“After the sixth year, the classes are once again split, this time into three classes: Battle Mages, healing Mages, and skill or trade Mages. Once they reach the tenth and final year of schooling, the brightest of the three classes get one lesson a day with Professor Palmine. So, you can now see why you’re so lucky.”

  Karria just nodded dumbly.

  She would be getting private lessons from someone who only accepted the most exceptional students after they’d trained an entire nine years.

  “I see what you mean by that,” Karria said.

  She opened her mouth to ask another question, but just then, a loud bell began tolling.

  Kya stood with a sigh.

  “That means that classes will begin soon. Let’s just hope we don’t run into Eletha,” she said as she smoothed her skirt.

  “Who’s that?” Karria asked as she stood as well, mimicking Kya’s movements.

  She really was enjoying the shorter skirt and leggings, as they were much easier to keep neat.

  “Oh, I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough,” Kya said with a grimace and led her to the path towards the main grounds.

  Karria took one more look around the peaceful clearing before following her.

  She really hoped Arbor was still alive. This was the sort of place where he’d spend hours of his day. Looking out over the water, she could almost picture him there, crouching over the water and running his fingers through it.

  She shook off her wandering thoughts and ran to catch up with Kya, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye as she did so.

  31

  Karria followed Kya closely as they exited the trees and headed onto the main path. There were a lot more students now, all heading towards the central square. She and Kya were soon surrounded by elves of all ages, ranging from their preteens to their early twenties.

  She immediately noticed all the stares she was getting and did her best to pretend not to notice. They entered the main square, and she turned towards the second building to the left, but Kya placed an arm on her shoulder to stop her.

  “What’s going on?”

  Instead of answering, Kya pointed to an empty space ahead of them that all the students seemed to be avoiding. As she watched, the cobblestones in the empty space began shifting and rising off the ground, stacking one on top of the other until they had formed a stage.

  Karria stared in open amazement as Vartan, the headmaster of the school, walked onto the raised stage. As if there were an unspoken signal, the students around her moved forward, Karria being swept along with them, and they were soon all standing before the impromptu stage.

  “The headmaster always gives a speech before the start of a new term,” Kya whispered to her, as the students began to quiet down.

  Vartan cleared his throat a few times, before beginning to speak.

  “Welcome back, students!”

  His voice boomed out across the open area, making Karria jump. She was surprised at the volume but figured it must be some sort of magic.

  “It is good to see you all back, refreshed, and ready for study. I hope you all had a good break. I know I did,” he said jokingly.

  All the students laughed at his joke, and Vartan waited for the laughter to die down. His tone shifted and took on a more serious note now.

  “At this great school, we strive to help those with magic talent to hone their skills, so they may help our great nation to reach even greater heights. These are, of course, troubled times. There are wars being fought to the north, slavers attacking our outer settlements and rebellions rising up against the king of Laedrin.

  “It may not be for some time yet, but we may one day face a war of our own. To that end, it has been decided that we will no longer turn away those of other races seeking magical knowledge and guidance.”

  He paused here and looked around at all the faces staring back at him.

  “You may have noticed that there is a human girl among you.”

  Here, low murmuring broke out among the students, and those near Karria looked at her with new interest.

  Karria felt herself begin to turn red from all the scrutinizing gazes. Her heart started beating faster and a cold sweat broke out on her brow. She’d never been very good in front of crowds. It was then that Kya’s magic washed over her, the soothing sensation calming her nerves.

  Vartan waited for the murmuring to die down before continuing.

  “Karria has been taken in by the king and queen themselves and will be the first non-elven student to attend our school in recent history. I ask that you treat her with the same kindness and respect you show your fellow elves. Now, head off to class and remember the motto of our great school.”

  Here he paused as if expecting something and as one, the students all answered.

  “Strive for greatness, not perfection!”

  Vartan smiled brightly at them, and the stone stage began to descend back into the ground.

  “Come on. Let’s get inside before they all try and mob us,” Karria heard Kya whisper in her ear.

  She felt the elf girl grab her hand and pull her towards the second building from the left. The noise dropped by a noticeable degree once the doors closed behind them, and Karria looked around in interest. They were in a large entryway. Ahead of them, a staircase led up to the second floor. She could see two hallways, one to either side and Kya pulled her down the left one.

  “This side is for the third years,” she explained. “The staircase leads up to the dining room, where lunch is served at the twelfth hour. It’s only served in the last twenty minutes of our lunch hour, so make sure not to miss it.”

  She passed one door and stopped in front of the second one.

  “Well, this is it,” she said with a nervous laugh. Then she pushed the door open.

  Karria looked around the neat room. There were ten small tables and chairs as well as a large desk at the front of the room. The wall behind the desk was painted black, and she wondered what that was there for. A large window took up a good part of the wall, and she could see a wide-open area behind the building. The back of the room was lined with bookshelves, all crammed full of books. No one was there yet, and Kya moved quickly to one of the small tables near the window.

  “Come, sit here,” Kya indicated the seat next to hers. “Seats are fixed normally, but since they move students around every semester, we get to choose new ones at the start of a term.”

  Karria sat down next to her and noticed that the small table had an open shelf right in the front.

  “What is this open space for?” she asked, sticking her arm into it.

  Kya giggled a little at that.

  “That’s where we keep our books.”

  “But I don’t have any books,” Karria said, looking suddenly fearful.

  Would she be the only one without any books?

  “Don’t worry,” Kya was quick to reassure her. “The professors will hand out books at the beginning of class. Those are the ones we’ll be using this semester.”

  The door opened then and three elf boys walked in, all chatting. They looked over at Karria with curiosity, then noticed Kya. They all gave her wide grins – their eyes clearly roaming over her body – but none of them so much as waved, instead moving towards the front and taking seats there.

  Four elf girls came in next, all chatting animatedly. They all stopped when they saw Kya and began speaking in hushed whispers. One even sneered at her and then said something which made the other girls laugh.

  Karria looked over at the elf girl. She was becoming annoyed that no one had bothered to come over and introduce themselves. She was even more annoyed that the other girls had been so rude to her friend, but Kya just shook her head.

  “It’s not worth fighting over. You’ll just make them angry,” she whispered.

  The door opened before she could reply, and one more elf walked in. Karria had to physically restrain herself as Sylvester shot her a dirty look, then walked over to join the other elf boys. He was completely healed and she guessed that magic had something to do with that.

  A real pity, as she would have liked to see him in bandages at least once.

  “Why’s he in our class?” Karria whispered.

  The girl looked just as surprised as she was and shrugged.

  “I don’t know. He wasn’t in my class last term.”

  “Didn’t you say there were twenty-six students in the third year?” Karria asked. “Why are so few in this class?”

  “Oh, that part is easy,” Kya answered. “Although it’s not official, one class is for the more advanced students or those with better grades. Sylvester always had poor grades, but he did manage to use his magic when he was with you. He must have figured it out at some point after he left. That explains why they decided to move him here.”

  Karria just glowered.

  The first day of school and the lying bastard was already ruining it. She felt Kya’s hand on her arm.

  “Don’t let it bother you. He may sneer or make comments behind your back, but he won’t do anything to hurt you.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “Because the king and queen have taken you in. He can’t do anything to you without me making sure they’ll know,” Kya said with a sly smile. “Besides, from what I can tell, he should be more afraid of what you’ll do to him if he tries. And if he isn’t, I know more than a few secrets that’ll get him to stay away.”

  Karria was about to answer when the group of girls that had entered earlier approached them. The one who had made the earlier comment to her friends, completely ignored Kya, instead, sitting down on her desk, as if she wasn’t even there, and faced Karria.

  “I heard we had a human in our school,” the girl said. “I just didn’t think we’d be lucky enough to have you in our class.”

  Karria already disliked the girl. She was pale and slim, like the other elves. She had brown hair, brown eyes, and a small sardonic grin on her face and looked at Karria as if she were some sort of animal or toy that had caught her interest.

  “My name is Nina, what’s yours?” she asked, examining her fingernails.

  “My name is Karria,” she answered with clenched teeth.

  This girl didn’t even have the decency to look at her. What a bitch!

  “It’s only polite to look at someone when you’re speaking to them,” Karria said as she tried to contain her growing anger. “I would also appreciate it if you would get off my friend’s desk. I don’t think that’s a very decent way to treat someone.”

  She heard a gasp of shock from the other girls around her, and Nina’s face became markedly less friendly.

  “Let me explain something, human girl,” she said, getting off of Kya’s desk and leaning over her. “You may not know this since you’re new, but my older sister Eletha runs this school.”

  “Really?” Karria said with a raised eyebrow. “I was under the impression that the headmaster, Vartan, ran the school.”

  Nina’s face twisted into an expression of anger as one of the other girls giggled at Karria’s comment.

  “My sister is in the sixth year and a powerful Tier 4 Mage. She will be in the battle magic class next year, and she made a very strict rule. She said that Little Miss Perfect over there is not to be spoken to.”

  Her voice took on a menacing tone.

  “People who break my sister’s rules often find that accidents can happen around them, and I would just hate for something bad to happen to you.”

  “I’m touched by how concerned you are for my safety, but I think I can handle myself,” Karria said, waving her false concerns away. “I’ll be friends with whomever I please, and no one will stop me.”

  She paused here, giving Nina a once over.

  “Unlike some people, I have no need to hide behind others for protection.”

  She said this with as much contempt as she could muster and heard Kya snicker a little as Nina’s face went beet red. She’d opened her mouth to retort when the door opened, and a young-looking elf came into the room.

  “Find your seats, and settle down,” he said distractedly as he headed to his desk.

  Nina shot her one more glare, promising that this was not over, before heading to her desk with the other girls.

  She felt Kya squeeze her hand and looked over to see the pretty elf girl smiling from ear to ear. Karria smiled back, feeling a little better about the whole thing. Just seeing how happy she’d made her friend was worth the trouble she knew would be coming.

  32

  The first and second classes of the day went by quickly, and Karria soon found herself walking up the stairs to the dining room together with Kya. As they entered, sound washed over them, and Karria looked around, curious what it would be like to eat with so many other students.

  There was a table along the back wall, and an elf stood behind it. There were trays of chicken, meat, and vegetables sitting on the table and she could see students standing in line holding large wooden plates.

  She followed Kya through the nearly packed room and took a plate from a pile near the back wall.

  “Wow, I didn’t expect there to be so many people up here, seeing as our year only has twenty-six students,” Karria said as the two of them got in line.

  “Most are from the fourth year,” Kya explained as the line moved forward. “They have over fifty students in their year.”

  “Why do they have so many more than ours?”

  “No idea. Some years the classes can be small, like ours, and others they can be large. The largest class right now is the first-year class, with eighty students.”

  Karria couldn’t help but notice how much the serving woman was piling onto some of the plates. She shared her observation with Kya, who nodded.

  “I’m sure you’ve noticed that your appetite has gone up significantly in the last few weeks. Mages tend to need more food than the average person, and the school makes sure that we have enough to eat to sustain our magic.”

  The line moved forward once again.

  “In fact, she knows exactly how much to put on each student’s plate,” Kya remarked, eyeing the serving woman.

  “That’s pretty impressive,” Karria said, looking at the woman with newfound respect.

  “Yes, she can sense how much magic a person has. It’s quite a rare talent.”

  “And yet the school has me serving meals instead of teaching a class,” the woman said good-naturedly as Kya walked in front of her.

  She piled two pieces for chicken, a strip of beef and a large helping of vegetables onto her plate. She also placed a small cup filled with fruit and handed her a large mug filled with an amber-colored liquid. Kya smiled and thanked the woman, then turned to Karria.

  “I’ll go sit down there,” Kya said, pointing to a mostly empty table. “Come join me once you’ve gotten your food.”

  Balancing her large plate with her mug, she walked towards the table.

  Karria walked up to the woman who smiled at her.

  “Ah, it’s the famous human girl the headmaster spoke of earlier. It’s nice to meet you!” she said with a warm smile.

  “It’s nice to meet you as well, ma’am,” Karria said, attempting to curtsy politely.

  It was made a bit difficult by the large plate she was holding and looked a lot less graceful than she would have liked. The woman just laughed at that.

  “None of that ma’am business. Call me Ash.” She scrunched up her brow for a moment and then her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

  “Is something the matter ma’… I mean, Ash?” Karria asked, wondering if she’d somehow offended the woman.

  Ash seemed to shake herself a bit before answering.

  “No, not at all, dear. I was just a bit surprised at the amount of magic you have. It’s going to take quite a bit to fill you up,” she said and began piling food onto her plate.

  She piled four pieces of chicken, three pieces of beef and at least two pounds of stringy vegetables. She put a cup of fruit on as well and handed her a mug of the same amber liquid she’d given Kya. She paused for a moment and then placed another piece of chicken on her plate.

  “I think that should be enough,” she said with a bright smile. “But if you’re still hungry when you’re finished, please feel free to come back for more.”

  Karria thanked the woman and, feeling a little embarrassed at all the looks she was receiving, made her way over to Kya. Setting the heavy plate and mug down, she took a seat near the elf girl who eyed her plate with a look of bemusement.

  “I see that we’ve been under-feeding you at the palace,” she said with a wry smile.

  Karria just smiled cheekily at her and began devouring her meal at a speed that shocked even her. She hadn’t realized how hungry she’d been and had soon polished off her entire plate.

  “What’s in the mug?” she asked Kya, who was looking at her with a newfound respect after the amount she’d just eaten.

  “Oh, it’s a fruit juice made from apples grown here on the school grounds,” Kya explained.

  “What’s an apple?” Karria asked.

  Back in the Endless Wood, they’d had all kinds of fruit, but this one was new to her.

  “Just drink it, I promise it’s good,” she said with a grin.

  Karria shrugged and picking up the mug, took a long sip. It was delicious! Sweet and tangy at the same time, the cool fruit juice seemed to wake her up and re-energize her all at once.

  Kya just laughed at her expression.

  “See, what did I tell you? It’s very good. We normally only get water with our meals, but I’m guessing this is a sort of welcome back treat.”

  Karria quickly finished the contents of her mug and sat back with a sigh. It felt a bit odd to be full. It had been so long since she’d felt this way that she’d almost forgotten the feeling.

  “You were right about Ash. She knew exactly how much to give me,” Karria said with a lazy smile.

  Kya had opened her mouth to answer when a grimace twisted her face.

 

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