Jon had discovered three things since waking.
First, wishing for something "interesting," was an amazingly dumb idea.
Second, being transformed into a teenaged girl was strangest in how it wasn't: His body seemed perfectly normal to him, and given how many differences there were, he mused as he was forced out into the stone hallway, something should have felt different. That he was absolutely hormonally indifferent to being surrounded by a bunch of fairly- to extremely-attractive girls his age in little more than underclothes stood out, because he was still a teenaged boy. More or less.
Third, the feeling of soaking wet long hair was both incredibly different from how he'd felt before and also strangely normal.
He reflected on all of this as he followed the barked commands of the woman who'd woken them and stood at the end of the line, shifting back and forth and trying to see if the wishing stone had embedded itself in a wall, or someone's head, or something, because that would be both interesting and convenient.
The woman was talking but Jon had bigger things on his mind than whatever she was going on about, sounding for all the world like the teachers he usually ignored on his way to a report card full of B+s.
The stone has to be around here somewhere, he hoped/thought to himself. I just need to blend in long enough to find it, get someplace safe, and then wish myself ho--
Then the woman removed her headband.
Madya dil'Herre, Mistress of Novices, was actually a fairly cheery person at heart. The eldest of four daughters, only one of whom had the Gift of the Will and the Wind, she'd naturally taken to being a Witchspear, and had developed an impressive honor roll while still keeping her generally bright outlook on life. The weeping for lives lost never quite went away, but when she'd met her husband, that faded into the background of her desire to start a new branch in her life that favored her love of teaching and nurturing as much as her sense of duty.
So she'd put down her starmetal sword, rejoined the Academy, and quickly taken charge of each class of novices as they entered. This was, in some ways, the job for which she'd been made, and gave her the chance to safely raise a family of her own.
Which was why she was grumpy right now. She was late enough in this, her sixth pregnancy, to have life and energy and libido again, but early enough to find intimacy with her husband entirely comfortable and not a function of weird postures. She'd planned on waking her husband in their favorite way when a Summons came that the new class of novices came early, and Mother damn it, there went the day.
After dropping the bucket she'd used without a thought and dragging the line of spoiled slugabeds into the First Anteroom, she tried to put on a firm but kind face and a firm but kind voice and began.
"You have been brought here because of your gifts, but you will leave as something more," she began, the ancient formula rolling from her tongue by rote. "You come from every major Family of the Empire, some of you related by blood and some of you joined by ancient enmity, but from this day forth-"
They were only sort of listening. Worst of all was Kamiéra. Oh, that girl was going to be a handful. With the long, clean limbs, dark hair and eyes, and ruddy complexion of all of House Falein, she was undeniably beautiful and was even more gifted than the norm in that gifted House -- and from how she was fidgeting and clearly mentally elsewhere, knew it. But while she was the worst, Amaso of Jufiea and Llaha of Urielst were staring raw hate at each other, and most of the other dozen girls were clearly only half paying attention.
With a sigh, Madya unwound the wrap over her headband. The ethics of this were fairly well-settled; there were no long-term effects except in the wake of a traumatic magical experience, like a forced shape change or possession, and these girls clearly hadn't suffered that. Even so, she hated using the Will and the Wind on any mind, especially on a child or one nearly so.
Nothing to be done about it, though. As the wrap cleared the Third Eye graven on her headband, she reached through it and spoke.
"Attend me absolutely."
All eyes turned to her. Absolute silence. Good.
"Your old squabbles mean nothing to you. Your old interests are nothing compared to what lies before you. So long as you are at this Academy, this is home. The girls with you today are now your sisters as surely as if they were your own blood. You will learn and cry and laugh and grow and train together. You will stand at each others' wedding days and at your Oaths, regardless of which Path you take. You will become the Witchspears you are here to learn to be, and you will take everything you learn here as truth and a truth well-learned. You will dedicate yourself to the Will and the Wind, for the Academy, for your sisters, for your Houses, for the Empire, and for yourselves." With that, she wrapped up the headband again. She didn't have enough energy four months into pregnancy to do this sort of thing at will, but from the rapt looks she was getting, she was certain she wouldn't need to do it again. Even that Kamiéra girl was absolutely spellbound, and her family was notoriously resistant to this sort of thing.
It wouldn't last forever, of course, except for those rare exceptions of recent magical trauma. But it should last at least through the first week, and end the squabbling.
She resumed.
--
-me, Jon finished in his head, then paused. Go home? He was already home. He had to stay here and learn to be a witchspear, whatever that was, for his family and the empire, though which empire that was he couldn't even imagine. It was obviously true, though. Anyway, how could he abandon his sisters? They'd need him, as much as he needed them.
He turned his attention to the woman who was speaking, feeling guilty for ignoring her before but determined to do better. He wouldn't let a single word past him from now on.
