked at Andorra. "The cab will bring us into the city."

Cabs. So... human. Andorra hadn't imagined there would be things like cabs and trains in Anlithamy. Hans was already ambling into the back seat of the cab, pausing once to look over his shoulder to make sure we were coming. Bort climbed into the front seat.

Coralia squeezed Andorra's hand. "Rule number one? Don't scream."