Transianna, the Noble |Chapter 1| (standard:fantasy, 2171 words)
Author: Natalie M.	Added: Apr 16 2001	Views/Reads: 3242/2133	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Transianna de Hornwall never thought it would happen... ^^ Tell me whatcha guys think, 'kay?

Chapter 1 

Transianna de Hornwall could sense that a person was near; she always
could. Whenever someone was watching her, Transie knew. It was simply a 
strange power that she had, not at all like the kind the sorcerers’ in 
Hornwall’s village had. 

Transie’s father entered the room, clothed in golden breeches and a
shirt of silk. “Transianna,” her father started in his deep voice. “It 
is time for you to go to boarding school.” 

Transie’s heart skipped a beat. Had she heard correctly? If so, then her
father was finally sending her to a boarding school, where young noble 
girls went to learn to be a “lady.” From what Transie had heard, 
boarding schools were horrible places – if you did a thing wrong, they 
would make you go without dinner, give you extra schoolwork, or worse. 
Transie sank deeper into her chair as she watched her father sit 
comfortably in his own, like nothing at all was wrong. 

“It is past time for you to go,” Transie’s father, the lord of Hornwall,
was saying. He was a burly man in his early fifties, with grayish hair, 
and black eyes that could frighten a boar. “You are already thirteen. 
The majority of your friends have gone, and now you shall, as well.” He 
looked at Transie, expecting her response. But Transie was silent, 
mulling this over. It was true that most of her friends, including her 
best friend Jeane, had gone. Transie had felt so sad when she’d left 
Hornwall, almost a year ago now. 

Girls usually went when they were eleven, and Transie, thirteen years
old, was lucky enough to not have gone yet. They stayed at the boarding 
school for four long years, and then were found a suitable husband. She 
had barely ever thought of the day she was to leave Hornwall, not even 
when Jeane had left. Transie was not ready at all to think of getting 
married. 

Transie pushed her silky blonde hair away from her eyes, and said
slowly, “I do not wish to go, Father.” 

“You know you must.” He eyed her sharply. 

Transie knew that perfectly well: she had certainly never been one of
the reasons Lord Charles de Hornwall had lost an argument, and he 
barely ever did. 

“You shall leave on the day after the morrow,” the lord said gruffly as
he got to his feet. “Be ready to go.” And with that, he left. 

Transie got to her feet as well, and as she made her way toward the
door, she glanced the beautiful porcelain elephant on her nightstand 
that Father had gotten her from the Guandis, small islands just south 
of Minge, where she lived. Transie remembered how elated she had been 
upon her father’s return, after all those months of him being gone. She 
hadn’t cared so much for the elephant as she had for him. 

She knew her father loved her, but Transie couldn’t believe that he
would send her to a boarding school, especially since she would be gone 
for so long. This time, though, she wouldn’t be the one waiting for him 
to come to her: she would be waiting to go to him. Or would she even be 
allowed to visit her home? If the boarding schools were as terrible as 
she had heard, she might not even be permitted to leave the school. 
Transie pictured herself in a freezing cold room, all alone, during 
Hexdon – the holiday that honored the gods and goddesses of the world – 
with snow coming down the chimney. She shivered, as if she really were 
in that room, and sat down on her bed. 

“I do not want to go,” Transie whispered to herself sadly. “I do not.” 

*** 

Two days later Transianna stood mournfully by the front gate of
Hornwall’s keep, awaiting the carriage that would take her to the 
boarding school. Her father had said that it would take at least a week 
to get there, and that it was supposedly the best in all the kingdom of 
Minge. Transie wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. On the 
other hand, her mother had simply told her to be a good girl. 


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