Teaser/Intro
A chill wind blew fresh Christmas snow down a quiet suburban street. Families enjoying the days after the holiday played hockey on the pond or dragged brand-new toboggans toward the nearest sledding hill. Yet if they were to peer through the glowing window of a particular house, the mood would be slightly less festive…

Luthien packed the last of her clothes into a suitcase and zipped it shut. That task finished, she sat down on her bed and examined the familiar yellow walls that now looked so bare, freed from their previous trappings. She heaved a sigh, memories washing over her like a flood. Picking up the purple pamphlet for Arwen Undomiel Boarding School, she browsed through the well-worn pages slowly before tucking it into her pocket.

It had been a grand idea originally, to attend this prestigious school in England. The teachers came highly recommended, the grounds were unrivalled, the programs top-notch. In fact, Arwen Undomiel had everything from horseback riding to archery to clubs, literature appreciation and more. Despite the pretty name, the boarding school attracted boys as well as girls of all ages.

Of course, now that she was leaving Canada for England, Luthien was having second thoughts. Perhaps it would be smarter to stay home where she knew everyone. Yet as her brother kept reminding her; “Nothing exciting ever happens in Alberta. If you want adventure, you go to Europe!”

So here she was, preparing to leave for Europe. A new continent, a fresh start. If only she could stop the butterflies…

Chapter 1
A pale yellow sun rose hazily over the London skyline. Luthien and her mother took a moment to appreciate it’s smoggy beauty before boarding the train that would take them to their destination. The flight over the “pond” had been long but rather uneventful. By now, Luth just wanted to arrive at the school and take a hot shower.

As the English countryside whizzed by, Luth’s mum read aloud from “The Fellowship of the Ring”. Knowing it was one of her daughter’s favourite books, she had promised to read the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy before her daughter came home for the summer holidays. Naturally, this had delighted Luthien, as she had been trying for a long while to get her family to read her beloved books.

Lost in thought, Luthien almost missed the part about Gildor and the Wood Elves, which she had always liked. Trying to look interested, Luthien only managed to appear slightly dazed. Her mother caught her eye and smiled, putting the book down to look at her daughter.

“I see now why you love these books so much, Luth. I’m quite enjoying this one.”

“That’s great!” Luthien replied genuinely, smiling back. “I really appreciate that you are finally reading Tolkien. I had a feeling you would like them.”

Just then, the conductor announced their stop and the two women prepared to depart. Mum watched Luthien, concern written on her features.

“Are you ready, Luth dear?”

Luthien sighed and took one last look out the window. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Chapter 2
It was mid-afternoon by the time the gates of Arwen Undomiel Boarding School appeared, a welcome sight for the weary travelers. As they rounded a tree-lined bend in the road, a gasp escaped from each of them, they simply couldn’t help it. Before their eyes was a beautiful castle, surrounded by carefully tended gardens and lawns more green than the Shire itself. It was like a dream, only all the pinching in the world wouldn‘t wake them up. As the towering building loomed closer, Luthien managed to speak:

“That’s my school? It looks so much…bigger than in the brochure.”

Her mum nodded, her mouth hanging slightly open. “Well, aren’t you the lucky one? I never dreamed that you would be staying somewhere like this. It’s beautiful! Look at that fountain, dear, have you ever seen anything like it?”

Luthien laughed suddenly, her mother looking at her in surprise. “Just wait until Will hears I’m living in a castle! Won’t he just die?”

“I can just see his face!” Luth’s mother joined in her laughter. It felt good after the stressful trip to just laugh for a moment. The cabbie pulled up to the front entrance, and Luthien stepped out onto the cobblestone driveway. She stared up at the three story structure, trying to imagine what life there would be like. Deciding it had to be pretty good, Luth drew away her gaze and began to help with the bags.

When all of her suitcases had been unloaded, Luthien prepared herself for a difficult goodbye.

“Now, I’ll be at your uncle’s in Chichester for the next week. If you need me at all, anytime, just call okay? You know that if you ever want to come home, that can be arranged, sweetie.”

Luth nodded, she had been read the riot act plenty of times already. “I know Mum, but don’t worry. I’m a big girl, I’ll be fine.”

Her mum nodded, a teary smile on her face, and pulled her into a tight embrace. “We’ll miss you Luth, but I’ll call every week to check in on you. I love you.”

Luth swallowed hard, “I love you too Mummy.”
*****
Inside the castle, three faces were plastered to the nearest window, watching the events outside. From the giggling, it could only be assumed that they were teenage girls, and they seemed thoroughly interested in the newcomer.

“Hey, watch it Miri! You’re stepping on my toes!” Hissed one, failing in the attempt to keep her voice low.

“Shh! Legielover, someone will hear! If we want to welcome her first, no one can know we’re here, remember?” The girl called CedricDiggoryLover whispered to her friend. All three turned back to the window, but discovered that the girl and her mother were gone!

“Oh lovely, now where did she go?” Miri whispered unhappily. Suddenly, the loud gong of the doorbell elicited a jump from all three of the welcomers. “I’ll get it!” shouted Miri, rushing toward the front door.

“Oh, let me, I insist!” Legielover was hot on her heels, with CDL not far behind. After a quick kerfuffle at the door, Miri emerged victorious and pulled open the heavy wooden door, a big cheesy grin plastered on her face. There stood a girl of about 17, with short brown hair and glasses, smiling nervously. They stood looking at each other for a moment before Luthien extended her hand,

“Suilaid. I’m Luthien, and this is my first time at a boarding school.”

Miri shook the offered hand warmly, “Hello Luthien, and welcome to AU! I’m Elenmir, but most call me Miri. Don’t worry, there are many others here who haven’t been to a boarding school before. I’m sure you’ll fit in perfectly!”

Luthien smiled gratefully, glad to find a friendly face in such an imposing place. Suddenly another girl stepped out from behind Miri, and introduced herself; “Hey, welcome! I’m Legielover, but I’m mostly just know as Legie. Don’t worry, when I came, I’d never been to this kind of a school either.”

“Hi Luthien and welcome to the school! You will love it here! I’m CedricDiggoryLover.” A third girl shook Luth’s hand with a grin.

“Wow, thanks you guys! I feel really welcome already! Um, I don’t want to be a bother, but do you think one of you could show me where to register?” Luthien wondered slightly at their unconventional names, but decided not to mention it.

“Of course, I will! But just wait for a moment, the rest of the Welcoming Team should be here any minute.” Miri grinned at the newbie’s shocked look. Sure enough, within five minutes, Luthien had been welcomed by Shieldmaiden, Evenstar of Mirkwood, Elfenwen, ForeverFrodo, Larael, Tigging with Dom, and two others she thought looked just as new as her.

“Well, do you want to go register now?” Asked Miri when the crowd died down. Luthien nodded, rather bewildered.

“I have a question, though, Miri,” she said as they walked towards the office, dragging her luggage behind her, “You all have such neat names, but they can hardly be called normal. What’s up with that?”

Miri laughed, and acted like she had heard that question before, “When you register, you get to pick whatever name you like. Some people around here are a little crazy, so it’s no wonder their names are too! As you will quickly discover, AU isn’t the most conventional school.”

Luthien nodded, and allowed herself to be led into the main office, where she was given a sheet to fill out. Miri said goodbye, as she had to get to a discussion group, but wished her good luck and insisted they would see each other around.

Chapter 3
Tapping the pink pen against her chin, Luthien racked her brain for a neat name that would make her stand out. Remembering that many of the Welcoming Team had names to do with the Lord of the Rings, she thought that including her favourite location would be fun. But how to decide? Luthien of Lothlorien? No, a bit too long. Lothloriengirl? No, too weird. She couldn’t find the right name, until finally it clicked. Luthien of Lorien, of course! It was short, pretty, and not too drastic of a change.

Smiling with satisfaction, Luthien filled in her new name and handed the forms to the secretary. As she was about to leave, the secretary stopped her.

“Miss Luthien, you shall be needin’ an escort to your room, I suppose?” Without giving Luth a chance to answer, she continued, “I have arranged for one of our long time students to show you around, if that’s alright with you.”

“Oh, thank you.” replied Luthien, pleasantly surprised.

At that moment, a girl entered the office and smiled warmly, “Hallo, you must be Luthien! I believe I welcomed you not ten minutes ago.”

“Er, yes, I think I remember you,” Luth stuttered awkwardly, trying not to be rude.

The girl laughed, “Don’t worry, such a welcome is undoubtedly overwhelming! I’m Shieldmaiden, and I’ll be your buddy for a little while at least. Are you ready to see your room?”

Luth smiled gratefully, “That would be wonderful, thank you.”

Following Shieldmaiden through the vast halls and winding staircases, Luthien found herself feeling slightly dizzy at the sheer size of the school. She seriously doubted whether she had ever been in a place as large as this.

“Hey Shieldmaiden, how long have you been a student here?”

“Oh, lets see, about 5 months, if I remember correctly. It seems like I have been here all my life though!” Shieldmaiden answered gaily, then at Luthien’s face, quickly added, “That’s a good thing!”

It took the two girls about five more minutes to arrive at Luthien’s dorm room door. By this time, they had already become friends and Luth wondered if everyone could be as nice and friendly as SM.

“Here you are, Luth, room 231.”

“Thanks SM! Let’s see if my password works.” Luthien entered her chosen password, mellon, into the keypad. With a small beep, the door allowed her to enter, and Luthien pushed open the door.

“Awesome, now there isn’t much to explain about your room. Bed here, desk there, closet over there. The only thing you need to know about is your computer. Every room has a one, we call them our ‘cyber common rooms’. Yours is linked to all others here at AU. You can send PM’s, private messages, to any teacher or student on campus. Plus, there is a whole forum where we can chat online to other students. Its quite fun, and that’s where just about everyone goes after curfew.” She smiled conspiratorially at Luthien, “But you’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly. Now, the girls washrooms are down the hall. Curfew is at 10, but I would suggest getting an early night tonight. Your schedule should be on the computer.”

“Thanks again, SM, you have been such a big help with everything!” Luthien said gratefully.

“No problem,” Shieldmaiden moved towards the door, “I’m only a PM away if you need any help. See you tomorrow!”

The two girls said good-bye and Luthien shut the door behind her with a big sigh. What a day, she thought tiredly. She glanced at her bags, which needed to be unpacked, then changed her mind and dug around for a towel and shampoo. She was quite ready for that hot shower.

Chapter 4
A paper airplane zoomed right in front of Gwenneth’s nose, and she looked around in shock. Spying the culprit, she aimed the simple weapon carefully, and managed to bean Galasriniel right on the forehead. The two glared at each other for a moment, then erupted into giggles. Their laughter only added to the noise emerging from the large classroom.

Outside the doorway, Luthien stood dumbly, watching her fellow students with apprehension. Looking down at her schedule, she read it again: 9 a.m. Literature studies. Room 147. She was in the right place, that was for sure. If only she could make herself go in…Then suddenly, without warning, someone was standing beside her.

“Good morning, you must be Luthien of Lorien,” said the young woman confidently.

Luthien looked at her in surprise, “Yes, I am.”

“Wonderful, welcome to Arwen Undomiel! I am Bellethiel, your teacher for this class, and probably several others. If you wouldn’t mind finding a seat, we can start.”

“Oh, er, of course!” Luthien entered the class and found the nearest available desk, avoiding the curious gazes of the other students.

“Welcome back, everyone, I trust you all had lovely Christmas hols.” At Bellethiel’s words, the strangely silent class became alive with talking once more. She held up her hands, a smile on her face, as she had obviously anticipated the outburst. “Alright, alright, calm down, we can hear about your adventures later. First, I would like to introduce our new students: Luthien of Lorien and Elegost,” she pointed them out, “I trust all you oldies will make them feel right at home. No doubt the Welcoming Team has attacked them already.”

Luth smirked at this comment, somewhat glad she wasn’t alone in this regard, and stole a glance at the one called “Elegost”. He caught her eye and winked. Turning around quickly, she hid a smile, knowing it would only encourage him. This was turning out to be quite the school!

******
RING! The school bell released the students from their confines, and the halls were quickly swarming with teenagers. Luthien had endured three classes already, which had turned out to be quite fun actually, and now had to live through lunchtime. Following her trusty school map, she managed to arrive at the main cafeteria promptly. She had expected a nice eating area for the students, but what she saw completely flabbergasted her!

The dining area was huge, and set up much like a food court in a mall. The south facing wall was almost completely windows, making the room seem bright and airy. Exactly opposite to that wall was, well, a wall of food! There was a fish and chips shop, pizza kiosk, sushi bar, even a McDonalds! It reminded her of the shopping center food courts at home. Tearing her eyes away, she peered outside and could see a large lawn dotted with picnic tables and benches for eating in the sun.


Luth’s stomach grumbled grouchily, reminding her that she was supposed to eat something. Considering that this was one of her first days in England, she chose fish and chips, then looked around for a place to sit. Hoping she would find someone she recognized, Luth wandered around until she saw a hand waving at her. Smiling, she headed towards the hand, finding herself standing before a table filled with girls and guys all eating and laughing. Yet instead of Shieldmaiden, as she had expected, the girl waving at her was Gwenneth from Literature class.

“Hi Luthien of Lorien! I’m Gwen! You looked a little lost, so I thought you might like to sit with us. There is a spot right here.” Gwenneth had a friendly smile, and Luthien felt quite at ease.

“Thank you, I wasn’t sure where I should sit!” She replied, taking the seat next to Gwen, “This place is so big!”

“Oh I know, isn’t it? You get used to it after a while.” Gwen took a bite of her pizza before continuing, “So how do you like AU so far?”

Luthien put down her Dr. Pepper, “It’s lovely actually. The people are brilliant and the classes are so…well, free. I can’t explain it really.”

Gwen grinned, “I suppose it must be hard to understand at first. AU is an open-class sort of place, nothing like any other school.”

“I can see that already!” Luth said, slightly sarcastic.

“The classes are individualized, so if you decide you want to do archery instead of computer graphics one day, you can. Each class gives you one, er, point, I guess you could say. Other things give you points as well, like joining clubs or welcoming people. It is by these points that we are ranked.”

“Ranked? Like in the military?”

“No, its only a fun thing. You start out as a Hobbit, then as you receive more points, you get the title of Vala. Each rank gains you new privileges. Its really quite the ingenious system, because it gives us an incentive to be involved!” Gwen was still smiling happily.

“Wow, that’s actually really cool!” Luth ate another chip, “I’d like to join some clubs if possible.”

“Of course! I can show you whenever you have some free time. Which class do you have next?” The other kids around the table were finishing their meals and dispersing in groups of two or three.

“Er, archery if I remember. Then a free period.” Luthien sipped the last of her Dr. Pepper.

“Great, we have the same free period! How about I meet you at your dorm, and we’ll do the royal tour.”

“Sounds good!” Luth smiled again, relieved to have found another person who could help her. "I'm in room 231."

Just then, the lunch bell rang. The cafeteria became alive with activity as kids threw out their garbage and rushed to class. Those few who had free time lingered at their tables, talking amongst themselves, aloof to the rush of the students around them. With a wave, Gwen and Luthien parted, and Luth was swept into the current taking her towards her next challenge.

Chapter 5
The sky was a bright cobalt blue, dotted randomly with high wispy clouds. The archery field behind the main school building was a wide, flat area of neatly clipped green grass. Targets were set up in a semi-circular pattern, and a small group of students stood around a squat, brown building which housed all of the equipment.

Following her AU guidebook’s advice, Luthien had come dressed in comfortable clothing; a blue cotton t-shirt and black slacks. Following a small stone path towards the gathered class, she picked a spot near the back to listen to the coach, Mr. Bolkien.

“…now that’s all you need to know about me. Before we begin the first lesson, I would like to introduce you to a new student, who joins us from the remote regions of Canada…”

Luthien rolled her eyes at this comment, “Remote indeed?” she muttered to herself. The girl next to her overheard and giggled quietly. They exchange smiles and turned their attention back to the coach.

“…so I do hope you will welcome Haldir o Lorien, as she is our resident expert, besides myself of course.” He smiled self-importantly, and Luth couldn’t help snickering quietly. Luckily he was too far away to hear. Mr. Bolkien clapped his hands, “Alright, lets get to it people. I will get Haldir to demonstrate first of all, then we will separate into two groups and begin practicing.”

Luthien was interested in learning all she could about archery. It had always seemed such a strong and yet romantic sort of sport, in a medieval way. Watching intently, she saw Haldir draw a long bow she called a recurve, aim at a target, and plant the arrow directly into the bulls-eye. A smattering of polite clapping came from the students as she turned with a smile.

“Now that’s the way it’s done!” Mr. Bolkien was clapping the very loudest, a big, cheesy grin on his face. “Okay students, now it’s your turn. Half of you with me, the other half with Haldir, get your equipment from the shack.”

Luthien grabbed her gear, then chose to join Haldir’s group. The students formed lines to practice shooting at one of eight targets set up. As she waited for her turn to shoot, Luthien decided to introduce herself to the girl standing in front of her, who was in fact, the same young lady she had shared a giggle with about Mr. Bolkien’s comment. She seemed a little shy, but approachable, so Luth piped up;

“Hi, I’m Luthien of Lorien, or just Luthien. Or Luth if you like. Or just about anything, if you really want…“ Luth flushed, embarrassed at her introduction attempt, “I’m sorry, I’m babbling!”

The girl smiled despite Luth’s obvious bumbling. “Don’t worry about it, I do that sometimes too! I’m Meldawen, but you can call me Melda. Are you new here?”

“Well, yes actually. How can you tell?” She replied wryly. “I just moved here from Canada, so it is a big change.”

Melda’s mouth dropped, “Canada, seriously? That’s where I’m from too! Edmonton, to be exact.”

“You’ve got to be joking, I’m from Edmonton!” Luth was pleasantly surprised, and the two girls laughed at the odd coincidence. Just then, Haldir approached.

“Hey peeps, what’s so funny?”

Melda looked at her, still grinning, “We just found out we’re both from the same city in Canada.”

“No way! That’s uber cool. It’s nice to meet some fellow Canucks.”

“Oh that’s right, you’re from Ontario aren’t you?” Melda said, remembering Mr. Bolkien’s speech.

“Sure am. Let me guess, you’re both from the west?” Haldir made a teasing face.

Luth rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. “Do you have a problem with that?”

Haldir just grinned mischievously. Mr. Bolkien’s booming voice came over the chatter of the students, “Ms. Haldir, is there any reason why your lines are not moving at all?”

Looking at Luth and Melda, she made another face then called out; “No sir, these girls were just about to shoot!” She swept her arm towards the targets and stepped back. “Let’s see how my fellow Canadians are at archery!”

Luthien swallowed, and stood directly in front of her assigned target, Melda to her left. They both aimed carefully, synchronized, and released their arrows…they flew straight and true, straight for their respective bulls-eyes…the only problem? The arrows were a foot above the targets! In the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the bushed behind.

“Oh just lovely,” Luth moaned as their classmates guffawed at their classic blunder.

Haldir was the loudest of them all, “Quite disappointing, girls! What are you waiting for? Go fetch!”

Luth could hear Melda sigh in frustration, but the two obligingly trudged into the trees behind.

“Well isn’t this a pickle, Luth! Our first archery lesson and we completely blow it!”

“I suppose it isn’t that bad, if we waste some time we might not have to embarrass ourselves again.” Luth dug around half-heartedly, walking slowly among the low bushes and slender trees.

“You know, you’re quite right. I mean, it could take us all day to find those blasted arrows!” Melda answered with a conspirators wink.

Picking through the bushes, the small brown arrows proved incredibly hard to find. Luth and Melda talked about all manner of things, from their favourite hometown hangouts to the myriad of classes available at AU. They continued to search for a long while, neither having any luck in the finding of arrows. As they were about to give up, they heard the snapping of twigs and crunching of leaves. Someone had entered the little grove.

Melda called out, “Hello?”

A cheery voice came in reply: “Hallo! Who’s there? Not doing anything illegal I hope!”

“Er, of course not!” Melda answered, slightly confused but perfectly honest. They waited for a moment, each expecting a teacher to appear and haul them out. Instead their eyes were met with the sight of another student. She was dressed in a cranberry top and white capris’, her hair pulled back into a pretty ponytail. On her shirt was a name tag that said “Hello my name is Pandora”. When she spotted them, her face immediately broke into a friendly smile.

“Hi girls! Welcome to AU!” she kept on smiling, and the girls noticed she was carrying several blue-tipped school arrows, “You must be new, why else would you be back here?”

Luth and Melda exchanged worried glances, and Luth spoke up; “What do you mean, is this area off limits?”

Pandora laughed “Nope, but you’ve been sent to fetch arrows, right?” The expression on their faces confirmed her suspicions, “Which means you don’t know about me, and therefore must be newbie’s.”

This explanation didn’t help them at all, so she continued, “For an extra 5 points per week, I help the groundskeepers by doing odd jobs, like finding all the stray arrows archery classes leave behind. It’s so the students can keep practicing, but often kids play a joke on newbie’s and send them out here to search endlessly.”

The two were rather shocked. “No way, you mean we don’t have to find our arrows? You do that for us?” Melda asked.

“That’s right. Now who put you up to this? It really isn’t very nice. If you don’t know where to look, you can be searching for ages!” Pandora scanned the ground nonchalantly, bent down, and retrieved another arrow from beneath a bush.

“You’ve got that right,” Luthien replied, indignant. At least Melda was finding the humour in the situation, according to her smirk. “I think we can deal with the perpetrator, but thanks Pandora.” answered Melda calmly.

“No problem, that’s what I’m here for! Oh, and by the way, I believe your class is over, so you should get going!”

Melda checked her watch and nodded, “Good idea, thanks for the warning! You’ve been very helpful, and it was lovely meeting you!”

“Yes, for sure. We’ll probably see you around, right?” Luthien added.

“Oh, no doubt! I’m in a whole bunch of clubs, so if you join a few, you won’t be able to get away from me!” Pandora flashed her trademark smile once again, and with a wave, disappeared into the bushes.

Trudging back to the archery range, the two new friends talked over their adventure.

“That Haldir! If it wasn’t for her…!” Luth let her sentence hang dramatically.

“She certainly seems to like making a scene, that’s for sure” added Melda as she adjusted her glasses absently.

The archery range and school soon appeared in front of them. Mr. Bolkien had disappeared and the last of the students were dispersing in clumps of chattering friends. Only Haldir was left at the shack, tidying up the equipment. When they approached, she turned around, and recognized them immediately.

“Did ya find those arrows for me?” She said, far too sweetly.

Luth smiled patronizingly, matching her tone, “Actually, Haldir, a lovely girl named Pandora volunteered to do it for us. Not before we had searched for some time, mind you.”

“That wasn’t nice, how were we supposed to know we didn’t have to go searching? Now we missed our whole archery lesson!” Melda wasn’t one to beat around the bush.

Haldir rolled her eyes and finished putting away the bows for the next class. “Can’t you two take a joke? I thought it was hilarious!”

All three girls stared at each other for a moment, before Haldir finally offered: “Truce? I apologize for lying to ya, and you can apologize for being bad at archery!” She laughed, but Melda and Luth looked ready to pummel her, so Haldir relented. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry! Good enough for you?”

The two unhappy victims glanced at each other, then back at Haldir. “Fine, we’re content. Though I can see how it would have been slightly funny if the tables were turned.” Luth answered more pleasantly, the storm clouds gone from her normally sunny disposition.

Melda continued “Indeed, if Haldir were the one searching in vain, embarrassed at being laughed at on her first day at a new school, getting burrs stuck in her clothing…”

“Okay, you two, you’re making me feel bad!”

“Oh, and we wouldn’t want that, now would we?” Luthien teased.

Haldir locked the shack and the three girls headed towards the main building, all hard feelings left behind. The school bell rang, and the rush to get to the next lesson began for the last time that day.

“Which class do you guys have now?” Melda asked as they entered the nearest doors, narrowly avoiding a rushing teacher who’s shirt said “Cheese is Love”.

“I have free period.” Luth answered quickly.

“And I have Movie Making 101” said Haldir.

Melda wrinkled her nose, “Aw, that’s too bad, I have Web Design 2.0. Maybe we can eat supper together though?”

“Sure, sounds great.” Haldir replied and Luth nodded the affirmative. “Meet you at the main doors, ok?”

All three agreed to this plan and parted. Luth was humming to herself as she sauntered off to find Gwen, happy at finding so many new friends in one day.

Teaser/Intro
A chill wind blew fresh Christmas snow down a quiet suburban street. Families enjoying the days after the holiday played hockey on the pond or dragged brand-new toboggans toward the nearest sledding hill. Yet if they were to peer through the glowing window of a particular house, the mood would be slightly less festive…

Luthien packed the last of her clothes into a suitcase and zipped it shut. That task finished, she sat down on her bed and examined the familiar yellow walls that now looked so bare, freed from their previous trappings. She heaved a sigh, memories washing over her like a flood. Picking up the purple pamphlet for Arwen Undomiel Boarding School, she browsed through the well-worn pages slowly before tucking it into her pocket.

It had been a grand idea originally, to attend this prestigious school in England. The teachers came highly recommended, the grounds were unrivalled, the programs top-notch. In fact, Arwen Undomiel had everything from horseback riding to archery to clubs, literature appreciation and more. Despite the pretty name, the boarding school attracted boys as well as girls of all ages.

Of course, now that she was leaving Canada for England, Luthien was having second thoughts. Perhaps it would be smarter to stay home where she knew everyone. Yet as her brother kept reminding her; “Nothing exciting ever happens in Alberta. If you want adventure, you go to Europe!”

So here she was, preparing to leave for Europe. A new continent, a fresh start. If only she could stop the butterflies…