Faith Heights

Chapter 17

We'd only just assembled in home-room when Lydia Clarke bustled through the door- without her usual tumbling pile of textbooks. First period in home-room was always a study hour, and Lydia alternated between offering one-on-one tutoring, and a weary number of leadership games. It was tolerable, if not comical, at first, but with the mountain of homework towering above us, it would have been preferable to utilise the daily period a little more efficiently. 

Yet, Lydia insisted that these group activities were just as crucial as any standard academic subject. She also seemed to think that it was her sworn duty to introduce us to a number of extracurricular courses, forcing us to dabble in everything from sowing to architecture to ballroom dancing. It chilled me when she chose mythological studies as her next fad, and so I was more than a little grateful when she walked in one morning to instead lead us to a mandatory school assembly. 

It was a typical awards ceremony, but until moments ago, Lydia managed to forget mentioning that the awards were specifically for the remaining scholarship students. Other matters would be addressed - additional subjects over the semester break and minor curriculum changes - but the assembly's main focus would be on a small number of scholarship students receiving various academic awards.

We were led in a single line to the school's performing arts centre, a large square building further back down the driveway, closer to the primary school. We packed into an immaculately kept bus to arrive there, even though it was a mere kilometre down the gravel lane. 

We were seated in the front row of the auditorium, a collective nervous wreck. Our surroundings brought to mind an old-fashioned opera house, with a raised cluster of seats near the back, and high boxes to the sides. The ceiling was painted with an array of angelic beings, weaving in and out of brilliantly painted gardens. The angels weren't the usual chubby, baby-like creatures with wings, but rather figures similar to those depicted in Michelangelo's ceilings, albeit with more clothing. Some held swords, others whispered to one another. But they all were partially veiled by intricate white wings unfurling around them.

A large chandelier dangled from the centre of the roof, illuminating everything but the large stage before us. I could see professors and students flooding into the enormous hall, filling every seat with a strange nervous energy that climbed beyond even my own class'. People I didn't recognise stood at the banisters of the raised seats to our sides, looking down at us with scrutinizing gazes.

When the rest of the school was seated behind us, all eyes were glued to the stage with a startling intensity. After the crowd hushed, Leclair appeared on the stage. Her high black pumps could be heard before her tall figure appeared, casting a long shadow across the stage as a small row of lights lit up the space to her back. She was dressed with a grand formality that I wouldn't have expected for a routine school assembly, garbed in a long black coat and a navy dress that fell just below her knees. Her auburn hair was pulled into a tight bun atop her head, a few loose curls framing her face. The elegance with which she strode made it seem as if she'd walked straight out of one of the paintings above us, as poised and regal as any angel.

As the lights behind her continued to grow, I noticed a row of people seated behind her on the stage. They remained incredibly still, stone-like, but their expressions were riddled with anxiety- and anticipation. 

Leclair reached the podium at the centre of the stage and tapped the microphone twice. The sound echoed around the theatre like thunder. An impending storm.

"Thank you for your promptness in gathering here today." She declared. "The assembly was originally scheduled for tomorrow, but our guests arrived a day early, and I simply couldn't wait to introduce you all." 

Her tone betrayed not a touch of excitement. It sounded as if she'd practiced her words a hundred times over, and was just as nervous as the students before her.