6. The Academy

Light and darkness faded back together again, melted into each other and settled on normal patterns. Slowly color returned and with it my senses. I lay sprawled in a dusty courtyard, sick patches of dry grass here and there about me, but the ground beneath me packed so hard the dirt seemed one great paving stone. Rather than trying to stand, I rolled over onto my back and saw a massive pair of doors towering high above me, set in a stone wall some forty feet tall that stretched off to the right and left. The doors reached nearly to the top, set in a great pointed arch and every inch of them covered with runes and mystic symbols. For a moment I thought I saw an image in the etchings, a great white dome arching high against a green field, but in an instant the image faded and left behind only carvings in wood.

As I lay resting, staring up at the afternoon sky, I could still feel a strange tension in the air, an uneasiness that pointed like an arrow to the north and west. The sensation lay heavy on me, and in my mind I saw clearly the gardens I had just left, the guards standing stupefied just feet away, but my eyes told me I was elsewhere, and a shake of my head dispelled the garden and the soldiers with it.

I heard the rapid slap of shoes against the hardened earth and craned my neck to see half a dozen old men sprinting awkwardly toward me, fingers grasping at the air while they ran as though they could feel the invisible cords. One of them darted in the lead, tall and thin and clothed all in black. His eyes were dark beneath a frowning brow, and his hair hung in black waves nearly to his shoulders. He approached me directly, pointed a long finger in my face and barked, "Stranger, how dare you intrude here!"

From my side, down by the ground, a weak voice coughed then said, "Let be, Seriphenes." Claighan had made it through. I felt a wash of hope, but a stab of breathless pain immediately drove it away. Claighan groaned and said, "This boy is with me. You would not challenge me yet, would you?" The dark gaze of Seriphenes stabbed just as sharp as the pain in my leg, his scowl only deepening as he turned it toward Claighan.

"This bloody lump is Claighan?" Seriphenes said. His voice was nearly a whisper, dark with ominous portent. He took a slow, careful breath, then turned and said in a more neutral tone, "It is Claighan who has come so precipitously into our midst. He is injured apparently, so any trial must wait—"

Another of the old men interrupted Seriphenes. "A trial?" He nearly laughed, but the look he shot Seriphenes was stern and chastising. "He clearly acted out of need, and that we may forgive. Archus!" A young man who had been lurking at Seriphenes's side suddenly looked up, scowling. "Archus, help Claighan inside and take him to the priest. He will need attention, and quickly."

The words gripped at my heart, and I rolled onto my side to get a look at Claighan. He sprawled on the ground next to me, one arm pinned beneath him and a leg bent awkwardly to the side, and with a small pool of blood collecting beneath his ribs. His robes were torn on the left side, below his chest. 

He reached for me, placed his right hand on my shoulder, and surprised me by hauling me close enough to whisper, "You are safe here, Daven. Be silent and go unseen as much as you may." His voice grew quieter as the young man called Archus stepped near, and Claighan said in a failing whisper, "Not everyone here is a friend, but none should be an enemy." 

His grip relaxed, then, and we fell apart. I watched, panting through my own pain, while Archus helped Claighan struggle to his feet. The young man sneered whenever the wizard showed his pain, and I felt an animal fury burn inside me at that. Claighan's words held my tongue, though. With groans and grimaces Claighan finally attained his feet, and leaning on Archus's shoulder he made his way toward a large, low building that stood some twenty paces away across the courtyard.

After all Claighan's warnings I expected unkind words from the cruel-eyed Seriphenes, but he only sniffed down at me and strode off in the same direction Claighan had gone. 

Instead, it was the man who had called Seriphenes down earlier who spoke to me, while the others trailed off toward the buildings. The one who stayed had bushy white eyebrows and a beard to match, eyes as gray as a summer storm and a pair of impossibly delicate spectacles balanced on his nose. He looked me up and down, considering. "So," he said, "at last we meet Claighan's little experiment."

"Daven," I said, trying to keep my tone polite. "Of Terrailles."

"Carrickson," he corrected. "We know precisely who you are. And word of your actions on the Isle has reached us as well." My heart sank. I would be a prisoner here instead of in the City. He shook his head, disappointed, and I felt it echoed in my heart. "We will keep you here in safety until Claighan is recovered and your case can be fairly made. Until then, you are to behave as our guest. You may attend classes—"

I brightened, astonished. "Really?" 

He frowned at the interruption, but nodded. "Claighan made it well known that he intended you to be his apprentice. By our laws, that choice is wholly his. No matter the rumors we have heard, you shall have the education his authority grants you... until the council can convince him otherwise." 

I bowed my head, doing my very best impression of meek. "Yes, my lord."

The other nodded once and picked back up where he'd left off. "You may attend classes, but only as a mute observer. You will not make any disturbance, you will not make any trouble on our grounds, or you will be handed over to the Royal Guard immediately. As easily as you were brought here you could be deposited in the dungeons of the royal palace. Bear that in mind, boy." He started to turn away, then stopped and added, "This Academy will be no haven for criminals. Unless Claighan can make a good case, you should not expect much kindness here."

I shivered at that, and nodded, but he was not done with me. He dropped a heavy hand on my shoulder—heavy enough to make me wince at the shock of pain in my injured leg—and caught my eyes. "Did Claighan warn you about Seriphenes, boy? Or perhaps Leotus? You know he has enemies here?"

I nodded, mute, and he nodded back. "I'm not one of them. They have their little schemes, their power plays, but I am the Chancellor. I have no loyalties to their games. It is my sole duty to protect this school. And right now, you are a threat to it. Do you understand?"

I nodded, but he wasn't satisfied with that. I fought to catch a breath, shook my head against new waves of pain, then groaned through clenched teeth. "I have no desire but to learn, Chancellor."

He frowned at me, as though I might be mocking him, then spun me around to face the towering doors. I gasped in pain, but he ignored it. 

"It is said those doors only open one way," he said. "You will not be welcome here—I can guarantee you that—and those doors are designed to keep intruders out, not to keep freeloaders in. Leave when you want, and you will not be missed."

He stood for a moment waiting, expectant, as though I might push through the doors that very instant, but I did not budge. It took all my pride to keep myself upright, but I did not budge.

When he saw I wouldn't go, he shrugged behind me and dropped his hand from my shoulder. "Well enough, boy. It's your choice. Just don't wait too long. Once judgment is passed, running won't be an option." Again he paused, again I stood firm. Again he shrugged, then turned briskly and began walking across the courtyard, not looking back. "Very well. Follow me, then, and I'll find you a room."

A single building bordered the great courtyard, made of two immense halls stretching north and south, with a third connecting them near the middle. Two tall, wide doors in the middle of this crossing hall made the building's main entrance, but the dark wizard strode quickly toward a small oak door set in the end of the east wing. He pulled the door open harshly, muttering something to himself as he did, then stooped to fit through the small doorway. Hopping awkwardly on one leg, clenching my teeth at the pain in the other, I followed him into a dark, narrow hall lined on both sides with plain wooden doors. The Chancellor stopped at the very first one on the right and pushed it open, stuck his head in to look around, then stepped back.

"Fine. This shall be your room as long as you stay with us. Number one east wing, in case you get lost. Enjoy your visit." With that he turned and stalked off down the hall like an angry cat on the prowl. Far down the hall I saw a cluster of boys standing near a doorway, but they rapidly dispersed as the old wizard approached them. I watched, a little afraid, until he was lost in the far shadows before I entered my room. I closed the door firmly behind me.

A thin mattress hung halfway off a simple wooden bed, its legs scored by the teeth of mice or rats over the years. A desk stood in one corner, and a plain armoire beside the door. Other than that the room was empty. I collapsed onto the edge of the bed and rested my head in my hands. The blood on my arm was dried and dusty, but the scratch throbbed a little. The wound on my leg was worse, but somehow didn't hurt nearly as much. I brushed my hair out of my face, wiped the sweat from my eyes, and looked around the room again. I started rolling up the leg of my pants to examine that injury, but the motion brought a new lance of pain and a wash of fresh blood down my ankle.

I ached; the sweat and dust caking me made me feel nasty, but something much larger was pressing at my mind, and I was avoiding it as much as I could. Claighan was gone. I was alone. I sat with elbows on knees, staring at the cold stone floor. I was alone and hated already. I thought of the old wizard's cruel voice, of the cold eyes of the other Masters. I thought of the boy Archus, on Seriphenes's heels, who had stared at even Claighan with such contempt. This place was no haven; it was no home. I began to run my eyes along the stone blocks of the walls, the tiles of the floor, tracing the little paths between that always led back to each other.

I was alone.

I cried. Tears mixed with blood and sweat, and hopelessness burned in my soul. My hands fell together in my lap, my eyes fixed on them, and I wept without a sound and wondered what I was to do.

My door creaked, and the sound threw me to my feet, heart pounding. I screamed at the flash of pain that drove up from my calf and stabbed hard into my hip. I fell back down to my bed and had to blink away tears and blackness before I could see.

When I did, I found a boy standing in my doorway. He peeked around the edge of my travel pack, holding it with both arms and not quite tall enough to look over the top of it. He had a thick mop of brown hair, big blue eyes now opened wide in astonishment, and a round nose. He dropped my pack to the floor with a whumph, and I saw his mouth twisted into a great O in his surprise. I nearly smiled at the sight, in spite of everything.

He was a scrawny little boy, and he looked terrified by my howl. I forced myself to take several short, sharp breaths while I pushed the pain away and then focused in on him. 

Then I nodded toward my bag on the floor. "Are you the butler?"

His eyes went even wider. Then he took a step back, and his eyebrows pinched together in anger. And then he laughed. It was almost a giggle, high and sharp, and it took his breath away. Then he fixed his eyes on me. "The butler? I'm the Chancellor's apprentice!"

I sighed and hung my head. "I'm deeply sorry," I said. "I had no idea."

"Keep your sorries," he said. 

He came to stand over me, though I was nearly eye-level with him even sitting on my bed. He looked me over and said, "How much of it is true?"

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "None of it, or close enough."

"They say you killed a king's Guardsman on the Souport road just to win an argument with Claighan. They say you bested one of the king's elite guards and won his sword in fair combat." His eyes shone with boyish enthusiasm, and he took a step closer. "They say you fought half an army in Gath-upon-Brennes and laid nine men low."

I shook my head. "Barely half that," I said. "Although I suppose the rest of it is true."

He barked a laugh, a grin splitting his face. "Oh, they are not going to like you here."

I frowned. "Everyone keeps telling me that."

He shrugged. "They're right. You'll just have to show them all you're true gold. Excellence covers a multitude of sins."

"You're asking a bit much. I'll be lucky if I ever walk again."

I said it in jest, but his eyes shot wide again in horror, and his head whipped left and right in a terrified panic. I had to stifle a laugh, but he sank down on his knees next to the bed and looked at my bloodied leg in horror.

"I'm so sorry, Daven! I let my curiosity get the better of me. I'm supposed to bring you to the Kind Father. Can you stand?" 

I wanted to laugh at the terror in his eyes, but the pain washed over me in waves with his words, and I clenched my jaw to keep from screaming at him again. Fighting tears, I slid to the edge of my bed and pushed myself upright. I'd hoped to catch my balance on my good leg as I had done coming in here, but the sudden rise made me dizzy, and I nearly fell to the stone floor. 

The boy caught me. When my weight fell on him he grunted sharply, but he held me upright and wrapped an arm around my waist to steady me. "It's kind of a long walk, but I'll help you. Let me know when you need to rest."

In good health I could have made the walk in four or five minutes, but hobbling as I was it took me nearly fifteen, and every agonizing hop of the way sent fire searing through my body. While we were still in sight of my room the boy began to breathe heavily. When we finally stopped in front of a carved oak door in a larger hall, I was glad to be able to take my weight off him. I leaned against the doorframe, and he huffed a great sigh of relief. He sagged against the wall, too, but leaned forward to knock on the door while I caught my breath.

The door opened to reveal an elderly man draped in yards of thick, embroidered robes until he seemed a mound of red and violet cloth. A violet ribbon around his temples and a gold sun medallion hanging around his neck named him a Beneficent Priest, but he looked with no kindness on the boy before him.

"Themmichus! Haven's name, I always expect to see you before my door, but I am never pleased to find you there! What have you done this time?" Only the hint of a smile belied the harsh words. The boy must not have seen it, because he seemed cowed to fear. He didn't speak a word but pointed mutely down to my leg. The old priest turned, surprised to find me standing so close, and as his gaze reached my bloodied calf his mouth fell open. Concern washed away jest and mock anger, and with a soft-breathed prayer he caught me up in surprisingly strong arms and bore me back into his office.

I heard Themmichus call something from the doorway, felt the priest respond above, around me, but the words were fast fading into nonsense. If the journey from my room to this office had strained me, the priest's lifting me broke my last tenuous hold on consciousness. I realized this man would care for me, by oath and by law, if anyone in the world might. I sighed behind closed eyes at the thought, and then I let the pain drown me and fell back to a blistered peace.

---

I woke in absolute darkness to the sound of a feeble cry. I blinked, hoping my eyes would adjust to the dim light, but there was none. I searched my memory and eventually remembered my trip to the Kind Father's offices. I remembered a bed like a high table and gentle hands on my injured leg, murmured prayers and the smell of blood and fire. I shivered at the shard of memory.

Then I heard a noise, not ten paces away, but muffled by a door or wall. It was a furtive sound, a careful one, but it held the sharp brutality of violence. I frowned in the darkness and, without thinking, rolled off the bed to land at a crouch on the floor. There was no pain, no weariness even, and for the first time I realized this must be a dream.

And then I heard the sound again, and once again a pathetic little moan. Curiosity dragged me across the room, and caution made me quiet. I moved by touch and distant memory and found my way to the door. I turned the knob with all the care in the world, and it didn't make a sound. I eased the door open a crack, and then I saw a light.

It was faint but unflickering. A dull green glow, entirely unnatural, and it came from an open doorway on the other side of the Kind Father's main office—another room like mine. I saw the shadow of a man stretched grotesque against the wall and ceiling, the sharp line of a beard stabbing down from his chin, the great draping sleeve of a robe hanging off powerful arms. I saw one of those arms rise up in shadow, then slash down in what looked like a backhand, and I heard another desperate groan. And I heard what sounded like a chuckle.

And then I thought of Claighan. I remembered him, broken and bleeding on the ground beside me. I thought of him helpless in the bed, of the cruel-eyed Seriphenes or the sneering student Archus lashing out at him, and I felt a great fury build in me. I was strong now. I was whole. I could defend him against this cruelty. I balled my fists, tensed my legs, ready to hurl myself across the gap and into the room.

An outer door opened and I barely stopped myself short of gasping in surprise. I fell back on my heels and sank low to the ground, heart pounding, desperate to remain hidden. I recognized the form silhouetted out in the hall. It was Seriphenes, tall and terrible, and he lingered on the threshold for the barest heartbeat before his eyes narrowed on the eerie green glow from the other room and he stomped in. He pulled the outer door closed behind him with more restraint than I suspect he wished, but he did not make a sound.

He crossed the office in three long strides, and darted into the other room. I heard a growl like an angry dog's begin low in his throat, and I could see him clearly in the eldritch glow. His eyes narrowed to slits. 

"Lareth," he snapped. My blood ran cold.

Lareth, the rebel wizard. The traitor who had turned the king against us. He was the same who had been striking a helpless Claighan. I felt my teeth grinding together so hard it hurt, and I forced myself to relax lest the sound of it gave me away.

The other wizard answered with a voice like summer honey, smooth and sweet and languorous. "My dear Master Seriphenes," he said. "What brings you here?"

"I thought I sensed the shape of a traveling," Seriphenes answered, his voice cold. "Of a pathway stabbing off hundreds of miles to the south of here. I thought perhaps I recognized the workmanship—"

"Nonsense," Lareth said, and I could imagine him waving a hand dismissively. "I have learned new tricks. My workings are undetectable."

Seriphenes growled again. "You always were stupid. There is no such thing."

"There is," Lareth said. "I'm sure it was simple intuition that brought you here. Or, perhaps, a desire to see justice done."

Seriphenes frowned. "Justice is doing well enough on its own. There is no reason for us to stain our hands with it. And there is certainly no reason for you to be here—"

"What, am I unwelcome at my teacher's table?"

"As long as you are in open rebellion against the king," Seriphenes hissed, "it would be wise for you to keep away."

Lareth took a step closer. "I have been too long without news," Lareth said. "I began to feel abandoned."

"You stupid child," Seriphenes said. "This king is not a forgiving one. If he suspected anyone in these walls so much as spoke to you, he would bring the whole of his army against the Academy."

"Let him try," Lareth said lazily. "I have seen just what his army is worth. I've slain a thousand men by my own hand, with just the least portion of the things you taught me."

Seriphenes looked around. His eyes passed right over me, but he could not have seen me. "You would be wise to keep such words to yourself, even when speaking to me. I do not condone your actions."

"And yet my actions are set to prosper you greatly." Lareth chuckled, dark and low. "Astonishing that the king's wrath turned against the one who suggested he send someone to speak with the rebels, and the old fool never gave a thought to the failings of the man who trained the traitor up."

"King Timmon doesn't trouble himself to know the details of our apprenticeship process." Seriphenes's lip curled in distaste. "Admittedly, he does not trouble himself to know that much at all."

Lareth laughed, delighted, and clapped Seriphenes on the shoulder. "There's the mentor I know and love." His shadow turned away, washing across the ceiling. "Come, try your hand at the doddering old fool. If we don't abuse him a little, the Kind Father just might bring him back after all."

Seriphenes's lips curled in amusement, but he shook his head. "I've always admired your zeal, Lareth, but I suspect you might nearly be a dangerous maniac."

"I am practical," Lareth answered, and some of the honey left his voice. "I don't truly enjoy this sport, any more than I do killing king's Guardsmen. But it is so much easier to do under the persona of a madman."

Seriphenes cocked his head, curious. "Fascinating," he said. Then he shook his head. "That conversation must wait for another time. I have told you, Lareth, you must stay away from the school until you are ready to end this foolishness with the rebel army. So long as you are openly in defiance of the crown, you must wait for me to contact you as I may."

Lareth turned back to him, and for a long time he said nothing. Then he stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Find more opportunities, Master. It is a dangerous world out there, and I would hate to face it without your aid."

Seriphenes frowned. "I will do as I can, as I always have, but if we are caught—if anyone so much as suspected—I could help you not at all. I might even be driven to living the same squalid life you've chosen for yourself, and I would not like that at all."

Lareth laughed. "It's not so bad. Living off the land. Sleeping under the stars."

Seriphenes sneered. "I prefer my creature comforts. Now go. And do not come back."

Lareth started to answer, but Seriphenes raised one hand and silenced him. A moment later the green light flashed, so bright it seared dark spots behind my eyes, and then it was gone completely. I sat in the darkness, stunned, thinking over everything I had just heard and trying desperately to comprehend it.

And then a new light flared in the office as Seriphenes summoned a white flame of his own to light his way out of the office. It happened before I could even move, and he passed within a pace of me. The light washed over me, and his gaze followed it. 

For a terrible moment his cold black eyes met mine.

And then, for reasons I cannot imagine, it passed on over me. He made no comment, gave no indication he'd seen me at all. He slipped through the outer door and closed it so quietly behind him I didn't even hear a sound.

Fear and fury bubbled up within me. Seriphenes was a traitor to the crown! It seemed he must have seen me but that didn't matter now. He had to be stopped. I threw open the door above me, and it didn't make a sound. I flew across the Kind Father's little office, and my movements felt eerie. Dreamlike. I drifted like a mist across the room and threw open another door that made no sound.

I washed out into the wide corridor lined with benches and stone-brick walls, supported with carved-wood pillars, and lit with fixed points of magical light. I remembered it bustling with students during the day.

But none of that was there now. Not the students, not the pillars, not the corridor, not even the lights. Outside the door of the Kind Father's office was only blackness, thick and deep and stretching out forever.

I could hear footsteps on stone, though. I turned toward them and saw the shape of Seriphenes, strangely-lit in all the darkness. He had his back to me, and as I watched he whisked away. I tried to run after him, but I drifted too slowly, and soon he faded and was gone.

That left me in perfect darkness. I tried to hurry after him. I tried to turn back to my room, but there was no light anywhere. My heart raced, and fear bubbled up in me, but there was nowhere to go. The darkness washed around me like a nightmare, and I screamed and screamed without making a sound.

---

Sometime later, sunlight kissed my skin and glowed red through my closed eyelids. It summoned me gently back to consciousness with light touches on my arms and face. I drank in a deep breath, opened my eyes and blinked against the brightness. The air was heavy with the sweet smell of apple blossoms, even at this time of year, and thick, lush grass made a more comfortable bed than the mattress in my room. Slowly I sat up and realized with a start that I was whole again. I pushed back the tattered leg of my pants and examined my leg, healed clean without even a scar.

"Nice, isn't it?" The small voice made me jump, and I realized for the first time I wasn't alone. Behind me Themmichus was sitting on a large stone thick with moss. He held a crisp apple in one hand and rested his chin in the other. "Kind Father said you would be well, but I've never seen such concern from him. You must have been hurt worse than I realized. What happened?"

I shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable. "I haven't had a good week."

Themmichus waited for more, and when I didn't offer it he laughed. And then harder, and he gave a shrug. "How could I forget? You killed a dozen Guardsmen in Gath-upon-Brennes."

My stomach turned sour at the joke, but I kept it from my expression. "Yesterday it was nine," I said, and he only laughed harder. I scowled and shook my head. Then I climbed to my feet and looked around. "Am I dreaming?"

He popped to his feet beside me. "If so, you're not very good at it," he said. "And I don't know why you roped me in."

"It's just...." I ducked my head, thinking. I could remember the incident in the Kind Father's office, but it held an eerie unreality to it. An impossibility. Seriphenes a villain, conspiring with a traitor. Lareth, the man at whose feet I could lay all my troubles, come in the night to wreak petty vengeance against my only ally in this place. It was all too much.

Themmichus stood beside me, looking up into my face, and after a moment he frowned. "How are you feeling? Should we go back to the Father? He told me to watch over you."

"No," I said and forced a smile. I tilted my head back to feel the sun on my face, the cool breeze in my hair, and my smile grew a shade more genuine. "No need," I said and began strolling idly among the apple trees. He fell in step beside me. I reached out to trail my fingers through the flower blossoms on a low shrub and shook my head. "What is this place?"

"Kind Father thought you could use some sun," he said. "Said it wouldn't do for you to be waking up in darkness. So he brought you to the Garden. I asked after your health one too many times, so...." He trailed off, looking uncomfortable, but after a moment he finished with a weak smile. "He told me to watch over you. Protect our famous new warrior child from all the dangerous monsters prowling these grounds."

I was supposed to laugh at that, but I thought of Lareth, of Seriphenes, even of the quiet, dreadful threats the Chancellor had offered me. I couldn't quite manage it. I gave him a sickly grin, though, and he settled for it.

"Anyway, main reason I'm here is to make sure you wake up in time for classes. Lhorus caught me this morning—said he'd heard from the Kind Father that you and I were friends now." He chewed his lip at that, and his eyes didn't quite meet mine. I suspected he would come to regret expressing any concern for my well-being. "Anyway," he said. "The Chancellor has decided you should begin with private lessons to get you up to speed."

"Lessons now? Right away?" I felt a panic bubbling in my chest. Then I turned to look the direction he'd been waving and found myself staring at the wall of the dormitory's west wing. My jaw dropped open. "This is Academy grounds? But...but I was in the courtyard yesterday and it was nothing but dust and dirt!"

He chuckled at that, then started off toward the building. "Follow me. There's something I should show you."

I stumbled along after him. We took a twisting path among the lush fruit trees, surrounded always by a cool breeze, but as we reached the north end of the dormitory building the trees began to thin, and the breeze died down. I followed Themmichus around the corner of the dorm and saw another building, just as large, sitting to the north. The boy waved at it. "That's the Learning Halls. You'll learn about them soon enough." Ignoring the sprawling buildings on either side, he led me down the wide lane between them toward another courtyard that seemed more like the one I remembered.

As we reached the end of the lane and stepped out into the barren yard, I realized just how stark the contrast was. The ground was entirely bare, broken here and there by large rocks that jutted out of the earth like some monster's huge gray teeth. The sun seemed somehow warmer here, barely a hundred paces from the Garden, harsh and unforgiving. Dust hung in the air, though no breeze lightened the stifling warmth.

For a long time I just stood staring at the cruel courtyard. It was a miserable bit of land, and someone had gone to great lengths to make it so. "Why?" I asked. "Someone wanted it like this?"

The boy grinned, a spark gleaming in his eyes, and put on a creaky, condescending voice. "Ah, child, understanding can be found in the most remarkable places." He chuckled. "The Masters say it helps us to understand the balance of everything. There are times and places where the world is soft and beautiful, but times and places when the world is hard as stone. So they gave us the Garden and the Arena."

"One for recreation, one for punishment?" I guessed.

He shook his head. "Not really. They don't ever really tell us where to go. But when they find us loitering in one yard or the other, they like to ask us why we're there. You should probably be prepared for that."

I frowned. "What's the right answer?"

He shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Just make something up."

I laughed. "Really?" 

"It's always more about being able to say something clever than something right."

I looked out at the desolation for a while, then I looked over at Themmichus. "You ever come up with anything clever?" He shrugged, but I saw a blush rise in his cheeks. "You did!" I said. He didn't answer, and I bumped his shoulder. "You're supposed to be looking out for me, remember? I could use a hint."

He shrugged again and ducked his head. "One time the Chancellor caught me in the Arena and asked me why. I said I figured they were trying to train the nobility out of us, and the sooner I got that done the sooner I could get on with my education."

"Training the nobility out of you?" I frowned, thinking about it. "And what did the Chancellor say?"

Themmichus grinned. "He took me on as his apprentice then and there."

I laughed. Themmichus led me over to a boulder jutting out of the ground and took a seat on it. I stood over him, taking in the rest of the courtyard. After a while I asked, "How'd you come up with that?"

"Well...you spend enough time out here, moving between the two of them, it's easy to start getting philosophical. Besides, my father talks like that all the time. Eventually you just pick it up."

I looked down at him and fought a grin. "Who's your father?"

He glanced up at me and away, fast enough I almost missed it. His answer came exquisitely casual. "Just a minor baron. No one you'd know."

Something in his voice made me doubt that. For whatever reason, he wanted to keep it to himself. I felt an instant, deep sympathy for him. It might have clouded my eyes for a moment, but I did my best not to let it show.

He wasn't looking anyway. He stared out at the Arena grounds and shook his head. "I'd sometimes stand in the corridor between the two, considering them both, and think that our lives are like that. No matter who we are." He gestured back over his shoulder, toward the distant Garden. "Sometimes it will be cushy, sometimes you'll get your way and have servants to get it for you." Then he patted the stone beneath him with a wry grin. "But sometimes you're all alone and afraid and helpless. We spend time at both ends of the corridor, and our training encompasses it all."

I tried to understand that. Living with the power to shape the world to their whim, these men still chose to face the hardship. I wasn't sure if it was clever or foolish, but as I stared out over the starkness of the barren, broken earth, I felt at home.

Themmichus waited. He watched me as the thoughts sank in, then nodded. "Most of the students are scared of the Arena for a long time, but after a while we almost all end up taking our lunches here. There's something refreshing about the plainness of it, the harsh reality."

I leaned against the stone next to him and he clapped me on the back, but then I sank into my own thoughts, and he into his. For a while neither of us spoke. Then a bell rang, high in a tower at the north end of the campus, and he jumped to his feet with fear in his eyes.

"Haven's name, I forgot to show you to your class. Lhorus is going to kill me."

I rose more slowly to my feet and smiled down at him. "Blame it on me," I said. "But first, show me the way."

He bobbed a nod and hurried off, back up the Arena to the corridor between the two buildings, and then dragged me through the great double doors into the Halls of Learning. As we went he chattered by my side. "Most new applicants get a week of interviews and instruction before the actual lessons begin, but Lhorus said you're a special case—naturally—and the Masters want you to begin immediately. I'll show you to your class, but it's a private lesson and I'm not allowed to watch."

He walked half a pace ahead of me, constantly looking back over his shoulder and begging me on with his eyes. I tried to keep track of our path, but he hurried me through broad corridors and around numerous corners, past hundreds of identical doors. Then he stopped at one among the many, knocked politely, and pushed it open. The room beyond was dark and empty, and he heaved a great sigh of relief.

"You'll have to wait for him here. I need to get to my own classes, but meet me for lunch. That same big rock in the Arena." He glanced down into the dark room, then looked both ways down the hall. He shrugged. "Lunch if you can make it, dinner if you can't. Private lessons sometimes go long. But find me. Please?"

I nodded to him and reached out to clasp his shoulder. "Thank you, Themmichus. I'll find you."

He gave me a grin that split his face, ducked his head, and then darted off down the hall.

I stood for a moment, alone, and gradually became aware of the sound of voices. They were not new, but with Themmichus gone the silence in the hall deepened until I could hear a distant, muted murmur all around me. I took two steps and realized it was coming from the doors.

I listened at one for a moment and heard the muffled sound of a lecture. At another I heard a low, eerie chant, and at yet another the brittle roar of a blazing fire. I smelled no smoke, though, and heard quiet, casual discussion coming from the same room. I shivered.

Magic. Behind these doors, magic happened. And I was about to have my first lesson. A sudden fear frolicked in my stomach, while nervous excitement settled in just above my lungs, pressing down. I moved back to my room, the one Themmichus had shown me, and sank down to wait by the door. I had barely settled into a crouch before the steady thump of boots on stone broke the uneasy silence. Fighting my own excitement, I looked toward the sound of the footsteps.