Julia

  Julia was sitting in the garden of the castle. She had her eyes closed and ehe sunlight. It was cool, but that didn't bother her. The air smelled like autumn.

  Someo dowo her.

  "Yoing to catch a cold without a jacket."

  Julia opened her eyes. Leopold sat o her and smiled. He held a light b, which he put over her shoulders.

  "Did you e here t me a b?" she asked him.

  "Yes. And to talk to you?"

  "Talk? About what?"

  "A w has been passed. Elves and werewolves are no longer allowed to send mail. I 't write to my family. Finn is devastated. Marko tries to fort him."

  "I didn't know anything about that." Julia ed the b around herself. "How long have you known about it?"

  "I found out this m. Is there anything you do?" Leopold sounded hopeful. Julia did not like to disappoint him.

  "The Queen will not ge her mind. Mom has never ged her mind about such things. I ask her, but she won't take the w back."

  "That's unfortunate." Leopold looked at the sky. "You looked very beautiful yesterday."

  "You saw me?"

  "Shortly. I would have liked to leave everything behind and dah you." He smiled mischievously. "May I ask for a dance?"

  "Here? At the garden?"

  "Here, in the garden."

  Julia looked around. There was no ohere except for themself. "Why not?"

  Leopold stood up and took her hand. She plied and Leopold put his arm arouhewo began to daogether to the rustling of the browning leaves. The elf was a good dancer. He skillfully whirled Julia around the garden, past the rose bushes. She ughed. The b had fallen off her shoulders. They spun and spun until Julia became dizzy and swayed. Leopold caught her grinning.

  "May I appud?" Peter went to them unnoticed and looked at the two dancers with amusement.

  Leopold let go of Julia and bowed. "Of course." He gave Julia another smile befoing back to the castle.

  "Did you have fun?" Peter wi her. "He’s good-looking."

  "He is. Where is Babette? Is she already on her way home?"

  "She just went with her parents... Her mother told me that she wanted many grandchildren. And quite soon."

  "How nice of her." Julia hooked up to her brother. "Did Babette say anything about that?"

  Peter tore a few wilted leaves from a bush and tore them apart. "Yes. Very nice of her." He rolled his eyes. "Babette glued to mother and thanked her for the wonderful ball. How do I get out of the whole thing?"

  "Like Paul?" Julia became nervous... "He hasn't sent me a siter i few weeks. His letters are being increasingly rare."

  "I don't io be like Paul, little sister." Peter hugged her. "I think of something. Don't worry. ... Tell me... Your servant Finn... Do you think he could embroider one or two things for me?"

  "I think so. I will ask him. We won’t go back to the academy until Sunday evening. Until then, he could still do something."

  "Thank you. He is very talented. I liked his work."

  "I'm sure Finn likes to hear that."

  "Shall we ask him?" Peter was almost jumping with restlessness and anticipation. "I have one or two very tragic clothes that deserve his worthy attention!"

  "Yes. We do that. Finn might use some encement... Mom forbade elves and werewolves from writiers."

  "She always es up with a new kind of tyranny." Peter took Julia by the hand and the two walked through the gss door that led into the garden, bato the castle. "Eventually, the whole thing will crash down on her!"

  Finn

  Finn was sitting on his bed. o him y yarn of the most beautiful colors. He embroidered a vest for the prih an eborate, colorful pattern. A suit trousers and a shirt were still waiting to be embroidered. The work distracted him and he could now make use of a distra.

  He could no longer write letters to his parents and would probably never hear from them again. In the weeks in which he had already served the princess, two letters had e for him. One from his parents and one from his grandmother. They were the only letters he would ever receive now.

  Finn missed his family. He missed his vilge, his room. He missed looking out of the window during the day and watg people walking by oreet. He missed looking into his neighbors' windows and watg them in their everyday lives. He missed the view into Marko's room.

  Finn had wanted friends, but fear had kept him in the safe rooms of his home. He had never been afraid to leave the house... No. It hadn't been that... Now he was out in the world. He was no longer safe. He didn't feel safe, even though he knew Marko and Sophie were trying to protect him. Even the priried to. She was a good person. Friendly and ho. Just like Sophie.

  But they were not his family.

  Or could they be?

  His family?

  The only things he had left of his home were a handful of personal things, his memories, and Marko. Did it make him a bad wolf that he was happy that Marko had left their home with him?

  Finn was homesick. After several weeks, it now rolled over him like an untamed wave. Tears dripped onto the vest. He put it aside and wiped his eyes.

  He wao go home.

  Marie

  They had received tons of homewain. Marie moaned as she sat at her desk. Her roommate, a third-year witch, was asleep.

  Marie couldn't stand homework. Why was there homework at all? Wasn't she already learning enough in css? Wasn't she already w enough? Why wasn't homework simply abolished? Homework brought nothing but stress. And a good third of their homework was graded.

  Marie wao be a good student, but she couldn't make friends with her homework.

  At her old school, she hadn't gotten so much. She hought that this would happen, but she missed her old and her mortal cssmates. Life there had been less stressful. But there had been no other witches and wizards in her css. Those were here and that was wonderful. Here she had real friends. Pia and Julia.

  No one here called her terrible names.

  Marie put her homework aside. She needed a break.

  Theo was still w in the undry rooms. Should she visit him there? Taking a look at his workpce?

  In the m he had been terribly angry. He had wao send a letter to his parents, but he was forbidden to send it. Presumably, he had not yet calmed down. He would not be a pleasant versation partner...

  Marie wao write a letter to her parents in the evening, and she decided to put Theo's letter in the envelope together with her own. That would certainly make him happy and improve his mood...

  Tired, she walked past the closed corridor of the princess, as she stayed at the same house, down to the irls' rooms. There she knocked on Pia's door. Pia shared the room with a sed-year witch. Liselotte opehe door. Pia called her Bee because she prefered the little is. Bee smiled at Marie a her in. "How are you?" she asked.

  "Good." Marie looked at her friend. Pia sat on her bed surrounded by school books and books from the library. "What are you doing?"

  "Learning." Pia pushed the books aside so Marie could sit dowo her. "Do you need help? With your homework?"

  "No. I just need a break from it. And you seem to need ooo." Marie looked at the mountain of books. "Do we want to py cards?"

  "Oh yes! I py with you?" Bee sat dowo Marie. "I love card games!"

  "All right. A break 't hurt. I have a headache from all the saterial already!" Pia took a stack of pying cards from her bedside table. "I distribute the cards!"