School in Hastelan, chapter 43. (Patreon)

Here we are.

The driver had been Jesevius. The new knights had been Sirs Zewon, Gryphon, Taurk, and Kurin. I would be seeing more of both, if lady Matrona had her way... which of course she would. Who would gainsay her? I would not, and about matters of knights, there was no reason for the others to.

Sir Gryphon and sir Kurin were both the Count's men and had wasted no time informing me of the fact. They had joined the knights on the Count's word and were for me, even though as members of school's guardians they would also work for others.

"So, this new tea you've found is wonderful," lady Nells informed me. Informed us all, in truth.

"Yes, there is mint and lemon ground and then mixed into the brew." It made a refreshing blend, and I was happy lady Matrona had pointed it out to me.

"Can we discuss the real matter between us now?" Lady Delia asked. "How, in this city, are we failing to discover these boys, when lady Katerine can find them with ease?"

The others, settled as best we all could in my chambers after the late meal, nodded as one, perched on their chairs as if ready to spring into action at a moments notice. I shrugged of course, for what could I do? How could I explain that?

"They are looking for her," lady Serapis mused, staring into her cup as if it held the answers.

Such a thought had come to me before, yet it surely could not be so. "To what end? I am not so special; there is no reason for others to single me out."

Why were my friends giving me such a disagreeable stare?

"Even so," lady Metis continued after a moment. "The question is a valid one. To what end would these two, be following our lady 'Rine? Are there more? Do they mean her harm?"

Ah, she said it. the question we were all pondering.

I wished to say no, since the one who had spoken to me seemed friendly enough - and yet I did not know if things would be different had the knights not been present.

Even so. "I do not think they mean harm. If they did, either would have had the chance to try their luck, knights or no."

"Agreed," lady Serapis intoned after a moment. She sipped her tea as if she had not suggested I was in danger just moments before.

"Even so, it would not do to take any more such chances. So few of us have seen these gentlemen that it is clear as water they are avoiding the rest of us. You are the only one they have interest in."

Lady Istha made a noise. A very concerning one, and then her cheeks colored. We all decided by mutual unspoken word to ignore it and press on.

"What could they want with lady 'Rine?" Lady Metis asked. "I cannot for my life spot such a need."

"It is clearly for her power, as many others would welcome her strength. Including the empire. It is why she garners the most attention of all of us," lady Serapis intoned.

Was that truly so? Four knights did seem like many, yet it was only two for each of us present, which was normal for many, if not all. Some few made do with one knight, and it had meant little so far....

"I know what you are thinking, and lady Matrona is a potent guardian herself, and should not be considered as a mere student might."

Lady Serapis sounded as if she knew more. She also sounded as if she would not say it outright - which I understood. I too would consider it not my secret to give.

Yet even the thought that kind lady Matrona might have more to her, that she might be more deadly than a knight herself, was disturbing.

I did know that we were all to be called upon in times of war; had lady Matrona fought in some war of the past? There were many to choose from of course; many in the recent past that I had missed by being unborn, yet had happened nonetheless, the empire and the other kingdoms being who they were.

The empire alone thought all under heaven should be theirs, and worked to make it so. We survived, of course, by the will of the Goddess.

I sipped my tea, lest it grow cold before enjoyed, and voiced my thoughts. "I do not like it. I do not like any of it."

Lady Delia nodded. "Of course you do not. I can only imagine, myself. Not to fear, we shall help you. I think that from now on we should endeavor to go with you, even as you are called for work."

What? "How can that be achieved?" There was no way lady Matrona would allow such, or indeed any of the others.

"I shall ponder it," lady Serapis intoned, as if she would find some way to convince our superiors.

She just might. I would put a coin on that wager, if the wager were offered.

Lady Delia drained her tea and stood, as a signal to the rest of us: "We all shall. Yet for now, our course is clear, and that is to return to our chambers before the night bell claims us tardy."

The others followed suit of course, even as I did.

"Thank you for your wise counsel," I began, only to be silenced by a series of gestures, flinging such words away.

"You need not thank us, and our counsel is hardly wise," Lady Delia informed me.

"Speak for your own," lady Serapis disagreed as she opened the chamber door. "I shall see you all on the morrow."

"Hey! Wait for us!" Lady Delia cried, even as the others began to slip away. My fast friend gave a small yet hasty bow among equals which I returned before stepping smartly to join the small crowd.

I shut the door, taking note of the yawns and signs of fatigue among my erstwhile company. A quick turn of the key, and I was left to my own again.

A quick movement shucked my robes, and they went to my small basket designed to hold them free of the stone. My boots were more of a trick, as I needed to unfasten them before I could free my feet.

My feet which would need a washing, and the rest of me as well. My feet which seemed to wiggle in my finely crafted boots of late, as if my boots had enlarged themselves... or my feet had shrank.

That thought was meaningless. Either they had or they had not; it could even be that my wonderful boots, so well crafted, had stretched with use in cold and rain. Such things did happen, and I was well-used to such.

If I looked for such change, I could easily fool myself into finding it.

The washroom beckoned, and if the water was more chilled than I liked, it was less chilled than the stream at home. The road dust flowed, and the paints I'd been convinced to use after. Another robe donned, this one to sleep in and so avoid laundering my bedding as often. I chaffed my feet to warm them some.

The decided to let my blankets do the work. I was somewhat tired myself from the work of the day. No matter how my mind wanted to race.

My mind saw fit to race a marathon. What could those two want? Were they really here to see me? If so, to what end? Why not simply state their desires? One had been with me, mere steps away, and had uttered little. Certainly nothing I could suss into a message, hidden or otherwise. Why did everyone like to skulk about like a proper fool?

I would change things, when I had the power. I would do as should be done, and leave an example for the ages.

The window was closed, the door barred, I was safe from all who sought me, for good or ill. It was time to sleep. Past time to sleep.

Yet I could not. Why could I not?

I resolved to do as I must, as many do, and beg that which was higher than myself. My bag would do for a focus: "Please merciful Goddess, if you would just spare a sand grain of your power to grant your ailing servant some rest, I would be most grateful. You need only ask your will, and I shall see it done."

Then I was elsewhere, in a pleasant glade, and there was no need for alarm or concern. The sun dappled the grasses, and the leafy trees rocked in the gentle winds, as if to create music all their own.

A brook burbled to my left, and an open field bore a multitude of colorful flowers to my right.

In the middle of the field, surrounded by all the flowers, a sapling stood tall and proud. It drew my eye, as I'd never seen its like before. I, a knower of wood, could not place this small tree. I approached, inhaling the scents, trying my best to not crush the beauty around me.

The lack of distance did little to help; the proud little sapling defied all my attempts to determine it, bearing the signs of oak, elm, willow, and even others, all rolled into one.

"How is it?"

I turned to find the boy there, the one who was as the sun, and as before, he smiled my way and the very surroundings seemed to respond; the flowers seemed to stand even more straight, and the glare of the sky orb itself intensified.

There was no alarm, as there was no cause for concern. All was well, and all would be well.

I should answer. "It seems well."

The boy approached, still wearing that easy smile, and as the light dimmed slightly I realized he was wearing a robe of purest white. "You should tend it. It always responds best to you."

Yes of course, I was here to tend to this. There was no service more cardinal than this.

I turned back and he was there; the other boy, all pale skin with hair that seemed to drink the light. He smiled, and his smile dimmed the light further, yet even so, both he and the forest behind him remained warm and inviting; the darkness hindering the pleasing feel not at all.

"Have you decided then?" he asked, and I could feel a faint strain of disappointment, of a discordant note both my companions, and my surroundings.

I did not know their names. The thought came to me suddenly. Even the one who had introduced himself to me, I did not know his name.

They continued to smile upon me, and I could see on one side, the warming light of day, and from the other, the soothing chill of night, a sharp line as if drawn with a stick between them. Even so they smiled at me and at each other; there was no animosity here.

I could answer falsely, but I would not. "I have not."

Instantly the discordant note shattered, with the tinkle of a fine bell or shattered glass, and I awoke. I was awake in an instant, back in my bed, safely tucked in and warm, and it was the morn.

The Goddess had spoken, I knew. Some ill was afoot, some evil about, yet there was none to be had from those two boys. They meant me no harm, at the least.

I felt refreshed, as if I had slept without dreams and days and not hours.

I leaped from the bed, the chill no impediment, and into the washroom again. There was no urge to do what I was normally wont to, but that was replaced with an urge to clean myself again. And so I did.

I felt ready to do all, and do it now; the chill of the mysteriously cleaned water was simply bracing, and my feet upon the cold flagstones was as before a hearth set with roaring flames.

Even the birds seemed to be different, chirping cheerfully with complete abandon.

I opened the window, and it was sure; many many birds, all perched outside the tree beside my chamber, in neat rows and sharing branches without a care to which bird was where all twisted their heads to meet me eye to eye, and sang just as loudly as they no doubt possibly could. Their little hearts seemed fit to burst, and yet they were giving their all.

It was... odd.

I shut the window, and with it shut out the strange sight. I would not ask others about the birds this morning.

Ah, my talisman!

It lay in the bed, safe. As normal as it ever was, a bag of earth. Yet upon just the feel of it, there was a difference. I knew not what, yet I knew there was something....

No, I would not question. It was a day like any other.

I would wear my first robe today, it was still serviceable enough. Even more important, it was clean, when so many others were not.

The gray of it seemed more white today - yet it was a day like any other.

The first bell chimed, and the birds, where before were so loud, fell silent all at once.

My boots were loose, even now. Some cloth padding carefully placed inside them solved that problem.

I managed the fastenings and stomped my feet comfortable, as one was wont to do, and I was ready. This was a learning day, and so not a day for paints. I would not be leaving the cloistered confines of my home away from home this day.

The others did not feel the same, at a glance. They moved in furtive groups, breaking over me as a wave, whispering among themselves yet putting their best faces forward. Some, people would be hard-pressed to know as my peers. They would need to display their gifts to be so known, just as the Countess had been when she came to collect me, so long ago.

The whispers were none of my concern, and certainly not about the strange happenings of the birds, just moments before.

Certainly those on the far side of the school had not heard the song, at the very least.

Lady Serapis stepped in beside me. "Good morn."

"Good morn." She seemed calm, in control as always.

"Odd happenings this day," my friend continued. She was up on the second floor, and over at the other end of the hall.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Surely, you heard the birds? The silly avians which sang so loudly this morning, then went silent, right on the turn of the glass." Lady Serapis knew. She knew all, somehow; her unblinking gaze swept my form.

"Ah, of course. I heard them. They woke me, of course. Did they you?"

"No," lady Serapis intoned.

Of course. Lady Serapis studied of a morning, same as I did if I could. "Were they outside your window?"

Not all chambers had a window, yet many did. Lady Serapis was one of the many.

"No," lady Serapis intoned. This time, her word sounded tinged with faintly with emotion; curiosity.

That was not good. If I had peaked the good lady's interest, she would not rest until she solved the matter of her attention. She was slow, plodding... yet relentless when pressed.

"Good morn!" was all the warning given, as lady Nells fell upon us, whirling around with her hands clutching my shoulder and gleefully breathless. No doubt she had ran through the crowd behind us on light feet, her sole thought surprise.

She had succeeded utterly. "Good morn."

Lady Serapis utter her own, slightly sour greeting: "Good morn."

Lady Nells turned to her. "What ails you? I had thought you of all would be in a good mood; surely you noticed the birds?"

"We had, yes," lady Serapis intoned. They were difficult to ignore. They woke you?"

"Indeed!" our friend admitted loudly, shamelessly. "I was in the land of infinite sands, dreaming well, when the song of so many of our feathered friends stirred me awake, with just enough time to prepare for the bell!"

Looking closer I could see lady Nells had been in need of even more time - she had no paints either, and she was wearing her slippers and not her boots. Even so, these were minor flaws, and certainly not enough to gain the ire of our minders.

"Come, let us sally forth, to a glorious repast!" The shameless lady exclaimed, her grasping hands drawing us, dragging us ever closer to the main hall.

The others were waiting, and even more besides. Many were seated by the first bell, for some cause or another. I am not sure I would understand such, yet I could not deny the happening of it.

Lady Delia sipped tea, looking somewhat bleary-eyed. The others seemed as awake as I,  or mayhap as awake as lady Nells.

I managed to reclaim my hand, and went for my own tea. Some water would also not be amiss, I would have both.

Lady Serapis had much the same idea, it seemed. We both filled our vessels in silence, and returned in the same state, taking those seats we favored on the benches we must use.

I could hear it of course... all the whispers, all the muttering, it was all about the birds. What could they have wanted? Why did they all come here to sing? Was it simply to annoy, or was it some message from beyond, mayhap from the Goddess herself.

I knew yet I could not. If I believed it myself, it would assign clear import to me and me alone that none others possessed. This could not be, as the Goddess did not play such favorites. Not in this manner.

Did she?

I would not, could not, do such things.

I could eat, however, and there was bread and cheese aplenty, with jams and salted meats. Food aplenty for all.

The scullions were to the side of course, since it was not yet time to serve. An odd thing to see, on this day of unusual events.

All else occurred as normal for the school, however. The second bell rang and we were served. All of us - there were none of us sick. I could spot no missing face. We said the prayer, all of us, and then began the meal.

Nothing was said of the birds. No words were spoken by those older among us, who might know best the meaning of any such sign. This did much to reassure, as surely if it bore some real import, the leaders we followed would mention such?

It was of no moment; I snagged such choice morsels as I desired and ate my fill. Today was a day of learning and not work, yet I felt the need, as if I had made stone for an entire street. This very morn, and not yesterday.

The salted pork seemed very delicious today, and hardly tough at all.

The meal ended in time, as meals were wont to do, and the murmurs and whispers stopped. Those near me had stayed silent, save for the rare question to pass a plate or a jam every now and again.

I finished up and gathered my dishes, and all followed routine.

Yes, a normal day, like any other.