Rook

by Robin Roseau

  The path was stone, worn with centuries of footsteps, with well-tended grounds to either side. In front of us were the school buildings, three interconnected buildings forming a square, open on the side facing us, although there were paths leading through open archways to either side of the central building. One could readily pass through from our side to what I knew were the athletic fields on the other side. From inside, one could pass between the buildings, but only from the second floor and above.

  At about the center of this semi-enclosed square was a circle, and at the center, a statue of a woman. She was facing away from us towards the school. Ralalta brought us around so we could look up at the woman, and we came to a stop, facing her. “Maysa, A distant ancestor, the third queen of Framara,” Ralalta explained. “It is not a direct line, as her only daughter was killed, childless, and rule transferred to a cousin. It was Queen Maysa that set aside this land for a school, although the early structures were not remotely this grand.”

  I studied the statue. As portrayed, Queen Maysa appeared quite serious, her lips thin and her gaze over our heads. But of course, it was just a statue. “Was she a good queen?”

  “By all accounts,” Ralalta said. “And adjusting for the period. This was a tumultuous period in our history, and the borders of Framara were not remotely as expansive as they have become. Framara as a country didn’t really exist; instead, she ruled over the city-state of Marport, and it was another four hundred years before Framara emerged to roughly the current borders.”

  I turned to her. “But you called her the third queen of Framara.”

  “She was more than queen of the city,” Ralalta explained. “Her influence covered the immediate region.”

  I didn’t fully understand the distinction, but I nodded.

  “Well,” said the queen after a moment. “We are expected.” She collected my arm, and our troop turned towards the central building.

  And, indeed, we were expected. A trio of women waited for us at the top of the steps leading into the building. They watched us approach, and then lowered into curtsies as we drew near. We climbed the steps, and Ralalta gave a gesture asking them to rise, but either they weren’t familiar with the gesture, or they didn’t see it. The queen snorted and said, “Please rise.”

  At that, the women did, and everyone got a good look at everyone else. All three women looked stern, each in her own way. The central woman was slight and hawkish, with grey eyes and hair that had once been black. The women flanking her were somewhat more robust, but none smiled their greetings.

  My examination was cut short when Ralalta said, “Good morning. I apologize for the short notice.”

  “Quite all right, Your Majesty,” said the central woman. Damned right, it was quite all right, I decided.

  Why had I taken such a dislike on an initial meeting? That wasn’t at all like me.

  Ralalta turned. “Princess Juleena,” she said, “Perhaps you remember Headmistress Uhlmar.” She gestured. “And this is Yardine and Blevald.”

  The princess stepped close and accepted hand clasps. Then Ralalta introduced Alta before it was my turn. She didn’t introduce the rest of our group; I didn’t know if that meant anything or not.

  “We weren’t sure how many were coming,” said the headmistress. “But we can meet in one of the classrooms.”

  “Perhaps we could begin with a brief tour,” suggested the queen. “I believe the high priestess would like to understand why you have three such grand buildings, and she might like to see where your students live when they are not attending classes.”

  “Of course,” said the headmistress. She then launched into a discussion of the history of the school, which didn’t particularly interest me, but I paid more attention when she explained the school as it was.

  The tour consumed perhaps a half hour, but I can offer an abbreviated version. All three buildings were used for a mix of academic and living purposes. There was one large dining hall with an attached kitchen, and this was in the central building. Classrooms consumed the remainder of the lowest three floors, and the upper two floors served as living quarters for a portion of the students and staff.

  When she said, “a portion”, I asked one of my rare questions. “Only a portion?”

  “Of course. Many of our students are of families here in Marport, and thus, they live with their families.”

  “Oh,” I replied. “Of course. Thank you.”

  The buildings were quite grand, although certainly not as ornate as the palace. But it was clear they were all quite old, although I saw nothing in ill repair. Still, it seemed like a serious place, a place of learning.

  But I felt not the slightest joy, and I would hear no laughter during our visit.

  Eventually we returned to the central building and took seats in one of the classrooms. We settled, and then Ralalta said, “Westhaven is the most respected center of learning in Framara, Lady Yallameenara. Excepting those who learn from tutors, this is where the leading families of Marport are most likely to send their children. Standards are high, and the education is excellent.” But then she offered a signal to be careful in what I said.

  “I believe even this girl of the horse people can see that,” I replied.

  “I have had preliminary discussions with Headmistress Uhlmar,” the queen continued. “But perhaps we should start over. High Priestess, what are you hoping to accomplish?”

  “I have several interrelated goals,” I explained. “We have a number of students currently at Rotaren.”

  At that, Uhlmar offered an expression I didn’t care for.

  “Ah,” I said. “Rotaren has several advantages over this school, Headmistress,” I said.

  “I find that unlikely,” she sniffed.

  “Do you?” I asked. “I am a girl of the horse people,” I said. “There is no escaping that fact. Rotaren is associated with a riding school that hosts a small heard of Arrlottan horses, initially the very horses that arrived in Framara the same way I did.” At that, the woman said nothing. “So that is one advantage. My acolytes learn to ride the same horses I choose for myself. Perhaps it is foolishness on my part, but my household seems to enjoy the less statuesque choices.”

  I paused. “Second,” I continued. “Rotaren is decidedly not in Marport.”

  “That hardly seems like an advantage.”

  “And thus, Marport serves as incentive, a bribe, if you will, for the acolytes to study hard. I will point out that all the acolytes studying there are of Alteara, and they arrived speaking very little Framaran. They are not allowed to visit Marport until their Framaran is sufficient for at least the basic needs. Ultimately they learn to speak with less of an accent than I carry, or so I am told.”

  She sniffed again. “Our students have no difficulty with incentive.”

  “I imagine not,” I said. “A third advantage for our past needs is also related to the nature of the acolytes. The Goddess tends to claim new priestesses most often from smaller and somewhat isolated regions of Alteara. None of the current acolytes studying at Rotaren are from any of the major cities of Alteara. To them, Marport is dazzling, and the sounds of the city rather distracting. A more rural setting is less jarring for them. As they have already not only left their families, but left their entire country, offering as familiar a setting as I could carried value.”

  “If such a school suits your needs, why are you here?”

  “Such a school has suited my past needs,” I said. “I have future needs, and they are shifting.”

  “Ah,” said the headmistress. “Please continue.”

  “As I was saying, we have several acolytes at Rotaren. But we now have more fresh acolytes, new to our order, and they are Framaran. Among them are not only two of my daughters, but also Gressa and Tyreen.” I indicated the women. “Gressa and Tyreen are, of course, not children, but they are new to our order and thus have things they must learn. I am not so rich in experienced priestesses that I can divide them in multiple locations.
I require a single location for the training of acolytes. They must learn fluent Altearan. They must also learn the Words of the Goddess, as well as of the Goddess herself.”

  The woman nodded to this, and I imagined she understood efficiency.

  “Furthermore, Gressa and Tyreen are journeywomen scribes, and nearly all the new Framaran acolytes were apprentice scribes. A portion of the continued education of the girls will be as scribes, taught by Gressa and Tyreen.”

  “We do not teach the tradecrafts here,” Uhlmar said immediately.

  “I am only stating my needs,” I said. “Along with that, Gressa and Tyreen will begin to serve the Goddess as scribes, and while they can do that nearly anywhere, I would prefer they were close at hand.”

  “Understandable,” said the woman. “And so you wish to centralize in Marport.”

  “Yes,” I said. “I have one other desire. You understand this idea is still an infant. I wish to build a temple to the Goddess, open to all Framarans who wish to learn of Our Prestainamatta -- our Goddess. I had first thought I would open an abbey, but it was Queen Ralalta herself who asked me what the difference was between an abbey and a school such as this. And while there are differences, and perhaps important differences, there is room for synergy, one might say. If I build my temple either on school grounds, or very, very near, then I may be able to achieve my basic needs. Long term, I will undoubtedly build an abbey as well, but I do not have the priestesses to staff it, and it will be at least a decade, and possibly longer, before I would.”

  “I believe I understand. How many students would you bring us, in total?”

  “Initially? Perhaps twenty. I have reason to believe that number will grow, but the Goddess surprised me with my newest acolytes, and she has not indicated how quickly she will claim others.”

  “And who will pay for the cost of their education?”

  “I imagine the Duchess of Havenshade,” I replied.

  “I am unfamiliar with this Duchess.”

  “Not anymore,” I said. “It is one of my titles.”

  “Oh. Perhaps I should have known that,” she said, and I thought she was embarrassed. “We can house and teach these students,” she said. “We can teach Altearan, and we house a number of foreign students who learn Framaran from us.”

  “And what of the teaching of the Goddess?” Larien asked, nearly her first words since we arrived. “Her words, and her teachings?”

  The woman pursed her lips and then said, “We could provide a classroom for such studies,” she said finally. “But we would not pay the teacher. That would be your responsibility, Lady Yallameenara.”

  “Some of the classes would be limited to the priestesses of Yahamala,” Larien stated. “But much of what we teach we offer far more widely. Would your other students be interested in such topics?”

  “I find that unlikely,” said the woman. “Their schedules are already full with more important topics than learning of distant gods.” She paused only a moment and then said, “We have no room on our campus for your temple, but you could find a nearby location.”

  “Would you permit a small chapel?” Larien asked. “Or perhaps a shrine?”

  “We could, perhaps, discuss a shrine,” said Headmistress Uhlmar, but the tone in which she said it sounded as if I would not come out the other side of such a conversation at all satisfied. And so I simply nodded.

  I let others ask more questions, but by the time we were descending the steps for our walk back to the carriages, I was left somewhat despondent. I didn’t want my girls learning from this woman. I didn’t at all care for her superior and dismissive attitude. I’d expand at Rotaren before I’d choose this school. I could make Rotaren work. Somehow.

  “What did you think?” Ralalta asked as we climbed into our carriage.

  “I imagine the children here receive a very good education,” I replied. I didn’t point out I hadn’t seen a single smile, and I hadn’t felt like producing one of my own, either. “I imagine my acolytes would be exposed to the leading families of Framara.”

  “Quite so,” Ralalta said. And then she rapped on the roof of the carriage, and a moment later, we were moving forward.

  I’d been past Merkel’s School for Girls in the past. It was on the southern outskirts of Marport, perhaps twenty minutes atop Zana, located between the coastal road and the cliffs themselves. I hadn’t paid much attention to it the previous times I’d been past, and one need go no further before one encountered a mix of farms and forests.

  In many ways, the school was similar to Westhaven Academy. The property was ringed by a similar fence. The main buildings were of a similar age and style. The land was somewhat more expansive, and the view and neighborhood dramatically different.

  We didn’t walk this time. Instead, the carriages turned in through the gate, traveled up the drive, and then turned in a circle inside the cluster of buildings, coming to a stop before the central building. We climbed out, and I looked around. I didn’t think I was going to be any more pleased with Merkel’s than I had been with Westhaven. I had already half decided to send my acolytes to Rotaren and investigate how difficult it was to build an abbey. Perhaps I could hire a headmistress to operate the school and teachers for the classes, and then I would only need a small number of priestesses to teach the Words of the Goddess, and her teachings. It would cost more money, and it would take far more time, but I would want an abbey eventually. Of that I was assured.

  The doors opened, and a woman stepped out. She was small of stature, with a round face. I wouldn’t have called her fat, or even plump, but nor was she remotely slight. She had curves rather than edges.

  And she was smiling.

  “Queen Ralalta,” she called out, and then she dropped into a deep curtsey. She didn’t wait for an offer, but she rose and said, “Welcome to Merkel’s School for Girls.”

  Ralalta led us forward up the steps. She clasped hands with the woman and then said, “Headmistress Gwenla, it is good to see you.” Ralalta provided introductions, although she and Juleena already knew each other.

  When she got to me, Gwenla said, “We have met, Lady Yallameenara, but perhaps you do not remember. It was some years ago.”

  I cocked my head. “At one of the solstice balls?”

  “Just so,” she said. “You were quite busy,” she said, “and we met barely in passing, but you seemed like an earnest girl, but one who knew joy as well.”

  “That’s our Yalla,” Juleena said.

  “Well, how about a tour?” Ralalta asked.

  “Oh, but who are these others?” asked Gwenla. “They carry such unexpected hair, much like Lady Yallameenara’s.”

  And so there was nothing to be done but to complete the introductions. Gwenla smiled and greeted everyone equally. When we got to Tyreen and Gressa, introduced together, she said, “Oh, this must all be quite startling to you. Are you settling in?”

  “We are, Headmistress,” Tyreen said for both of them.

  Gwenla turned to me. “These two are hardly girls, but as I understand it, they are learning as much as your younger charges. And so they could become two of my students. Is that so?”

  “Quite so,” I agreed, “but perhaps they would be less of a drain of your resources.”

  “Nonsense,” the woman said. “None of our girls are any such thing.” She turned back to look at Gressa and Tyreen. “My preference, Lady Yallameenara, would be to assess the past education of all the girls, not only the younger ones, and ensure all will have received a full education. But perhaps this is not in keeping with your needs.”

  “It would be a good discussion,” I said.

  “Well, well,” she said. “The queen requests a tour, so of course, we should have one.”

  Physically, the buildings were different from those of Westhaven only in the details. The architecture was similar, but different. I couldn’t really discuss specifics, and I couldn’t say one was more grand than the other. Academic uses dominated the lower levels, and
the upper levels were living quarters. A larger percentage of the girls at Merkel’s were residents here, and Gwenla reported they came from all corners of Framara.

  We were still in our tour when a bell began ringing, and a moment later, classroom doors opened. Gwenla ushered us to the edge of the corridor just in time. Girls streamed from the open classes, filling the halls, talking to each other excitedly, but then they came to a stop, staring at us. I heard someone say, “That’s the queen,” and then in a wave, the girls lowered into deep curtsies, curtsies as refined as any I’d seen in the palace. And then women also stepped into the halls, saw the girls, and then turned to see the only ones still standing, Ralalta at the center. And so, one or two at a time, they also dropped into their own curtsies.

  “Well, well,” Ralalta said in her “I will be heard” voice. “That is very sweet. You may all rise and go about your days. We did not mean to intrude.”

  It was the adults who stood first, and then the girls. They began talking in their groups and moving this way and that, but two small groups stayed nearby, watching us and talking excitedly. That was when Gwenla gestured to one such trio. “Brioche, Tera, and Hessie, come meet the queen.” She held out a hand invitingly, and so the three approached, somewhat shyly, coming to a stop two paces away. Then they glanced at each other, and one of them dropped into another curtsey, copied by the other two.

  “Rise,” Ralalta said. “Let me get a look at you.”

  They stood, and Gwenla provided introductions, the queen to the three girls, and then quickly the rest of us. “You girls may know,” she said. “Lady Yallameenara is High Priestess to the goddess from Alteara. She has girls who may begin attending school here.”

  “Really?” asked Tera. “That would be swell!”

  “Wouldn’t it?” agreed Gwenla. “What is your next class?”

  “Music,” said Brioche.

  “Excellent. I believe we will walk with you. Girls, I’d like you to explain how you feel about our school. Brioche, this woman is Tyreen. Although she is long an adult, she may take a few classes with us. Perhaps you could tell her about them.” In turn, she introduced Tera to Gressa, and Hessie to me. And so I traveled with the girl beside me, and she bubbled for the entire walk.