SOTL Draft Two/MAGIC - Ch8

Overview: https://kaylinrosealexande.wixsite.com/kaylinalexanderbooks/post/the-formation-of-school-of-the-legends

Read-aloud, pt. 1: https://www.tiktok.com/@kaylinrosealexander/video/7195203005992521002?lang=en

Previous: https://kaylinrosealexande.wixsite.com/kaylinalexanderbooks/post/sotl-draft-two-magic-ch7

We've officially reached the part of the book where I decided it would be fun to go into Marlis' perspective! Long chapter and a nice change of pace!

Chapter 8

Marlis sat at the mirror across the room.

She was the first of her roommates to get back to the chambers.

Based on what she knew about them, McGuire would show up soon, and Rosario would be fashionably late.

She stared at her reflection. Her dark eyes framed by the eyeliner she put on this morning, her light brown hair pulled in a tight bun with what felt like millions of bobby pins. She sighed. She reached up and started to take the pins out--one by one. She winced as one pulled out a tuft of hair. Soon, her hair was cascading down her back, reaching down past her ankles. She wondered for a moment if she never grown up in Germania. Would she be able to cut her hair? Probably. She took a deep breath. Cate would be here soon to get her ready for dinner.

Thank God for magic, otherwise, Cate would be here right now, working on her hair.

Marlis heard the door open, and without looking, she knew it was McGuire. Rosario walked with more confidence in her step, while McGuire shuffled her feet.

“Afternoon, McGuire,” Marlis said, smiling to herself as she heard McGuire jump.

“How’d you know it was me?” a quiet Irelarian accent responded.

“Oh, please,” Marlis said, standing up and turning around to face her. “Your aura just brings down all the intelligence in the room.” Part of Marlis brain told her that she was being too mean, and another part agreed, but one part told her she’d have to keep this up.

McGuire’s eyes started to tear up. Marlis gave her one last glare, before McGuire turned and ran to her bathroom. Marlis’ face went slack as the door closed. She then sat on her bed, looking over at Rosario’s bed. Her suitcase was on the floor next to it. Marlis looked around and kneeled down next to it. She carefully opened it, and was actually surprised at what she saw.

Books. Actual books that Marlis was never allowed to read. Books about adventure, the future. Everything that a princess shouldn’t be allowed to read.

Marlis bit her lip, trying to hold off the jealousy. She didn’t want to be jealous of Anahi Rosario, but she knew she was. Anahi had everything. She had books that she could read. She was beautiful without makeup.

Marlis remembered first seeing Anahi come out of her bathroom, just having taken off layers of makeup. Marlis remembered her beauty--the beauty she always wanted.

Anahi even lived in a secluded kingdom. Marlis knew most of the stories behind all the princesses here. Even the ones who came from the smaller kingdoms.

Being from Germania, gossip got around because they were visited by the most monarchs. But Rosario, being from Pueterica, Marlis didn’t know anything about her.

Marlis quickly closed Rosario’s suitcase as she heard footsteps approaching. She quickly sat back on her own bed as Rosario opened the door. Marlis opened her mouth to say a sarcastic remark, but thought better of it when she saw how angry the hazel-eyed princess was.

Rosario slammed the door behind her, causing a large echo down the hall. She stomped across the room to her bed and threw herself down. She tore her shoes off and threw them on the floor.

“What happened to you?” Marlis asked, realizing that this was no time for a snotty comment.

“Professor Thresh is a--” Rosario said a word that would be considered improper for a princess, though it somehow didn’t sound as bad in her Puerterican accent.

“Isn’t that your manners class?” Marlis asked. “Obviously, you didn’t learn anything, calling her that.”

Rosario glared at her. Her hazel eyes were burning with anger. She looked like she could kill.

“Okay,” said Marlis, “I don’t know you very well, but you don’t strike me as someone who would get this angry. Calm down.”

Rosario stood up. “I don’t have to do anything you say, Haggard.” Then she stomped off to her bathroom and slammed the door, leaving Marlis alone again.

Marlis looked down at her feet, thinking about what just happened. When she first met Anahi Rosario, she struck her as the type that wouldn’t get that angry. Maybe a little mad, but never angry.

Whatever it was, she knew that getting on her bad side might not be the brightest idea.

*****

Marlis walked down the hall toward the dining hall with her head held high. Cate had once again worked wonders. Her long hair was braided in two buns, and she was wearing a short but elaborate purple and pink dress. She had on thick mascara, and light lipstick on, which made her feel beautiful once again.

Rosario on the other hand, only had light blue eyeliner, her hair in a ponytail, and a simple blue dress. But she was still astounding.

Marlis tried to shake off the jealousy once again. As she entered the dining hall, she quickly located her new friends Citra and Cheryl.

“Hey, Marlis,” Citra said as she took her seat.

“Hey,” Marlis said, actually liking how her name sounded in Citra’s Indosieran accent.

“Good day today?” Cheryl asked in her Franceran accent.

Marlis shrugged. “It was kinda lame. I had to go to self-defense first period, like I told you in ballroom, so that was just the start of the idiotic classes they make you take.”

Cheryl made a face. “Ugh. Self-defense. I hated Professor Spencer.”

“Really?” Citra asked. “I mean, sure the class was lame, but she seemed nice.”

Cheryl stared at Citra as if she’d grown a third eye. “Did she beat anyone up in your class?”

Citra shook her head.

Marlis looked around to see if anyone was listening. She leaned forward. “Cheryl, are you saying that she beat you up?”

Cheryl scoffed. “Yeah. She said she needed a volunteer, so she dragged me to the front of the class and punched me.”

Marlis cocked her head. “Where?”

“What?”

“Where’d she punch you?”

“Right here,” Cheryl said, pointing at her left eye.

Marlis was no expert, but she knew that a punch would leave a nasty bruise. Cheryl was wearing some makeup, but not nearly enough to cover up anything.

“That must’ve sucked,” said Marlis, playing along. “I’ll keep an eye out on Spencer.”

*****

The rest of dinner was full of mean gossip about other princesses at the school. Marlis wasn’t fully into it as she just stared down at her plate whenever Cheryl and Citra weren’t paying attention.

She opened the door to her chambers, and was surprised to see Rosario was already back.

“Evening, Haggard,” Rosario said, smirking. “Why’re you so late?” She cocked her head, bugged out her eyes, and stuck out her lip. “Did you get lost?”

“Not the time, Rosario,” Marlis snapped, stepping in the room and closing the door behind her. “Where’s McGuire?”

Rosario shrugged.

Marlis crossed the room and sat on her bed, across from Rosario. “Rosario, did you happen to have Cheryl in your self-defense class?”

Rosario gave her a confused look. “As a matter of fact, I did.”

Marlis felt a little like a traitor, asking about one of her only friends, but she needed to know the truth. “Did, um, Professor Spencer do anything to her?”

Rosario scoffed. “Yeah. She beat the living crap--” only she didn’t say “crap”, “--out of her. What do you think, Haggard? She tossed her on a bunch of bean bags. Nothing that would have crippled her.”

“Tossed?” Marlis asked.

“It was a demonstration,” said Rosario. “Desrosiers was being a smart- aleck--” she didn’t say “aleck”, either, “--so Spencer demonstrated what the class actually taught, by tossing her on some bean bags.” Rosario sighed. The class isn’t made to hurt you, and Spencer didn’t hurt Desrosiers.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes,” a small voice said.

Marlis turned to see Ryan McGuire had just walked in the door.

“Yes, that’s true,” said McGuire. “Cheryl wasn’t hurt.”

Marlis looked at McGuire, shocked. She had no idea the quiet princess could stand up to her. McGuire looked at hurt feet, then once again ran into the bathroom, which was turning into her sanctuary.

“See?” said Rosario. “You might not believe us, but that’s the truth.” Rosario cocked her head. “What did you think happened?”

Marlis looked Rosario in the eyes. “Exactly what you said.”

My main complaint with this chapter is that I think I tried a little too hard to make Marlis a little more tolerable this chapter, since we were now in her perspective. However, I do appreciate the effort to show complexity and insecurity in Marlis while not justifying what she said.

However, Marlis' obsession with how beautiful Anahi was is such a fun outcome to my lame theme. Again, for some reason 14-year-old me was obsessed with beauty standards for women, but had no idea how to approach the topic because I was projecting my not fitting in nor conforming to gender societal expectations onto everyone else, and unfortunately didn't realize any nuance until I figured out my identity years later. However, an unintended side effect when jumping into Marlis' perspective is that her obsession with Anahi's natural beauty from the second she saw her was that Marlis comes across as very gay. If I were writing this now, this would have been intentional, and like I've said in previous posts, I don't want Anahi and Marlis to die because I think I could have done something interesting with them, but it would have to be in a different series.

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