The thrill of anticipation, concentrated at my fingertips, poured out in neat lines onto the paper:

Hello, beloved sister!

I don’t even know where to start… I’ll start, perhaps, with the main news – I’m going to the Academy of Wind and Storms! Yes, yes, you heard right…

I had almost finished the letter when the girls jumped out of their beds and stood with their hands folded on their stomachs, as decency required. Having quickly said goodbye to my sister, I crumpled the scribbled sheet into a ball so that it would fly further and, opening the window sash, threw it outside. True, I didn’t have time to get back into service. So she stretched out in the place where she was found. I don’t know about other educational institutions, but the order in our boarding house was cleaner than in other barracks. The mentors trained their pupils with all their might, trying to make them exemplary eshsheri and ideal future wives for elemental magicians. True, in their opinion, the ideal wife was a submissive, and better yet, a completely weak-willed creature, who did not have her own opinion, but was capable of “carrying out a number of laid down instructions. Somehow: estate management, playing music and other arts, etiquette, politesse and much more.”

Only girls with gifts studied at Teresa the Magnanimous Boarding School, but for some reason very little attention was paid to magical sciences. Basics of elemental magic. The history of the magic of Balaria, general information about the races of Balaria, about magical sources and their influence on all living things, and a few more theoretical subjects, but that’s all!

And practice is only twice a week! And even then, for the most part, we learned to “pacify the gift.”

Certainly! After all, this is so important for the noble eshsheri! Otherwise, if the Mother of All That Existed didn’t bring him, she would smash the crawler in a quarrel with her beloved, or hit him with the fist of the wind in response to impolite treatment, and even smear the unfortunate man against the wall.

In general, the gift of pupils was considered only as a guarantee of the appearance of a strong heir in the family, but nothing more. But I hoped to develop the gift, and not to pacify it, which I repeatedly tried to tell my dad and mom, who traditionally did not hear me.

“This is the best boarding house in the capital, baby! I learned everything there myself,” repeated Calle Blackrock, nicknamed the Crystal Princess.

The first beauty in Onyx Rocks at one time and a very weak mage, whom no one married for a long time, despite all her beauty and excellent marks in home science. Now I couldn’t help but think that my mother put too much effort into taming the gift when she was studying here. I know that when she insisted on studying at this boarding school, she only wanted the best for me. But our understanding of this “best” was very different. In general, there is no hope for my mother, and my father… An experienced dean, he always took the side of the teachers. He said that the mentors were right and knew better. And in general, “they have experience,” “you’ll understand as you grow up,” and stuff like that. So I had to train in secret, fortunately I managed to find opportunities.

Grymza, the director of the boarding house, a terrible woman in every sense – both in face and in character – burst into our bedroom, accompanied by several mentors and a curator. She looked around at those present with a stern look and asked:

– What kind of gathering is this? How did you let this happen?

The second question was addressed to our curator, Ashsheri Tix, an elderly, timid lady who was always afraid of everything, especially the wrath of the headmistress.

– Eshsheri, why not in your rooms? – She began to fuss, showing zeal with all her appearance.

– The girls came to see Mirre off. “She’s leaving early,” simple-minded Samantha tried to cover for everyone.

She always does this – she takes the fire on herself, and then she is punished. And never a word of gratitude from anyone, except me, perhaps. This is probably why we became friends from the first days.

But this time Samantha was rescued by stupid Henrietta, without wanting it herself:

– And Mirre threw the garbage out the window! She deliberately decided to set us up because she was leaving!

A short, fair-haired beauty with a childish, doll-like face and lush eyelashes spoke with a disgusting drawl, which spoiled the entire impression of her appearance.

Mother of All That Is, what a fool she is! Who was pulling her tongue?

I was sure that the silly girl was simply voicing the thought expressed by the snake Ashsher. And exactly! The brunette with a sharp nose narrowed her eyes meanly, carefully hiding her smile. Did you want to spoil me one last time? Oh well…

Ashsheri Tix immediately ran to the window and looked out. I didn’t even move, hoping that Simka had sorted everything out.

Grymza looked at me intently and asked:

– Pupil Blackrock, is this true?

– I didn’t throw garbage out the window, director!

Yes, I wouldn’t dare call the letter to my beloved sister garbage, so I didn’t lie one bit.

“There’s nothing under the window,” Ashsheri Tix confirmed my words.

I couldn’t resist and also turned around, noticing a white speck in the bushes at a distance. A fluffy tail flashed and immediately hid. The paint has washed off Simka again! It's time to update.

– What kind of book is this, Mirre?

Ashsheri Tix took a textbook on the basics of elemental spells from the windowsill, which I used as a backdrop.

– Oh, sorry for the mess, eshsheri. I was just refreshing my knowledge before leaving. You are not allowed to take a textbook with you, and the most powerful elemental magicians and dragons study at the Academy of Wind and Storms. I don’t want to lose face in front of the local adherents and disgrace the glorious name of our boarding house.

I said all this, embarrassed, and in such an unctuous voice that I even felt sick. Ashsher was completely warped, but more because of how cleverly I managed to get out.

“Commendable, Blackrock student, commendable.” – Grymza was flattered by my words. “The rest of us have an extra task for the evening, since there’s nothing else to do besides gossip.” Learn paragraphs thirteen through twenty-eight on obedience theory. Let's do an additional lesson.

– Yes, ashsheri director! – the pupils answered in unison, mentally howling.

There was nothing more humiliating than this trashy book. If there was a will, each pupil would burn it, and feed the ashes to Grymza and her henchmen with a small spoon without salt and pepper.

– Blackrock, follow me! – the headmistress commanded, interrupting the flow of my thoughts.

Picking up my half-empty suitcase and coat, which were already waiting on the bed, I joyfully left the room, hoping that I would never return here again.

Still, something bothered me. For example, exit time. It was planned to leave only in the morning, but now, even though it’s evening, it’s not even dark yet! However, I did not dare to ask why this was so. Once again, it’s better not to contact Grymza first – it’s a bad omen. And it was not a matter of superstition, but of her bad character. Now I was most afraid of frightening off my luck, so I was silent until we went out onto the back porch, next to which a gig with a folded phaeton was already waiting on the driveway, Bathmore, the boarding house’s regular driver, was sitting on the box.

Autumn this year came ahead of time, and as soon as the sun leaned towards the horizon, it became chilly, and at night it was downright cold, so I, instantly shivering, began to hastily put on my coat.

“Bathmore will take you to the South Station of the Travel Bureau,” the director deigned to inform Ashsheri, condescendingly watching my awkward attempts to get into the sleeve.