5. Five
The only thing I”m actually ready to do is throw up. My stomach bubbles the second Nyx pushes the creaky, ancient door open revealing a vibrant foyer, humming with the unmistakable feeling of power. Quite possibly larger than King Soren”s foyer, the School of Magic has a dome ceiling four stories above us. The stained-glass windows allow colorful light to streak through to the stone-tile floor. Bright and lively, the halls are filled with Tronovians ranging from youngsters, no older than five or six years old, all the way up to men and women in their late twenties. From watching people, I immediately spot eight similarly styled but different colored uniforms.
”Welcome to Magikos Grammata,” Nyx whispers behind me. ”School of Magic.”
Completely entranced by the sights and sounds around me, I fail to turn to look at him when I ask, ”What do the uniform colors mean?”
”Typically, wielders go through eight years of training; anomalies are different.” Nyx tugs me toward a grand staircase that leads to the second floor. ”First years wear white. Second through eighth years wear yellow, orange, red, green, blue, purple and black respectively.”
”So, the more powerful you are, the darker your uniform?” I follow him up the stairs, my eyes still taking in the students rushing from one class to the next.
”Exactly.” He nods. ”You won”t wear robes like them. Anomalies are given fighting leathers with the school”s emblem etched on the chest.”
”Why is that?”
”To distinguish us from regular fire wielders. We go through harder courses and although we attend some classes with other students, we spend a lot of time training on our own. Professors need to be able to understand exactly what your magic does to help you develop it.” Students rush up and down the stairs, avoiding slamming into us, but Nyx doesn”t seem to notice any of them or the awe in which some of them stare at him. It”s as if he was some sort of god among men. ”And now the professors are expected to protect the students from us, if something goes wrong again.”
”Again?” My attention is fully fixed on him. ”What happened that requires them to protect the other students from anomalies?”
A storm rages in his hazel eyes, but all he says in response is, ”It”s not my story to tell.” Not giving me a chance to ask any more questions about the matter, the second we reach the top of the staircase, he hits a hard right, marches to the door at the very end of the long hallway and knocks three times.
Almost immediately, a deep yet feminine voice beckons us to, ”Enter.”
I eye Nyx, who gives me a quick wink before he twists the black doorknob and swings the dark wooden door wide open. With a wave of his hand, he motions me inside. I take a deep breath and saunter into what looks like an office, and by the expansive and impressive view of the city of Tronovia, including the castle”s white spindles in the distance, this must be the office of someone of great importance.
A colorful mural on the wall depicting a great battle catches my attention. Humans, Frost and Sea Elves, Trolls, Dwarves, Demons and Dragons are all represented in the painting, but my heart stops when I see a man with tawny skin and white armor basking in his light magic, blasting demons away from the mortal warriors. I press my palm against the figure, of who I can only assume is Enver Sol, and my hand tingles. So, that”s what Enver Sol looks like. Even from the tiny artistic version of him, I can sense his power and presence and my desire to discover more about him and his magic blazes in my soul.
”Ah, Princess Ilaria!” The female voice draws my attention and I snap my head to the right, meeting the gaze of a tall woman staring down her gold-rimmed spectacles at me. She doesn”t grin, per say, but she isn”t frowning either. She is perfectly indifferent, and it makes the hair on my arms stand up. ”Welcome to Magikos Grammata, the School of Magic.” She walks around her white and gold desk and extends her hand for me to shake. ”I am Headmistress Philomena Radcliffe. It is an honor to have you here.”
”It”s a pleasure to meet you, Headmistress.” I accept her greeting and offer my warmest smile.
”His Majesty, King Soren asked for you to be assigned the best instructors and have the most scholarly ambassador from Calmara made available to you for any and all information you seek.” She secures her hands behind her back, giving me the perfect opportunity to admire her perfectly styled black and white hair and the way her pristine beige jacket resembles that of a military officer”s with countless medals pinned to her lapel. Though I would peg her to be in her mid-fifties, she is still very light on her feet, and I have a sneaky suspicion she can still kick someone”s ass, if they step out of line.
”To ensure you receive the undivided attention you deserve, we have assigned two of our best professors to tutor you.” She marches to her high back, white leather seat and motions for me to sit in one of the smaller chairs on this side of her desk. I oblige and notice Nyx stands directly behind me, taking his guard duty seriously.
”I appreciate you and your professors taking the time to help me.”
She nods in approval of my gratitude before powering through the rest of what I can only imagine is her first-day-of-school speech. ”Here at Magikos Grammata, using magic against another student or professor is prohibited. Unless you are instructed to wield your affinity in class, you will refrain from using it anywhere on school grounds. Failing to adhere to this rule will result in suspension or expulsion.”
When she pauses, I realize she is waiting for me to acknowledge and verbally agree, so I clear my throat and say, ”Of course.”
”Good.” A hint of a smile graces her face a split second before she”s back to her neutral expression. ”Now – ”
A knock on her office door echoes and she gives whoever is on the other side the same, ”Enter,” command we received moments before.
A man in a wheelchair rolls in with a sunny grin on his bearded face. He slips up beside me before the Headmistress says, ”Princess Ilaria, this is Professor Ezekiel Riggs. He teaches our students history and is our ambassador to Calmara.”
I rise to my feet and extend my hand to him, which he shakes enthusiastically. ”It is truly an honor to meet you, Princess Ilaria. To be in the presence of a light wielder! Ah! I am truly ecstatic to work with you and to answer any and all questions I can.”
”The honor is mine, Professor Riggs,” I say his name aloud more so for me to remember it than anything else. ”Have you been teaching at the school for a long time?”
He smiles and the corners of his eyes crinkle. From my prying question, I gather he has deduced what I”m actually wanting to know. To not only be a professor, but to be the ambassador to Calmara, are both positions I expected to belong to someone much, much older than him. The longer I inspect him, the more I”m convinced that he isn”t a day over thirty. I”m surprised he holds such a coveted position at his age.
Kindly, he says, ”I have been teaching since I graduated when I was eighteen. I have been in a wheelchair since I was two years old, so I knew I would never be given the chance to fight at the front lines of any battles should I be needed. I was trained to teach the History of Dalerin and the legends and lore of the six kingdoms.”
Though he is grinning widely through most of his explanation, I detect a hint of sorrow in his tone. I want to ask a few more personal questions to determine why he masks his sadness, but I refrain. ”Do you have fire magic?”
That seems to rejuvenate him. He nods his head in confirmation, brushing the few rebellious blonde strands from his forehead. ”Yes, and it”s blue fire.”
”Blue?” I glance at Nyx, but he doesn”t say anything. ”I”m sorry, I”m new to this world of magic. What is blue fire?”
”Oh, forgive me.” Professor Riggs rubs his thighs. I sit down in my chair beside him, allowing us to see eye-to-eye. ”I tend to get overly excited about things and forget not everyone understands what I”m talking about.” He clears his throat and puffs his chest in obvious pride. ”Blue fire is electric.”
”You mean to say, you have lightning?” My eyes widen.
He nods sheepishly, wringing his tan hands together. ”Well, yes, but there”s more to it than just lightning. It”s combustible, meaning explosions.”
”Wow!” I”m truly impressed. I didn”t know blue fire existed. ”Do a lot of fire wielders have blue fire?”
”No, it”s rare.” Ezekiel shakes his head and glances up at Nyx standing behind me. ”Granted, not as rare as an anomaly, but compared to other fire wielders, it”s the most powerful.”
”Sounds to me if there ever was another war, you should be there.”
Something flashes in his chocolate brown eyes, and I fear I”ve said something wrong, but before I can apologize there”s another knock on the Headmistress” door.
”Enter!” Headmistress Radcliffe calls out, though she is now comfortably seated at her desk, and doesn”t make a move to stand to greet whoever is stomping inside the office. ”Ahh! Late, but better than never, Professor.”
”I apologize for my tardiness, Headmistress.” The familiar deep voice stops my heart.
I slowly turn until I find Atlas standing in the back of the room. He meets my gaze and there”s a twinkle in his eyes.
”Professor?” The word oozes out of my mouth like a bitter tasting fruit.
”Trouble with the first-years, Professor Harland?” the headmistress asks very matter of fact, glaring at Atlas” singed leathers.
He shrugs nonchalantly, before leaning his shoulder against the wall. ”Draco”s aim will need improvement, but I”m confident he”ll get there by the end of the semester.”
”Splendid!” Philomena”s voice rings out, though it doesn”t sound any friendlier than her normal tone, just a bit more emphatic. ”Now, Princess Ilaria, we”ve paired you with Professor Harland as your Master of Magical Warfare because as I understand it, he already started your training on your journey here. We thought it would be best for him to continue his work.”
”Is he the best you have to offer?” I ask without thinking and Nyx, who has remained stoic and mute this entire encounter barks out a laugh before stifling it with a fake cough.
Atlas smirks. ”I assure you, I am the best.”
The headmistress puffs out a laugh. ”I”m sure Professors Fenwick and Darmas would care to argue that fact, but Professor Harland is a coveted instructor here and I”m confident he”ll perform wonders for you.” She pushes away from her desk and stands. ”Now that everyone is here, we can give you a tour of the grounds before you start your lessons. You will have an introductory course with Professor Riggs before meeting with Professor Harland for your first training session.”
She doesn”t wait for me or anyone else in the room to agree as she leads the way out of her office. I wait for Professor Riggs to follow the headmistress before I stand to my feet. Atlas hasn”t moved from his lazy position against the wall and even though he looks like he is waiting for me to say something, I ignore him. I trail the others with Nyx at my heels.
The moment we step out into the corridor, the headmistress” rigid posture softens. As she points out the different classrooms and murals, her hazel eyes light up, and she becomes extremely animated.
”Before the Great War over twenty years ago, Magikos Grammata was home to magic wielders from all over Dalerin.”
That portion of the headmistress” rehearsed speech catches my attention. ”You mean, at one point, this wasn”t just a school for fire wielders?”
She whips around, halting her advance, just long enough to say, ”Oh yes. When Magikos Grammata was established a thousand years ago it was open to all magic wielding mortals. It wasn”t until the Great War that changed.”
”Why did it change?”
The grimace on her face spears me through the chest. ”Most magic wielders died. The Midorians feared if we didn”t eradicate magic after the portals were destroyed that there could be another magical war, so they outlawed all sand and air wielders. And because there weren”t many other elemental wielders left, each kingdom decided to keep them at their respective homes, just in case they were needed.” She shrugs, ”Eventually we realized that no one was going to come back, having established schools for their own affinities in their respective kingdoms, so we kept Magikos Grammata”s doors open by teaching Tronovian fire wielders.”
Shame creeps across my cheeks thinking about how my father, who fought in the Great War, also outlawed magic because he was scared. I can feel everyone”s eyes on me, so I suck in breath, clear my throat, and nod my head. ”Thank you for clearing that up for me, Headmistress.”
”Of course.” She offers a tight-lipped smile. ”Now, if you will follow me this way, I will show you the Fountain of Bellmorrow which is said to have…”
Her voice tapers off as she and the others continue down the corridor. I motion for Nyx to go ahead of me and slow my walk just enough for Atlas to slip up beside me. Once Nyx sees who I”m with, he gives us some space to talk, which I greatly appreciate because I hiss, ”Professor?” and ready myself for an argument.
I don”t see him smirk because I refuse to look up at him, but I can sense it.
”Do you remember when you asked me in Bava what I do for a living?” he whispers, and his voice laces around me like a tantalizing embrace. ”You assumed I was an assassin or spy.”
”You could have told me last night that you would be one of my instructors before I was blindsided,” I growl.
He clicks his teeth. ”More fun this way.”
”Ass,” I mutter and he tsks.
”It”s Professor Harland.”
I whip to face him, cutting him off from the others. He squares his shoulders to mine, his hands buried deep in his pockets. ”If you think I”m going to address you as Professor Harland, then you really are delusional.”
”Will you be addressing Philomena and Ezekiel by their first names as well? Or just me, Princess?”
”Is everything alright, Princess Ilaria? Professor Harland?” Headmistress Radcliffe”s voice rings out and draws my attention. Everyone has stopped a few paces down the hall and are watching me and Atlas with invested curiosity.
”Everything is fine, Headmistress.” I dig deep for my princess voice and offer a warm smile. Without looking at him, I can feel Atlas” eyes shamelessly fixed on me, not giving the others one second of his attention. ”Thank you for your concern. Professor Harland and I were just discussing the beautiful architecture.”
Her eyes brighten as if the architectural structure of the school is something she prides herself on. ”Ah! Well, if you want to know the rich history of how the School of Magic was founded and built a thousand years ago, then I would be more than happy to introduce you to Professor Mikeal Gallagher. Not many students show an interest in his field of expertise.”
”It would be an honor to meet him.” The lie rolls off my tongue easy enough and seems to please everyone as they turn to continue their walk.
”Liar,” Atlas whispers.
I flash him a look. ”I beg your pardon?”
”You and I both know you would rather risk trekking through the Bavan jungle again barefoot before sitting through one of Gallagher”s mind-numbing lectures.”
”No, what we both know is being stuck with you will be the most aggravating experience of my life.”
”Is that so?”
I fold my arms across my chest and double down. ”I”m sure you have no interest in spending more time with me than you have to, Atlas. Now, we”ll not only be living together, but I”ll be forced to train with you daily for the unforeseeable future.”
”What makes you think I have no interest in spending more time with you?” he purrs. ”Perhaps I volunteered to be your instructor.”
”Did you?” I challenge.
He shrugs. ”Seeing as I”m the most proficient professor to teach you Magical Warfare– ”
”Cocky of you.”
” –I suppose whether I volunteered or not is irrelevant.”
”Dodging the question, Professor?”
He shudders, ”I love how you address me with such disdain.”
”Maybe if you”d been transparent with me about your role in my training – ”
”Admit it.” He takes a step closer, towering above me, forcing me to look up. ”You were excited to see me walk into the Headmistress” office.”
”Secretive and delusional.”
”That wasn”t a no.”
”No.” I command my face to remain neutral as to not give away my blatant lie. ”I wasn”t excited to see you. Now, if you”ll excuse me, I believe Professor Riggs is waiting for me.” I storm off to catch up with the others when Atlas calls out, ”I look forward to seeing you for our first lesson this afternoon, Princess.”
I flip him the middle finger without breaking my stride, and his deep laugh rings in my ears, making my heart leap.
I catch up to Nyx and elbow him in the ribs as hard as I can, earning a deep grunt and wicked look from him.
”What the hell was that for, Kitarni?”
”You didn”t tell me Atlas was a professor here,” I angrily whisper.
He rubs his ribs as he explains, ”He”s been teaching a few years but only instructs the first through fourth years. Professor Fenwick and Professor Darmas deal with the older students. From what I hear, Fenwick has a full course load and Darmas is just returning from her maternity leave. I had no idea Atlas would be teaching you. Honestly, it doesn”t make any sense he would be.”
I narrow my eyes and glare at him. ”I don”t believe you.”
”And why would I lie?”
”To see the look on my face when your brother walked into the office.”
Nyx chuckles, ”That was funny.” He dodges my elbow flying toward his ribcage again, ”I swear I didn”t know!”
From his tone and adamant denial, I believe the youngest Harland brother, but it doesn”t make me any less mad. I feel like I”ve been blindsided.
”Is it really that bad to have him train you though?” Nyx”s question slices through my thoughts. ”Atlas knows you, so you won”t have to start from scratch with someone new. And believe me, you don”t want to be stuck with old-man Fenwick. He smells like cheese.”
”And Darmas?” I press. ”She could have been a good fit for -”
”Is it because you and Atlas have kissed before?”
”Nyx!” I hiss, glancing up and down the hall to make sure no one overheard him.
”And want to kiss him again?” He bounces his eyebrows up and down playfully, avoiding my swat. ”To be honest, Kitarni, that”s kind of sexy. Lusting after your professor.”
I grit my teeth and will myself not to strike him. ”I told you about that kiss in confidence.”
”And I haven”t told a soul, but you can”t really expect me not to say something to you about it.”
”You”re a pest.”
”I prefer the term adorable, but pest will do.” Before we enter Professor Rigg”s classroom, where I will be doing most of my studies, Nyx grabs my arm. ”Give Atlas a chance. He might surprise you.”
I nod. Maybe Nyx is right. Maybe Atlas will surprise me.