Hira's father teaches her, first and foremost, to be strong. He encourages independence, initiative, and intelligence. These are the traits he knows his daughter will need in the Scholomance. She learns to use her body- she hones her reflexes, improves her fitness just enough, and she studies. Hira learns Rajasthani, Hindi, and English as she's growing up, picking them up the way any child absorbs their native languages. Punjabi and the Bhil dialects are harder, but ultimately less important; when she does finally have a solid grasp on them, it's because she spent a decade passively absorbing them.

Her father drills her on Mandarin and English every day until she can conduct her lessons in them, and she learns Sanskrit on her own, studying in her free time. She ends up learning Tamil, like most of the other girls do, to have a second shared language besides Hindi, Mandarin, or English. If they're lucky, it'll be relatively unknown in the Scholomance, and they'll have a secret language to speak in.

Artificing and alchemy aren't her comparative advantage, Hira quickly learns. So she focuses on incantations- languages and composing, both, as long as she can manage. By the time induction is breathing down her neck, it's more clear where everyone's going to focus their energies, but she's holding off on committing until she can see how the alliances shake out. With nine languages and some experience writing her own spells, Hira thinks she can keep the school at bay if it tries to push her into more alchemy or artificing than she can handle. Like every other student from Jaipur, Hira knows not to resort to malia, or consorting with those who do. She knows that the first week (while it's not time to get complacent) is safer than nearly any other time at the school. She knows that there will be students sucking up to her to take her maintenance shifts and join the Jaipur alliance. She knows that not all of the children she's trained with in Jaipur will live- including her. 

She picks up old spells, from the time of the earliest Indian kingdoms (though who knows whether the fuck they ever really existed; Hira doesn't need to believe in all of the national mythology to believe that their spells work). She practices singing, learning how to improvise as she plays with the raga. She doesn't have a beautiful voice, but years of practice makes her sound less like a screeching harpy, so that's nice. Hira has three older sisters, two older brothers, and a younger sister. Not all of her siblings make it back; that's how it is, in the Jaipur enclave. Their numbers may be better than the smallest enclaves, but they can die just as easily as an independent, if mana sharing isn't enough to keep them on track. Besides, graduation kills even the most careful, if they're too weak.

Her mother loves her, of course, she does, but she's distant. Hira knows why, but it still hurts to watch as the distance grows with every year. Her father changes, too. He once admired how fierce and independent she was, but now he treats her like a thorn in his side. She's just trying to grow the way he taught her- the way she'll need to be, to survive, which he seems to forget, even while he continues training her the same as always.

She packs- though because she has an enclave on her side, they can all afford to split things up based on their weights. Hira is a bit heavier than the other girls her age, since certain things happened a bit earlier for her. Still, she's slight, and short, and not so muscular that it steals much from her limit. She packs a few pairs of enchanted earrings (one for every Jaipur girl), not nearly enough clothes, her axe, and her mana sharer. Her parents hug her, neither of them crying. Her father tells her to make him proud, and her mother sternly warns her against trusting boys (not that there will be any of the usual consequences, that's covered) and slacking off. Hira nods, bored with this part already. She knows better than they think she does. If she dies, it will be because she wasn't good enough, not because she didn't try. She watches as the other enclave kids disappear, one then two then three, before she feels the pull of the school wrench at her stomach as she joins them.

Hira's father teaches her, first and foremost, to be strong. He encourages independence, initiative, and intelligence. These are the traits he knows his daughter will need in the Scholomance. She learns to use her body- she hones her reflexes, improves her fitness just enough, and she studies. Hira learns Rajasthani, Hindi, and English as she's growing up, picking them up the way any child absorbs their native languages. Punjabi and the Bhil dialects are harder, but ultimately less important; when she does finally have a solid grasp on them, it's because she spent a decade passively absorbing them.

Her father drills her on Mandarin and English every day until she can conduct her lessons in them, and she learns Sanskrit on her own, studying in her free time. She ends up learning Tamil, like most of the other girls do, to have a second shared language besides Hindi, Mandarin, or English. If they're lucky, it'll be relatively unknown in the Scholomance, and they'll have a secret language to speak in.

Artificing and alchemy aren't her comparative advantage, Hira quickly learns. So she focuses on incantations- languages and composing, both, as long as she can manage. By the time induction is breathing down her neck, it's more clear where everyone's going to focus their energies, but she's holding off on committing until she can see how the alliances shake out. With nine languages and some experience writing her own spells, Hira thinks she can keep the school at bay if it tries to push her into more alchemy or artificing than she can handle. Like every other student from Jaipur, Hira knows not to resort to malia, or consorting with those who do. She knows that the first week (while it's not time to get complacent) is safer than nearly any other time at the school. She knows that there will be students sucking up to her to take her maintenance shifts and join the Jaipur alliance. She knows that not all of the children she's trained with in Jaipur will live- including her. 

She picks up old spells, from the time of the earliest Indian kingdoms (though who knows whether the fuck they ever really existed; Hira doesn't need to believe in all of the national mythology to believe that their spells work). She practices singing, learning how to improvise as she plays with the raga. She doesn't have a beautiful voice, but years of practice makes her sound less like a screeching harpy, so that's nice. Hira has three older sisters, two older brothers, and a younger sister. Not all of her siblings make it back; that's how it is, in the Jaipur enclave. Their numbers may be better than the smallest enclaves, but they can die just as easily as an independent, if mana sharing isn't enough to keep them on track. Besides, graduation kills even the most careful, if they're too weak.

Her mother loves her, of course, she does, but she's distant. Hira knows why, but it still hurts to watch as the distance grows with every year. Her father changes, too. He once admired how fierce and independent she was, but now he treats her like a thorn in his side. She's just trying to grow the way he taught her- the way she'll need to be, to survive, which he seems to forget, even while he continues training her the same as always.

She packs- though because she has an enclave on her side, they can all afford to split things up based on their weights. Hira is a bit heavier than the other girls her age, since certain things happened a bit earlier for her. Still, she's slight, and short, and not so muscular that it steals much from her limit. She packs a few pairs of enchanted earrings (one for every Jaipur girl), not nearly enough clothes, her axe, and her mana sharer. Her parents hug her, neither of them crying. Her father tells her to make him proud, and her mother sternly warns her against trusting boys (not that there will be any of the usual consequences, that's covered) and slacking off. Hira nods, bored with this part already. She knows better than they think she does. If she dies, it will be because she wasn't good enough, not because she didn't try. She watches as the other enclave kids disappear, one then two then three, before she feels the pull of the school wrench at her stomach as she joins them.

Hira's father teaches her, first and foremost, to be strong. He encourages independence, initiative, and intelligence. These are the traits he knows his daughter will need in the Scholomance. She learns to use her body- she hones her reflexes, improves her fitness just enough, and she studies. Hira learns Rajasthani, Hindi, and English as she's growing up, picking them up the way any child absorbs their native languages. Punjabi and the Bhil dialects are harder, but ultimately less important; when she does finally have a solid grasp on them, it's because she spent a decade passively absorbing them.

Her father drills her on Mandarin every day until she can conduct her lessons in it, and she learns Sanskrit on her own, studying in her free time. She ends up learning Tamil, like most of the other girls do, to have a second shared language besides Hindi, Mandarin, or English. If they're lucky, it'll be relatively unknown in the Scholomance, and they'll have a secret language to speak in.

Artificing and alchemy aren't her comparative advantage, Hira quickly learns. So she focuses on incantations- languages and composing, both, as long as she can manage. By the time induction is breathing down her neck, it's more clear where everyone's going to focus their energies, but she's holding off on committing until she can see how the alliances shake out. With nine languages and some experience writing her own spells, Hira thinks she can keep the school at bay if it tries to push her into more alchemy or artificing than she can handle. Like every other student from Jaipur, Hira knows not to resort to malia, or consorting with those who do. She knows that the first week (while it's not time to get complacent) is safer than nearly any other time at the school. She knows that there will be students sucking up to her to take her maintenance shifts and join the Jaipur alliance. She knows that not all of the children she's trained with in Jaipur will live- including her. 

She picks up old spells, from the time of the earliest Indian kingdoms (though who knows whether the fuck they ever really existed; Hira doesn't need to believe in all of the national mythology to believe that their spells work). She practices singing, learning how to improvise as she plays with the raga. She doesn't have a beautiful voice, but years of practice makes her sound less like a screeching harpy, so that's nice. Hira has three older sisters, two older brothers, and a younger sister. Not all of her siblings make it back; that's how it is, in the Jaipur enclave. Their numbers may be better than the smallest enclaves, but they can die just as easily as an independent, if mana sharing isn't enough to keep them on track. Besides, graduation kills even the most careful, if they're too weak.

Her mother loves her, of course, she does, but she's distant. Hira knows why, but it still hurts to watch as the distance grows with every year. Her father changes, too. He once admired how fierce and independent she was, but now he treats her like a thorn in his side. She's just trying to grow the way he taught her- the way she'll need to be, to survive, which he seems to forget, even while he continues training her the same as always.

She packs- though because she has an enclave on her side, they can all afford to split things up based on their weights. Hira is a bit heavier than the other girls her age, since certain things happened a bit earlier for her. Still, she's slight, and short, and not so muscular that it steals much from her limit. She packs a few pairs of enchanted earrings (one for every Jaipur girl), not nearly enough clothes, her axe, and her mana sharer. Her parents hug her, neither of them crying. Her father tells her to make him proud, and her mother sternly warns her against trusting boys (not that there will be any of the usual consequences, that's covered) and slacking off. Hira nods, bored with this part already. She knows better than they think she does. If she dies, it will be because she wasn't good enough, not because she didn't try. She watches as the other enclave kids disappear, one then two then three, before she feels the pull of the school wrench at her stomach as she joins them.