Knight Rising

by T. Mikita

“I thought we were on the ground floor,” Asher said confused.

  “The first floor of the administration connects to the sixth floor of your dorm, due to the steep hillside,” she said as they paused by the window. “All of the dorms are on this side of the campus,” she said. “Classrooms to the North and South, and the dining halls and recreation to the East.” She spoke as if he could tell the cardinal direction just by looking at the buildings. She indicated the massive marble stairs where they stood. “Your room is down one flight. Turn right at the bottom of the stairs and go to the end of the hallway. Your room is five forty-seven. Also, I have something for you,” she said pulling a package from somewhere on her person.

  Asher squinted wondering just where she had been keeping it. For the life of him, he could not figure it out.

  She placed the leather holster in his hands. Held in it was a dagger that was nearly the length of his forearm.

  Asher stared at it unable to decide what to do.

  “It’s a blessed blade,” she said.

  “I….Thank you,” he said hesitantly. He held it tentatively in front of him.

  “You’re welcome. I expect you to wear it,” she said seriously. “Now, why don’t you go and rest for a while? Perhaps change,” she said eyeing his worn jeans and sweater with distaste. “I’m sure your things will be delivered to your room shortly. You can see me about warding your room specifically if you wish, but there should be a key left on your nightstand.”

  Warding, he thought? She just said warding, not locking. Although there was a key too. He turned the dagger over in his hands.

  “The final dinner is at seven.”

  “Final? Is that like the last supper?” Asher quipped.

  “No,” Evelyn said, completely missing his joke or maybe just ignoring it. “The school at large dines at six. We dine at seven.”

  He stood shifting from foot to foot. After being cooped up in the train all day he felt restless.

  “Do you need assistance?” his aunt asked him.

  “No,” Asher said with no certainty at all. “I can find my way.”

  “Open the hallway door then,” she urged.

  Asher looked at the door and shifted the dagger to his opposite hand. He hesitantly reached out to touch the door.

  “Does it matter where?”

  “No,” she said. “Anywhere will do.”

  He laid his hand on the door and it clicked open. He stood staring in amazement.

  He stared so long; the door relocked itself with a click.

  “Do you need me to escort you?” His aunt asked. She sounded as if she surprised herself by the question.

  “Nah, I got this.” Asher replied tapping the door again. He caught it when it opened this time.

  “What did you say the room number is?”

  “Five forty-seven,” she answered. She turned away and then a moment later turned back, as if she wished to say something more. “Welcome to Whitehall, Asher,” she said at last.

  “Thanks.”

  After his aunt left, Asher let the door close again and tried to open it just to prove that he could. Each time the door clicked open; no key needed.

  Asher looked at the dagger in his hand…a fucking dagger. He wasn’t sure how to strap on the wrist sheath, and honestly, why would he need a dagger at school? Most schools frowned on weapons, but then, this was a very strange school. He tucked the blade and the sheath into his hoodie pocket, and tried the door one more time. It still opened…just like magic.

  7

  Well Met

  Asher went through the door down the stairs and turned right into the corridor. He followed it for quite a way. He began to wonder if he was lost, but he had made no turns. He continued to make his way to where he hoped his room was located.

  This place was huge, and this was only one of the buildings. At last, he saw the number five-forty-seven on the door. He passed his room, noting its location, and decided to do a bit of exploring. He was tired, but after being stuck on the train all day sitting cooped up alone in his room was the last thing Asher wanted. Despite himself, Asher found he was excited at the prospect of a new school.

  The marble tile gave way to highly polished parquet floors that reflected Asher’s progress as he came to an open foyer and a four-way junction. He turned left to head towards a wide window with a stained-glass picture of a knight defeating a dragon.

  “St. George and the dragon,” he said softly to himself, remembering his father’s stories. Asher wondered if that was really who the window depicted. Maybe it didn’t mean anything.

  He looked out over the snow-covered grounds, which from here, were beautiful. Asher thought if he really got lost, he could go outside, return to the admin building and retrace his steps back to his dorm room. Right now, he just enjoyed looking at the grounds. In the summer this place would be amazing. There were sections that even covered in snow, he could tell would be gardens in warmer weather. There were several smaller structures and a large domed outbuilding in the distance. Maybe this school had a swimming pool, he thought.

  Asher turned to try to trace his way back to his room and nearly ran into someone as he turned the corner.

  “Oh, excuse me!” The girl said. She had dark-hair, bright blue eyes and high sculpted cheek bones. Her eyes gave her a somewhat exotic appearance. They had a slight up tilt on the edges, hinting at a partial Asian descent at the very least. She was incredibly attractive.

  “Are you new?” she asked, eyeing him curiously.

  Asher frowned slightly at her. “Is it that obvious?”

  “No,” she said with a shy smile. “But you are in the Legacy Wing. There aren’t many of us in this section of the dormitories. So, you are either new or lost.”

  “Maybe a bit of both,” Asher said with a slight laugh, wondering if he could actually find his way back to his room now. He had taken only left turns, so all right turns should bring him back, but a little help from a pretty girl would not go amiss.

  She scrunched up her eyes and bit her lip, reddening it under her teeth. “I’m pretty new too, but I can help,” she said. “You can ask for directions, you know.”

  “I guess, I am asking then,” Asher said.

  “No. No. I mean to your room,” she said. She leaned very close, brushing against him as she reached toward the wall. “What’s your name?” She asked.

  “Asher Pendrick,” he said automatically.

  “Oh.” She stared at him as if she somehow knew him, or perhaps she knew of him—the new kid who was the nephew of the headmistress. That was probable, and likely to kill any chance of a social life, not enhance it.

  Asher knew he should say something. Try to flirt maybe, but he was notoriously bad at that, and with everything that had happened, it didn’t seem the right time. He only succeeded in staring at her, and then at his shoes which had rings of salt on them from the train station slush. She doesn’t care about your shoes, doofus. That’s what Jules would say, he thought. In any case, he was tired and grumpy and his brain seemed not to be working properly.

  “I’m Galina,” the girl said, as she placed her hand on the wall near his shoulder.

  She smelled nice, like some kind of floral shampoo, he thought as her hair brushed near him. Fuck. Was he sniffing her hair? Well, that wasn’t creepy or anything.

  “Directions to Asher Pendrick’s room, please,” she said.

  The hall suddenly echoed with an answering male voice. At least Asher thought it was male. It was deep, but rather androgynous and it seemed to come from everywhere at once. He jumped at the sound. “Asher Pendrick is not a registered resident,” the voice said.

  “Hmm. Maybe you aren’t in the system yet,” Galina said.

  System, thought Asher, relaxing a little. It was a bit weird that the building just talked to them, but a phone did the same thing. It didn’t have to be magic. It could be technology, even though Oliver, the driver, had told him that tech didn’t work well here.

  “Maybe
,” Asher agreed. He might not be registered yet. After all, he had just arrived.

  Galina withdrew her hand. Asher cleared his throat and nervously gave her a bit more room. He must really be tired, he thought. The long drive had addled his brain. Galina looked up and gave him a brilliant smile, flashing even white teeth.

  “Sorry,” he muttered.

  “For what?” she said opening her eyes a little wider and squeezing his arm. “I should be the one apologizing for wasting your time.”

  “No problem,” he said. “I was just exploring a bit before dinner. I wondered what was around.”

  “Nothing much in this building. Just dorm rooms, but there are common areas on each floor.” She gestured at two panels in the wall as they passed. “Laundry and trash chutes,” she explained. “Don’t get them mixed up and be sure your uniforms are marked, or you won’t get them back.”

  “I don’t have any uniforms yet,” he said.

  “Oh,” she said. “You should probably mention that to your aunt.”

  So, Galina did know who he was, Asher thought. And she was still talking to him. That was a good sign. He smiled at her.

  Galina offered to show him one of the common areas on the current floor. It had several cubicle-like desks in the corners and when they walked into the room the air felt somehow softer. Galina’s voice just dropped to a whisper and Asher could barely hear her at all. He frowned at her and she mouthed, “Silencing spell,” and then gestured him out of the room.

  “That’s the study lounge. It’s really hard to talk above a whisper in there,” she said. “There’s another common area on the other side of the hall where we can talk.”

  “You seem to know your way around pretty well for being new,” Asher said.

  Galina shrugged. “The floors are set up mostly the same,” she replied, as she led him into another room. It had a sofa and several overstuffed chairs. She flopped in one of the chairs and Asher took the other. Where there should be a television, there was a fireplace. On the opposite wall was a window. They looked out of the big window overlooking the campus and Galina identified landmarks. She pointed out several the classroom buildings and dorms for younger students. The domed building unfortunately was not a swimming pool. It was a combat field. The dome was removed in warmer weather. The library was between the north and south classroom buildings, along with some areas for the younger students.

  “There are elementary students?” Asher asked.

  “Not many. Some from the more traditional families,” she said. “Most are older.”

  They sat and talked for a while in the common room, strangely enough, the conversation was mostly about video games. Technology was not going to be easy to let go of.

  Galina told him she was an only child and had only been here for several months. She asked to see his schedule to see if they had any classes together, but he didn’t have one yet. The conversation stalled, and Asher felt he could use something to drink. A Coke would be nice, he thought.

  “No vending machines?” he noted aloud thinking that he would have to buy a case to keep in his room. He wondered if he could find Oliver and ask him where he might get some.

  “No,” Galina said. “But you can order food to your room if you want it.”

  Asher held up his phone, but didn’t turn it on. “Without a phone? What do we use to call? The fireplace?” He gestured to it.

  Galina laughed and it made him feel more relaxed.

  “Oh, there’s a comm panel in your room,” she said, “but we do have to appear at breakfast and dinner for announcements. Unless you are sick or something. Some people skip lunch.”

  “A comm panel?” he repeated.

  “Okay, it’s not really that. I just like to think of it that way,” she said. “Otherwise, I wonder if someone is watching over me all the time. Or if the school really is alive. It kinda freaks me out.”

  “It’s not technology, is it?” Asher said softly.

  Galina shook her head.

  “It’s really magic?” Asher said, the reality of this place starting to sink in. “Technology can do most if not all of this stuff. What do you need magic for?”

  “To fight things,” she said softly. “The things that killed…” She took a shuddering breath. “The things that killed my mom.”

  “I’m sorry,” Asher said understanding. He paused for a moment before sharing, “My parents too.” And just like that, the conversation went from warm and friendly to below zero as they both found themselves immersed in their own sad thoughts.

  “I should go dress for dinner,” Galina said in a rush. She stood and moved towards the door. Their camaraderie squashed. Way to fuck things up, Asher, he thought to himself.

  Inwardly, he shrugged off his disappointment. He could not hope to be coherent. He was still numb from tragedy and from a day of travel. It was a surprise that he managed to put two words together.

  “I guess I’ll go back to my room too,” said Asher. “If I can find it.”

  “What’s your room number?” Galina asked tucking a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.

  “Five forty-seven,” he said.

  “It’s that way,” she said with surety, pointing down the hall. “Two right turns, I think.”

  She turned in the opposite direction, but she paused and turned back for a moment. “It was nice talking to you, Asher. I hope to see you around,” she said in an almost musical voice.

  Asher hoped so too. He stared after her as she went back towards the stairs. She moved with a catlike grace, as lithe as a dancer and there was something about those sky-blue eyes of hers. They were bright as sapphires. Maybe this place wouldn’t be as bad as he had first thought.

  Asher turned and made his way through the Legacy Wing and back to his room. He opened the door and was pleasantly surprised with what he found.

  Wow, he thought, this was much more than a simple dorm room. The room was actually a well-appointed suite with what looked like real leather furniture. The first room had both a love seat and easy chair of sable brown. Light came in through a high arched window that reached almost all of the way to the ceiling with a soft cushioned window seat tucked beneath it. The bedroom boasted a four-poster bed, and was attached to a small private bathroom. There was an attractive antique-style dark wood writing desk against one wall along with a bookshelf. Was that mahogany? A floor lamp sat beside the desk and would provide more than enough light for late night studying. Asher’s trunk sat at the foot of the bed. He opened the rather large wardrobe to find that his clothes had already been put away. His jeans were hung and his t-shirts were tucked into the dresser drawers.

  No technology was the only appreciable lack, but it was a big lack. When Oliver met Asher at the train station, he had said that the energy convergences at Whitehall interfered with some technology and could destroy others. He suggested Asher keep his phone and computer off except for designated times. At least there were designated times. That offered hope. Asher felt like a child when his dad had said no TV or video games until after his homework was done. Thoughts of his father brought a new wave of grief. He shoved the thought away. He was beginning a new life and he couldn’t go back.

  Asher had texted Jules at the station to tell her he had arrived, and he hoped it had gone through. Then, at the driver’s insistence he had turned his phone off. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at the dark screen with annoyance. He didn’t want to fry it, if that little fact were really true. He would ask some of the other students, but for now he put the phone in the drawer of the nightstand beside his bed. His hands felt empty without it.

  Asher sat on the bed and found it to be soft and comfortable, a real mattress not some cheap dorm-room foam pad. At least there was that. He kicked off his shoes and let himself fall back. He stared at the ceiling and wondered what he was doing here. His father had told him about his heritage. He had always said their family was descended from King Arthur, but Asher had always taken that with a grain of salt
. Maybe, he really was some distant relation of the legendary king. So what? Nearly everyone in China was related to Genghis Khan. Anyway, Arthur was supposed to be a medieval knight, proficient in sword play. Wasn’t magic Merlin’s gig? Asher closed his eyes. He was so out of his depth.

  A knock came to his door. It was a middle-aged woman with clean white towels.

  “Ah…thanks,” he said accepting them. They were large and fluffy like something he would take to the beach, that is if they weren’t white. Was it really so fancy here that they would do his laundry? Asher wondered. Galina had said there was a laundry chute. He shook his head. It was like living in a hotel.

  “Is all to your liking Master Pendragon?” the maid asked.

  “Oh yeah, the room is fantastic. I’m just Asher, though. Asher Pendrick, not Pendragon.”

  The woman raised an eyebrow. “You are not of the famed Pendragon line?”

  “I guess, I am,” he said. “But my dad always used Pendrick. I prefer it.”

  “Master Pendrick, then,” she said turning to go.

  “Wait,” he said. “Can you give me directions to the dining hall?” he asked. “I’m a little turned around.”

  “I believe the headmistress wanted you to eat with her in the private dining room,” she said. “I will show you.”

  “Lead on,” he said waving a hand. “I’m starved and Aunt Evelyn promised the food would be exceptional,” he said trying to make conversation.

  “Yes,” the woman said walking quietly beside him.

  “Still, school food, right? How good can it be?”

  “Legacies are well-treated. I suppose it is a small compensation for what they have to face. At least, that is what they tell me.”

  Asher felt a jolt of unease shoot through him as he thought about his father’s death at the hands of a monster. He followed her silently.

  8

  Lady Pendragon

  The dining room was larger than Asher expected. Was this supposed to be the private dining hall or had the maid misunderstood and taken him to the students’ hall instead? At the far end stood a large raised dais, that practically could have been a stage. There were several empty chairs. He realized suddenly that it was the type of area that was built to hold a throne. Now, it could be a space for speakers or teachers. It was empty at the moment. The ceiling was vaulted, and easily twenty feet high with large chandeliers providing light. Asher could imagine that in the past those chandeliers were filled not with electric lights, or whatever they used here now, but with candles. Everything was updated and modern, but there was also a sense of history: the marble floors, the stone walls... He could imagine knights here in this hall or at least one like it. You didn’t expect to see this sort of thing in America. Tall arched windows adorned both sides of the dining hall. All of the scattered tables were round, rather than the long rectangular type you would expect to find in a medieval hall. Asher had to smile at that.