[Story] Fairsong Academy – Sorelle’s Diary

Telaena and Brier have started coming for their sewing lesson. It will be nice when I have a whole room for it in the new house, for now I’m just using my room because it’s a pain to move the sewing machine around to the common room. I’ll be able to keep a lot more fabric too, which is exciting! I hope Salenicus won’t mind it too much, but I guess he would have said something about it already if he did. Now I’m worried that he won’t like me having plants there, because Brier asked if he minded. Plants shouldn’t bother anyone, but maybe they would? Is he keeping quiet because he doesn’t want to upset me? I should ask him about it. But I think plants will make the house look bright and cheerful, and I’ll be able to keep more of them because I’ll have more room. And he comes into the greenhouse to see me, so I wouldn’t think he minds them too much.

For Brier I thought we could start with either a fabric flower, or hair bows. When I asked what she wanted to make, she said a scarf, to cover her hair. I don’t understand that at all, I think her hair is nice. But she doesn’t like it because it’s different. She said that she feels alone and like she doesn’t belong here, that people are laughing at her behind her back. It was really hard to hear that because that’s the same way I felt at first. I don’t know what I can say to make it better, because there isn’t really anything. It -is- hard, and you -do- feel different. The best thing I could suggest was to try making friends with some of the people who seem willing — I know Telaena already does things with her, because she’s the one who invited her to sew with me. I don’t know her well, but she seems nice enough. Brier is worried that she’ll be mean or make fun of her later on. I want to say that won’t happen, but I don’t know, it could. And I’ll admit, I still feel that way sometimes, that no one really likes me and they’re just pretending. I know it’s probably not true, but undead people weren’t even allowed here a short time ago. I guess that’s probably true for half-orcs too.

She was also upset about having to play the orc in the play that’s coming up. I told her she should ask Lali for a different part, she shouldn’t feel forced into it just because she’s half orc. I mean, plays aren’t supposed to be realistic, they’re plays. I’m sure Lali would understand and give her a different part, or maybe take the orc character out. I know that Lali has to know what it’s like being the only one like her around, she’s very far from where she grew up and had to learn how to speak Thalassian. At least Brier and I can talk in Common, so that’s nice. I helped her cut out the pattern for the bow, it’s really very simple. Then I told her about how you can make a lot of them in different colors, so you could have one to match your outfit on any day. I wish my hair still grew so I could do things like cut it or try a different style. I mean I can, but I’m always so afraid that it’ll come out if I comb it too much. Brier was a little intimidated by the machine at first, but it’s pretty easy once you start — and I put the thread on for her. I think by the end, she was happy with her bow. Hopefully she’ll try wearing it, because I think it would look really cute. I want to tell her that I’m here if she wants to talk about anything, being different or being a human or whatever, but she might think I’m too weird. Or gross.

[Story] Fairsong Academy – Sorelle’s Diary

I guess Xarola was right. Salenicus wouldn’t go to all this trouble and hard work if he didn’t want to, he’s been out here every day chopping branches and clearing away the old roots and plants. He met with Gaelardrim and told him about what we wanted, and he’s going to draw the plans and then we can say if we want anything changed. I mean, it’s not that I didn’t believe Sal would really do it, but I thought it would just be sometime in the future. Now that it’s really happening, I’m getting more excited about it. I hope the other ranger didn’t think it was too weird that we don’t want a kitchen. Or that we do want a bedroom, it’s not like we need to sleep. But like I told Salenicus, I do like having a place to relax if I want to read a book or just lie down. We are fourth on the list, which hopefully isn’t too far down, and maybe it’ll be finished before it gets too cold. Salenicus would probably work outside longer than the alive people, but if the wood gets too wet or slippery that wouldn’t be good, or if snow covers up everything.

Somehow he also had time to make me a keychain, we don’t have any keys yet but I’ll be ready when we do. It’s got a flower and vines carved into it, but it’s flat so it’s easy to hold. I asked what he did for his, and he said it’s a sword, I told him he should paint the runes so it’s like they are glowing and I think he liked that idea. He also said he’s been carving other things, and at first I didn’t know what he meant but then I figured it out. I would have turned so red if I could have! Xarola was right about that too, why would he be making those things if he didn’t have any intention of using them? He said they were already made, so he must have been thinking about it for a while. I don’t know very much about that stuff, only what I’ve read in books, and I know it’s not exactly like that. Especially for people who aren’t alive, though I know some of it we could still do, and I would like to. I know from the books that elves like to touch each others’ ears. That’s not a thing that humans do but Sal said it was okay if I touched his. It was pretty nice, they were soft, I still wish I had elf ears so I’d look nicer to elves.

I hope I won’t feel too lonely while he is away on patrol. I wonder if they would let him move to a daytime one too, I mean, Orledin has a daytime patrol. I don’t think there have been any complaints about it, and the night patrol has three people so there would still be two left. I guess he’ll have to ask the captain, or maybe I could. Would the captain listen more to me? I don’t know.

At least for now I will have the sewing class to look forward to. I gave Telaena a big list of supplies to buy in the city, I have most of them but if they want to sew on their own they will need some — scissors and pins and things like that. I also gave her some suggestions for fabric that I want, of course she can get whatever she and Brier like. It’s not that Tik is bad at picking or anything, but he doesn’t sew and he isn’t a girl, so I’m not sure he really knows what is good. He’s also busy with his son and taking care of the school and doesn’t have a lot of time to spend looking at fabric. I know Telaena loves dresses and flowers so she will surely pick things that I like!

I made Salenicus a pirate shirt and trousers for the wedding, and myself a skirt and vest. I’ve never made pirate clothes before but I think they look nice, and they were easy! I will have to ask Sal if he’d like more pirate shirts.

[Story] Fairsong Academy – Sorelle’s Diary

The dance was nice. I made a pink dress and a matching flower for my hair and for Salenicus’s armor. He didn’t mind that it was pink, which is good because it matched all the decorations anyway. I could have used pink for the spring dance instead, but I found a nice yellow fabric with flowers that I want to use for that. Salenicus brought a little rose plant in a pot. I went up and put it on my desk, I think I might keep it there until the spring, it will be warm enough inside my room and I will be able to keep an eye on it. But it won’t get enough light to bloom so I’ll need to put it outside eventually. I didn’t get him a present though. Most of the things you buy for people for this holiday we can’t use, like chocolate. I could get him more perfume I suppose but he probably still has some from the last time, and he probably only uses it when he comes to see me. I doubt the other rangers want to smell perfume.

He said that he asked the Headmaster about the empty house in the estate, that is, the one that the Headmaster’s father used to have and doesn’t need anymore because he moved into Terellion’s mother’s house. Salenicus said that one was going to be for Keyalenn’s father, but there was another house that he could have if he cleared the lot and fixed it up. It must be back in the woods a ways, but Salenicus said it was near Kestrae’s. I don’t walk around there too much so I’m not sure, but he said you can see the ocean from it. I wasn’t sure what to think at first. I mean, it seems like a lot of work  just so he could see me a little bit more a day. I’ll be at school during the morning and afternoon, and he’d be on his patrol all night, but I guess there’s the evening time. Unless he wanted to move his patrol of course, but I doubt that any alive person would want to take that patrol. It’s just easier for one of us to do it, even though Orledin has a daytime one now.

In the books it’s always romantic when things like that happen, but it wasn’t like that at all. Maybe it’s not really like that, except some of the other girls talk about things that their guys have done, and they’re nice. I mean, he did bring me a rose plant. Maybe I’m just expecting too much and should be happy with how things are. It’s not like anyone else is going to want to make a house for me, after all. It did sound pretty nice once we started to talk about it. He wants to have a workshop to make wood things, and a practice room so I can do my spells. It will be nice to not have to worry about waking anyone up, right now I can’t practice at night, but I can sew or work on my plants. Salenicus said we could build a little greenhouse too, I could put my special projects there, and have different conditions than the main greenhouse. It can get a little crowded with all of the students’ plants so that would be nice. I wonder if I could grow some jungle flowers? I bet we could have them all around the house too, I can’t do that here because there are little kids that might eat them, and Tik doesn’t want to have to take care of them. I said I would like a bed in case I want to rest or read because I like to do that sometimes if I’m bored. I know Salenicus has a bunk but I don’t know if he uses it. We wouldn’t need a kitchen or bathrooms though, but I don’t know what will happen after I finish my classes. If I’m going away somewhere else, I don’t think any alive people would want a  house with no bathrooms. Or maybe I’ll be a teacher too. There is a little human girl at the school now, I haven’t tried to talk to her yet because I think she might be afraid of me. There’s also one who I think is half human, and the other half is orc. Salenicus said there’s an orc boy at the ranger building, he was helping him learn Thalassian. Oh! And we could have a porch looking out over the ocean. It all sounds nice, but it won’t be until late in the summer because the builders are already doing a lot of things. Salenicus is going to clear out the brush and stuff, maybe I could help with that too. I don’t know how we will pick out furniture and things, I guess we’ll have to ask someone to go into the city for us. But it will be fun, I picked things for my room but a whole house will be exciting!

Also I thought I lent him some of my books to read, maybe I didn’t. He might not like them anyway, some people think they are silly. Or maybe he’s just not like that. Still I think he’d like the ones about a ranger and a mage.

[Story] Fairsong Academy – Sorelle’s Diary

The party was okay. It’s always a little sad because we can’t eat any of the food and it all looks so good. Terellion even made a chocolate gravestone for me, just like he did all the other students. Salenicus didn’t have one, I think he only made them for the students. Although the ranger captain did, maybe because he had a part in the play thing. I wish I could have at least eaten that, but it’s funny to make a grave marker for someone who’s undead, isn’t it? I thought so. But Sal and I got to talking about food, and I was telling him that we could probably eat conjured food. It’s made of magic, so it doesn’t really fill your hunger for very long, and obviously there’s nothing to actually digest. So you get the taste and sensation of eating the food, without any of the down sides. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner! Probably because I’m not good at all at conjuring. But now I’m going to practice and work very hard so I can make some conjured food for us. I’m so excited, I just hope I’ll be able to get all the flavors right. It’s actually very complex, more so than regular cooking even, because you have to make it all from magic. Sal was talking about having Hethurin do some for us. I mean, he could, he can do portals and he teaches the arcane class so he must be able to conjure food, but I’d rather learn to do it by myself. For one, I think it would be better, almost like I was cooking for us. And because I don’t really want to have to explain to the Headmaster why I want pretend food.

I was also telling him how one of the students wanted me to make a fabric flower to give to a girl at the party. I don’t know her very well, her name is Rhan and she’s younger so she’s not in magic classes yet, but she’s also older than most of the other kids in the general class. I told her that I had a whole basket of fabric flowers made up, I always like to save my scraps to make them because they’re really easy and don’t take very much. She wanted a pink one, and I had a few for her to pick from. I had made Sal one before but he didn’t seem to remember it, so I said that maybe I should make him some more to go with his different armors. Then I thought the other rangers might be jealous if they didn’t have one too, so I could bring a whole bunch over and give them to everyone. I don’t really know if rangers like fabric flowers, but I think most people do like flowers, don’t they? These ones don’t smell, but they also won’t die and you can wear it with your clothes because it’s more durable than real flowers. If you wanted to make it smell, you could put some drops of perfume on it, too.

Rhan came to the greenhouse a couple nights after the dance and she said she wanted a bouquet of flowers for Telaena. Since we’re going into winter, I didn’t have every kind of flower, like tulips, but I did have some pink roses and carnations. I mixed them in with some little tiny flowers and fancy greens so it looked nice. I’m not an expert at flowers, but I think it looked pretty nice. I would like to get flowers like that. She likes Telaena but she’s worried that she doesn’t like her back, and also that her mother might get mad that she danced, I guess because of where she’s from. I said she wasn’t upset at the party, and no doubt she’s told her mother that she danced at the party, so it’s probably not a big deal. But I don’t know, I mean, if she’d danced with a dead person that would probably be worse. Anyway, I suggested some things she could invite her to, like a picnic or walking in the woods. It’s getting cold, but there are still pretty fall leaves and soon there will be snow, which is also really good for taking walks. It’s a lot easier when you’re both alive because you can always eat food together. Rhan also seemed interested in making fabric flowers, so I said I’d show her how to make them. They are really easy, even if you don’t know how to sew. After dinner I’ll bring down a basket of scraps and we’ll do some. I hope Rhan wants to be friends, it would be really nice to have some. I mean, Xarola is too, but it can’t hurt to have more.

[Story] Fairsong Academy – Sorelle’s Diary

I have started teaching my plant class. It’s not too big, but I think it’s just the right size for the greenhouse. Every student has their own little area of the table to work and eventually grow things. I can’t tell if they are looking at me because they are listening or because they’re staring at me, that’s a little unsettling. No one’s said anything mean though so hopefully they really do just want to learn about plants. For beginning stuff, they have been learning about the various soil types, as well as the required nutrients for plants. Of course, all plants are different and have their own preferences, but that will come a bit later. And sometimes you can do everything right and the plant still won’t thrive, because sometimes it seems as if they have a mind of their own. They don’t have minds, at least I don’t think, but they certainly are alive.

Salenicus enrolled in the class, he got permission from the Headmaster and probably the ranger captain too. I thought it was a little strange that he was so interested in plants, but he said it was just because he wanted to spend more time with me. I guess that’s okay, I just hope he’s actually interested in learning too, otherwise he’s just taking a spot away from someone else who might have wanted it. I have been helping him go over his notes at night during his patrol break. His notes aren’t very good, which either means he’s not listening during class, or he’s just not good at taking notes. It could be that, because I don’t think he went to school a lot when he was alive, and of course they don’t now. But he asks good questions, and I think he understands the answers. Like he was asking me about why we start seeds indoors in little pots instead of where they’ll eventually be planted. I explained that sometimes outdoor conditions are too harsh, especially for plants with very delicate seedlings. They need a cozy, warm safe environment to get established, and then they can move out into the big world. Also, birds can eat seeds, or rain could wash them away before they get the chance to make roots. So this ensures that more of the seeds will sprout.

It got me thinking about whether there are any undead plants. I mean, they are alive, so it’s possible they could be undead too, right? Salenicus said there were some plants in Northrend that had been exposed to the blight. He said something about them biting people’s heads off too? Wow, I don’t want that to happen. But I think if the plant was small enough, it would be safe. I have never read any books about blighted plants, so I think it would be really interesting to study them. Maybe I could even write a book about them! I would probably understand them better than an alive person.

Salenicus said that too, he said I understand him better than an alive person, I guess that is true but he’s still quite different from me because he’s an elf and a ranger. He says people don’t need to be totally the same, which is true, but I don’t know. I think people should have some things in common, which I guess is being dead. But I wish there was something else, because I really don’t like that part of myself. He’s going to come to the party, I heard from Tik that it’s going to be a mystery, someone will pretend to get murdered and everyone has to figure out who it was. See, if he was undead you could just ask him, unless he didn’t remember of course.

[Story] Character of the Week – Soranasha

[[ Soranasha (Sorelle Nash) is my second oldest WoW character! My little skeleton was made way back in 2006. I am still not over the fact that her look completely changed with the character model changes, I feel like “my” character was lost. However she is still really interesting to write, a character who is very unhappy being undead and misses her old life greatly. ]]

Sorelle sat on the garden bench, her arcane textbook open in front of her. There were only a few days left before classes began for the fall, and she wanted to be ready to go right away. In spite of all her practice and studying, she still found frost and arcane spells difficult to master. She’d done all right on her final exams for both, but “all right” wasn’t going to pass her trials. She was finding it difficult to focus today, as well. Normally she preferred to study at night, when the school and estates lay silent and sleeping. Sorelle felt as if the night belonged to her and no one else, and she didn’t have to worry about seeing anyone other than Tik. The afternoon was warm and hazy, and the flowers opened wide in the sunshine, their aroma filling the still air. Some bees hummed as they visited the blooms, gathering pollen to store for the upcoming cool weather. This bench was the one that she and Salenicus usually sat on when he came to visit, and that reminded her all over of what they’d talked about.

Mostly it was normal things, Salenicus talked about their patrol and whether they’d seen anything dangerous lately — they hadn’t, but Sorelle liked hearing about it anyway. He talked about having to kill spiders, which struck her as unfair. The spiders had been here long before elves, as long as they weren’t hurting anyone she felt they should be left alone to live their spider lives. Salenicus insisted they could eat animals, or even small children, but the children at the school never ventured into the woods. The only people who ever went there were herself, Xarola and Vynlorin to look for herbs, and sometimes Lora to talk to ghosts. She supposed Terellion probably went now and then to look for wood, but he had a sword and wouldn’t be afraid of a spider, no matter how big. People didn’t like spiders, but they were just doing their best to survive, just like she was. She felt that Salenicus ought to understand, but it didn’t seem that he did.

They had gone down to the beach for a little while — not too far, because the rest of his patrol would be finishing soon. She showed him the little things that glowed in the water, and the way the moonlight reflected on its surface. She liked to listen to the sound of the waves rushing onto the rocks, like the ocean was breathing. He said that he thought she was pretty, and she didn’t know what to think about that. Sorelle knew she wasn’t — her skin was pale and thin and shriveled, her eyes sunken and her hair hung flat no matter what she tried to do with it. Once she would have agreed with him, but not now. Had he forgotten what he used to look like? She guessed that they had probably died around the same time, as had most undead. Sure, there were some older and some younger, but the vast majority met their fate over the same few years. He talked about having a place for them to stay together, but she would still be at her classes all day and studying in the evening. Then Salenicus would leave for his patrol at night. It sounded lonely, even more lonely than the school. There were other people here, though they may not talk to her often, their presence made the school feel alive and happy. She thought a little house with dead people might feel sad all the time. But it could be possible, if she learned to make portals, she could just snap her fingers and be in another place in a moment. They were still far out of her reach, however, she was still having difficulty moving objects and changing their properties. Teleporting yourself was much more dangerous and required a great deal of skill.

Sorelle had meant to talk to Xarola about what to do, but she wasn’t sure if she would understand. The future was much simpler for living people, their path already more or less laid out. After she and Vynlorin passed their exams, they would have their business selling herbs and perfumes. They would live together in a little house and probably have some children eventually. None of that could happen for Sorelle. She might be able to sell her flowers, or her dresses, but not in the city. A lot of people refused to deal with the undead. She couldn’t have any children, nor could she offer Salenicus much more than her company. How could Xarola know what that felt like? Sorelle certainly hadn’t when she was alive. She never could have imagined the way things would be now. Still, it’s not as if her studying was getting anywhere this afternoon. Sorelle sighed and closed her book, and went to look for Xarola.

[Story] Fairsong Academy – Sorelle’s Diary

Dear Diary,

I think summer is the nicest month. It’s warm outside, even at night, and all of the garden is in bloom. I can smell the flowers if I walk close to them, and Terellion’s vegetable garden is growing well too. Malwen helps him water the plants and pick vegetables to take inside for Tik to cook with, there’s even a little patch of lettuce for Malwen’s turtle to eat. I haven’t grown vegetables before, but I can’t imagine that it’s much different from flowers. I wonder if I could help with it next year. In the greenhouse, all of the plants are going wild with all of the warmth and sun! Hethurin’s manaberry bushes have already flowered and will have some berries soon. I don’t think there will be too many, but they are still young. I think next year they will probably have a full crop. But it’s enough to sprinkle them on top of a cake, or with a bowl of cream or something. Xarola’s herbs are doing really well too, and I thought about clearing off a little shelf for Malwen. She’d probably like being able to grow things when it gets cold outside, too.

Salenicus brought me a present, it’s a really big about plants. It’s really old, but the paintings are beautiful and take up the whole page. I have been just sitting and looking at all of them, then I get distracted reading about plants I’ve never seen. It includes plants from Kalimdor and Northrend, it doesn’t have Outland or Pandaria plants because of how old it is. I showed it to Xarola and she said it was really valuable, her mother has one like it but it’s more worn. So I have to be really careful not to damage it! I didn’t expect him to get me a present at all, that was nice of him. He can only come a couple of times a week because they have other routes to patrol as well. There’s only one night patrol since Orledin is on the daytime patrol now. It sounded like Salenicus misses him a little, because he said they used to talk.  I think it would be awfully boring having nothing to do except walk every night, and not even being allowed to talk. Well, the draenei doesn’t know much common or Thalassian, so he can’t. Most nights I don’t think much happens, sometimes they might see a demon or some scourge on the Scar. Salenicus said they found some traps down there, he thought it might be someone trying to capture one. I don’t know why anyone would do that? I’m hoping it’s just someone trying to catch an animal for food, but he’s right that they shouldn’t leave them around where someone might step into them. We don’t go down that way usually anyway, but I’m going to tell the Headmaster just in case.

We also walked along the beach, that’s another good thing about summer. I guess you could go there in the winter too, but it’s more beautiful in the summer. The moonlight reflects on the water and there are little things that glow, I think they must be tiny animals or maybe jellyfish? I don’t know. We held hands and he wanted to kiss some, that was nice too. It’s nice late at night because there’s no one else around to look at us or say it’s gross because we’re not alive. I told Xarola about it and she said that the beach is a very good place to take walks. Sunset is probably even more beautiful, but I’m worried there might be other people there. I would like to be able to find some shells though, at night it’s too dark to see them very well. Maybe I’ll go very early in the morning, right when the sun comes up, and try to find some. I’m not sure if Salenicus would like shells or not, but I’d like some for my shelf, I think they would look pretty.

I know it’s early but I’m already thinking about the masked ball. I need to decide what kind of mask I want, and then what kind of dress would go with it. I wish there was somewhere else we could dance before that, because it’s a long time away.

~Sorelle

[Story] Fairsong Academy – Sorelle’s Diary

Dear Diary,

These past few weeks I’ve been working very hard to grow a lot of flowers for the ball. Since we have the greenhouse now, I suggested to Tik that I could grow flowers to help with the decorations. Of course there are some in the garden, but you can always use more flowers for a spring ball! I cut them and tied them into little bouquets with ribbons, they’re really beautiful. It’s really exciting to be able to help, even if it’s just with the decorations. It makes me feel a little more at home at the ball, since I can’t have any of the food or drinks. The cake that Terellion made was so adorable! It had a little fawn sleeping on a bed of moss and petals, all made from cake and icing. I don’t know how he can do that. It looked too pretty to eat, but I’m sure it tasted wonderful. Salenicus suggested we could just taste some and then spit it out, but I think that would be kind of rude! What if Terellion saw us spitting out the cake. I’d rather leave it for the people who can enjoy it.

I wore my new dress, it’s mostly purple. Salenicus said that he should have worn his purple armor, I think he was joking but I’m not sure? I’ve never seen him wear purple armor, anyway. I gave him the little flowers to wear on his armor, so we matched at least a little bit. Normally the man is supposed to wear it in his pocket, but he didn’t have any pockets. He seemed a little… I don’t know, distracted or something. We talked a lot about my old master, Salenicus kept wanting to know things about the tower where we lived. I don’t know! I didn’t ask about that. As far as I know, he found it and took it over, or maybe he had it built way back in the past and just returned to it now. All I know is that it was out in the middle of nowhere, and a lot of cats lived there. Then I think Salenicus got the idea that he should give me a cat, he said there was a barn that always had some kittens. It’s not a bad idea really, just I don’t know if I could give a cat the proper attention and care. What do cats need? I guess I could ask Hethurin. But I already spend a lot of time with my plants, and in a way aren’t they kind of like a pet? They are alive, and they grow and need care. Malwen showed us her turtle, she was carrying it around the party with her. I think she planned to give it some of the cake, but I don’t think turtles eat cake.

Then he kept saying that he was going to talk to the store owner in town and get him to carry fabric there, so I won’t have to ask Tik to get it in Silvermoon for me. I know he’s trying to be nice, but I don’t mind it at all. I write a list of what I want, and Tik has always picked out nice fabric for me, plus they have so many different kinds. The little store in town won’t be able to have a variety like that, and I don’t like going there because people always stare at me. I’m sure he can understand what I mean about that. Umm, then we also talked about his patrol, he said everyone has an extra pair of boots because it gets so muddy, except for Jamos who has hooves. He has to wash them outside. I wish I knew how to knit because I’d make him some socks to wear so his feet don’t get too cold. I sure wouldn’t want to walk around in cold mud all night.

The strangest thing was when all of a sudden Salenicus said he loves me. It was just out of the blue like that! I didn’t know what to say, even though we’ve been meeting for a while it still seems like I hardly know anything about him. I’m not sure how he can know that either. But he wants to go places, like to the beach or to Ebon Hold. That sounds a little scary with all of those death knights around, how would they feel about someone who isn’t a death knight? I don’t know. And he also talked about the future, but I’m not sure what that means. There’s a lot of things we can’t do, because we’re undead. And I’m here at the school, and he’s with the rangers so… I need to talk to Xarola about it. I couldn’t tonight, she went to bed after the dance, because it went late. But soon.

[Story] Fairsong Academy – Heart’s Tempest

“Xarola!” Sorelle knocked on her friend’s door, though it was late she could see the candle-light glowing underneath the door. She was often up reading, or making notes on herbs in her little notebook.

“”What’s wrong?” asked Xarola as she opened the door, inviting Sorelle inside. “Did Salenicus come?”

Xarola’s room was bright and colorful, herbs tied into bundles and hung to dry from every available space. She and Vynlorin often went into the woods together to look for them, and now in the winter spent a lot of time in the greenhouse with their cuttings. It was nice that they had something like that to do together. Salenicus showed an interest in learning about plants, she hoped that he would help her with the seedlings in the spring. But it would probably be a long time before they could go on walks together, at least while he was a ranger.

“Not yet,” replied Sorelle, sitting down in Xarola’s comfortable chair. The arms had bundles of icecap and mint tied to them, lending it a fresh and cool scent. “I think he will be later. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“From what I saw, things were going pretty well,” Xarola said, grinning.

If Sorelle could have blushed, she would be. “I guess so.”

“I saw dancing. And kissing.”

“That’s true,” Sorelle said. There had been, and it seemed that Salenicus had been practicing — he seemed more sure of his steps, more confident. And he hadn’t stepped on her feet once. “We tried the wine too. He said it was allowed, but I didn’t really taste it anyway.”

“So?” Xarola asked, sitting in the other chair. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I mean, I just wanted to ask if you had any more books about the ranger and the mage. He said he liked the last one.”

“I told you he would,” said Xarola. She looked over the small bookshelf, taking a few off and looking at the covers. “Here. This one’s by the same writer, but different characters. He should like it too though.”

Sorelle looked at the cover, where a ranger and mage embraced on a cliff in front of a storm. Wind whipped their hair and the mage’s dress artfully behind them. “Heart’s Tempest” was the title. “Thanks,” she said, trying not to sound too doubtful. Sorelle liked to read them, but she knew they weren’t very realistic, people didn’t talk or act like that in real life. Especially not Salenicus. Most of the time he wanted to talk about patrol, which was interesting, but not very romantic. Maybe he just didn’t know what he was supposed to say, Sorelle could relate because she didn’t know either. There had been boys at her school in Dalaran, but that was different. Salenicus wasn’t a student, he was older — and an elf. He was above schoolboy pranks and notes left in study books.

“Your dress was really pretty,” Xarola said, and Sorelle smiled a little. She’d spent so much time on it, she was glad that someone had noticed. Thankfully, Salenicus had too. And no one had stared at her during the dance, they’d all been busy dancing or talking. They’d danced inside, with all of the lights and music and decoration, and it hadn’t been so bad. She could probably do it again. But the next dance wouldn’t be until spring. That gave her plenty of time to work on a new dress.

[Story] Valentine Shorts

Sorelle pinned the lace edging into place, making sure that it lay flat against the seam. There were only a few days until the ball, so she’d had to take a few shortcuts to finish her new dress in time. Salenicus was the one who’d told her about the ball, though she’d seen the paper hearts and ribbons being hung, she hadn’t paid it much mind. A relatively new custom adopt from the goblins, it was meant to be a day to celebrate love, but in truth was probably just a ruse to sell candy and flowers. Obviously, Sorelle had never had anyone to go with before, but this year she did. Salenicus had asked her, and she wanted a new dress that would match the ruffly pink decorations in the ballroom. She’d given Tik a list of what sort of fabric and supplies she needed, and he’d returned with a length of beautiful soft pink cloth, like rose petals. For a butler, he was fortunately good at picking out cloth that she would like. Or perhaps everything in Silvermoon was nice, and it was impossible to pick something bad. She’d never been to the shops there herself, though she desperately wanted to. The Headmaster assured her that the arcane guards could see through magical disguises, and they might ask her to leave.

Though it wasn’t especially complex, the lines were soft and flattering, and Sorelle was pleased with how it was turning out. There was enough fabric left for some matching bows — she made one for herself, and one for Xarola. Of all the students, she was the one who had been the most like a friend to her, talking to her and loaning her books. Sorelle thought Xarola probably wasn’t very fond of pink, but maybe she’d wear it just for the ball. The last little piece she made into a handkerchief for Salenicus. Of course, he couldn’t really use it, but she thought it might look nice tucked into his coat or armor.

—

“Lin! You’re a woman, can you help me?”

Linarelle lowered her bow and looked at the Captain, puzzled.

“What?”

Sath’alor held a sheet of paper. From what Linarelle could see, there were a lot of things scratched out and rewritten. “I want to know if this is a good poem for Nessna.”

“Shouldn’t you ask her that?”

“Okay, yes,” Sath’alor explained. “But if she hates it, then it’s not a good gift, is it?”

Linarelle bit her lip. “Is that the only thing you got her?”

“No, of course not. I got flowers and some chocolates, a bottle of wine… oh, and a book. From that one shop. Forget I said that.”

Linarelle nodded. At least if the poem was terrible, he had a backup plan. She laid her bow against the bench and sat down. “Let’s hear it.”

The Captain read from the paper. “An ode to Nessna. My dearest Nessna, you are the best-na ranger I’ve ever known. I’d be a mess-na if you don’t say yes-na to being mine. You’ll never guess-na how much you mean to me. I’m truly blessed-na.”

“Um,” said Linarelle. “Do you want me to be honest?”

Sath’alor nodded.

“It’s pretty bad.”

“How can it be bad?” Sath’alor protested. “It rhymes and everything. I mean, kind of.”

Still, as awful as it was, he’d clearly gone to a lot of effort. And he probably meant every awkward line. Would Nessna at least be amused by it? Probably. Linarelle had her own share of odd gifts from Sunashe, but that didn’t mean she loved him any less. “It might not be the best poem ever, but she’ll like it.”

Sath’alor brightened. “You think so?”

“I’m sure of it.”