Chapter 12 Izzy
IZZY
“Did you get everything sorted at the registrar’s office?” Myel asked, breaking my reverie.
“Ah, what? Oh… Ah, no.”
Myel pulled something from his pocket. It looked like a phone, only way more advanced than anything I’d ever seen. It was just a piece of glass, though given how thin it was and how light it seemed in his hand, I had a feeling it was magical glass or some other material.
He swiped it and the time appeared: fifteen-twenty.
Military time? That was… three-twenty in the afternoon, right?
I’d slept late, it seemed. Though so much had happened since I’d gotten out of bed this morning it felt like a week had passed.
“I need to be back by sixteen,” he said. It sounded odd to my ears. “I have a few minutes to help.”
“Can you?” I asked. I wanted him nearby. I needed his help, but could we be seen together?
He grimaced. “As long as we’re not holding hands or too close, we can be seen together,” he said. But then he sighed. “It would be odd though. To be seen with a beastfolk who isn’t a servant or guard is… demeaning for most.”
Ah.
What a world.
Screw it. I’d already insulted a princess, might as well just break all the rules and be the campus pariah.
“I don’t care. Let’s go.” I pushed away from this strange wall made of trees — actual trees, not something that looked like trees — and headed back the way I’d come.
Myel followed.
The trouble was, we kept inching closer, my hand itching to reach for his. It was an effort to keep apart. This bond was going to be a pain if we were together in public.
On our way back to the admin building, Myel filled me in on one last thing I’d need to know: my name.
In this world your caste — your rank in the grand scheme of things — was part of your name, so everyone knew just how high-up or lowly you were.
Apparently, nymphs were of the gentil caste and referred to as “Sa.” Above me, nobles were “Di” and royals — just the elves — were “El.”
Also, they did the last name first thing, so I was Sa Brown Izzy. Sounded weird to me, but… when in Rome.
The lowest caste went by “Lo,” which I thought was a bit on the nose. That meant Myel was Lo Myelas. That was his full name, shifters — or “beastfolk” — didn’t get surnames.
Just… wow.
Also, there was another level of caste between mine and Myel’s, a sort of middle-low class which went by “Ye.”
I had a lot to learn.
Rounding the corner of the admin building, I saw the princess from earlier just leaving. I ducked back behind the building and pulled Myel with me. It was hard to let him go… and not kiss him.
Damned bond.
“What?” he asked, surprised.
“I made an enemy earlier. Someone named Princess Saldrea?”
Myel’s eyes went so wide I thought they’d pop out. His mouth moved but no sound came out. He knew of her, it seemed.
I filled him in on the encounter.
“You called the princess a turd?” A manic laugh escaped his lips.
Not my finest moment.
I shrugged. “I’ve always had trouble with authority. Figured here I’d just start at the top.”
Myel shook his head in shock. “You need to stay away from her. She’s a piece of work, as nasty as her mother, who isn’t actually queen by the way, but queen regent. She just likes everyone to think she’s a real queen and her daughter follows suit.”
I had a feeling I’d need more of an education on that… later.
I peeked around the corner and the group was headed away from us, already some distance off.
Myel and I quickly ducked into the admin building and returned to the registrar’s office. I found that woman with lavender skin and got myself enrolled.
The first hiccup was that I was coming in after the semester had started, but we still got me into all the basic level classes, called Primal Studies. Sounded savage to me.
The second challenge was finding a room for me.
Apparently, most of the “lesser residence” were full, including the all-girls dorm.
The only room available was in a coed dorm.
Not my first choice, but a room was a room.
Complaining wasn’t going to help me. To add to the fun, each pair of rooms shared a bathroom.
In the coed dorm, usually it would be two girls or two guys who shared a bathroom, but… I’d be sharing with a guy.
Great.
I could feel Myel’s restrained frustration on my behalf. Or perhaps it wasn’t on my behalf? Perhaps he didn’t like the thought of some random guy walking in on me in the shower. Not that that was likely to happen, assuming the rooms had locks.
I asked.
They didn’t. It wouldn’t be fair for one roommate to lock the door to the other’s room then forget to unlock it, especially if they left for class.
You could lock your own bathroom door, so your roommate couldn’t just walk into your room, but that was it.
I could see the reasoning in that, but this still didn’t seem like a great arrangement.
According to the registrar woman, most roommates worked out a system to alert the other they were in the bathroom or had set times for things.
She then apologised profusely but said there was nothing she could do. It was the only room available.
One more thing I was being forced to accept. I was nearly at my limit.
Finally, I was given a magical tattoo-like thing on my palm, like one of those bar-stamps, only permanent. It looked like a pale blue tear drop.
“This has all your permissions,” the pixie woman said. Myel had informed me the folk with vibrant skin-tones were pixies, as colorful as flowers. “Gets you into the dorm and your room. It also has your meal plan on there and your account information for purchasing supplies.”
This was a shock.
“I have an account?” Given how Pointy-ears from earlier — Myel informed me he’d been an elf — had treated me, I figured I wouldn’t get much in the way of financial assistance.
I looked at Myel. He too seemed surprised.
The woman checked her computer, which — like Myel’s phone — was two thin pieces of “magical glass” the top a one-way screen, the bottom a keyboard, even though I couldn’t see the keys.
Fancy.
“Yes, you… oh… wow. An account was set up for you just a few minutes ago. You have the best possible meal plan, and all your books and supplies are paid for. And you have a spending stipend of one gold a week.” She seemed impressed.
Myel whistled.
I assumed this was good, but…
“Gold?”
Myel gave a soft laugh. “No paper currency here.”
“How much is ‘a gold’ worth?”
“A lot.”
“And that’s just, like, spending money?” I asked the woman.
“Yes.”
Good, because I needed some clothes. Hopefully there was a place on campus I could buy a few necessities. I asked the woman, and she said there’d be a small shop with school branded clothes in the north building of the lesser residence. If I wanted anything else, I’d have to go off campus.
Good enough, for now.
But that only got me thinking of what I’d left behind.
“Ah… I don’t suppose anyone can contact my landlord and boss for me, back in my world?” I asked.
The nice pixie smiled. “Crossing between worlds isn’t easy, but we’ll have someone convey the message that you’ll not be returning as soon as we can.”
That would have to do.
Not great, but nothing about my situation was.
Although, if I really looked for a bright side, I was about to get a higher education. It was in magic, not anything useful on earth, but still. Maybe, if I applied myself and did well, I could have a future in this world.
A smile crept onto my lips.
Growing up in the foster system, I’d developed a strong urge to fight injustice.
It went hand-in-hand with my resistance to authority.
At one point I’d fantasized about becoming a social justice lawyer, but that had never happened.
I had limited options back in the human realm.
College had been financially out of my reach.
Yet here, I had an opportunity to learn and grow and maybe, eventually, make a difference.
I tried to keep that in mind as Myel and I left the offices and headed for the lesser residence. I didn’t have a lot going for me in this world, so I’d just have to make my own breaks.
It wouldn’t be easy, but I loved a challenge.
Okay, no, I hated challenges, but if I was going to stay here, I’d have to learn to love them.
Sure… I could do that.