Page 5 of Fae Tithe

Once she was cleaned up from the ride and changed into her uniform, using a fabric head band to keep her long hair from her eyes, the teenager pulled out her new timetable and made her way to the first lesson of the day. Eleanor took a deep breath, heart hammering nervously as she approached the already queuing girls. She put a smile on her face as she went to greet a group of them.

She raised a hand to wave, clutching her books and pencil case with her other hand. “Hi, how was—”

Miss Taylor opened her classroom, interrupting Eleanor’s attempt at connection. The teenager sighed, regret at the missed opportunity, but followed the gaggle of chatting girls inside. The class quickly settled at their individual wooden desks with matching chairs. Eleanor’s mood perked up when she managed to seat herself in her favourite spot, right in the middle of the room with the best view of the blackboard.

Miss Taylor led her students in a short recital. “We thank the Fae. We offer our gratitude to the King of Seelieland. We promise to serve the Seelie Court.”

“We thank the Fae,” the class murmured together.

“Now, before we begin, who can tell me what they remember from last year?” Miss Taylor picked up a white chalk and stepped towards the blackboard.

A collective moan came from the students. “But, Miss! The last class we had with you was before Winter Solstice. That was ages ago!” a particularly apathetic girl whinged aloud.

“Irrelevant!” Miss Taylor said. “This is History! This is learning about our great nation of Seelieland. We are so lucky to be born here. If we were humans of somewhere like Unseelieland, we would be suffering unimaginably.”

“What would happen if we were?” a student called out.

“Now, now, hands up if you want to ask something,” Miss Taylor reminded. “It is, however, an excellent question!” The young teacher continued in earnest. “Seelieland humans are, now, afforded the same rights as lesser faeries. We have our own finishing schools, can hold positions in courts, and have our own levels of aristocracy. The Fae, of course, occupy the upper court positions, with only the Seelie Fae serving the King’s Seelie Court.”

Eleanor rolled her eyes as Jessia’s hand went up, neat, pearl bracelets clinking as she extended her arm. “What’s the difference? Isn’t a Seelie and Fae the same thing?”

“Good question, Jessia,” Miss Taylor replied. “Not all Fae are Seelie. Think of it as a title. All Seelie are of Fae-kind. Currently there are six: the five Seelie Lords, each in charge of a province, and then, of course, the Seelie King himself.”

Eleanor noticed that Jessia had stopped listening to their teacher’s answer about halfway through the explanation, and instead sat fiddling with the ends of her long chestnut hair.

Her brows drew together with irritation. Why bother asking a question but then ignoring the answer?

“Hmm… now where was I…” Miss Taylor tapped her chin with tip of her chalk, leaving a small smudge there.

A student with a black bob called out, “The difference between being a human in Seelieland and Unseelieland, Miss.”

“Ah yes! Thank you, Anne.” She cleared her throat with a cough. “In Unseelieland, however, humans do not have any rights, they cannot serve in government, they do not go to school, and they are basically chattel.”

Another hand flew up. “What’s chattel?”

Eleanor huffed in exasperation. “Property,” she interrupted with a bite. Frustration needled at her. They had learnt all this information previously and repeatedly. “In Unseelieland, humans are property, like livestock, you know… goats, cows.”

“Yes, yes, thank you, El. Since you have the answers, please share what you remember from the final class last year,” Miss Taylor interjected.

“Dragons. We learnt about Dragons.” Eleanor answered without missing a beat. “The last Dragon gifted a Seelie Fae with the Dragon Flame. They were made King because of it. Only one person carries the Dragon Flame, and it is always the Seelie King.”

“Excellent, El.” Miss Taylor had been scribbling in chalk on the black board under the heading ‘Review’. “Now, we can actually start our lesson properly for today.”

The teacher shifted to the centre of the blackboard. She wrote the new title ‘Tithe’ in elegant swirls. A confused murmur went through the teenage girls.

Eleanor could not recall learning anything about the topic. She furrowed her brow as she concentrated, flicking through her memories of History lessons over the years. This is new. I don’t know anything about this.

“The Tithe is the highest honour for a Seelieland human,” Miss Taylor explained. “Many aristocratic human families prepare their young ladies for the Tithe. They do this in the hopes they will be chosen by a Fae Lord, Seelie or not, and serve his family.” The teacher’s quickly diminishing chalk bobbed up and down as she wrote her words as notes on the board.

Eleanor’s nose crinkled, her brows drawing together. She lifted her fountain pen and carefully took notes about the Tithe. The whole subject of the tradition made her feel nauseous, and she shifted uncomfortably at her desk.

“The Tithe occurs rarely, especially by human lifespans. They are usually held at the beginning of a new Seelie King’s reign. The last King did not hold a Tithe at all, and he ruled for hundreds of years. Our current monarch, King Rian, has not yet called a Tithe.” Miss Taylor stepped to the side so the students could see the notes to copy them.

Eleanor shifted again in her wooden seat, her mouth dry and stomach clenched. She recalled everything she knew about her late father. How aristocratic do you have to be? She worried at her bottom lip. It sounds awful, who would want to live with some strange Fae they’ve never met? She glanced across the classroom.

The iron bell in the yard clanged, hammered by the gateman, signalling the end of the first session and snapping Eleanor from her thoughts. She rose slowly and smoothed her school uniform skirt, deliberately lingering long enough so that her classmates had eventually drizzled out of the room.

“Miss Taylor?” Eleanor asked. “Why are we learning about the Tithe? Is there one happening soon or something?”