Chapter 4 – A Pyrrhic Victory
Louisa Sophia and A Legion of Sisters
Sitting at her desk, Louisa put her hand in front of her mouth to hide a yawn. She blinked several times and tried to clear her head. With only two hours of sleep last night, she needed a nap. After the near escape, it had taken her most of the night to sneak out of the dormitory again and back to the basilica roof to retrieve her escape rope.
It would not have been such a long night except for Père Chomel. The insomniac priest kept pacing the hallway that led to the roof. Louisa wasted too much time waiting for him to return to bed. She regretted not retreating to climb the church from the outside.
Several students hurried into the classroom, trying to beat the bell. It would be hard to tell them apart without the girls’ various body types and hair colors. The school’s bland uniform of a black cotton dress with long sleeves and a small white collar suppressed individuality. A student’s colored sash, the medals pinned to her chest, and any association insignia sewn onto a shoulder were all they could call their own.
Unless I’m working, I never want to wear black again.
Gabrielle and her gang spoke in hushed tones as they huddled in the far corner.
Like a gang of thieves.
The irony of her calling anyone else a thief wasn’t lost on Louisa, and she started fantasizing about her planned vocation in life once she was free of St. Denis.
Those thoughts disappeared when Mère de l’Adoration walked into the classroom, and the students scattered to their desks. One of a handful of teaching nuns at the school, she wore her traditional habit, adding more black and white to the room. Before taking her seat, she waited until every student had found her desk.
Louisa had complete faith in the results of the coming academic contest. Eugénie––Gaiety––would lead them to victory as she had all year.
“Mademoiselle Savant, as batallion commander of the current Garde impériale, you may go first. Have you drawn up your order of battle?” asked Mère de l’Adoration.
Eugénie came to her feet next to her desk. “Yes, Professeure.”
Louisa loved Mère de l’Adoration’s classes. The nun’s passion reverberated in the lessons she gave. On a one-woman crusade to steer as many students as possible into the teaching profession, she also worked hard to pass on the knowledge they’d need to succeed at the vocation.
The weekly academic battle was one of the most ingenious learning tools employed by the determined teacher. At the beginning of Louisa’s Première year (the year before terminale), Mère de l’Adoration divided the sixteen students of her history class into four battalions. In most other courses, the other teachers, as dictated by the rulebook, separated the Clan of the Dissipated. To her credit, the Mère ignored that dictate, and the four friends formed a fearsome unit.
Eugénie walked to the blackboard at the front of the room and picked up a piece of chalk. Under the first of the ten subject titles written on the slate board, she wrote a name. Marie went under The Revolution. Eugénie added names under topics until she had placed each of her battalion’s soldiers’ names on the board twice. Then she wrote Louisa and herself under the last two open subjects, Athens vs. Sparta and The Eastern Question.
A battalion commander must know her soldiers’ strengths and weaknesses if she is to lead them to victory.
Each battle consisted of four unknown questions grouped under ten topics. The topics ranged from ancient philosophy to modern politics. Each girl in a battalion had to answer two questions, and no one member could answer more than three. In most battles, Louisa answered three questions, but not always. It depended on the topics covered. Like a grand strategist picking the best terrain for her army to engage the enemy, Eugénie had a sixth sense about which subjects suited each soldier’s line of attack.
With a flourish, Eugénie spun and puffed out her chest in her usual challenge to the enemy commanders. She dropped her stick of chalk into the small wooden cup on the Mère’s desk with a clunk as she returned to her seat.
“Mademoiselle Chanzy, as battalion commander of the Chasseurs, it is your turn.”
Gabrielle sneered at Eugénie as she stood. With haughty elegance, the tall blonde floated down the aisle of desks toward the front until just before reaching Marie. Louisa bit back a growl as her nemesis stumbled, bumping into Marie’s elbow. Marie lost hold of her slate tablet, which bounced off her desk with a loud bang.
Every head in the room twisted toward the sound.
Mère de l’Adoration stood and leaned forward, placing her hands on her desk. “Is everything okay, Mademoiselle Coffiniéres de Nordeck?”
With her cheeks turning a splotchy red, Marie lowered her eyes. “Yes, Professeure.”
Gabrielle hid her snicker as she began to write the names of her battalion on the board.
With the witch’s back to the classroom, Louisa fought the urge to let that extra nub of chalk fly. Nothing good would come of it. Then again, the headmistress said nothing would keep her from going on the tour.
Is it worth wearing the gray sash until the end of the school year?
Louisa sighed as she put the chalk pebble down.
When all the commanders had written the names on the board, Mère de l’Adoration held a piece of paper and walked to the slate. She picked up a long, thin pointing stick. “Let’s begin.” She tapped the seventh topic.
The first two-question skirmishes ended in draws. All the participating girls gave correct answers. After each success, a girl’s teammates acknowledged their appreciation with light raps of their knuckles on their desks. When Marguerite became the first student to stumble on a question about the Crimean War, the raps came from her opponents. She shook her head as she sat down. By the fifth topic, Eugénie’s and Gabrielle’s battalions had a one-point lead on the third- and fourth-place teams.
The last question lay ahead with the score still tied at seven apiece. Louisa rubbed an eye with her knuckle as she stood to answer her third question.
Mère de l’Adoration squinted at her paper before looking up. “Mademoiselle Sophia, please describe the events that led to the Second Peloponnesian War.”
“Not fair,” Gabrielle hissed.
Following protocol, Louisa curtsied and turned her head to address her answer toward Gabrielle. “I won’t bore you with all the details, but when Athens took full control of the Delian League, they used their power at sea to stifle Sparta’s commerce.”
She paused and grinned at Gabrielle.
“Tensions did not boil over between the two city-states until Athens signed a mutual protection treaty with my home of Corfu. The island was known as Corcyra and was Greece’s second-largest naval power. By bringing Corcyra into the League, Sparta became surrounded by league members. The Spartan ally, Thebes, struck the first blow, but it was the harsh response to the Theban attack that led to the inevitable. Sparta withdrew from their treaty with Athens, and the war began.”
“And why was it inevitable?”
“If the Spartans had not responded, the Athenians could have eventually blockaded all of Sparta’s commerce and forced them to capitulate.”
“Correct.” Mère de l’Adoration picked up the chalk to mark another point for Eugénie’s battalion.
With a glance to ensure the teacher was preoccupied, Louisa mouthed, “That’s not fair,” and dabbed an imaginary handkerchief at the corner of her eye before sitting down.
Gabrielle snorted and crossed her arms.
“Mademoiselle Paley, your turn.”
Julie––Jeton Un––the tall, skinny girl, stood and curtsied. To Louisa, Julie resembled a hawk with her sharp cheekbones and bird-like nose. If Julie answered correctly, the battle would end in a tie, and Louisa hated ties.
“Your question on the same topic is to describe the differences between the forms of government used by Sparta and Athens. Also, tell us what these types of government are known as today.”
Talk about not being fair. Even Jeton Un should get this one.
Julie wrung her hands and gulped. “Yes, Professeure.”
Not possible, Louisa thought.
Julie’s eyes darted to Gabrielle, who glared back and jutted her chin at the floundering girl.
Louisa chuckled. She doesn’t know.
“Ummm,” Julie whispered, “one was a republic, and the other was a democracy.”
“Go on,” Mère de l’Adoration rolled her open hand before her, urging Julie to continue. “Which one had a republic?”
Gabrielle grew ashen, and Louisa bit her lip not to laugh. She knew Gabrielle wouldn’t dare try to help her underling answer the question no matter how much she wanted to. The rulebook was unflinching about cheating, even for a favored student like Gabrielle.
“Athens,” Julie whispered.
Mère de l’Adoration shook her head as Gabrielle hissed.
Julie hung her head. She hurried to sit down and buried her head in her arms.
“Victory!” With a wide grin, Eugénie half-stood and began knocking on her desk.
Louisa, Virginie, and Marie added their wooden claps to the celebration while the rest of the class squirmed in their seats, making sour faces.
As Louisa turned toward Gabrielle to gloat, she stopped short. The mean girl sat back in her chair, drumming her fingers on her desk. She grinned at Louisa as if she knew something Louisa didn’t.