The journey to Victor would be a very short one. Some wizards might take issue with the word ‘journey,’ actually, as there was some debate over whether or not teleportation involved movement through physical space. Theo had never guided a teleport himself, so he didn’t have a strong opinion on the matter yet. Teleportation out of an enclosed room seemed to be evidence against the idea of movement occurring, but nobody had yet proposed an alternative mechanism that felt like the truth to him. Either way, though, it was effectively instantaneous.
These thoughts and others occupied Theo’s mind as he stood in the palace’s main courtyard, surrounded by soldiers. The courtyard was always full of soldiers, of course, as it was in front of a major entrance to the palace, but there were more than usual today. Ten royal guardsmen would accompany him to the town of Victor, where his education was to take place.
The teleportation of eleven passengers was no small feat, even if one of them was acting as a magical battery. Five wizards stood assembled, the only ones they’d been able to contact who’d been to Victor before. They were surrounding the travelers now, arranged in a rough circle. King Alexander Laskaris stood apart from the assembled group, arms folded. His face was neutral, and he was observing calmly. He and Theo had said their goodbyes hours earlier, and while Theo knew his father still privately disapproved of his decision, he would never show it where people could see.
“Two minutes to eighteenth bell!” a servant shouted from the doorway to the castle. The assembled soldiers straightened up, coming to attention, though their posture was entirely irrelevant when being teleported. Theo picked up two of his bags, and the nearest soldier held the other two, ensuring that they would appear in Victor along with the people being teleported. He hadn’t gotten around to learning the soldiers’ names yet, other than the commanding officer. It was embarrassing, as he usually made a conscious effort to learn those of people serving him.
The wizards closed their eyes, and he saw three of them moving their lips, quietly reciting focus words. They weren’t necessary, but many wizards found it helpful to recite a scrap of poetry or a children’s rhyme whenever they worked difficult magic. Theo didn’t do anything yet, as he didn’t have the experience to help with the visualization and preparation stage of teleporting.
“Captain Laramie,” Theo said in a low tone, trying not to distract the wizards, “Make sure your men are clear on how we’re arriving. Hands off weapons, no formations. This is a frontier town we’ll be landing in. They’re not used to serious government presence, and we won’t be rubbing their noses in it.”
It was an unusual feeling, giving commands to a woman more than twice his age, one who held a position of trust and authority. Only in the last few years had he been authorized by his father to command soldiers when needed, and he hadn’t gotten used to it. If the captain felt similarly, though, she did not indicate it outwardly. She moved around the group, relaying the orders to those who hadn’t heard Theo.
It was almost time. A landing zone had been arranged with the local authorities in Victor for exactly eighteenth bell. While they would likely keep it clear for hours afterward just to be safe, it would make a poor first impression to arrive late. The wizards who had been speaking to themselves had stopped, now, which meant it was time for Theo to do his part.
Closing his eyes, he reached out with a sense that could never be fully understood by those who lacked it. Its feedback didn’t take the form of a mental image or sound. Instead, it felt like the sensations were appearing directly in his brain, without being filtered by something as crude as an organ, or nerves. He could feel five points of power around him, equidistant, and with varying intensities. If he pushed himself, straining to narrow in on them, he could feel the faint impressions of three more, much closer. Those had to be soldiers, ones with above average magical potential, but still hardly enough to boil a teacup.
That wasn’t the point of what Theo was doing, though. Ignoring the thaumic signatures of the people around him, he expanded the parameters of his magical sense, feeling for a construct. There, forming a dome around the travelers. It felt like a net, but tightly woven and free-standing. That was the shape of the mass teleport spell, and he connected with it in his mind.
A feeling of intense cold ran through Theo as he channeled energy, throwing raw power into the spell structure. It felt like he had suddenly opened and exposed every vein in his body, as a precious and integral part of himself rushed out of him. Theo had almost never used so much magic at once before, and the sensation nearly overwhelmed him.
Finally, he shut off the stream of magic, as easy as closing a tap. The five wizards guiding the teleport probably could have made do without his help, but the extra energy gave them leeway to be less than perfectly efficient. There was no more preparation to do, as far as he was aware. It was just a matter of pulling the proverbial trigger. At any second—
Theodore stumbled as the scenery changed instantly, not quite falling over, but close. The greens and greys of the courtyard and palace were replaced immediately by shades of reddish brown. More subtle things like the pressure in his ears and the ambient sounds also shifted all at once, and his brain temporarily panicked. He had to fight the urge to vomit, and he could hear behind him at least one soldier losing that fight.
Hands on his knees, he breathed, blinking rapidly. He’d been teleported before, but rarely, and usually worn a blindfold and earplugs for comfort. That would be a rather undignified way to appear in a new place, though, so he had to deal with the full unpleasantness of passenger teleportation.
Theo started to straighten up and looked around, noticing that he’d recovered from the teleportation more quickly than almost all of his guards. A thin man in a sharp black suit was walking towards them, his eyes fixed on Theo and a smile painted on his face.
“Welcome! It’s our pleasure to meet new residents of Victor, particularly your Royal Highness.”
The word ‘our’ prompted Theodore to take a better look around. A man with an honest to gods silver star-shaped badge pinned to his chest was leaning against the doorframe of what looked like the post office. A few feet away from him on the wooden deck stood a young woman, several years younger even than Theodore, arms folded across her chest. The man in the black suit hadn’t stopped talking, and Theo refocused on his words.
“—Sheriff Fellows, and I. I’m the mayor here, but you could probably guess that. If you’d like to come to my office, I can get you something to eat or drink. I can also show you around town, make sure you know where all the excitement’s at. The Sheriff will guide your friends here to the residence we’ve made available for them.”
It seemed Theo had missed the man’s name. That was highly unfortunate, as it would be impossible to avoid spending some time with the mayor, at least on this first day. His father wanted him to get better at politics, and ignoring the top local official would not be a savvy choice.
Theo smiled. “Yes, of course. It’s lovely to meet you. Perhaps you could walk with me toward the university, and I can get a limited tour on the way?”
The mayor blinked, but nodded quickly. Theo turned to the guardsmen who had come with him, who he noted had followed his instructions to be non-threatening. Their rifles were slung over their shoulders, and though they stood upright and alert, they were not in ordered lines.
“You were all briefed on this, I’m sure, but it’ll be good to review the situation now that we’re here. You are officially on special assignment, which is distinct from active duty. You will be at the disposal of the civilian governments in this town and province, unless their instructions interfere with your primary mission. That mission is my personal protection. None of you, however, are to step foot on campus without invitation by myself or a staff member, except in the event of a true emergency. That rule is for your safety, not my comfort. The university is the property of an unpredictable arch-wizard who is, at best, ambivalent towards Lysian authority, and has a reputation for extreme violence.” Theo could see the mayor wince at that description out of the corner of his eye, but it was true, if a bit dramatic. “Captain Laramie has full discretionary authority over what actions and assignments are necessary to maintain security and readiness. Outside of those responsibilities, you are all free to act and live as normal citizens of Victor. Am I understood?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” said ten soldiers in near-perfect unison.
“Good. You heard the mayor. Go with Sheriff Fellows to your lodgings.”
The sheriff pushed off of the door he’d been leaning against and started walking slowly down the road. He was an older man, Theo saw, somewhere in the area of sixty years old. A pistol was holstered at his belt, and he wore a wide-brimmed hat. The guards followed him away, matching his pace.
The mayor opened his mouth, then paused, visibly remembering something. “Oh! Your bags. Emily, dear, would you fetch my horse? He’s just out back. Thank you.”
The girl who’d been standing near the sheriff made no reply, but walked away, around the post office.
“So! The University, hmm? Quite a place. You know, I was hardly your age when Ms. Tarynn built it. In a way, it put us on the map. Not that Victor doesn’t stand on its own, of course, but how many towns can boast an institution so renowned as to attract men like yourself?”
“Can you?” Theo asked suddenly. “Boast that, I mean. I’m sorry, that must have sounded rude. I suppose what I’m asking is, how much is the Fourth University actually a part of Victor?”
It was a blunt line of questioning, perhaps, not Theo’s best work, but he had to know the lay of the land before getting any more involved in the town's politics.
The mayor’s smile widened, apparently unbothered by the challenge. “There is a significant relationship. The students often spend money in town, and some of their more hands-on educational opportunities involve assisting with various civil projects in and around Victor. In return, we provide a bastion of civilization while also maintaining the privacy and autonomy of the University. Ms. Tarynn isn’t nearly as difficult as you may have heard, Your Highness. I’ve found her to be quite reasonable, myself.”
The girl who’d been asked to bring the mayor’s horse appeared around the corner of the building, animal in tow. The conversation stalled as Theo began strapping his bags onto the saddle. When he finished, the mayor was at his side, and began guiding the horse down the main street, in the same direction that the guards had walked. It occurred to Theo that in the early evening, the wide road outside the post office should ordinarily not be empty. The mayor or sheriff had probably asked people to stay away at the time of their arrival.
“University’s at the far north end of the town,” the mayor announced. Theo couldn’t tell whether the man was just trying to get close to the prince, or if he was actually such a talkative and friendly person. “There’s a pass to the west, lots of folks work and live on the land up through there. Some try farming in the valley, but there’s not much good soil for it. The biggest portion of folks who live in the town proper are miners, though. There’s a silver operation not two leagues west of here, and way out south is a coal site that’s been around as long as anyone can remember.”
True to his word, the mayor was giving him as detailed a tour as he could while limited to walking down one street. The man hardly paused for breath as he spoke.
“We’ve been having a bit of a boom lately, between the silver and the school. Plenty of work for any man who wants it, and that means opportunities for them who want to provide comforts to all those new folk, too. That’s Jerry’s, there, for example,” he pointed to a building which indeed had a sign hanging out front that simply said ‘Jerry’s.’ It was well-lit, and Theo heard voices from within. He guessed from context that it was a bar, but the mayor had moved on.
“That’s one of the general stores, the more recent of the two. Up ahead, we have the blacksmith and farrier…”
They continued in this fashion for a while. Whenever there were no buildings worth pointing out, the mayor would switch to filling Theo in on the town’s history. Most of the time, Theo didn’t even have to fake his interest.
As they got closer to the campus of the Fourth University, its visual dissonance with the rest of Victor became ever more dramatic. The main street of Victor was lined with one and two-story buildings; only the inn had three floors. Everything was constructed of wood or brick, or some combination of the two. The highest buildings of the University, in contrast, looked to be nearly fifty meters tall and were colored grey and white, suggesting materials that should have been almost impossible to get in large quantities out in Victor.
After several minutes of walking, the shops and houses of Victor gradually thinned out, and eventually they came upon a sign planted in the ground, low and wide. On it was painted ‘Fourth University’ in large white letters, below which was scrawled a smaller phrase, ‘Adapt or Die.’
“Well, this is where I leave you. Technically speaking, I have a standing invitation to visit the campus, but it’s best not to push that kind of thing.”
The mayor, who had unfortunately not repeated his name during their walk, stuck out his hand. Theo shook it and smiled, finding that he liked the man despite his initially overwhelming friendliness.
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“I appreciate you showing me around and having me as a guest in your town. If anything comes up that needs royal attention, contact Captain Laramie. She has a direct line to me.”
His guide nodded happily, and as Theo took his bags from the horse, slinging two over his back and carrying the others in his hands, the mayor swung himself into the saddle and rode at a solid pace back towards the center of town. Theo walked towards what looked like the center of campus, not sure where he was expected to go.
Half a minute after he left the mayor behind, a voice came from his right.
“Freshie! Over here!”
Theo spun to see a shirtless man in his early twenties waving at him, with white-blond hair and a wide grin.
“Prof said eighteenth bell for you. You’re late! Well, it’s fine. I’m supposed to take you to your dorm, seeing as there’s no convenient signs up. Mind following me?”
“Sure, thanks. I’m Theo.” He held back from giving his last name, on the off chance that the older boy hadn’t been told. An amused glance from the blond told him it was a vain hope.
“I’m Marcus. Senior year, starting tomorrow.”
Marcus set off towards one of the two tallest towers, and Theo trailed behind. He was glad that Marcus was facing the other direction, because that made his distraction easier to hide. Theo was used to seeing beautiful people; he lived in a palace, but he hadn’t been prepared in that moment, and the attraction was momentarily overpowering. He had no idea why Marcus had just been hanging around without a shirt on. Maybe that was just part of campus culture? It didn’t seem like he’d been exercising, his shoes and trousers weren’t right for that.
Theo regained control of his thoughts well before the two boys made it to the foot of the tower. It was embarrassing, and frankly unlike him to be so easily thrown. He supposed that the disorientation of the teleport was lingering longer than expected.
“This is the first-year male dormitory. You were walking directly at West Hall when I saw you, that’s where Tarynn teaches her classes. You’ll be going there in the morning, I expect. Kitchen’s in there too. Everything else, you’ll figure out later. See you around!”
“Yes, thanks. I’ll see you.”
As Marcus left, Theo looked up at where he’d be living for most of the next year. His earlier guess at the building’s height had been an overestimate; from close up, it looked more like thirty meters. Still, the Fourth University was famously selective, and Marcus had said that only first year males lived in this tower. It seemed impractically large for that purpose, whether thirty meters tall or fifty.
Theo shrugged mentally. Standing outside wouldn’t answer any of his questions. He turned the handle on the heavy wooden door and pulled, finding it to be unlocked.
Inside, he found a cozy-looking room with rounded walls, filled with tables, chairs, and a couch. There was a spiraling staircase in the center of the room, leading up through a hole in the ceiling.
Two other people were already standing there, talking to each other, as well as… a fox? The animal was curled up on the couch, making its size hard to gauge, but it was far larger than any fox Theo had ever seen. It didn’t move a muscle when Theo walked in, but both of the people in conversation with each other did, turning their heads to look at him.
“Hello. I’m Theo, I’ve been told I’m supposed to live here,” Theo said, using the time to get an impression of the other occupants of the room. One was a human, well-dressed, with brown hair, dark eyes, an average build, and tanned but naturally light skin. He looked like half of all the men in Lysia, which wasn’t a bad thing but might make him hard to pick out of a crowd. The other was an elf, and one who clearly didn’t care to hide it. His ears protruded prominently from his shoulder-length black hair, he wore a knife at his belt, and while most of his clothes looked factory-made, which meant human-made, his shoes were sewn leather. It was the elf who responded.
“Hi. I’m Kanatase, this is Arthur.” His Lysian was very good, almost unaccented. That wasn’t particularly shocking; there were elves who could speak dozens of languages, but Theo noticed it anyway. “I’ve been here since last night, and Arthur arrived very recently. An hour ago?” The elf, Kanatase, looked at Arthur, who nodded and cut in.
“An hour ago, yeah. Our rooms are right up those stairs. I’ll help you with your things?”
“I’d appreciate that, thanks.”
Theo passed two of his bags to Arthur, and they climbed the stairs, Kanatase waiting below. The second floor was a small central platform with five doors arranged in a circle. Two of the doors were ajar, clearly showing rooms which Theo’s housemates had already claimed.
“Take your pick of the other three. It’s just us, for now at least.”
A quick check revealed that all the rooms were identical, as he had expected. Each had a small bed, a desk and chair, a closet, plenty of empty floor space, and a window. The last of those features confused Theo; he was almost certain the tower’s walls had been solid and featureless from the outside. He picked a room at random and set his belongings down, then retreated down the stairs with Arthur.
Kanatase was standing in the same place they’d left him, hands clasped behind his back.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t make full introductions. This is Sose,” he pointed at the fox, who opened its eyes at the sound of its name. “He is my companion. I don’t mean to be rude when I say this, but humans sometimes fail to understand the significance of that. He is not a pet. If it helps, you might prefer to think of him as if he were my brother trapped in the body of a fox, and treat him as such.”
Theo had heard of animal companions before. In stories, sages often befriended intelligent and powerful beasts. Those were old stories, though, and this was the first time he’d seen one in person. He nodded.
“It’s good to meet you, Sose.”
The fox huffed air through his nose in reply.
“I think it might be just the three of us, you know,” Arthur piped up from his position at the base of the stairs. “I checked the schedule for the trains; there was only one due to come in after mine, and it was from a small town. Don’t know how you got here,” he said, looking at Theo, “but with classes starting tomorrow, I’d bet on you being the last man to arrive.”
“I was teleported into town,” Theo said, keeping his voice casual. Both of the other boys raised their eyebrows at that, but they kept any thoughts to themselves for the moment.
“We walked,” said Kanatase simply. Theo didn’t know what to make of that. Most elves didn’t live in cities, so it was possible that Kanatase was already in the area and hadn’t walked too far. Weighing the odds, though, it seemed unlikely. There were good reasons that the area around Victor wasn't well-populated, and there was no cause to believe those were different for elves.
Arthur wiggled his hand in an unsure motion. “Well, those are both unorthodox, so maybe I’m wrong. Either way, I’m sort of tired of hanging out in this tower. Do you guys want to come and explore with me a bit? Maybe find the girls?”
Theo didn’t have a problem with that, and neither did Kanatase, so the trio left the tower and began wandering around campus. Sose didn’t follow.
“I only know one other student for sure. Cameron Baird, she should have gotten here earlier today, if she kept to the schedule I was told,” Arthur said, swiveling his head to look for anything interesting.
“Cameron Baird? She’s—” Theo cut himself off, wheels spinning in his mind. Boy around his age, named Arthur, knows the Urizite paragon… “Gods, and you’re the other one, aren’t you! Both of the living paragons at this school. Damn, if I had known that, it would have been so much easier to convince Father to let me come.”
Arthur nodded. “Yeah, Arthur Kay. Sorry, I wasn’t trying to hide that. It just felt weird to bring it up out of nowhere.”
“I knew,” the elf commented. “Some spirits that are more sensitive to the Light have been complaining about you for the last hour. You’re very bright, apparently.”
Arthur raised his arm to inspect his skin, then lowered it, looking embarrassed.
“To spirits, right. Um, can you tell them I’m sorry? And I’ll try to figure out how to be less…bright.”
Kanatase nodded, taking it seriously. “I’ll let them know.”
Within a few minutes of walking around the lush campus, the boys came upon a tower that was visually identical to theirs, but colored white instead of their grey.
“You think this is it?” Arthur asked the group.
Theo stepped forward. “My best guess, yeah. Can’t hurt to try.”
He knocked thrice on the door, hard. After about five seconds, it opened just enough to let a dark-skinned girl with shoulder length hair stick her head out.
“Are you instructors?” she asked quickly. At their shaking heads, she frowned. “Students, then. Well, whatever, come inside, quick. Two of my roommates just met, and we could really use some help keeping the peace.”
Shouting could be heard from the room within, now that Theo focused on it. The door swung open wide, and the three boys hurried into a common area that was once again identical to theirs.
The scene inside was chaotic. The Voice of Urizen, who he’d met twice before in formal settings, was pinned to a wall by some invisible force, shouting. Her sword was drawn and glowed with Light, and with her other hand she seemed to be slowly but successfully pushing away from the wall. A tall girl had a hand out toward the paragon, and seemed to be the one restraining her. The sound of rushing wind howled through the room, which was likely the source of the paragon’s inhibition. Something looked off about the girl with her arm out, but Theo didn’t have time to examine that thought.
Between Cameron and the stairs, someone who looked like nothing he’d ever seen before was slowly walking toward the paragon, hands at her sides. Her skin was white, far too white to be human, though that wasn’t the deciding piece of evidence for that question. From the pale girl’s head, on the other side from where Theo was standing but visible above her hair, sprouted a thick, curled white horn. She wasn’t talking, but the small girl pulling her arm was. It was difficult to hear her over the yelling of Cameron, but she seemed to be pleading with the horned woman to stop moving.
The girl with the horn kept moving forward, though at a snail’s pace. She was making no attempt to dislodge the talking girl pulling her arm, and in fact seemed to go out of her way to avoid touching her or jerking her arm around. The one who’d answered the door ran in front of her and joined the skinny girl in both verbally and physically trying to stop the pale one from walking further.
Nobody except for the person who’d let them in seemed to have noticed the boys’ arrival. Some of what Cameron was shouting had become intelligible as they got closer and could focus more easily.
“—don’t understand! She’ll kill you all! I don’t care if you help me, go get Tarynn or something, just let me go! That’s a demon, I said!”
Theo’s eyes snapped back to the pale girl. None of the drawings he’d seen of demons looked quite like that, but she also didn’t resemble any of the mortal races, and that horn certainly looked wicked. He reached out with his magical senses, feeling a buzz at the base of his skull. There was so much Light in the pale girl that it was almost impossible to focus on her. A demon, then, like the paragon had said. There was something else there, though.
Around him, the situation was deteriorating. Cameron had torn herself away from the wall, and had planted her feet, forcing herself forward through the gale. Kanatase had drawn a knife, but hadn’t attacked anyone. He seemed like he hadn’t decided who he should be fighting yet. Arthur was nowhere in sight. Still at the door behind Theo, maybe?
Theo focused, though it was difficult, the magic equivalent of squinting at the sun. It wasn’t all Light, there was a thaumic signature; it was faint, but it was there. He tried to feel around it, getting the shape and intent…
“STOP! Everyone stop moving!” Theo shouted at the top of his lungs. To his surprise, almost everyone obeyed for a moment, looking at him. Although the girl commanding the wind didn’t let up, its intensity lessened, reflecting the fact that Cameron had paused her struggles.
“There’s an enchantment on the demon! She’s supposed to be here. It tracks her emotions, I think, maybe her location too. That has to be Anne Tarynn’s work, there are no wizards in the Hells. She’s a student! You’re trying to kill a student.” He directed the last words at Cameron, who was staring at him open-mouthed. There was still anger in her expression, but surprise and hesitation matched it. Her sword remained tightly in her grasp, although she didn’t advance when the wind stopped holding her back.
“Gods,” said the girl who’d opened the door, “What the fuck? Who does that?”
“I do that! I’m the Voice of Urizen, I destroy demons! Just because the first one I ever see happens to be, I don’t know, tamed by Tarynn, that’s not my fault!” Cameron snapped, emotions still warring on her face.
“No, I get that, kind of,” the girl with the short hair replied. “I meant Tarynn. Assuming this guy’s right,” she flicked her hand at Theo, “who in the hells— sorry, I mean, who just puts a demon in a dormitory and doesn’t tell anyone? That’s completely insane! No offense.” That was to the demon, who did not look offended. If anything, she looked sad, or disappointed maybe, though Theo couldn’t imagine why.
“I’m very confused! Why are people fighting? What’s a demon, and why is that bad?” the girl who’d been using the wind asked.
Now that things had calmed down somewhat, Theo could clearly see what had registered as unusual about her before; her feet weren’t touching the ground. She hovered maybe a centimeter over the floor, with no apparent effort or concentration. Beyond that, her proportions were just slightly off. Her arms and legs were just a bit outside of the normal human range, even for her considerable height.
“How do you not know…never mind, that’s not important. A demon—”
“A demon is one of your classmates,” a voice declared from the back of the room. Everyone swung their heads to see a gnomish woman in a maroon suit standing on a chair. It had to be Anne Tarynn, and Theo was sure that she hadn’t been there before.
“Fights between students are nothing new to me. That you idiots didn’t even wait until your first day is unusual, but unfortunately I can’t say you’re alone in that either. What I’m amazed at, however, is how you all acted during that fight. Unless I’m mistaken,” she raised her hand and began counting on her fingers as she talked, “one of you resorted immediately to deadly force, one attempted suicide, two tried to use their human muscles to hold back a powerful demon, one stood and watched, and one tried to resort to deadly force, but failed to decide who to use it on. Two of you acted more or less reasonable, though I’ll note that for one of those, that was an uninformed accident. Did I miss anything?”
Nobody dared to speak. Theo was trying to figure out who she was talking about with each of her descriptions. Some were obvious, but others were entirely opaque. Who had tried to commit suicide, for example?
The gnome wasn’t done. “As for your question about me, Miss Dan, if you can’t answer it yourself within the next few weeks, I will be sorely disappointed. Now, I’m going to leave in a moment. You will not fight again. I’m feeling lenient right now, mainly because you’re all still uneducated fools, and that’s not your fault. If this happens again, I will not be half as understanding. There will be punishments for those responsible for this, but they will come later. Goodbye.”
A second later, she was gone. The air was still and silent as people reflected on what had just happened, or maybe just didn’t want to be the first to talk.
“Well, I’m going to bed,” said the small girl who’d been pulling the demon’s arm. True to her word, she walked to the stairs and climbed them without another look back.
“Put the sword away,” ordered the girl who’d let them in, with impressive confidence. ‘Miss Dan,’ Tarynn had called her. The paragon complied, sheathing her weapon at her right side. She, too, went for the stairs, taking an inefficient route to give the demon a wide berth.
Arthur finally talked from his position near the door. “Ah, the three of us came here to say ‘hi.’ The mood’s kinda…yeah. I don’t know about these guys, but I think I’m going to get out of here. I’m Arthur Kay, though. Nice to meet you ladies, though I wish it were in better circumstances.”
“Erica Dan,” the dark-skinned girl introduced herself.
“Theodore Laskaris.” Arthur didn’t react, apparently having already guessed, but Kanatase and Erica looked at him in shock, and in the elf’s case, betrayal. Still, he followed along.
“Kanatase.” He didn’t give a last name. Maybe he didn’t have one? Theo had heard that some elves didn’t.
Neither of the other two girls spoke, though it seemed like they had followed the conversation just fine. The silence was drawn out as everyone waited for them to give their names.
“Okay then,” Arthur said after several long moments had passed, “I’ll see you all tomorrow, I guess.”
With that, he walked out the door. Theo followed him, planning on sleeping instantly despite the early hour. There had been plenty of excitement that evening, and all he wanted was to rest.