《Flowers change》 1st Chapter: Baby Birth Everything was pressing down on me, almost breaking me apart. Something was pulled tight around my chest and then something cold shocked me, something cold that was pushing me around, back and forth. The pushing things grew warmer, but they were rough and kept pulling. Finally the things stopped manhandling me, but by then something was hurting my head, again and again, for what seemed to be an eternity. I wanted to sleep, but suddenly everything was moving and wouldn¡¯t let me go. Ages later something stabbed my eyes and everything grew cold. The rough thing from before was all around me, freezing me for a few moments, before I was suddenly pushed under in something wet and cold, touched everywhere. When I got out of it something forced itself out of my throat. Fluid ran over my face that was wiped away with more fluid and then there was my wail. I opened my eyes to see who it was that had tortured me so, but there were only grey blotches, some bright and others darker. Finally I was wrapped into something warm and fluffy, just as I became aware of two more thin, high wails. There was other noise around me, but those wails had something familiar, so similar to my own. I answered by letting out another sound, this time not a wail. Then there was some big, grey blotch and something was pushed into my mouth. Despite my confusion something inside of me seemed to know what to do and sucked. Heavenly, creamy sweet liquid filled my mouth and then my throat worked on its own. When my belly was full I grew too tired to care anymore and drifted off to sleep. Day 1 I opened my eyes and wiggled. My limbs moved wildly and then there was something soft against my arm. It looked vaguely familiar¡­about the same as my own arm. My eyes couldn¡¯t see very well, but I thought there was another little face to my right. Close to me. I moved my other arm and found the same feeling of soft skin on that side. So I started working hard to try and turn around, to see what was on my left. It was exhausting and took a long time, but eventually I had managed to get into a position to look at the baby on my other side. Though my eyes really weren¡¯t very good I thought the other one looked just like the one on my right. Remembering the other two wails I thought they might be my siblings. Triplet. I wondered whether I would look the same as them. If we were all the same. But my eyes couldn¡¯t see colors yet and everything was still so blurry I could barely distinguish anything more than a few inches away. Maybe I just thought they looked alike. Then my stomach started hurting, but I didn¡¯t want to wake up the other babies. I kept my voice down and just watched, and waited. Eventually the baby to my right started waking up and cried, causing the one on my left to do the same. Since both of them were crying already we would probably be fed soon. No need to exhaust myself with crying, too. Instead I looked around and when there was movement I concentrated on the grey blotch to try and see more. But still, no luck. Just vague facial features. My two siblings were lifted up first, because they were wailing. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Then it was my turn. I didn¡¯t quite get full, but the pain in my belly got much better. And besides, all the looking around, not to mention turning, had tired me out. So I fell asleep almost before I was set back down in what I now noticed was a kind of princess bed full of cushions and pretty, girly toys. But I fell asleep before I could see more. 8th week I stared at the two little girls lying on the blanket with me. We were outside, on a lawn, where an older woman had set us down in a triangle, with a few flowers in the middle. I looked at their sweet faces intently, first one, then the other. They looked back at me. I started smiling and they smiled back. There was no consciousness in them though. I had noticed that a little while ago. Somehow I seemed to be different. But when I tried to think of why my head hurt. The colorful flowers in the middle caught my attention and I reached for them, feeling the smooth texture of the petals and the sometimes rough one of the stems and leaves. The other two didn¡¯t do such things. That was strange. But they did look at the flowers, so maybe I was the strange one. Curious, I started pulling the petals off and then tried putting them in my mouth, just out of curiosity. Before I could though I was lifted up and the petals were taken from me. The woman talked to me, but I didn¡¯t understand. The sounds were harsh, so I guessed they meant I¡¯d done something wrong. I was getting curious what it was that she was making sounds for though, so I started listening to try and remember. It gave me another headache and I gave up. 5 months My name was Lily. The others were Azalea and Magnolia. For some reason they were already doing something that I thought was probably education. They kept mentioning the words ¡®beauty¡¯ and ¡®frail¡¯ around me. To Magnolia they talked about ¡®calm¡¯ and ¡®peace¡¯, while Azalea was apparently supposed to be ¡®loving¡¯ and ¡®sensuous¡¯. I think they¡¯re trying to teach us to have some kind of special personality, but¡­frankly, that doesn¡¯t really make any sense to me. Either way, I finally managed to start articulating a few words, but since my sisters haven¡¯t done that yet I¡¯m keeping my mouth shut. I haven¡¯t really been making very many sounds around the adults for what feels like a long time now. We¡¯re growing well in either case, though for some reason I¡¯m skinny and smaller than the other two. Probably because they scream loudly and get most of the milk, but somehow screaming like that feels wrong to me. Like I¡¯m not supposed to do so. Fortunately nobody thinks me retarded, or ill, as I have been happily exploring any second I could, even though I still can¡¯t really understand most of the things I see. We were comfortable and protected. And if I understood the women around us correctly we would soon join other children to play. (((I really want to put in these next chaper things, but I have no idea how!))) 2nd Chapter Crawling little devils 6 months Fern lifted the little girl in the Magnolia dress out of the wide cradle and smiled at her. Little Magnolia looked into her eyes, smiled back and started waving her chubby little hands. She started smacking her lips hopefully. Little Magnolia, Fern had found out, was a little glutton, forever hungry. But at her age that was not a problem, babies and infants were supposed to be chubby, unlike young girls. Fern held her finger out in front of Magnolia and she grabbed it, showing a healthy curiosity. It was the right time to move them to the crib, where they could be raised with all the other girls of the house. These had good lineage and even facial features so it was probable they would turn out to be of higher class within the house than Fern herself. If Magnolia could live up to her promising origins she would be able to keep her flower name. Lily and Azalea as well. She set Magnolia down in the large basked filled with soft linen cloth, then took Azalea and Lily out of the cradle and placed them next to Magnolia. They were all lively, robbing around the floor if left alone. They had to go to the crib just before they learned how to crawl just like any other baby. In the crib they would be safe and could go anywhere, play with other babies freely. Sometimes Fern was a bit jealous of them, with their future so open. She had accompanied many babies to the crib, but Magnolia was her favorite so far. Lily was too fragile and Azalea always tried to go where she was not supposed to be, but Magnolia was obedient. Judging by her brown eyes where her sisters¡¯ were black she would look a little different while those two would be identic. Somehow that made her even more endearing to Fern. With the babies safely in the basket she lifted it to her head and left for the crib. The girl¡¯s crib was a large mansion with a smooth clay fence that reached to Fern¡¯s chest. The only entrances were four brick houses, each with a gate warden, to ensure no baby accidently went outside. Inside there was a perfectly groomed lawn and park without any poisonous plants, or any with thorns. No ponds where babies might drown either. The Mansion was large, with six wings, each for an age group. There were fences between those age groups¡¯ smaller private garden areas and the open park, as well. Inside she knew there would be no edges or high places where children might hurt themselves and leave scars. The floors were all smooth wood for the same reason. Scars would ruin a girl child early on. In the girls¡¯ private room ¨C a privilege of those with flower names ¨C she set Lily and Azalea down on the floor so they could explore their surroundings, rolling and robbing about as they liked to do. Magnolia looked at Fern with large, liquid eyes, made begging sounds and held out her chubby little arms. Fern couldn¡¯t resist and cuddled her before she fed her again. 7 months Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Lily had found an amazing playmate in Azalea. Together they were crawling around the maze of hallways and rooms, everything full of pretty colors and toys and other babies to play with. They were dressed in jumpers with bright blue patches on their knees and little fingerless gloves to protect their hands as they scrambled about. Lily had the impression that she was a bit older than the other babies somehow, but so much of what she saw was new and exciting, as exciting as for every other baby her age, it just didn¡¯t matter. Together with Azalea, who had apparently accepted Lily as the leader in their expeditions, she hid under low tables and inspected dolls and stuffed animals. They took apart flowers and pulled on every bit of cloth they could find. It was fun. Of course they also got to know other babies, touching their soft cheeks and hair, laughing at the way it felt to touch and be touched by little, clumsy hands innocently. They babbled among themselves, teaching each other some simple words they¡¯d learned. Magnolia, who was always with the large presence in their lives that took care of them was fast forgotten in the middle of so much fun. Over time Lily became a leader among the little ones, the one with the most interesting ideas that always did something to make the others curious. She tried to follow the girls that left, the ones who were around a year old, but she had no luck. They were always found out all too soon by the experienced Nurses. 11 months Lily and Azalea were quick little devils who always managed to escape Fern, causing her nothing but worry. They were a bit skinny for their age and far too mischievous. Fortunately she had Magnolia, who was so adorable as she was crawling around the room and saying her cute little words. Her ¡®Fan! Fan!¡¯ was the smartest thing. She was so smart to know that calling her she¡¯d solve all her cute little problems. She¡¯d say ¡®Dolly¡¯ and ¡®Teddy¡¯ and ¡®yum yum¡¯ when she wanted her toys or was hungry. Much smarter than Lily and Azalea who hardly spoke a word and were always wandering about. She dressed Magnolia¡¯s chubby form in different clothes for hours and cooed at her when she looked at herself in a mirror and clapped her hands. Her cheeks were round and red, her black hair silky and in orderly little braids. Unlike her sisters she never pulled the hairpins and bits of colorful cloth out, because she knew Fern would give her a reward for being a good girl. All too soon though the time would come to an end. The girls were almost a year old and would be transferred to the toddlers. Fortunately Fern could still go with them. The girls of the house were Nursed until they were three years old, though the children would mostly eat other food by then. It was considered healthy to let them try things and not force them to accept other food. 3rd Chapter: Toddlers and Training 1 year It was my very first birthday. I knew that much because Fern, the older woman, said so as she pulled Azalea and me out of a bush. We were trying to see if there were fairies in the bush, because one of the women had read a story the day before. In that story it said in the beginning that every tree, stone and bush in the great forest was the home of a fairy. If so many fairies lived in the bushes there then, since we had so many of them here too, there ought to be at least one fairy around, right? So we were crawling into the densest ones we could find searching for fairies. Oh, yes, Fern. Fern had scolded us harshly, scrubbed us in the bath and then forced us to wear dresses with our flower on them. Mine was light green with white Lilies on them that she called ¡®Calla¡¯. Whatever that meant. Azalea got a light purple dress with pink Azaleas. Hers was much prettier than mine, we decided, which was mean. We tried to switch mine secretly with Magnolia¡¯s, since hers had similar colors to Azalea¡¯s, but I was skinnier and smaller than Magnolia and hers was too big. When Fern came back she scolded me for stealing Magnolia¡¯s dress and I had to wear mine again. In hers Azalea looked rosy and pretty, but mine made me look pale and frail. I wanted to look like Azalea. Fern was really mean. I wanted a pink day lily, but she said that wasn¡¯t appropriate at all. I really didn¡¯t understand the complicated explanation with womanhood and such difficult words in it. Either way, she sat us down in a room with two other little girls, Buckhorn and Yaupon. Those two were dressed in drab clothing, from ordinary linen. Not the cool silk and pretty colors we had. I didn¡¯t understand it. Fern set us down on low chairs with soft pillows, but those two didn¡¯t get pillows. A few minutes later another little girl in a silk dress was brought, though hers was cream with pale green leaves. She got a pillow, too. Azalea and I had played with her before so I knew her name was White Ash. Apparently there was some kind of separation going on. I didn¡¯t think Azalea or any of the others really got it, but Yaupon started wandering over to argue with Magnolia over a pillow to sit on and was roughly dragged back to her own chair. Nobody had ever been this rough with me, even if I had done some pranks and hidden in corners and pulled another girl¡¯s hair once. I looked at White Ash¡¯s dress and then at mine. My colors were still cheerful, even if they were pale, while hers were just boring. But the quality was about the same. When I crawled towards her to see if her pillow was the same as mine all the adults smiled and let us play and look at each other¡¯s dresses. We had to get up to see properly so I pulled myself to my feet against her little chair. White Ash giggled and did the same. Then we competed to see who could walk for longer without falling. It was lots of fun! And we didn¡¯t cry when we stumbled. So I could play with White Ash. To test my newly formed theory I looked at Buckhorn, because she wasn¡¯t crying. With my practiced skill I crawled towards her to see what would happen. Fern lifted me up into her arms and carried me back to White Ash. I really didn¡¯t understand what the difference was. Until that morning I had played with Buckhorn occasionally and nobody intervened. But now apparently something had changed. While I sat there, thinking, White Ash looked around, as puzzled as I was about the reactions of the adults all of a sudden. Azalea crawled to me, probably because she was bored, but she apparently hadn¡¯t noticed much. White Ash, I thought, was smarter than the others. Something told me that smart people were good to have as friends, something that gave me a headache when I tried to find out why. So I just decided to go along and play with White Ash more. A little while later the six of us were brought to another room, where strange women waited. The first group pulled us around, looked at our hands and knees and eyes and hair, inspecting us and turning us around until we were in a bad mood and Magnolia and Yaupon were crying. Then they finally stopped and we were given strange toys. Each of us had to play with five women, a different game with each of them. Me and White Ash were really good at those games. Buckhorn was pretty good too, about the same as Azalea and then people were standing around us, talking. Magnolia and Yaupon weren¡¯t really good at all. Then the women talked and talked and talked while we were allowed to play together again. Sometimes one of the women started shouting, but we mostly ignored them. Finally they seemed to agree on something. After a bit someone brought a plain silk dress and made Buckhorn change into it. We were then told that Buckhorn was Willow now. That was puzzling, but Willow sounded prettier so Buck¡­no, Willow smiled and seemed happy as she agreed. We wanted new names, too, then, but they said that that wasn¡¯t necessary. Then the women argued again. Finally Azalea, Willow, White Ash and me were lifted by one of the women who had done the tests each and carried to a room with four mattresses and lots more games similar to those we had played with the women. One of the women told us she would be our new nurse now, because Fern was going somewhere else with Magnolia, but we would see them again soon. When I asked about Yaupon she shrugged and said she would have two more years to ¡®prove herself¡¯ and that she had gone somewhere else. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. To her mother. We didn¡¯t know what a mother was, but the nurse just smiled and said we would meet ours when we turned five. 1 year 1 month It was very different in the toddler group compared to the baby group. Everybody was talking! And they walked around from room to room so easily! All four of us had worked hard since we arrived and could walk properly without falling too often, too, after the first month, but the other girls were so fast! And so smart! We played in a different group from Magnolia and had different games, too. All the older girls in our group could do amazing things, like making complicated drawings with a brush and forming clay, solving difficult puzzles with a hundred pieces and playing counting games and grammar games. We had to try hard and speak in longer sentences or we looked stupid. Magnolia, we found out, was singing a lot in her play group and painting with really pretty colors. They dressed up all the time and had to wear things in their hair. Magnolia liked that, but Azalea and me were glad we were in the other group. Everybody had to learn something called dancing together and we were scolded when we fell down or moved our arms and heads wrong. It was really difficult, but it helped with walking without falling. Magnolia was really bad at it and cried all the time, so Fern had to come and calm her down. And then there was something where we had to sit and meditate, when we had to be all quiet and not fall asleep. That was boring, but the headache thing in my head made me try really hard. Surprisingly when I really tried to do what they told me to the time passed lots faster and I felt really good afterwards, so I did my best and was praised a lot. The only horrible thing was that the women kept trying to give us things with a weird color. Some of those were really disgusting when we put them in our mouth, but others were sweet and tasted nice. It was just hard to try things that might be really yucky. White Ash really liked something the adults called fruit juice, so I tried that too and it was tasty. So I started trying too. Willow liked potato mush and that was all right, too. Our Nurse kept giving us things she said were healthy and was really happy when we liked them. Magnolia was getting really chubby recently though. I wonder why? She also hit some of the girls and when they hit back she started crying and then Fern came and scolded the girls Magnolia hit. 2 years ¡°I want a new dress, too!¡± Azalea complained in dancing class as she watched Magnolia in hers. She was worse than most girls even though we were in the middle of the age group by then. ¡°Magnolia won in her singing class.¡± I argued. ¡°Magnolia was a good girl Fern said. So Magnolia gets new dresses.¡± Azalea struggled to gracefully bend her spine and arms to give the impression of a crane and pouted. ¡°I¡¯d win too.¡± ¡°Magnolia is better.¡± Willow argued. Her little face was tense with concentration. She was pretty good at dancing. I was best of all the girl in meditation, but that didn¡¯t count because it was just sitting still, Azalea said. I nodded and agreed with Willow. Magnolia really was good at singing. But she was bad at dancing and she still got sweets from Fern for not crying every time. White Ash did the twirl and looked at Magnolia thoughtfully. White Ash didn¡¯t talk much, but she always thought first before saying something smart. ¡°Nurse says Magnolia is spoiled.¡± ¡°What¡¯s spoiled?¡± Willow piped in. She wasn¡¯t as good at most of our classes as White Ash and me, but she was really curious. So even if it took her a bit longer to understand she still learned everything she wanted easily. ¡°Pine''s Nurse always says that.¡± I grinned victoriously. ¡°Spoiled is when you always want lots of things and then cry if you don¡¯t get something you want.¡± I was really proud because that was a really complicated thing to say! Willow looked at me with wide eyes and nodded. White Ash nodded, too. She looked thoughtful again, her forehead all wrinkled. Azalea looked confused though. ¡°Is Magnolia fat because she always wants sweets?¡± She asked. I smiled proudly at the sister that looked almost exactly like me. ¡°Yes!¡± I said. Azalea was smart, too. Nurse always said we were in the smart group, so it was important to be smart and ask lots and lots of questions. White Ash seemed puzzled by something for a moment, but then she shrugged and then we were scolded because we were chatting instead of dancing. Half an hour later our arms and legs hurt, but we still had to go to reading and writing class. That was mean because Magnolia didn¡¯t have to go to that class, only the girls from our group who had turned two. But it wasn¡¯t that bad, we got to look at pretty pictures and then try to remember the black signs next to those pictures. We could play paper chase with those and if somebody knew one you didn¡¯t and you lost because you didn¡¯t know that on the paper you found there were the signs for table and food, you¡¯d be far behind the others who were trying to find the treasure! It was fun teasing the other group playing a game they couldn¡¯t, too. White Ash, Willow and me were never allowed to play in the same group though or we¡¯d always win. Playing against each other was fun, too, though. 4th Chapter: A world such as this (1) 3 years As surprising as it had been when we turned one year old our third birthday came. This time we were brought to a room with soft carpets, little tables with pen and paper on them as well as some instruments and complicated games we had played in our classes. This time, to my great surprise, there were the same six girls. Yaupon sat with us in the room. Azalea stared at her with a puzzled expression. She was about to go to talk to her when our nurse placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and shook her head. I pulled on her sleeve. ¡°That¡¯s Yaupon!¡± I whispered. ¡°She was back at our last test, too.¡± Ash, who had apparently been listening in, looked at me in surprise. Then she looked at the girl with the mousy brown hair who was looking down at her feet timidly. She looked like she was thinking hard. Willow, of course, looked like she had just received the best birthday present ever. I could guess that she really wanted to ask the other girl everything about where she had been. I was pretty sure she would hate our nurse if she didn¡¯t allow us to talk to her. Magnolia, who had come in after us, sat down in her chair obediently and smiled at Fern. Magnolia had become really chubby over the last two years since we had entered the toddler group, I noticed. Fern was looking at my sister as if she were a gift from heaven and snuck a bit of caramel into her sticky hands, which got her a satisfied grin from Magnolia. Willow was staring at her jealously. None of us had ever had any sweets because our nurse said it was unhealthy. The door opened and a group of women entered. It was quite a different group of adults from what I had expected. One of them moved like a cat. The second wore scholars¡¯ robes like those the woman who observed our lessons occasionally wore. The third gave me a really strange feeling. And the fourth was a woman in an old dress full of colors as if she had just come from painting. There was grey dust everywhere on her, too, while her sleeves had traces of something brown. I guessed that she was probably an artist. The scholar clapped her hands to get our attention. We were already quiet, of course, and obediently looked at her. ¡°This is your placement test for early school. You will be allowed to stay in the crib as long as you pass even one test.¡± Her eyes were warm when she said those words, but I wondered where we would go if we didn¡¯t pass, like Yaupon the last time. Would we be able to come back later? ¡°The first test will be one you won¡¯t be able to do anything about now.¡± The scholar looked at the woman who was dressed like a nurse but gave me that strange feeling. I looked at her with a bit of apprehension. She ran her eyes over us slowly, one after the other. Finally she pointed at me and Ash. ¡°Those two pass. The others fail.¡± The announcement sounded final, so the scholar just nodded as the weird woman left. Ash looked at me from the side and I glanced back. She didn¡¯t understand either. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Yaupon¡¯s lips started quivering as if she was about to cry, like she had last time, but before she could start the artistic looking woman rubbed her little head. ¡°Now, girls, it¡¯s time to paint a pretty picture. If you want to you can work with clay, too. Or sing a song. Whatever you like.¡± Yaupon still seemed unhappy, but she grabbed the pen she got as if her life depended on it. After art we had to count and do some math questions as well as write down some things and draw a picture of what some written things meant. That was easy and fun because we each got our own blackboard and colorful chalk for it. After that we danced and then we had to run around the garden and then do fun things like rolling around the ground and play catch. Then they decided to take our weight, height and measurements. Lastly they looked at our hair and looked for scars and such things. None of us liked that part. Finally there was the talking again in a language I had never heard before while the six of us had to sit quietly. After an eternity the scholar kneeled down in front of us. ¡°All right. I have your results now. Azalea will be part of the physical training and educational program. Congratulations.¡± She handed my sister a pen and a small dagger. I wanted a dagger too! She turned to me next. ¡°Lily, you will have three courses. They will be ki classes, physical training and the educational program.¡± I got my dagger! And the pen and a little key. Magnolia got Arts classes and was told she would have something called separate special education though I had no idea what that was supposed to be. The scholar woman looked at Fern with pity, too, though I didn¡¯t understand why. Maybe Art was a bad thing? White Ash was in ki training and education, but not in physical training. The woman who moved like a cat told her she would still have about twice as many sports lessons and had to take a martial arts course compared to the others who also weren¡¯t in physical training. Willow had physical classes and the education course. We were happy that we would all have at least one thing together. Then it was Yaupon¡¯s turn. Poor girl. She really looked dejected already so I hoped she had passed something, too. The scholar rubbed her head and smiled. ¡°You¡¯re not remarkably smart or very pretty and you have little talent in art. But you have a strong body and if you ask Lady Zinnia she may allow you to sit in her classes quietly. If you try very hard you might make a good witch yet. You¡¯ll be in physical training.¡± Yaupon looked up with her eyes shiny with tears that had been desperation but were suddenly transformed into joy. ¡°I can be a witch?¡± She squeaked. The scholar smiled as she nodded. ¡°If you train very hard. Then maybe.¡± I smiled happily and looked at the others. I¡¯d already decided that I would help her as much as I could. Willow, White Ash and Azalea grinned back. For some reason Magnolia was gone though. Puzzled I looked around and found her next to an ashen faced Fern. 5th Chapter: A world such as this (2) 3 years 1 day We had just settled into our new room, which was almost exactly the same as the one we had last time. This time Magnolia and Yaupon were with us though. No more single room with Fern for Magnolia. She had been crying and throwing tantrums all evening, but Fern didn¡¯t come. Yaupon tried to comfort her first, but Magnolia hit her and then Yaupon looked at her with disgust. ¡°My mommy said that if she was important I¡¯d have been in special education when I turned one. You¡¯re in special education, so you failed!¡± She hissed at Magnolia. My sister, who was much heavier and taller than Yaupon, started hitting her more then and Azalea and me had to pull her off the smaller girl. We ignored Magnolia for the rest of the evening, even when she calmed down and wanted to try a puzzle we had just started. But Magnolia was mean so she wasn¡¯t allowed to play with us. Yaupon had never had such a nice puzzle, she said, so she was happy she could play like this with all of us. We talked lots and lots that night. Yaupon told us all about her mommy and the cat at her old home and how she had nobody to play with her there. Only the children her mommy said she couldn¡¯t play with. Yaupon said her mommy made her train really hard so she¡¯d pass the next test and could play with other children again. She also said that she shouldn¡¯t have been called Yaupon because only the smart or strong kids could have tree names and the pretty ones had flower names. But because she was strong she could keep her name now, as long as she passed the next test. White Ash and me looked at each other. Finally we knew why Willow¡¯s name changed. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Then a new Nurse came and brought us our dinner. We wouldn¡¯t get milk anymore, she said. Afterwards we were all tired and went to sleep. Magnolia had been wandering about outside and was forcibly brought back to our room, still demanding that Fern come back. The nurse didn¡¯t give in, so Magnolia finally went to sleep after waking all of us again. So the next day we were all a bit unhappy when we were dragged from our beds really early, together with a lot of other girls. They all seemed puzzled so this probably wasn¡¯t normal. A woman took Magnolia and brought her away, too, but left us. We tried to follow her but there were too many girls taller than us everywhere. Willow and Azalea and me and White Ash and Yaupon held hands so we wouldn¡¯t lose each other when we were all herded into a very large room, where Fern was tied up in the middle, hanging off the ceiling by her hands. I stared at the sight wide eyed. Then Magnolia was brought to the middle, her arms and legs tied with linen. She was set down at Fern¡¯s feet. A large, rough looking woman walked towards Fern with a piece of paper. She held it up so everybody could see she was reading it. There was something the color of blood stuck to the bottom of the piece of paper. Nurses tried to hush the whispering girls with little success, but when the woman in the middle started speaking we all stopped speculating about what was going on. ¡°The Lady Orchid accuses this woman, Fern, of willfully ruining her expectations! The Lady Orchid further accuses the child that has been known as Magnolia of willfully ruining her expectations!¡± The voice was harsh and echoed in the hall. There would be a verdict. 6th Chapter: A world such as this (3) 3 years 1 day (part 2) I was frozen in shock, staring at the incomprehensible scene in front of me. I didn¡¯t really understand what was going on. Just that all the difficult words the woman read had to be bad for Fern and Magnolia. I tried asking our new nurse, but she hushed me. I needed to know, but¡­ Helplessly looking around my eyes found White Ash¡¯s. She seemed equally puzzled and a bit scared, but she was wrinkling her brows too. She was really smart and often found interesting solutions for difficult problems when she did that. This time she could only shrug and shake her head. I decided to remain quiet until I understood better what was going on, but Azalea was different. She tried rushing forward to do something, maybe protect Magnolia, who was our sister even if we were angry with her. Willow caught the back of her tunic and held on tightly. Before Azalea could do anything else our nurse lifter her to her hip and held her tightly there, trying to calm her down. Loud noises diverted my attention from my identical sister and I turned towards the middle of the room. Someone had brought a thick stick and a whip. Now one strong looking woman held the club while the other one unwound the whip. Fern was screaming for mercy, but neither woman seemed to care. I almost tried to run forward too when they brought a kind of paddle and tied Magnolia to a chair, her chubby little face paper white. And then it started. Everything grew blurry around me when I saw the blood fly through half the room, dripping off the whip that turned Fern¡¯s back into a bloody mass of wounds. Her screaming grew louder for a while as I grew numb. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. It was as if things were spinning around yet standing still, while I was caught behind an invisible barrier. I could only watch as the woman counted five hundred lashes and a hundred hits with the club. Fern grew very quiet and motionless after the first few dozen lashes. I thought she was dead. The blood flowing from her back was no longer welling up. It only flowed out slowly, as if it was merely leaking. The whip sent drops of blood all over the room and most of us had specks in our faces, in our hair and on our clothes. Magnolia had grown very quiet a long time ago. When the last lash was finished they hit her bottom five times with the paddle, but she didn¡¯t even cry, just stared at Fern¡¯s corpse quietly as it was beaten by the club 100 times. In the end the woman with the paper stepped forward again. She spoke to Magnolia this time. ¡°Child formerly known as Magnolia, daughter of the Lady Orchid. For conduct unbecoming of a high daughter of the house you are erased from the family line. Your name henceforth shall be Yellow Carnation. For failing the Test of your third birthday you are removed from the Crib. As a child with no standing you shall be considered an orphan henceforth.¡± The woman folded the piece of paper and left the room with sharp, clicking steps. I wanted to run to Magnolia, but our Nurse caught me. Other nurses came and forced us all to return to our room. 7th Chapter: A world such as this (4) 3 years 1 day (3) ¡°She had no right to do this!¡± The Nurse carrying me whispered. I heard a snort and a sight, but since I had safely buried my face in the folds of the nurse¡¯s clothes I didn¡¯t see who it was. ¡°She obviously can. She just doesn¡¯t care. How such a person made it to such a high position in the family¡­¡± ¡°This batch of kids is half ruined, I tell you. They¡¯ll be psychologically crippled for years.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be our r¨¦sum¨¦ that will suffer for losing this many kids.¡± The nurse carrying me hissed. ¡°Boxwood! This isn¡¯t about our performance record, it¡¯s about what something like that does to the little ones!¡± ¡°As if arguing like this right in front of them were any better¡­¡± A soft voice that I had become familiar with scolded. It was our old Nurse, the one who had been with us for two years. I looked up hopefully and wiggled in the grip of the stranger who was holding me, trying to get to that familiar presence. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be here!¡± The mean nurse who wouldn¡¯t let me go didn¡¯t seem all too happy. ¡°No, what the kids need now is someone they¡¯re familiar with. It might dampen the psychological damage if they can be reassured. Especially these kids. Two of them were Yellow Carnation¡¯s sisters and Fern was their first nurse.¡± The one who had used those difficult words before said nearly incomprehensible things again. ¡°But head Nurse¡­¡± ¡°Stay with this group. I hope they make it. Several of them have excellent prospects. Besides, I do not want to be the one who has to tell Lady Orchid that more of her daughters have failed to meet requirements, the reason why won¡¯t matter to her.¡± I kind of wondered who this head nurse was if she told the nurses what to do. I had never seen anything like this, except when Fern did it. Strangely my brain was following such random thoughts instead of rerunning what had happened all of a sudden. I tried to think back, but a vase we passed caught my attention and then I thought about Fern¡¯s behavior before again. Fern always told the nurses what to do. But the nurses looked angry then. I glanced at the other nurses and they didn¡¯t seem angry about what the head nurse told them to do. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Everything was confusing. I looked at my Nurse¡¯s cloth and saw traces of blood. Fern¡¯s blood. My head went blank for a moment and after that I couldn¡¯t think anymore. I just stared at the red dots. Some had smeared where my head had been. There was a wet and sometimes itchy feeling on my skin. I rubbed, but when I stopped and looked at my hand there was only more red. Desperately I started rubbing, but the blood wouldn¡¯t go away. I wanted it gone, I wanted Magnolia to be back with us even if she was mean and spoiled, I wanted Fern back¡­I didn¡¯t want this mean nurse. Angrily, caught in her grip, I started hitting her to make her let go. ¡°Down! Down! Down!¡± I demanded. ¡°I hate you!¡± She slapped me and in shock I started crying, begging the other Nurses to make her go away. I didn¡¯t want to be with this mean nurse. ¡°Boxwood, my office, in half an hour!¡± The head nurse whispered calmly. But I still had to stay on the mean woman¡¯s hip, no matter how much I fought. After what seemed forever I noticed that the others had started crying, too. We cried and cried, even after they set us down in this new, foreign room and washed our faces and short hair with soft cloth, changed our dresses to cheerful blues and greens and yellows. The nice nurse who had carried Azalea and who hadn¡¯t said a word before hugged and petted us together with our old nurse until my head hurt from crying and I got sleepy. Finally I crawled under the covers of one of the new beds and fell asleep for my afternoon nap. 8th Chapter: Shifting Awareness 3 years 2 days Memories haunted my dreams. Memories of violence that felt removed. Memories that I could not explain. There was no Crib in those memories, no nurses. I saw blood and dead bodies, but all I felt was annoyance. I saw pictures of a person running through a desolate desert, through ruins, using something I knew was called a sword to kill the enemy. It was copper. I had never encountered anything like it in my life. Yet I saw copper as something novel, special. Something most tribes did not have. I did not even understand what a tribe was. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. All I knew was glass in the windows of our Crib and wood, stone, rarely porcelain and many kinds of cloth and leather. I knew nurses and children and was faintly aware of the existence called mother that had given birth to us by some miracle. And yet I knew that I was both. It made my head ache, but after what had happened to Fern I realized that an aching head was not so bad. So I tried to fight through the pain as I lay half awake, to find what this dream was trying to tell me. Alas, I did not find it. 9th Chapter: 2 years of change 3 years to 5th birthday I might have complained about the load of training I received if it hadn¡¯t been for what had happened to Magnolia and Fern. For whatever this other me was slowly teaching me about life. 4 hours of meditation training every morning, focusing my mind together with only five others, all around the same age as me. Afterwards four hours of lessons, one in reading and writing, one in math, one in general knowledge and one in free study, when we were allowed to say what we wanted to learn more about. Then it was time for lunch and afterwards 4 hours of physical training. The first hour were some boring warm up, followed by fun games. Then it was time for dancing, followed by gymnastics for two whole hours. I might have slacked off. I had to do more than others. It was not fair. I wanted to play, to explore the gardens and listen to the fun stories the Nurses told us. But I kept dreaming of harsh life, of desperately trying to find food and drink in a desert, of fighting and seeing friends die. I dreamed of great blue gates that seemed to shine in the sunlight. And I felt like my heart opened at that sight. I dreamed of wishing, of hoping, those great gates would last until the end of eternity. Such intense feelings of what I understood was loyalty. I dreamed of sacrificing friends in the battlefield. Of leaving those who were injured behind, to keep the army moving, strong. Like my mother had done to Magnolia. She left the weak behind. There had to be something I could feel for like I had for those blue gates again. To not be left behind, to see my own blue gates, I needed to become strong. And so I always tried my best. I was never quite as smart as White Ash, quite as strong as Yaupon or quite as curious as Willow, despite my best efforts. But then, Yaupon was never very good at dancing and in meditation she could never hold that state as consistently as me. White Ash was close to my level in Meditation, but her body was not built for physical training like mine and those of our friends. Willow was a great dancer, but when we learned dances involving artistic moves her body just wasn¡¯t flexible enough. And though she was better than me in education classes, it was not because she was smarter. No, she was simply curious, spending almost every free minute learning something new. Azalea was a playful child and though we were basically the same she started neglecting physical training. She snuck into art classes quite often, fascinated by the singing, painting and design. She liked poetry and was gifted in math, but she never had grades above average level. She drifted away from me before I noticed. Once we had been inseparable, but by the time we turned five I hardly knew what she did with her time. Yaupon and I ran around the park in our free time to improve our stamina, White Ash, Willow and me tried teaching her how to read and write and also some meditation we had fun. The smart cookies as Yaupon liked to call the three of us who could argue for hours about which plants grew best in which climate, which we should have in the garden. She was the one who ran to see which types we actually had in the garden and was happy to see the three of us argue about why the Nurses had chosen those afterwards. We trained together and learned together, we meditated and tried to become the best versions of ourselves we could. Yaupon, in many cases, could only follow. And despite her lack of talent she was better than average in most things and one of the best in things like general knowledge or strength, simply because she never gave up. Azalea called us strange for it. She despised the Nurses for what they had done to Fern and Magnolia. She didn¡¯t want to do what they told us to and no talking to her had been enough to change her mind. Eventually we avoided each other, just to avoid arguing. And we grew apart. My little group of friends became kind of famous among the children. The Nurses whispered of future witches and sages. And though we knew nothing about the meaning of those words we were always treated with respect. And the Nurses told us more than we were supposed to know. As expected, eventually our fifth birthday came. We knew by then that those who had upon their third birthday been chosen for the physical program were simply those with the right bone structure and muscles for it. Most children that age were not ready for any kind of training and would only begin after their fifth birthday, if they had talent. We also found out that this was more than a change in living space. We would be sorted into social levels. Of those in the educational course nearly everyone would either make it into the first or second social class. For those who were especially smart it was already certain. Ordinary achievements coupled with any physical or artistic talent, or beauty, would also be sufficient. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. On the other hand even those who were good at physical or artistic classes would only make it to the third level. As for those who failed, those below average¡­they would be sorted out. Why beauty was considered so important none of us understood. My three friends, I realized, had once, on our first birthday, been considered less beautiful than me and my sisters. Looking at them just before our third birthday I realized that while White Ash and Yaupon were nothing special that way, Willow had developed in a different direction. She already had high cheekbones and large, black eyes similar to my own, her expression forever glowing with curiosity. For a moment I wondered whether she would change her name once again. It calmed me down a lot to know about what would be waiting for us though. Because I was certain that Azalea would pass with average grades in at least two topics of the test and there was never a question that my group had developed their own talents as much as possible each. 5th birthday We were sitting around in our room the morning of our fifth birthday, waiting for a Nurse to take us to the testing room. Azalea was fidgeting around while Yaupon stretched and loosened her limbs. Her talent was her physical power and she wouldn¡¯t allow herself to do less than she could. She didn¡¯t want to be sorted out, not again, I knew that much. Her limps were a little cramped because she was so nervous, which wouldn¡¯t help. Quietly I exchanged looks with White Ash. We both nodded. We got up, both at the same time, and went to our friend to pat her back. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Yaupon. You can do this.¡± My voice was soft and quiet as I did my best to help. ¡°Maybe meditating will help. You won¡¯t be able to show your power if you are this tense.¡± White Ash, as usual, was far more helpful in her suggestions. Yaupon bit her lip and nodded. She sat down, but when she closed her eyes I could see that she was getting nowhere. To help I started humming a song our Nurse had used to calm us down when we were very small. That seemed to help more than my previous attempt. Yaupon slowly relaxed as we watched, until we could hear only her even, deep breathing. I¡­felt something from her. It was almost as if she was swinging with a very special rhythm. This, I knew, was what meditation was all about. Finding that rhythm. The teacher in meditation had told us that we would learn what to do with what we found, if we could find it, when we were five. If one failed to find it by the time one turned eleven there would be no hope of someone ever becoming a witch. To become a sage it had to be mastered by the age of five. White Ash and me had worried about Yaupon in that regard, but recently she had managed to find it frequently. I hoped it would be enough. White Ash smiled victoriously while Willow looked at us in confusion and curiosity. She had always been far too busy reading in the library to care much about our meditation practice. It took only a few more minutes for the Nurse to arrive at our room. When the door opened we rose expectantly and the Nurse who looked inside smiled at us. ¡°It¡¯s time. Follow me.¡± And we did. The way was, no surprise, leading us to the opposite end of our wing from where we first entered. The Crib was built like a clock. Those who passed again and again would stay until they turned 21. Part of the main family were those who stayed until they turned 15. Or at least those who were in the crib when they turned 15 and passed the tests for family membership. Apparently some children were raised by their mothers when they were young. Children older than five and younger than 14 could enter the crib once a year on a special date, as long as they passed the tests. It worked like this: (1) 0 - 6 months Newborn ward (2) 6 months ¨C 1 year Baby ward (3) 1 ¨C 3 years Toddler ward (4) 3 ¨C 5 years pre-school ward (5) 5 ¨C 15 years school ward (6) 15 ¨C 21 years higher school It was a relief for me and I couldn¡¯t help hoping. As we arrived in the right hallway and the woman opened the door I found what I had been hoping for. 10th Chapter: Class, Rank and Memories (1) ((And I''m back from vacation! Here''s the next chapter :) )) 10th Chapter: Class, Rank and Memories (1) Being five was a very different thing. At five, formal schooling began. At five, the social rules were implemented, simply because five years old, unlike three year old children, could understand such things. Mentally they had developed to a point that would allow them to become what made humans human. It was only a question of accumulating knowledge and understanding, seeing and hearing and reading and practicing. I had a hunch why all those horrible things had happened to Fern and Magnolia now. I understood things about the crib none of us was supposed to know or suspect so early. And even with my high intelligence I never would have guessed if it wasn¡¯t for that stream of information and feelings pouring into me every night. There were lives inside of me. Several lives. And the rules of the world in those lives were different from the rules in my life now. But that was only part of the changes. There were nearly ten thousand children between the ages of five and six. Half were third rate students. They studied in groups of 100 children per class for four hours in the morning. About 4500 were second rate students who studied for six hours in the morning, with activities they could choose in the afternoon. Their classes only held between 20 and 40 students depending on the subject and level of the class. One of them was Yaupon, another my sister Azalea and then Willow. And then there was us. Me and White Ash. We were two of 500 children our age who made it to the highest rank in the crib, for the next year at least. On that first day we tried to go to the library together, to see which books that place the nurses had told us so much about held. Azalea was clinging to Magnolia as we walked, but I felt too awkward after my first impulsive outburst that was quickly interrupted when my nurse lifted me up and wouldn¡¯t let go. But now we were together. We passed, even if Magnolia, who I wasn¡¯t supposed to call by her name or call sister anymore, only made it to the third level, like so many newcomers. Oh, yes. There had been a lot more children who had been born the same day as me in that room, children who had been raised by their mothers before and the tests had been different. Well, except the one who tested our Meditation levels or whatever she was looking for. She still pointed, said what she wanted and left. And, again, all those with their birth on the same day were brought to the same door, though when the educator who held my hand and Ash¡¯s entered we saw that there was a kind of play room with more doors behind it. The educator brought me and Ash to the door on the other side of the room and led us to a short hallway with three more doors. ¡°One room for each of you. Please get changed, young ladies. Children who have turned five have to wear the rank uniform at all times. There are several sets in your wardrobes.¡± She told us as she handed a key to each of us, pretty silver keys on slim silver necklaces. ¡°As Ladies of the first rank you can tell any of the other girls to clean your room or do other things for you, but you can play with anyone you like.¡± The last thing sounded rather strange to me when I thought about the way the adults sometimes disliked it when we played with each other, especially me or Azalea with Yaupon. My room, my own room, was rather big. There was a very wide bed with light curtains, a wardrobe and a low table. The rest of the room was open and held nothing but a beautiful carpet. Apparently we would be able to decorate ourselves later on. I changed quickly and then took a look at White Ash¡¯s room, which was identical. White Ash had just finished changing and grinned at me, pretty in her new white dress with the brooches on her shoulder. ¡°This room is amazing!¡± She said with a happy look at the bed. I could only agree. ¡°Mine¡¯s the same.¡± I told her. ¡°But I bet Willow¡¯s already going through the roof because she wants to see the library. And¡­¡± ¡°You want to talk to your sister.¡± White Ash filled my awkward silence. ¡°I think you should wait though. She¡­didn¡¯t look comfortable. Give her a little space until she comes to you.¡± Maybe it was good advice, but I really wanted to talk to her about what happened. White Ash, as usual, guessed my thoughts. Somehow she was more my sister than any of my real sisters. ¡°I think being here probably brought up enough bad memories.¡± Her tone was soft even if her words were strict. So, reluctantly, I nodded. To my left there was a very pretty little girl called Daisy. And Cherry Blossom, the other girl who had decided to stay in our room, was just as beautiful. Whatever was pouring into my head told me that the ratio of beautiful girls was unnatural. That even Yaupon, who was considered kind of rough and ugly, was actually rather pretty. And judging by all I knew this whole place was not the kind of thing children usually grew up in. Children were not supposed to be judged and trained constantly, at least not so young. This clan was driving me crazy sometimes. Pine and the other girls who had come that day were quietly following us, looking at everything with curiosity. But they were only hallways and bedrooms and classrooms. Finally my curiosity became too much. Before, when Yaupon had been gone she had been too young to leave her mother¡¯s house and did not know a thing about the world outside. As for Magnolia¡­she would talk to us when she was ready. She had yet to say a word to anyone and could only enter the crib because of her dancing skill and the way she could play the harp. Combined with her beauty¡­the nurses had called her good material for a future Gift. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. And I did not want to know what my foreign memories said about her future. So I asked Pine, the new girl who had turned five just like me. ¡°How is it, outside?¡± I asked quietly. Pine looked a bit scared when I talked to her. Her dress was bright blue while mine was white, the sign of our new social classes. My memories suggested that somebody had taught her to respect those above her. And I, apparently, counted as one. White Ash helped, fortunately. She smiled at the other girl and nodded encouragingly. ¡°Uhm¡­my mommy lives in a clan house. Everyone I know lives in that clan house. We had a pretty garden to play there, but the garden here is much bigger.¡± She started to speak, but stared at us as if we were going to punish her if we disliked anything she said. Which we could. The educators who had replaced the nurses had told us so. ¡°How many stories did this clan house have?¡± White Ash asked as curious as I was. The upper stories of the crib were all boarding rooms and practice rooms, plus the largest classrooms. ¡°Only thirteen.¡± She answered with a hesitant smile. ¡°Not like the Crib. My Mommy said it was in a town, not a real city, but I was almost never allowed on the upper stories.¡± ¡°The pats for the younger kids around here are all on the first floor.¡± Willow interjected. ¡°None of us had ever seen stairs before we came to this part of the house.¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t that may babies and toddlers here.¡± I interjected. ¡°Besides, in our room we have 27 kids now who were all born the same day and the educator said that it was normal to have anything between 25 and 30 children in a dorm room. There are 356 dorm rooms on our level, so one for every day of the year.¡± ¡°Plus it says our birthday and the week we entered on the sign. The schedules for classes all put the kids from the same week into one class.¡± Willow said thoughtfully, going off topic. I elbowed her. I really wanted to know more about the outside. ¡°Have you ever been to the town?¡± Ahh, I love White Ash. She could stay on topic. Unfortunately Pine shook her head. ¡°I had to study every day because my Mommy wanted me to get into the educational line here.¡± Her hand touched the brooch on her shoulder. It was the same as Willow¡¯s, a picture of a brush. Azalea on the other hand had the Art brooch, which was a colorful piece of smooth glass. And Yaupon¡¯s showed a sword, I found when I looked at them. Nobody had explained that part to us, but now that I thought about it it was obvious. ¡°Lady, which course are you in?¡± Pine asked after a moment. I looked at my own shoulder. There were three brooches. One was the brush, another showed the sword. The third one was a little mirror. ¡°I got Education, Martial Arts and Chi classes.¡± I answered. White Ash, who had done the same as me, only had two brooches I noticed. There was an additional, tiny pin added to the Chi Mirror which also showed a sword though I didn¡¯t really understand why yet. The background of Yaupon¡¯s sword brooch was a kind of milky mirror too though. While I still pondered this Pine went pale. ¡°You¡¯re witches!¡± She gasped. Yaupon poked Pine from behind. ¡°What¡¯s a witch?¡± Pine¡¯s eyes first fell on Yaupon¡¯s blue dress and then on her shoulder. Her brows knitted. ¡°You¡¯re¡­a potential Sword Witch?¡± She asked. Well, to say it bluntly I was thoroughly confused now. ¡°What¡¯s a Sword Saint? And why potential?¡± Apparently Pine¡¯s mother had told her a great deal about the courses and hierarchies nobody had bothered to teach any of us. Or maybe we were supposed to find it out ourselves. ¡°Well, my Mommy says that a mirror means somebody could be a witch, somebody who can fly with chi and destroy boulders and make illusions and such. They¡¯re rare and special she says. But if the mirror is milky it means they haven¡¯t reached the level where they can really start using it. Usually nobody our age has a mirror, but a few have milky mirrors. I think.¡± Pine explained, apparently proud to have the full attention of our whole group of fifteen girls now. ¡°If she had another talent or got a real mirror behind her sword she could have a room to herself and wear white and get to eat special food, too.¡± Willow started grinning. ¡°So if I managed to learn that I wouldn¡¯t have to room with Yaupon, Willow and you?¡± She asked. But Pine shook her head. ¡°If you don¡¯t get at least a milky mirror you don¡¯t have the talent.¡± I could see that Willow was disappointed, but I already had the perfect cure for that. More questions! ¡°So, not everybody has a room of their own?¡± I asked, very curious now. Pine smiled, happy to teach us apparently. ¡°The third rates have to wear simple grey dresses and all of them have the same room. They only get mattresses. The second rates like me have fine blue linen dresses and four of us share a room with two story beds, a desk for each of us and a huge wardrobe that takes up a whole wall, with four doors. And the Ladies each get their own room.¡± That was her second lecture that day¡­ I was a bit shocked by the differences, but my foreign memories said that that was normal. Unlike me the others were speechless though. They had never really known differences in rank, I guess. This was their first time¡­ To get away from possible arguments I grabbed Willow¡¯s hand and started dragging her towards the library that was now in sight. 11th Chapter: Class, Rank and Memories (2) ((A short one today because the weather''s so nice recently. I can''t be bothered to stay inside and write somehow. Sorry if anyone''s waiting for me to start typing already)) Class, Rank and Memories (2) History Class. I had never considered the possibility that classes might help me understand what was flowing through my mind every night. But five was an age when schooling really began ¨C 4 hours a day of standard subjects, like history. There were 16 of us, all in our white dresses, sitting on soft pillows. Each of us had a low table in front of us, chalk in a pretty wooden holder and several plates for our notes. When we grew older, we were told, we would be writing on wood with nice brushes and ink. But not yet. White Ash sat next to me, her posture elegant and upright though I could see her legs quivering after half an hour of sitting properly, as the educators called it. We were old enough for Manners and as young Ladies with great hopes for the future we were to be an example. My own legs had grown numb and I was afraid when I tried to stand again I¡¯d stumble and draw the critical eye of out educators. But it was still half an hour until it was time for that. Maybe this Chi manipulation I would start learning in the afternoon would help me in the future. I had heard many things, but nothing from anyone who could really say they practiced Chi themselves yet. Oh, yes. We were not the only ones with mirrors, but White Ash and me were two of only ten who already had clear mirrors of all the girls between 5 and 6. One in ten thousand was what they said we were. I did wonder why it wasn¡¯t one in a thousand, since there were ten of us and roughly ten thousand girls our age. Maybe it was our clan that had more talent than others. But I forgot. The Milky Mirrors, like Yaupon, were not very common either. Only roughly two hundred and fifty with that sign, those who had not matured yet. Since Yaupon could already do the practice we all guessed that she would soon become a clear mirror, like White Ash and me. At least we hoped that would be the case. But, again, I have gone off topic. What I wanted to talk about was History. Finally I had some insight into this world that puzzled me so much. It turned out that once upon a time the world was ruled by Sword Saints. Great, powerful men capable of incredible feats. They rerouted rivers and remodeled mountains to grow rice on them. They taught their disciples and protected their wives and daughters in great castles. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! But after many years of peace a ship arrived from a different shore and people learned of the other continents. At first there was great wealth and the exchange of techniques helped improve training methods and living conditions on both sides. But men began to live for centuries and the spirits and demons they had been fighting to protect all settlements could not withstand the might of the Sword Saints anymore. They were driven into the corners of the world until they did not dare show themselves anymore. And the Sword Saints, eager for battle, fought each other for sport. But Sport could not satisfy their thirst for blood and the friendly fights turned into bitter competitions. Humans began to hate their neighbors. There were too many people and too little land to produce food after the demons could no longer harm them. Many lived for a long time, gathered much power and could not stand to see their descendants starve. Cities fought over land to feed their people. Need became enmity and the powerful men went out to fight each other, many times. Eventually the Great Warlord rose up and conquered all the cities, but people still starved and suffered. Thus his eye turned towards the other continent. The armies of men went out and the age of great battles between the continents began. To fight the war and keep the population from growing too much rules were written down. Fifty out of a hundred men must go to war for the protection of the great Empire. Every man who survived the war for ten years gained the right to marry and have children within the great clans. Every man who survived the war for a hundred years could gain a government position and did not have to return to the war, though must did. And the clans were ruled by the women who defended the borders when the enemy overwhelmed the men and broke through to the shores. My clan was one of several hundred like it. Our duty, the educator said, was to oversee the economy, to ensure there was grain and cattle, to fight the demons who preyed on the traders and towns, to watch the borders and to give birth to a new generation of warriors for the Empire and leaders for the clan. There was only one question that bothered me. ¡°What about the men who don¡¯t go to war? And all those people who aren¡¯t part of a clan?¡±