Julia

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

Someone sat down next to her.

"You're going to catch a cold without a jacket."

Julia opened her eyes. Leopold sat next to her and smiled. He held a light blanket, which he put over her shoulders.

"Did you come here to bring me a blanket?" she asked him.

"Yes. And to talk to you?"

"Talk? About what?"

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

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

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

"The Queen will not change her mind. Mom has never changed her mind about such things. I can ask her, but she won't take the law 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 dance with you." He smiled mischievously. "May I ask for a dance?"

"Here? At the garden?"

"Here, in the garden."

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

Leopold stood up and took her hand. She complied and Leopold put his arm around her. Then the two began to dance together 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 laughed. The blanket had fallen off her shoulders. They spun and spun until Julia became dizzy and swayed. Leopold caught her grinning.

"May I applaud?" 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 before going back to the castle.

"Did you have fun?" Peter winked at 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 single letter in the last few weeks. His letters are becoming increasingly rare."

"I don't intend to be like Paul, little sister." Peter hugged her. "I can 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 can do that. Finn might use some encouragement... Mom forbade elves and werewolves from writing letters."

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

Finn

Finn was sitting on his bed. Next to him lay yarn of the most beautiful colors. He embroidered a vest for the prince with an elaborate, 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 distraction.

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 come 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 village, his room. He missed looking out of the window during the day and watching people walking by on the street. He missed looking into his neighbors' windows and watching 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 princess tried to. She was a good person. Friendly and honest. 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 wanted to go home.

Marie

They had received tons of homework again. 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 class? Wasn't she already working enough? Why wasn't homework simply abolished? Homework brought nothing but stress. And a good third of their homework was graded.

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

At her old school, she hadn't gotten so much. She never thought that this would happen, but she missed her old classroom and her mortal classmates. Life there had been less stressful. But there had been no other witches and wizards in her class. 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 working in the laundry rooms. Should she visit him there? Taking a look at his workplace?

In the morning he had been terribly angry. He had wanted to 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 conversation partner...

Marie wanted to 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 other girls' rooms. There she knocked on Pia's door. Pia shared the room with a second-year witch. Liselotte opened the door. Pia called her Bee because she prefered the little insects. Bee smiled at Marie and let 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 down next to her. "Do you need help? With your homework?"

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

"Oh yes! Can I play with you?" Bee sat down next to Marie. "I love card games!"

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