Instead, she focused on the meal the cleric had brought her. There was a bowl of rich brown broth, a hunk of crusty bread, and a cup of water. Even that meager repast seemed to be too much. Volinette lifted the bread from the tray, turning it over in her hands as if she were seeing bread for the first time.
“Tsk,” Qadira said with a sigh. “You’re supposed to eat it, not play with it.”
Volinette glanced over at the elf who was leaning on the mop. Qadira’s eyes were bright, but Volinette couldn’t figure out if it was in amusement or annoyance. Perhaps both. Determined not to make another enemy in the Academy, Volinette dipped the bread into the rich broth and took a bite.
Much to her amazement, her stomach not only accepted the offering, but demanded more. For having felt so sick so recently, Volinette was surprised that her hunger had returned with such force. It wasn’t long before she’d finished the meal that Qadira had brought her, right down to draining the last few drops from the mug of water.
The cleric, who had gone to attend to other charges while Volinette ate, returned with a promptness that made her wonder if Qadira wasn’t using magic to attend to her.
“No magic here,” she said with a smile, as if she was reading Volinette’s thoughts. “Just many years in service of my trade and craft. One develops a second set of senses when they’re practiced long enough. Just like a singer’s voice, no?”
Volinette’s back went rigid at the question, and Qadira raised an eyebrow at her.
“How did you know?” Volinette stammered, the tips of her ears going red with embarrassment. She’d thought she’d have some sort of anonymity in the Great Tower, but now that she thought about it, she didn’t know why she’d had such a notion.
“I’ve seen your family perform at the spring festivals, Volinette. You’re hardly the first young person to enter the Great Tower with hopes and dreams of leaving their past behind.”
The cleric lifted the thin blanket from the foot of the bed and spread it across Volinette, tucking the ends under her with deft fingers.
“Don’t worry,” Qadira said, smoothing down the worst of the wrinkles in the blanket. “Your secret, such as it is, is safe with me. Everyone deserves a second chance. Now get some rest.”
Volinette felt as if there should be something else to say, but in the few moments that it took her to wrap her mind around Qadira’s words, the cleric had turned down the wick on the lamp for the second time and retreated from the cubicle, drawing the curtain closed behind her.
A glance at the high slit window showed Volinette that evening had descended over the Imperium. The sounds of the infirmary had quieted to a distant murmur, and Volinette suspected that the other patients were being put to bed in much the same way that Qadira had treated her.
Without much else to do, Volinette nestled down into the bed and closed her eyes. It wasn’t long before the quiet shuffling of the healers and the muted sounds of the hospital lulled her into a fitful sleep.
When her dreams came, they were disjointed fragments of the Trial and its aftermath. The boy who’d had his intestines spilled. Crimson streaks on the stone from where the boys had been smashed by the elemental. Pressure, the water that had flowed over them, ripping many of the candidates from the lives they were fighting for. Tenika’s body flowed past her again and again, the glazed eyes staring at her in mute accusation.
“You killed her!” Janessa’s unseen voice shouted. “You did it! Murderer! Filth!”
Volinette sat bolt upright. Silence blanketed the ward. Not even a quiet conversation shattered the stillness. Night outside the slit window was pitch black. Morning wouldn’t come for several hours yet. She rolled over, willing with all her might to fall asleep. Eventually, she did.
Chapter Five
After a couple days in the infirmary, Volinette was convinced that she was falling behind the other students who had been in her Trial of Admission, and that she had become, she had to admit to herself, a whiny mess of a child. Qadira had taken this shift in attitude with the same grace and aplomb that she had shown since Volinette had first met her.
“None of the others of your class have moved on from their time in the infirmary yet, either, Volinette.” Qadira’s tone was calm, meant to be soothing, but Volinette found that almost even more infuriating. “You will all be released when the last of you is ready for instruction. Until then, you are my guest here.”
Though Volinette ground her teeth at the restriction, she had to admit that there were worse ways in which to be kept captive. After the first day, she’d be allowed to roam the gardens that surrounded the ward where she was kept. Afraid of going out of her mind with boredom, she had asked for something to do, and Qadira had allowed her to help with some minor tasks like cleaning vials and folding linens. It was during these tasks that Volinette learned that very few of her classmates had escaped the Trial unscathed. Some were wounded more seriously than others, but all were recovering well under the skilled hands of the clerics who had been assigned to their care.
Volinette wasn’t upset, however, the morning that Qadira entered her cubicle and informed her that her stay within the infirmary had come to an end.
“Get out,” the elf said, though not unkindly. “This bed needs to be put to better use, and the rest of your class is ready to move on. You’re to assemble in the Apprentice’s Instruction Room.”
Now that she was faced with leaving the safety of the infirmary, Volinette found herself balking at being moved on in such a perfunctory manner.
“Are you sure I’m ready?” Volinette’s voice cracked, and Qadira smiled.
“You’ve been ready longer than most, Volinette. Besides, it isn’t as if you’ll be bereft of a friendly face. Master Casto is your class advisor.
“Fulgent? That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“No, Master Casto.” Qadira waved a finger at her. “Remember that you’re a Quintessentialist now, Volinette. You’ll be expected to adhere to the ancient laws and customs. Including the respect due your elders.”
Volinette blushed and Qadira grinned.
“Don’t worry so much, Volinette. You won’t be the first apprentice to forget a title or an honorific. You’ll be fine.”
“But I’m not an apprentice,” Volinette protested. “I’m an Acolyte, in an Order. What if they expect me to know more than the apprentices?”
Qadira clucked her tongue.
“I’m sure the Head Master has her reasons for placing you as she did.” The cleric trailed off, leaving Volinette sure that there were other thoughts left unvoiced. “Master Casto and the others will ensure that you know everything you need to know.”
No amount of additional hedging would prevent Qadira from pushing her out of the small cubicle in the infirmary. The cleric gave Volinette a rudimentary set of directions that would lead her back to the instruction room and then all but shoved her out of the door. Volinette wondered if the sense of foreboding that settled into the pit of her stomach was what baby birds felt when they were shoved unceremoniously from the nest into the cruel world.
As Volinette made her way through the gardens and courtyards of the Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences, she looked at the Great Tower and began to fully appreciate the beauty of the obsidian monolith that would dominate her days until she finished her instruction.
The Great Tower of High Magic was the pinnacle of Quintessentialist achievement. A towering construction of glass crafted from the nearby beaches of fine black sand that gave the city its name. It had taken the life’s work of hundreds of mages to create the maze of walls, rooms, and caverns that had become the central pillar of all magical knowledge within the Human Imperium.
“Hey! Watch where you’re walkin’!”
Volinette, consumed as she was by the awe and beauty of the tower, had walked right into a young man stocking a cart that sat on the path toward the building that housed the School of Sorcery. She stumbled backward, tripping over her feet, and landing hard on her rump. The st
all-keeper was crouched by the cart, picking up the fruit she’d carelessly scattered and brushing off the worst of the dust on the plain tunic he wore belted around the middle.
“I’m so sorry,” she stammered, scrambling to help pick up the round red fruit she’d knocked from the cart.
The young man took the fruit from her trembling hands and dropped it, without ceremony, back on the pile. He offered her a hand, helping her to her feet.
“Fresh meat, huh?” he asked, casting an appraising eye over her with a twisted grin. “No lasting harm done. Pretty impressive, huh?”
He hooked a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the building that had consumed so much of her attention that she’d forgotten to watch where she was walking.
Volinette blushed, her cheeks going as red as the fruit she’d just helped return to the cart. She tried to reply, but found that the words just wouldn’t come. Instead, she stood there under the gaze of the stall-keeper, wishing she could just melt between the stones under her feet.
The young man looked at her a moment longer, then laughed. His guffaw seemed to snap Volinette out of her paralysis, and she gave him a sharp look before she also started laughing.
“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping a tear from her eye. “I must seem the total moon-brained fool. I’m Volinette.”
“A pleasure, Volinette.” The young man thrust his hand out at her, staring at her until she seized it and gave it a good pump.
The merchant plucked a piece of fruit from the basket and shoved it into her hands, folding them over the sphere. He winked at her and nodded toward the footpath.
“I suspect you don’t want to be late, so you better hop. Take this. Consider it a gift from the Merchant’s Guild.”
“Oh, I couldn’t.”
“You can and you have. Otherwise, you’ll have offended me, miss.”
Volinette peered at him. He appeared to be completely serious. Not wanting to offend him, she tucked the offering in the pocket of her tunic.
“You’re very kind. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. Better move.”
The rest of her journey to the classroom where she’d be taking her instruction was uneventful. A squat stone building, built with massive blocks of gray stone, dominated one corner of the Academy grounds. A sign over the doorway declared it to be the School of Sorcery, founded in 3623. For over two thousand years, Quintessentialists had been attending the Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences. That wasn’t daunting. Not at all.
Volinette poked her head into the room and looked around before she dared enter. There were already a few apprentices scattered around the room. Most were alone, but a couple had formed loose knots, banding together against the unknown that faced them. There were a few faces she recognized, but more that she didn’t. Stepping into that room seemed as dangerous as walking into the open jaws of a slavering bear.
“Hey! Volinette! You made it!”
The voice that called out to her seemed far too loud for the small room, and a number of apprentices turned to stare at her. She slipped into the room, wishing that her entrance hadn’t been noticed by quite so many people. She’d have preferred to enter unnoticed. Unfortunately, Baris had other plans.
“Hello, Baris,” Volinette replied quietly. She hoped that the young man would take her lead and lower his voice. “It’s good to see you.”
“Too right!” Baris slapped his knee. The young man seemed oblivious to the fact that the others in the room were watching his antics and talking amongst themselves. Volinette could only wonder what they were saying, but she doubted it was very complementary. “I’m glad you made it through, always nice to have a friendly face.”
“Perhaps we should be a bit quieter?”
“Pshaw,” Baris snorted, jerking his head at the other apprentices. “Don’t worry about disturbing that lot. They’re all just a bunch of temple mice. Live a little, that’s what I say.”
“Some people don’t deserve to live. Even a little.”
Volinette and Baris turned at the same time to see Janessa standing on the threshold. The cold malice that Volinette had seen in the infirmary still lurked behind the girl’s blue eyes. Volinette took an involuntary step back, but Baris drew himself up to his considerable height. He towered over Janessa, looking down into her reddened face.
“Shove off, Janessa. Tenika knew the risks just like the rest of us. Just because you couldn’t save her doesn’t mean that it was anyone else’s responsibility to do it for you. Maybe you should stop taking out your failures on others.”
Janessa’s mouth worked slowly, but no words came out. After a long moment, she shoved past Baris and stalked across the room. A group of girls there folded her into their midst and looked back at Baris and Volinette with darkened eyes.
“Don’t let her get to you, Volinette.” Baris was still looking at Janessa and the girls who had surrounded her. “She’s rotten on the inside.”
“You know her?” Volinette was surprised. She didn’t know Baris all that well, but she doubted that a boy from a farming village would be likely to travel in the same circles as Janessa.
“I know the Navita family by reputation,” Baris said with a shake of his head. “Her parents are Masters on the High Council. Purebred Quintessentialists for the last thousand years. Guess all that refined blood didn’t save her sister, did it?”
“Baris!” Volinette was aghast at his tactlessness. She was beginning to wonder if having Baris as an ally wasn’t just as bad as having Janessa as an enemy.
“What?” He shrugged. “It’s true, isn’t it?”
He seemed to see Volinette’s expression for the first time and ducked his head.
“Alright!” he exclaimed. “I’m just saying she knew the risks like the rest of us. If Tenika couldn’t handle the trial on her own, she shouldn’t have been there in the first place. If Janessa was supposed to be there to help her, she should have been. It isn’t anyone’s fault but her own.”
“A little compassion goes a long way, Apprentice Jendrek.”
Volinette recognized the new voice from the doorway and she hung her head. How much worse could today get? Master Fulgent Casto stood in the doorway behind them. The look he turned on Baris was enough to make even the impertinent former farmer hang his head.
“I don’t appreciate her attitude either,” Fulgent said candidly. “However, that does not negate the fact that she lost a sister to the Trial, and it would do you well to remember that any one of you could have lost your life in the same manner.”
With a final long look at Baris, Master Casto stepped into the room and raised his arms for attention. It took a few moments for the apprentices scattered around the room to recognize the gesture and fall silent.
“Welcome, Apprentices. As many of you know, I am Master Fulgent Casto, and I will be your class advisor until you’ve ascended into the ranks of the journeymen. This means that we could potentially be together for many years, so I recommend that we try to make the best of our association.”
It wasn’t lost on Volinette that when Master Casto’s gaze swept the room, it lingered longest on Janessa, Baris, and herself. Though she’d made a friend in Fulgent from the time she’d entered the trial, Volinette knew that the kinship they’d shared would not extend to her instruction. He struck her as nothing if not eminently fair. That suited Volinette just fine. The less reason Janessa had to continue her crusade against her, the better.
“Tomorrow, we will begin our instruction in earnest. Today, you will receive the materials you need to begin your instruction in the arts and sciences of the Quintessential Sphere. I will also be dividing you into pairs for certain parts of your instruction. These pairings are permanent for the duration of your time spent here as apprentices.”
Please, Volinette begged inwardly. Please pair me with Baris. Please. Please. Please.
It took what seemed like hours for Master Casto to make his way around the instruction room, pairing the apprentices off. Volinette�
�s heart sank early on when Baris was paired with a girl named Syble. She’d been one of the three girls who’d been clustered with Janessa after her entrance into the classroom. Volinette caught his eye from across the room, and he pantomimed choking to death behind Syble’s back. She couldn’t really blame him, but Volinette had greater concerns. The pool of apprentices was dwindling and Janessa hadn’t been partnered with anyone yet.
“Volinette Terris,” Master Casto said, startling her out of her ruminations. “You’ll be partnered with Janessa Navita.”
Volinette felt as if she’d been thrown into a fire. Her skin burned from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears. It took every bit of willpower she possessed to keep the tears that prickled the back of her eyes from slipping down onto her cheeks. Why had Fulgent done that to her? He was well aware of the animosity Janessa held for her. How could he do such a thing?
Neither Janessa nor Volinette said a word as Master Casto finished pairing off the apprentices and announcing the partnerships. Nearby, Halsie and Nixi, the other girls who had been clustered around Janessa, were huddled together, talking in whispers. Their continued glances at Volinette made it easy for her to guess what and whom they were talking about.
When Master Casto retired from the training room to retrieve some materials, the girls sidled over to Janessa, clucking conspiratorially.
“What are you going to do?” they asked Janessa, as if Volinette weren’t standing a few feet from where they gathered around their friend. “How can they expect you to work with that?”
Janessa smiled and Volinette was reminded of the predatory fish that patrolled the shallows along many of the beaches in the Imperium.
“Oh, I’m sure we can convince her that her talents are better suited elsewhere. After all, she’s just a show off. We know who has the real power here, don’t we?”
Syble had joined the other girls, forming a loose circle around Volinette. Halsie, Nixi, and Syble snickered at Volinette, and it wasn’t until a moment later that Volinette realized that Janessa was muttering the words of a spell. Somewhere behind her, Baris called a warning, but it was too late. A fine green mist crept from Janessa’s palms, wafting over Volinette’s face.
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