She walked in step with those around her, patent leather shoes beating a rhythm upon polished floors and face expressionless. Despite the frills and extravagance of her school uniform, her head was shaved, leaving behind only a dusting of pale blonde stubble, like sickened moss upon an alabaster swelling.
“Umm-MMM-mmm,” whispered another girl, falling in step alongside her, “you’ve been naughty!”
Her eyes flashed, her head jerking to one side in order to grant her a better look at the other girl.
Standing at her side was a girl with uncharacteristically long hair tied in two knots either side of her head and a coy, playful smile.
Deuce hissed, her eyes widening.
“You’re the Drowned World agent!” she gasped in a hushed whisper.
The other smiled, keeping time with the endless procession of girls faultlessly, skirt and petticoat rustling with each movement of her hips.
“Magical Girl Pawn!” she winked knowingly.
(more…)
Rain ran down the smooth curve of her head and pooled in the collar of her coarse black shirt before finally trickling down her back with dispassionate slowness.
They had shaved her head upon her arrival; her beautiful, silken hair falling at her feet. Now, after a year, her head was covered in rough stubble, a sign of favour from the academy’s solemn hierarchy and a symbol of her slow progression through the ranks.
No newcomers, no matter what their background or status, were entitled to keeping their hair. It was both a tradition and a form of control, a small example of the wider philosophy that enriched the academy’s educational programme.
Hair, like identity, was something not granted to the unpolished but rather something that had to be earnt. She understood now why so many people had been hesitant to use her name before she came here; in their hearts they had known that she had no chance of retaining possession of it.
(more…)
Despite her royal lineage, she was known to the kitchen staff and servants as Deuce.
If she was lucky then, with a mock bow, she might even be afforded the title of Little Miss Deuce or, should there be knowing nobles within earshot, Princess Deuce.
(more…)