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[color=#2E2C2C]─[/color][color=#302E2E]─[/color][color=#323030]─[/color][color=#343232]─[/color][color=#363434]─[/color][color=#383737]─[/color][color=#3A3939]─[/color][color=#3D3B3B]─[/color][color=#3F3D3D]─[/color][color=#413F3F]─[/color][color=#434242]─[/color][color=#454444]─[/color][color=#474646]─[/color][color=#4A4848]─[/color][color=#4C4A4A]─[/color][color=#4E4D4D]─[/color][color=#504F4F]─[/color][color=#525151]─[/color][color=#545353]─[/color][color=#575656]─[/color][color=#595858]─[/color][color=#5B5A5A]─[/color][color=#5D5C5C]─[/color][color=#5F5E5E]─[/color][color=#616161]─[/color][color=#636363]─[/color][color=#666565]─[/color][color=#686767]─[/color][color=#6A6969]─[/color][color=#6C6C6C]─[/color][color=#6E6E6E]─[/color][color=#707070]─[/color][color=#737272]•[/color][color=#757474]⋅[/color][color=#777777]⊰[/color][color=#797979]༻[/color][color=#7B7B7B]༒[/color][color=#7D7D7D]︎[/color][color=#808080]༺[/color][color=#7D7D7D]⊱[/color][color=#7B7B7B]⋅[/color][color=#797979]•[/color][color=#777777]─[/color][color=#757474]─[/color][color=#737272]─[/color][color=#707070]─[/color][color=#6E6E6E]─[/color][color=#6C6C6C]─[/color][color=#6A6969]─[/color][color=#686767]─[/color][color=#666565]─[/color][color=#636363]─[/color][color=#616161]─[/color][color=#5F5E5E]─[/color][color=#5D5C5C]─[/color][color=#5B5A5A]─[/color][color=#595858]─[/color][color=#575656]─[/color][color=#545353]─[/color][color=#525151]─[/color][color=#504F4F]─[/color][color=#4E4D4D]─[/color][color=#4C4A4A]─[/color][color=#4A4848]─[/color][color=#474646]─[/color][color=#454444]─[/color][color=#434242]─[/color][color=#413F3F]─[/color][color=#3F3D3D]─[/color][color=#3D3B3B]─[/color][color=#3A3939]─[/color][color=#383737]─[/color][color=#363434]─[/color][color=#343232]─[/color][color=#323030]─[/color][color=#302E2E]─[/color][/center][indent][indent][indent][indent][justify][h3][sup][color=bdbdbd][sup]𝕬fter much deliberating and indecision, Hloþhilde stayed her hand: choosing, in the end, to eat nothing at all, and to attend her first class weary and famished. For what felt like an hour had she wavered—measuring what she craved versus what would molder and stale the soonest, price versus sentimental value, the momentousness of the occasion—but time and again all of these had paled against the principal measure, that of the treasures' scarcity. It may seem a strange thing to say about a trove which overflowed from desk surface and from suitcase, stacked tin over tin and stowed in every furtive place her luggage afforded; until one remembers how long these victuals—these [i]keepsakes[/i]—needed to last. At least until the next equinox but likelier until Midwinter, when the academy might send the cadets away to their homes for revelry and giftgiving, or else invite the families to a banquet therefor. Until, reunited over spiced wine and yeastcakes, the one sister would horrify the other with tales of what the local shops dared to call authentic Marsènnish provisions, traditional Marsènnish pastries; and the latter, appalled, would assure the first that she had filled two boxes from the markets of their girlhood, packed them tight, padded them for the journey the way an oyster cushions its pearls. But if Hloþhilde's stores were to survive until then she would have to subside on crumbs; mete out carefully those precious morsels. Savor. Ration.

Checking her pocket watch, she startled herself to haste. She clicked shut the cover, a scratched horn jaw biting down on scratched glass tongue; shoved the old, cheap thing down into its new abode in the lowest and leftmost flap pocket of her dress tunic; gathered up her messenger satchel, every stiff, black compartment already brimming with the requisite materials. Enjoying the color, the touch of elegance which a few wine bottles, artfully arranged, brought to the peeling windowsill, she had otherwise stashed away already the remainder of her treasures, so out of the room she awayed, and down the hall, and down the stairs, and out into the southern quadrangle, where no one awaited her but the sun; the stiff, languid breeze. 

This perplexed and disheartened the girl. When she had lain in bed staring up at the vaulted ceiling of her bedroom, imagining this moment, the moment creeping nearer with every hour, she had always conjured for her phantom a companion or three, walking all abreast between the birches and the parapets, giggling about this or that in their shivering, cap-clutching leisure. Featureless, save for their hair, wind-tossed; formless behind their immaculate tunics and billowing breeches and the click-clacketing of their hobnailed feet, yet smiling, striding, resplendent. Their uniforms as grey as the flagstones as the stormcloud-shaded sky, yet the figures themselves as golden as autumn's sheddings, which skittered the same walkways in swirls. (In Hloþhilde's daydreams it was always autumn.) So whither Agalind? Whither Mina? Whither their newfound retinue of doting suitors? Elsewhere. Nowhere. Gone on without her or if not that, dallying back at their rooms, contented with the company so gathered.

The girl found the pump by the barracks' eastmost corner; rolled her sleeves, that she would not darken them as she dabbed her nape, baptized her hands, cupped the cold, sweet, stone-drawn waters to her lips, splashed them to her brow. Across the quadrangle did the din of a crowd still travel, as a hundred cadets' thousand parents and cousins and siblings meandered their way to the mock-barbican, admiring the architecture as they went, chitchatting over pipes and cigars, behind the silk fans' flutter, beneath the shaded splay of their parasols. But uninterested was she in the wish-her-wells of strangers, so Hloþhilde kept to her side of the lawn, journeying north first, then along the inner gatehouse, averting the crowds, their pleasantries. Once more the afternoon heat dewed in her crevices. She wondered if her classmates already despised her.[/SUP][/color][/sup][/h3][/justify][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][center][color=#2E2C2C]─[/color][color=#302E2E]─[/color][color=#323030]─[/color][color=#343232]─[/color][color=#363434]─[/color][color=#383737]─[/color][color=#3A3939]─[/color][color=#3D3B3B]─[/color][color=#3F3D3D]─[/color][color=#413F3F]─[/color][color=#434242]─[/color][color=#454444]─[/color][color=#474646]─[/color][color=#4A4848]─[/color][color=#4C4A4A]─[/color][color=#4E4D4D]─[/color][color=#504F4F]─[/color][color=#525151]─[/color][color=#545353]─[/color][color=#575656]─[/color][color=#595858]─[/color][color=#5B5A5A]─[/color][color=#5D5C5C]─[/color][color=#5F5E5E]─[/color][color=#616161]─[/color][color=#636363]─[/color][color=#666565]─[/color][color=#686767]─[/color][color=#6A6969]─[/color][color=#6C6C6C]─[/color][color=#6E6E6E]─[/color][color=#707070]─[/color][color=#737272]•[/color][color=#757474]⋅[/color][color=#777777]⊰[/color][color=#797979]༻[/color][color=#7B7B7B]༒[/color][color=#7D7D7D]︎[/color][color=#808080]༺[/color][color=#7D7D7D]⊱[/color][color=#7B7B7B]⋅[/color][color=#797979]•[/color][color=#777777]─[/color][color=#757474]─[/color][color=#737272]─[/color][color=#707070]─[/color][color=#6E6E6E]─[/color][color=#6C6C6C]─[/color][color=#6A6969]─[/color][color=#686767]─[/color][color=#666565]─[/color][color=#636363]─[/color][color=#616161]─[/color][color=#5F5E5E]─[/color][color=#5D5C5C]─[/color][color=#5B5A5A]─[/color][color=#595858]─[/color][color=#575656]─[/color][color=#545353]─[/color][color=#525151]─[/color][color=#504F4F]─[/color][color=#4E4D4D]─[/color][color=#4C4A4A]─[/color][color=#4A4848]─[/color][color=#474646]─[/color][color=#454444]─[/color][color=#434242]─[/color][color=#413F3F]─[/color][color=#3F3D3D]─[/color][color=#3D3B3B]─[/color][color=#3A3939]─[/color][color=#383737]─[/color][color=#363434]─[/color][color=#343232]─[/color][color=#323030]─[/color][color=#302E2E]─[/color][/center]