Red Jack

by Alex Linwood

  “The twins don’t have history class with us,” Ella said when she returned. “I forgot to ask what class they did have. I’ll have to catch them at lunch.” She sat down and wolfed down the eggs. Portia laughed a little. She might have found someone who ate even more than she did. “I also forgot to ask has how Liam gets that nice silvery hair. It’s nothing like his brother’s. It’s some kind of magic. I know it is. Not sharing that trick is just criminal. I want to change my hair color at will too.” Ella flipped her hair dramatically.

  Mia laughed at Ella’s determination. Her eyes met with Portia’s, who had to laugh as well. Portia had known Ella for less than a day, but somehow she was sure Ella would get that information out of Liam.

  When the end of breakfast bell rang, the girls rose and brought their trays to a rack at the end of the sink. There were slots for each tray. Portia wondered if they would ever meet the mysterious people who prepared their food and cleaned up after them. She felt a little guilty leaving her tray there for someone else to deal with.

  They walked to class across the green lawn of the Academy campus. Portia, Ella, and Mia walked together, trailing a bit behind the other girls. Ella was waving to other students she saw as they went by.

  “Do you know everyone on campus?” Portia asked, after Ella greeted yet another group of students.

  “I’m getting there. I met most of them yesterday,” Ella said while she retied her ponytail.

  “Yesterday? During the trials? Weren’t you a little distracted?” Portia asked, thinking about her own single-minded focus the day before.

  “Yes, yes… the trials. I know I should do a better job of focusing, but there were so many new people. I just couldn’t help myself.” Ella gave Portia a sunny smile and a small rub on the shoulder.

  Portia exchanged a look with Mia, who was laughing softly about it. The look Mia gave Portia indicated that she, too, had been concentrating hard on the trials. Neither one of them had made friends the way Ella had. Portia was suddenly glad that Ella was her roommate. She had a feeling she would get to know a lot of new people because of her. Her own social skills were not nearly as strong as Ella’s.

  Mia sighed as she pulled out her schedule from her bag to examine it. “I hate history. It seems like the only thing my tutor was ever interested in talking about.”

  “It is important to know what happened before,” Ella responded sunnily. “Of course, I like all topics. I just like being here.”

  “I like being here too,” Portia said without thinking. It was true though. She was excited for all the changes happening. She gave Mia a smile of agreement.

  They reached the building indicated on their schedules. It looked older than the other buildings on campus, somehow fitting for the location of a history class. The cut stones of the walls were rounded with age and stained from rain. The roof looked older than all the other roofs on campus, having patches of green moss growing on it. Ivy covered the entire south face. Portia felt a tingle when she entered. She wondered how old the building really was.

  Entering the classroom, they found around twenty other students already sitting at the desks. Professor Aelric was at the teacher’s desk. He gave them a nod when they entered. Luckily, they found three seats close to each other and were able to keep chatting. However, their conversation was interrupted by a loud thud coming from across the room. The sound happened again. Portia looked over in the direction of the noise to see Magisend Lucy Gwynn of House Riddlepit glaring at her. Magisend maintained eye contact with her as she lifted a book then slammed it down on the desk. Soon, everyone in the classroom was staring at Magisend.

  “That student is a thief,” Magisend said through gritted teeth, pointing at Portia. “She should not be here. She should not be a student.” Magisend slammed the book down yet again for emphasis then looked pointedly at Alaric. “House Adviser Aelric, do something about this.”

  Aelric looked taken aback at her demand. He glanced over at Portia then gave a grimace. Portia’s heart sank at that look. She hoped her injuring him yesterday in the trials did not cause her problems today. She had not intended to do so. She thought she was following the instructions he had given her.

  Aelric rose from his desk and approached the irate girl. “Please explain what is going on here, Magisend Lucy,” he said.

  “I caught that girl in my bedroom stealing my linens!” Magisend said, jabbing her finger in Portia’s direction with each phrase. Portia slid down a little behind her desk. Mia and Ella looked at Portia, surprise on their faces.

  Aelric’s eyebrows knitted together in concern. He addressed Portia directly. “Is this true?”

  Portia looked around at the other students in the class. They were staring at her, curious. Most of them looked as well-off as Magisend. They were probably nobles. Portia swallowed. Her stomach clenched.

  “Student, when I address you, I expect you to answer,” Aelric said, walking to Portia. He towered over her while she was still sitting at her desk. Portia looked at Ella’s reassuring smile then back at Aelric. His face was dark. He was displeased with her.

  Portia pulled herself up, sitting up straight, then lifting her chin high. She had magic just as all these other students did, which meant she had a right to be there. She didn’t want to start off her new life with a lie. “Yes, Professor.”

  “Yes, Professor, what?” Aelric asked. He crossed his arms .

  “Yes, Professor, I was a thief. I’m a commoner, not from any noble house. I stole to eat,” Portia said quietly, her face turning red, despite her determination to not be ashamed of herself. Her ears burned when she heard giggles from some of the students. Ella reached over and touched her on her arm. Portia glanced at her. Ella looked warmly at her.

  Professor Aelric raised his eyebrows at Portia’s candid confession. He motioned for the class to be quiet, then nodded, thinking.

  Magisend hit her desk, impatient, which drew a stern look from Aelric. She quieted, but her face was set in fury.

  Professor Alaric uncrossed his arms and tapped his lip gently, looking at Portia. “You are, indeed, still a commoner. But by the decree of our queen, that is irrelevant here. However, while you are a student in the Magic Academy, you will not be a thief. Is that understood, Portia Harris?”

  Portia nodded at him, the knot in her stomach loosening a bit.

  “What! She is a thief !” Magisend said, leaping to her feet. “She should not be here! Not ever!”

  Aelric turned to Magisend. “That is enough. I have spoken.” His voice was loud and booming. Magisend sat down slowly, cowed. “What happens before students arrive at the Academy does not matter. However,” he turned to face the class, “you are now, as students here, expected to follow Academy rules. Each house has a copy. Since this has come up already, I expect each one of you to have read the rules by tomorrow. You will be tested.”

  The class groaned in response. A few shot Magisend dirty looks for bringing about their first test already.

  Aelric went to the head of the class and clapped his hands. “Now that excitement is over, let’s begin learning, shall we? My class covers history. I would argue this is the most important class that you will have in your entire time at the Academy. I know some of the professors might disagree with that, but they are wrong. And you have my full permission to tell them so,” Aelric said, giving the class a smirk. “You can learn all the strategy and all the magic in the world, but it will do you no good in this world if you do not understand where we have come from and the history of others. History shapes every choice a civilization makes. Whether conscious of it or not, it is in the bones of people to know where they have come from. It is much better to have this knowledge in your head where you can make conscious use of it. It gives you control.”

  Professor Aelric had the class’s rapt attention. Portia had never heard of history being so powerful. She thought of Peter’s obsession with it. Did he share that same thinking? Perhaps she should have been more curious about what h
e was reading when she was with the Black Cats instead of avoiding him because of his enforcer status.

  She forced herself to focus on Professor Aelric’s lecture. Now was not the time to think about the Black Cats. He continued. “Because of history’s importance, this class is required for all students. And you must pass to complete your schooling here. If you do not pass it your first year, you will be held back from advanced classes until you do pass it. This is how important we all consider it.”

  This news was greeted with mutters from the students, which Professor Alaric ignored, barreling on with his lecture. “The most efficient way for me to teach this class is to know how much you know. I want everyone to raise their hands. When I say something that you do not know, I want you to lower your hand. We shall see how educated this group of young minds is.” When no one raised their hands right away, Aelric waved impatiently for them to do so. “Come on, this history will not teach itself, although that would be a useful sort of magic.” He muttered the last line.

  Once everyone had raised their hand in the class, Professor Aelric started his lecture. “There are five human kingdoms, and many other nonhuman kingdoms.” Everyone kept their hands up. Portia wasn’t sure if she should, since she knew nothing of the other kingdoms, just whispers she had heard in the marketplaces. Occasionally, there were crates with strange curling scripts painted on the outside. These crates had come from far away, and the merchants who brought them guarded them jealously. Portia had never been able to see inside any of them.

  “Okay, that’s good. At least everyone here has some idea of the basics,” Aelric said, pacing across the front of the classroom. “The first human kingdom that was settled was the Haulstatt Kingdom.” A few hands went down. Professor Aelric nodded. “The first city that was founded was Coverack.” Again, more hands went down. “The city was founded on displaced land, once having belonged to elves and dwarves.” Portia lowered her hand at this, along with a few other students. She had thought that elves and dwarves were mythological creatures, stories made up to frighten children into behaving. She did not expect to hear about them in the capital—especially not in the renowned Magic Academy.

  Professor Aelric continued. “Humans can be an aggressive lot. Just how aggressive, you will learn shortly. But humanity did not start on this planet. We were guests. Not very good ones if you ask certain kingdoms—many species would loudly proclaim that we have overstayed our welcome, if we were welcome at all. Regardless of that, the records say we came directly from the Well of Tears. Unfortunately, the records do not indicate how.” A few more hands came down, including Ella’s. Portia noticed that Magisend Lucy and Mia both still held their hands up. Magisend gave Portia a smug look, holding her hand even higher.

  “One thing we do know, is that from the Well of Tears, humans traveled to the current kingdom of Haulstatt by boat on the rough seas. Many did not survive the journey. The records only list their names and tributes to them.” A few more hands went down. Only the rich noble children still had their hands up. Mia was one of them.

  Without thinking, Portia blurted out, “Where did they come from? Before the Well of Tears, I mean. We must’ve come from somewhere?”

  Aelric was taken aback by the interruption but gave Portia an answer anyhow. “The Well of Tears is an island, we know that much. Before then is a mystery no one knows. That piece of information would’ve been useful to have in our records, but it seems to have been intentionally left out. Historians have been searching for hundreds of years for that bit of knowledge. No one has had any luck. In fact, no one can find the island itself anymore either.” Alaric stopped pacing to face the class. “History speaks of past rulers visiting it to ask for knowledge from our ancestors.” He looked off into the distance, a touch of longing coming into his voice. “A journey which I would very much like to take.”

  His lecture was interrupted by the bell for the next class. Ella and Mia gathered their belongings and filed out the door with Portia coming up behind them. Magisend stepped in front of Portia, separating her from her two friends. She leaned in close to Portia, careful to keep her voice low so Professor Alaric wouldn’t hear her, “Watch it, commoner . You don’t belong here.”

  Portia didn’t say anything. She stared at Magisend, waiting for her to move out of her way. Magisend squinted at her, then huffed, finally turning and exiting. Portia exhaled then hurried to join Mia and Ella.

  She was disappointed to learn that neither Mia nor Ella was in her next class, which was music. It was even worse when she arrived to see Magisend already there, surrounded by several other girls who all glared at her when she walked in the door. They must be from Magisend’s house, Portia thought. One of the girls flicked a finger at her, sending the tiniest trickle of ice along the floor towards Portia’s feet. When the teacher turn to greet Portia, the girl quickly banished the ice from the floor. She gave Portia a threatening smirk.

  Portia’s shoulders tensed as she sought out the chair closest to the door. She wanted to be as far away from those girls as possible. Most of that class passed in a blur. She was too distracted by the whispers and pointed looks from Magisend Lucy and her friends. They mouthed the words at her when she glanced over—dirty thief and unworthy commoner amongst others. Portia did her best to ignore them. To add to her misery, Portia discovered she had zero innate musical ability. When they were listening to music samples, she couldn’t seem to hear what the other students heard. Perhaps it was the constant whispers from the back of the room that interfered with her concentration. But there was no escape. Music was a required class.

  The day did not get better when Magisend and the same girls were in her rhetorical class as well as her mathematics class. Both of those classes were so far beyond Portia’s basic knowledge that she despaired of ever passing them. It would be even more impossible with the constant harassment of the girls from the cryomancy house.

  After one of the girls had flicked a parchment ball at her head, Portia contemplated leaving the school. It would be so easy to walk away. Then she thought about Elyas, who had wanted the best for her. And how Mark was caught so deeply under Deyelna’s influence that he would never escape the gang. At least not without help. And she couldn’t help him if she didn’t learn more and become stronger. She also thought of all the orphans in Valencia and the other cities who would never get a chance to learn news skills or attend the Magic Academy. Many of them wouldn’t even live to adulthood. She straightened her shoulders, determined. She was not going to let these bullies drive her away from her hard-earned chance.

  Finally, the last class of the day was over. Portia walked, exhausted, across campus towards the courtyard of doors. She was halfway across the field in front of the main building, a path that students used as a shortcut to the courtyard, when the ground beneath her and ten feet out in all directions was coated in a thick layer of ice. It happened so fast, she could not stop her forward momentum in time and slipped, her right foot shooting out from underneath her. She landed flat on her back, her head and back and legs stinging from the impact. She stared at the blue sky above her in shock. A gale of laughter erupted from behind her. It was Magisend Lucy and her friends.

  Portia scrambled to her feet, struggling with the slick ice surface, which only made the girls laugh louder. Portia’s face turned red with anger and embarrassment. She refused to turn and look at them. She wouldn’t give them the pleasure of seeing how upset she was. Instead, she walked stiffly to the courtyard of doors. She quickly found the door engraved with the sign of fire and entered. The sound of the girls behind her disappeared as the portal worked, and she was whisked to her house. She exhaled with relief in the abrupt silence when the courtyard door shut.

  She went to the kitchen to get a snack. Mia and Ella were sitting at one of the tables, each holding a hot steaming cup. Ella waved to her, motioning for Portia to come over.

  “What have you there?” Portia asked when she was close enough for conversation.

  �
��Chicken soup,” Mia said, taking a step. “It’s good. One of the older students said that they always have soup waiting for us in the afternoons. He said the teachers use it as a reason to not give any excuses for uncompleted homework. You can’t say you were too hungry to work.”

  “I like that plan,” Portia said, glancing at the pot hanging over the hearth. She helped herself to a large cup of soup and joined Mia and Ella at the table.

  “How was your day?” Ella asked. “Mine was wonderful. I can’t believe all the classes we get to take.”

  “Get?” Mia said, raising her eyebrows at Ella .

  “How can you not like school?” Ella asked, her tone rising in surprise.

  “Try having information shoved down your throat ten hours a day, every day of the week. I was hoping for a little more freedom,” Mia said ruefully.

  “You only had six hours today, so be grateful for that!” Ella chided. She turned to focus on Portia again. “Well?”

  Portia sighed.

  “That isn’t a great sign. What happened?” Ella asked, concerned.

  “I’m finding the classes really hard. I’m not sure how they think I can pass these classes—rhetoric, and mathematics, and music, of all things! I’ve never seen those subjects before.”

  “Oh, rhetoric is easy… it’s just convincing people to do what you want them to do. It’s a skill you need to have,” she said, giving Portia a meaningful look. “We all do. I suggest you study hard in that one.”

  “I know someone who can do that with magic. It’s awful.” Portia said, thinking of Deyelna and her control over the Black Cat gang. She shook her head to clear the memory.

  “Controlling people with magic would be great. I know some people I’d use it on,” Mia said with enthusiasm, perking up. She looked off into the distance, imaging some scenario in her head. “I would use that all the time.” Both Ella and Portia stared at her in surprise. This was not the quiet Mia they’d seen over the last day.