Chapter Sixteen - Princess Eleanor Hellsreach

School had only started a few days ago, and already she truly hated it.
Not the education part, mind. The professors of the Academy of Dawn were good. They had five Titled educators, and many of the others were leaders in the academic circles that surrounded their subjects of choice.
The school itself was quite grand, being next to a gorgeous lake and along a busy highway which brought plenty of commerce. Downtown, which truly should have been Dawncity by now, was a gorgeous little city that she would have loved to visit...
And to conquer.
Princess Eleanor Hellsreach, second of the name, was... not ready for that, yet.
Right now, all she wanted to do was prepare, learn as much as she could, gain as many levels as she could to push her [Apprentice Mage] job to the next level, and maybe make a few friends?
She was doing well on the education and levels side. As for the friends...
"Oh, look it's the goat," someone said snidely.
She was in one of the main corridors on the upper level of the university, making her way to the library while clutching an old grimoire in hand. She just wanted a few hours of quiet reading.
"Hello and good evening, P-P-P-Princess Marcia," Eleanor said.
Marcia was, unfortunately, in the same year as Eleanor. She was the sixth princess of the Aerie, an accomplished socialite, a [Life Mage] and a rather beautiful young woman. She was currently accompanied by a gaggle of three others, who tittered meanly as Eleanor stuttered.
"My name is not P-P-P-Princess Marcia," the princess repeated waspishly. "Or are you just incapable of proper cultured speech?"
"I-I can talk," she replied.
"C-can you talk without a st-st-stutter?" the princess asked, her voice going soft and childish, as if she was talking to a babe.
"I doubt it," one of the others said. Some duke's second daughter. Eleanor didn't know her name. "I'm surprised she's mastered speech at all."
"It is impressive. Most barn animals aren't nearly so eloquent," the princess said. She reached up, far faster than Eleanor could manage, and grabbed onto one of her horns. "Isn't that right, little goat?"
"N-n-no!" she said.
The princess laughed.
Eleanor dropped her book with a thump, and she almost reached up but... touching the princess would be a problem. Hitting her would definitely get her in hot water. And she could not afford that.
Her cover was, in some places, rather thin. The horns she had were being dismissed as goat horns, but she was not, she was a demon, a proud... proud-ish member of the Hellsreach family. Her grandfather had been the Demon Lord.
And now her family was nearly erased off the face of the world. It wasn't much more than her. But she had allies! People that promised to help her regain the throne one day. She just had to be strong enough.
Eleanor winced as the princess twisted her horn which had her entire head moving.
"A goat with glasses and a pretty dress," the princess said. There was nothing but bored malice in her eyes. "How dull. Come on, let's go put this back where it belongs."
The next few minutes were torture. The princess dragged her along, pulling her by the horn--which hurt!--until they were at the stairs, then down. The others circled around, laughing, mocking, making fun of her. One of them even smacked her in the back, asking her where her tail was.
Then they were outside, and a few of the other students were studiously looking elsewhere while she was dragged across to the stables.
"In you go, back with your sort!" the princess said.
One of her sycophants shoved Eleanor from behind, and then a foot caught around her ankle.
She went flying, splatting into a pile of... oh, that wasn't mud.
Eleanor pushed herself up, wrists bruised from the fall. She looked back, but the princess was just laughing as she left.
Standing up was difficult, the muddy dirt shifting around her and slipping underfoot, but she managed it.
Her dress was covered top to bottom in wet mud.
Nearby, one of the horses in the stall neighed at her.
Eleanor flicked her arms, dislodging some of the... no, it wasn't dirt. She knew what it was. The smell was acrid and strong and she just knew it was seeping into her clothes.
She couldn't go back indoors like this. One of the monitors surveilling the school would certainly kick her out, and then she'd earn another demerit.
So, with that, she left the stalls, feet squelching with every step. It wasn't good. There was a cool breeze in the air, and it was quick to slip into her bones and set her to shivering.
Eleanor made it to her dormitory. Rather than step in, she found a water trough in the back and splashed it onto herself to remove the worst of it.
Most nobles had people for this. Ladies, or a maid, or at least a servant. She had nothing. She was afraid that nothing was all she would have for a very long time.
Swallowing, she stepped into the dormitory, only to stop as she saw someone else. Pepper.
"Well, you're in a state, aren't you?" the woman asked. She was dressed in a fine red ensemble, long, stately, mage-like. There was a palpable sense of power radiating off of her, but then, she was a [Red Mage], a whole tier above Eleanor and well on her way to a third tier. A bonafide genius sort. "Tsk. Eleanor, you truly need to get yourself together. Look at you, you're so.... Urgh."
Pepper squeezed her hands into fists, then stomped off.
"Go wash yourself, you're stinking the place up. And you have class in less than an hour!"
"I... I know," she muttered.
She did what she could. Halfway through the process though, something broke, and Eleanor started to sob. At least this time it was in the privacy of her own room.
One day... one day she'd be strong enough to put them in their place.
One day, she'd have the help she needed.
For now... for now she could continue to push through, until that day came.
***