Stolen Hearts; Chapter Four

"I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do." - Robert A. Heinlein

They landed in a bright room, there was only one window, showing the storm brewing outside, yet the whole room was filled with sunlight. Cala smiled, it was a pretty room. The walls were covered in black and white photos of people, so much so that it was hard to make out the fading vintage wallpaper behind them. The carpet was thick and long, scarlet in colour and warm on Cala’s bare feet. To the right there was a beautiful white marble fireplace covered in funny little trinkets, music boxes, keys, miniature figures of knights and philosophers and a plastic action figure of Doctor Who from 2008. It’s warm blaze heating up Cala’s bare skin still cool from a practically permanent outdoor life.
To the left there was a small glass side table containing a single drawer with a silver keyhole. Out of the cracks of the drawer brilliant gold light beamed through, seducing Cala’s curiosity but glancing furtively out of the corner of her eye at Simon she restrained and continued to scan the room. Resting on top of the table was a large box of opened rich dark chocolates, its delectable smell lingering throughout the room. It reminded Cala just how ravenous she was and her stomach grumbled gently but persistently. Simon laughed and plucked out two plump chocolates, handing one to Cala. He told her to eat, ahead of sitting down in a chair that she hardly noticed; it was placed so far in the corner.

Cala gratefully ate the chocolate, feeling no culpability at having known it was one of Ruffelm’s favorites. She glowed smugly as the chocolate slid down her throat.
Ahead of her stood a sturdy, pale, wooden desk with a red velvet top and wonderful carving of birds along its front. Carvings in wood had become one of the fashionable things of this time and Cala had to agree they did look attractive but they had a habit of making things look very old. Behind the desk sat an anomalous looking chair, it had a gold metal frame but gave the image of being blown up at some point and being reassembled by a two year old as branches of the fame were breaching off in all angles, giving it a air of magnificence as well as idiocy, Cala marveled at Ruffelm’s furnishings. Placed on his desk were piles of paper that would have reached Cala's waist had they been on the ground beside her. As it was on the desk they were her height and more. Bullion plated pens, compasses and the like were also strewn across the piles making Cala wonder how he ever got anything done. Then out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a map, elaborately draw, worn with arched edges and faded colours of crimson, gold, black and many others. It was large and bulky in the corner but its sheet was wafer thin, Cala was sure it would shred to pieces if anybody dared lift it out. Its markings were foreign to her and the lands marked on it, she had never even seen them before.

There was a muffled thud behind her as Ruffelm landed in the centre of the room, something Cala noticed that had become a habit of his. He coughed and wheezed a bit as he made his way over to his seat and sat down behind his desk. Cala scowled slightly.
How the heck is he so feeble inside and so intimidating outside?
"Ah, now to business," He sighed conjuring a wooden seat in front of his desk for her to sit on. She obliged obediently for once.
"To be blunt Cala it’s the ministry who’s in charge, so please don’t come moaning to me about the issues I know you are definitely going to have," Seeing Cala already about to interrupt he hastened on "I shall read you their demands, yes? Yes" He answered himself as she leaned further back into her seat.
This better not take long. She though.
He continued "You are to answer any questions asked of you by a ministry official. You must stay inside the school building at all times and not exit onto the grounds. You must go where you are told and overall be obedient to your superiors. You must not dine at the same time as others. You will not be taught magic but will help out in lessons if asked. The funds of your banks will all be donated to the army’s funds and you will receive a minimum wage salary from the government monthly. Most importantly you will surrender your power to the ministry on a date yet to be decided,"
When they get the guts to try and take it probably.
"Cala on a personal note I don’t care whether you keep to these rules or not, as long as you follow my school rules I don’t have an issue.
"Oh and a final note from out dear friends at the ministry, failure to meet these demands will result in any physical punishment our ministry deems necessary," Ruffelm sighed while Cala struggled to keep her anger in. "The students are divided into four houses in this school, Lions, Hawks, Dragons and Scorpions. You’ll be placed within the Dragons for now as both James and Simon here will be keeping an eye on you. You can leave now. Simon remember our agreement," Ruffelm shuffled uneasily in his chair, he could see Cala’s outrage coming.

"Follow me," spoke Simon from the corner, apparently quite fed up all of a sudden. Cala ignored him and caught a glimpse of his scowling gaze before she turned around.
"Ruffelm, I don’t give a damn about your school rules. Just make sure I never have to talk to you or your little government palls again and I’ll stay out of your way. Deal?" Cala spat out her terms, furious at what had been expected of her. She knew even as Ruffelm nodded and turned back to sit in his seat that he had absolutely no choice. She would have to stay here because if she went anywhere else she suddenly became a threat and there was nothing he could do to stop her without risking a full out war with the Black nation. Letting Cala stay at the school had been the signing factor in the contract to buy her.
"Now leave me," Ruffelm muttered in a shriveled voice. He was obviously not used to having such a stressful time.
Simon, in the corner didn’t wait for Cala to follow him out the room. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out the room before she could protest.
"What the-,"
"Shut. Up!" Simon stressed impatiently, taking particular care to emphasize each word, as if he was speaking to somebody who couldn’t understand English. Cala was stunned. How can this person stood feet away from her not be scared of her when whole armies had fled? She snatched her arm out of his grasp and glowered at his back as he started walking down the hall swiftly. Cala was about to ask him another question but decided against it. Instead, she tried searching for his mark to determine his nation. The higher up in the nation you are the higher your mark is tattooed on your body. A Black nation mark was a pair of dark tattered wings half extended; its size also determined on how high a rank you were. A White nation mark was a circle with a six point star in its centre. However, Cala could find no trace, not helped by the fact that he was wearing dark trousers and a whit t-shirt.

"Either you take a particular interest in looking at my ass or you are searching for my mark," Simon joked lightly raising one eyebrow trying, half-heartedly to lighten the mood he had just caused.
"Don’t flatter your self. I was looking for your mark," Cala muttered. She had not found it funny and felt wanton for having being caught looking. Although, Simon obviously had, he was smirking furtively to himself.
"I'm a Black if you must know," He told her. Cala shrugged as if she were no longer any more interested in him than a brick wall. But she was, even if she would never admit it. This boy was Black nation so Cala thought he must either hate her or think highly of her. That was the way most Blacks reacted when one of their own was outcast. Unfortunately Cala could decide on neither reaction from him and he was giving nothing away.
They soon came to a big wooden door.
"Password?" a voice echoed from nowhere in particular.
Simon grinned and turned to look at Cala.
"I think you know it," he shrugged imitating Cala’s exact action from before.
"No. I don’t," She retorted stubbornly.
"Suit your self. ‘War Princess’," the door swung open and seconds before Cala had registered the password Simon had shot inside with a mischievous wink. She had to admit he intrigued her, but at the same time he was exceedingly irritating. She rolled her eyes but didn’t follow him inside. The door had caught her attention, carved into the dark mahogany wood was a dragon. A glorious creature with its wings spread wide, neck arched and its tail sweeping beside its feet. She had seen many paintings of dragons before.

Why should this one be any different?
But it was. She scanned the carving, every little detail, until she came to the head. Firstly it had no horns to speak of, which was unusual but it still wasn’t what was confusing her. Its eyes were wide and actually weren’t made of the same wood as the rest of the door; they looked quite glorious all the same. Then she saw what was so different, although it might seem quite insignificant to most, for Cala it was unnerving. A cold shiver went down her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck pricked up slightly. In every picture, sculpture or photograph ever taken in Mebenna the dragon's mouth was always open, as if about to attack, here the dragon looked calm, its mouth closed. If anything it looked sacrosanct or concerned, but that is not their nature. They never back down, never surrender.
Why was this one different?
Cala was interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind her. She almost groaned out loud. It was James and another boy who had short jet black hair, olive eyes and a tanned face. He was about the same height as James and the same sort of build. A 3.5.

Finally their not all ridiculously strong.
2.6 was the average level but the students here all seemed to be above 3!
James was walking straight towards her with a hardened look on his face, back was the fighter in him, she wasn’t going to be given any breaks from him and she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was in charge here. For once she didn’t dare challenge it. The other boy muttered something under his breath to James, whose expression was obdurate. As he approached Cala almost flinched. He grabbed her by the arm forcefully not even looking at her while the other boy said the password to open the giant door and scurried in ahead of them. James wrenched her through the door in one movement.
Somebody’s a bit pissed off. But her silent taunting was cut short.
Cala gasped, the room was marvelous. The floor was the same almost black mahogany as the door; the walls were a warm teal color with gold stripes streaking down them. To her right a fire was roaring and crackling in a white stone fireplace, tattered sofas encircling its warm glow, obviously worn away by years of use. Above the fireplace were three gold plaques with names engraved on them, there was room for more to be hung beside them. To her left there was a giant wooden table with room for at least twenty people to sit around at any one time. Pieces of paper and stationary were scattered across it and like all the other furniture, coffee tables, stools, side tables, all had several dents in them from past students practicing spells. Straight ahead of her were two stairways spiralling upwards. Scattered on the common room walls were framed photos of people Cala didn’t recognize, previous students of this house who had no doubt helped the school in some way. Above her the ceiling was white with spiraled patterned across it and large old fashioned chandeliers hanging down. Strewn across the floor were piles of textbooks which had been knocked over and not yet restacked by the maids. Cala thought it was the loveliest room she had ever been in.

She hadn’t noted the students perched everywhere from the floor in the corner to the armrest of a giant sofa. At least not until James gave her a humongous crack around the back of her head that made her head ring with searing white hot pain. She clenched her teeth forcing herself not to retaliate, she was too outnumbered to win anybody at the moment, he would tear her apart and he knew it. As she looked around at the faces which had been lifted by the sharp sound, her eyes watered slightly and her head, she realised, would by aching for days. She spotted Simon in the corner shaking his head as James approached him and several other boys. He obviously wasn’t short of company. Everyone else either allowed themselves the faintest flicker of a grin or shake of the head, all of them still cautious. They still remembered the facts and Cala’s repertoire was not one to be messed with. They’d leave her to James and Simon who obviously had a reputation of their own.
Cala was too dazed to take a step forward, her head was spinning and she felt weaker than she had ever been. One chocolate all day was not ideal and soon all her reserve energy would disappear too. She hadn’t even eaten properly for three days,being otherwise preoccupied. Simon frowned at something James had muttered to him and they both stood up. Together they walked over to her and although the rejoinder was several seconds late it was obvious enough that she had developed the habit of flinching.
Whatever that news was now they’re both pissed off. Great.
"Hannah," James called to a crowd of girls. Both he and Simon had a firm grip on each of Cala's arms, she hadn’t noticed, Cala was about five seconds behind everyone else. A pretty girl stepped forward out of the crowd. She had long, long brown hair that would have easily reached down to her waist had it not been tied up in a pony tail. She was the only girl there that was wearing trousers instead of a skirt or shorts. She smiled and creases formed around her large tawny eyes. She looked like the athletic sort and from the way she acted around James and Simon Cala could tell she wasn’t interested in them any farther than friends. Glancing around the room at the other girls’ faces, Cala guessed she was probably one of the only ones who weren’t. Cala couldn’t help but be curious about her. A 4.

Cala tried to back away as Simon and James tugged her towards the left staircase ahead behind Hannah but Simon squeezed so hard that she almost crumpled in pain and James gave her a shove in the back. But this only frightened Cala, the one thing that scared her more than anything was having no control and here Simon and James had made it obvious she had none. She tried to jerk her arm suddenly out of Simon’s grasp as his was the tighter of the two but Simon wasn’t letting go and Cala had just exhausted her last remaining energy. She quailed and made little to no sound, she was impotent and could now be bundled anywhere they liked. So she was dragged up three flights of stairs to a small plain wooden door with a little iron keyhole. Hannah fashioned a key and upon unlocking the door James heaved Cala onto one of three small four-poster beds then left the room.
"Teach her some manners before dinner tomorrow. She has to sit with me and the guys for ‘the safety of others’," Simon groaned quoting a phrase he had obviously not wanted to hear from Ruffelm. Hannah just gave him a short nod and he left the room. She then turned to a figure in the corner Cala had yet to distinguish.
"Nicola, will you please put the book down for two seconds!" Hannah laughed. Cala sat upright and took in yet another new room as Nicola and Hannah tidied away all of their school books. It was a small white room with a pale wooden floor, in contrast to all the dark mahogany downstairs. One wall was basically a colossal bookshelf filled with all sorts of books and ornaments. Behind the bed she had been thrown onto there was a wide window with a large ledge on which to sit and gaze out, it was foggy around the edges from some unknown source. The wall behind Hannah's bed was plastered in posters of what looked like sports teams, rugby, hockey, football, athletics and one she wasn’t quite sure about. Above Nicola’s was a big golden clock that had more than the usual amount of hands on it. Nicola had shoulder length curly black hair, deep brown eyes and a Spanish tint to her skin. A 3.5.

"Are you OK?" Hannah was looking straight at her but her eyes were warm and unthreatening.
"Yeah," Cala rubbed the back of her head "I expect I’ll get worse,"
Hannah frowned it was obvious she disapproved of the way Simon and James were using force to shove her around. Cala laughed a little, she had never known peoples emotions to change so dramatically as Simons and James did. Hannah looked even more confused.
"Is this the first time you’ve seen them like that?"
Nicole spoke this time "I’ve never seen them treat anyone in that way, ever,"
Cala shrugged, she couldn’t explain to them why James and Simon acted so ruthlessly with her without distressing them in some way.
"Well, our feelings are pretty much mutual. We don’t exactly get along and for once they are in charge so I can tell you now that they aren’t going to let me get away with anything. Its there job to keep me in line. The second they have a reason to upset me they will, the second they have a reason to hit me they will, a reason to fight me, to hurt me, I can promise you. They will! They’re not going to take any risks,"
Hannah shook her head "Nobody can anger Simon that much, or James," Nicola nodded in agreement but Cala could see they knew she was right, Simon and James were just trying to keep her in line "You’ll see, they’ll calm down. Just keep quiet and -,"
But Cala cut her off "Here we go… don’t speak until spoken to, do what your told the second you’re told, don’t get in the way, be submissive, don’t interrupt anything, don’t attract attention to yourself, etcetera, etcetera. Am I right?" Cala growled almost threateningly.
Hannah laughed slightly but Nicola nodded solemnly "That’s right, and you must follow those rules or your right Simon and James will get angry, and do a lot worse than what they did tonight. It’s their job to keep you in line and they don’t want that responsibility or you in their lives so, please, don’t give them a reason to do anything,"
Cala gritted her teeth "I'm not a slave, I will not follow orders from them!"
Hannah sighed "Just don’t say I didn’t warn you, I swear. They won’t be happy,"
Cala had no energy left to fight back. She wouldn’t have the choice at this rate; she couldn’t quarrel if she wanted to, she needed sleep, she needed food, she needed a bloody break. So she lay down and regardless of the rest of the world, slept soundly. Promising herself that there was no way she was getting up until this time tomorrow. Even if it was only 10.34 am.

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