The next morning, I was bathed by a returning Sara, because it was too late to do it the night before. She had left for the night and came right back first thing in the morning. She knew she couldn't stay, since that was also against the rules, so she performed her ritual and quickly left after helping me get dressed. Hope and I ate breakfast and she walked me to the front door.
“I think Helena sent her.” Hope said and handed me my small pack of books for that day. “She's probably worried that you're not getting relief like you normally do.”
“It's not the fact that all my classes so far are full of girls?” I asked.
“That might have something to do with it. Maybe.” Hope laughed softly. “I still can't believe they split up like that without even trying to keep the balance.”
I thought about that. “It might last another month. Some of them will realize that they aren't getting to spend any time with the people they like, except at lunch and supper.”
Hope smiled. “I'm sure there will be an attempt at a huge migration.”
“Only an attempt?” I asked.
“Mark my words. It's going to be all the boys trying to get into your class and not the other way around. The girls probably love that it's just them and I bet it's very relaxing for them.” Hope said. “Also, there's no way the academy will allow a larger class to reform, not after the students already worked out how to get two classes out of the mess on their own.”
I had to nod in agreement, because if there was one thing the academy's administration was big on, it was not changing the status quo.
“Be careful taking out the basic potions book from the pack.” Hope reminded me and I left to go to class.
The long walk passed by quickly and I approached the other students going inside the main classroom building. Unlike the looks on their faces the day before, a lot of the guys now had disgust on them and the girls had a bit of respect and interest. I wasn't sure if it was an improvement with the guys; but, I would take it, just because the distinct change in the girls made my display at lunch worth it.
Giving them the bow reserved for the royal family might have had something to do with the change, too. I wasn't going to ask them about it, because at this point, it didn't matter. All of them knew I used to be an army conscript by now and that their little dominance games, reminiscent of Helena's brother Marcus, weren't going to work on me.
“Good morning.” Vanessa whispered from off to my left.
Despite everyone talking around me, I still heard her, so I turned my head to find her in the crowd of students lining up to go inside. I spotted her about ten people over and gave her a nod. She blushed a little and looked forward again.
She didn't expect me to hear her. I thought. Should I tell her that I'm listening for her specifically, because of the math teacher's words yesterday?
The lines of students filed into the building and we all split up in the gigantic lobby to go to our assigned classes. Vanessa ended up walking beside me as we went to the basic potions classroom. The normal potions teacher already had a note on the door telling the 'extra' students to go to the other classroom, so we followed the directions and went there.
“I'm glad he told you where to go.” The woman behind the desk said as the girls and I walked inside the room.
“There was a note on the door.” One of the girls said.
The woman laughed. “I stand corrected. He couldn't even bother meeting you before sending you off.”
A few of the girls laughed, too.
Unlike the other classrooms that had stairs and desks on slightly higher levels behind each other, this classroom was a wide open area with workbenches and potion making setups on each of them. There wasn't enough for everyone, however.
I counted them and it was exactly half of what we needed. “Vanessa, let's partner up again.”
Vanessa looked shocked, as if she couldn't believe I had asked her again.
“We're partners in all the other classes.” I reminded her and motioned to a desk at the back of the room. I would need a bit of privacy to repair my book and she seemed okay with being as far away from the teacher as possible.
“I'm horrible at potions.” Vanessa whispered. “If it wasn't for you during the exam, I would have left that whole section blank.”
“You just need more practice.” I whispered back.
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“Is that how you got so good?” Vanessa asked.
“Yes. I've been doing it since I was a kid.”
“Wow.” Vanessa breathed and sat down behind the desk. She opened her own small bag and took out a pristine copy of the basic potions book.
I took Hope's warning to heart and opened my bag, then very carefully pulled out the ratty old book that most of the pages were falling out from.
“I'm starting to hate the people running this place.” Vanessa whispered. “That book should have been thrown out and not given to a student.” She slid hers over to me. “You can have mine and I'll tell them I lost it.”
“I can't accept your generous offer.” I said. “Remember the rules from the cafeteria.”
Vanessa took in a sharp breath.
“If you get caught giving me your book, they might suspend you for a day or more.” I cautioned her.
Vanessa sighed and took her book back. “You're going to have a hard time with that thing. It's falling apart.”
“For now.” I said and carefully opened the cover. It flopped open and the spine was barely attached. The glue had either dried out or let go and that was why whole sections of pages were falling out. I quickly and efficiently flipped through the pages, careful of not mixing them up, and checked all the page numbers.
Luckily, it was a fairly small book, barely two hundred pages, so I went through them all in a short time and confirmed that all of the pages were present. The bell rang and the teacher tapped her knuckles on her desk.
“I see that some of you have figured out that you have to pair up for this class.” The teacher said. “The rest of you, you need to pair up for this class.”
That made a few of the girls laugh and a few of them blushed.
“Go ahead and sort yourselves out. I'm not one for ceremony or pairing the best and the worst, so you can pick your friends to pair up if you want.”
That made most of them happy and while they formed teams, I slipped my knife out of my sheath and Vanessa caught her breath at the sight of it.
“Shh.” I whispered and made it glow, which made her suck in a surprised breath. I sliced off the spine of the book and the front and back covers, because I needed access to all of the pages at the same time. I stashed my knife away and took a vial of real number ten potion out of my hidden bandoleer and held the pages steady.
I carefully applied a small amount to the back of them to tack them together temporarily. I had to be careful, because I didn't want the paper to absorb the potion. That would actually stop me from opening the book and I wanted it repaired, not solid.
Vanessa stared as I applied more potion to the inside of the spine and then press it to the stack of pages. It only took seconds for it to work, so I used a minuscule amount to reattach the covers onto the spine.
“Now that you've all taken your seats, let me introduce myself. My name is Mage Greta Marks and I was drafted into this teaching job, because of all the extra students that had been admitted this year.” The teacher said. “So, I give thanks to the sole god, to the son of the light, or to whoever else might be responsible for getting me out of the damn guild hall.”
Not surprisingly, no one offered to tell her that it was because of me, until Vanessa stood up and waved to get the teacher's attention and then pointed at me.
“Yes, what is it?” Mage Marks asked. “Does the sole man in the room need my help?”
Vanessa whispered something and no one but me heard her.
“She said that I'm responsible for you getting your dream job.” I said and tucked the partially used vial of number ten potion away.
“She is?” Mage Marks asked.
“No, me. I'm responsible.” I said and she looked surprised.
“And you are?”
“You should know that, unless you only arrived today.” I said.
“You're pretty full of yourself, aren't you?” Mage Marks asked.
Half the girls gasped, Vanessa included. She had an angry face and whispered pretty loudly. The girls at the next tables covered their mouths when they heard what she was saying. I waited until she was done talking and she was taking several breaths to calm down before I stood.
“I'll skip the quite colorful language that my partner used and only tell you what she meant.” I said and Vanessa covered her mouth as well and tears came to her eyes. “Thank you for the kind words and for coming to my defense. I have very few people that will do that for me.”
Vanessa's sad face became grateful and she nodded as she sat down.
“Vanessa said that I've suffered enough at the hands of the people that run this place and you have no right to judge me without knowing all the facts.” I said. “Did you just arrive today?”
“No, I've been here since yesterday morning.” Mage Marks said.
“I'm David Drake, the ex-army conscript that was dishonorably discharged. I'm here on Grand Mage Henrietta's orders so I can marry his eldest daughter, Helena Henrietta.”
Mage Marks stared at me with a look of fear and surprise on her face. “Y-yes, I've... heard of you.”
“Before or after coming here?” I asked, curious.
“Both.”
“Did you know Mage Lukas personally?” I asked and every girl caught their breath, because they all knew about the dragon slayer and the inventor of the kracken tube, which was the most revolutionary weapon ever created.
“I did. He and my father were great friends.” Mage Marks said. “I've heard a lot about you from my father.”
“Just from him?” I asked, clearly probing for what else she knew.
“I was warned, quite specifically, to not confront you for any reason, Mr. Drake.” Mage Marks said.
I let a smile appear on my face. “You won't tell me by whom, even if it was by King Rivers himself?”
“Especially if it was by his majesty.” Mage Marks said and looked down at the basic potions book on her desk. “You are going to be very bored in this class.”
“I'll be looking after Vanessa, since she's my partner.” I said. “When that doesn't keep me busy, I would like to examine and possibly experiment with some of the ingredients I see in the bins behind you.”
Mage Marks looked up from the book. “Only Advanced Potions class members...” She started to say and I held up my schedule. “Of course you're taking it.” She said with a sigh, then she waved at the bins. “Go ahead. I'll be talking for the first half hour to give everyone a general overview.”
“Thank you, Mage Marks.” I said and turned to Vanessa. “If you have any questions, just tell me and I'll answer them.”
Vanessa looked unsure, then she glanced at the teacher and saw approval on her face. “Okay.”
I walked around our table and started to walk across the classroom.
“I'm taking Advanced Potions, too!” Lorna exclaimed.
Mage Marks let out a sigh. “You haven't been brewing potions for almost ten years like Mr. Drake has.”
“WHAAAAAT?!?” Nearly the entire class responded.
While Mage Marks explained some of my history, I went to the ingredient bins and browsed in the hopes of finding something good to play with.