╚╩╩╩╝ Malcolm Kiech ╚╩╩╩╝

I woke to a bright and cheery day. My bed was soft, though not as soft as my bed back in the castle, but I wasn’t complaining. Lying flat on my bed, still under the covers, I sucked in a deep breath of the fresh morning air flowing in through the open window. A comfortable warmth filled my chest as I fully appreciated everything around me.

The heavy wooden door shook slightly as someone knocked on it from the other side. With her cheery voice, Hazel told me that breakfast was ready and left.

Pulling myself out of bed, I stepped over to the wardrobe at the far side of the room and dressed myself. I wore a plain, white top and dark slacks. This was a part of my uniform as a student of the College. Hanging neatly outside the wardrobe was a dark jacket that bore the symbol of the school on the breast pocket. Sliding my arms through its sleeves, I checked my appearance in the large standing mirror beside the wardrobe. The past couple of years had been very generous to me. I had grown several inches and now stood a little over five feet tall. Over the past two years, my hair had gotten redder and was more of a copper color now.

Hazel’s growth, however, was much more drastic than mine. She had grown to be a couple of inches taller than me and, like my hair, hers had changed as well. However, while mine had only gotten redder, hers had gone from her normal cornsilk blond to a thick, burgundy color. The color change was so sudden that Lord Claude thought that she was an intruder and nearly attacked her. The change happened shortly after we arrived here in Dreah and stayed. She welcomed the change and started to take special care of her hair. We suspected that the change happened because of the strange effects of the Dragonstone that had started in both of us.

Convinced that I looked presentable, I turned from the mirror and stared out into my room for a moment. It was small, though cozy. My bed, unlike the one in the castle, fit the room just right. On the other side of the bed, a wide desk and chair sat ready for me to study from the books off of the bookshelf beside it. All this furniture fit just right, like it was made to be exactly this way. Strolling over to my desk, I picked up a pocket-sized notebook and slid it into a pocket inside my blazer. Ready to go, I left my room and headed for the kitchen. Lord Claude's estate was large. It wasn't as large as the castle, but it definitely stood over most other homes. Unlike other noble homes, however, it was quite simple with its decor and nearly every surface was bare of anything. Passing by a couple of servants strolling through the halls, performing their various duties, I made it to the kitchen.

Finally arriving at the kitchen, I was greeted by three faces. Lord Claude waved me over and gestured for me to sit. Hazel was already seated across from me and greeted me with a smile. She was wearing a similar outfit to me, though hers had a long, dark skirt instead of slacks. The other major difference was the bright red cross on her collar signifying that she was a common student. When a person is given the status and title of nobility, they are brought to the castle to perform a ritual that marks them with a special brand on the center of the back, a circle with a vertical line cutting through it. This mark is passed down through blood, so I inherited mine from my father, but Hazel had no noble heritage, so she was denoted a commoner. She was still able to attend the College, but was segregated from the noble classes.

Turning, I greeted the third person at the table. My mother, Evie, greeted me with a warm smile. She finally woke up a little over a month after we arrived here and recovered extremely quickly with the help of some healers that Lord Claude had called in. Her light brown hair laid gently down her back and her crystal-blue eyes shone bright with pride, the change had been astonishing, but I only cared that I had my mother back. After she had woken, and after our long, tear-filled reunion, Hazel, Lord Claude and I relayed the events of the past few weeks to her. She nearly passed out several times, but by the end, she just seemed grateful to be out of the castle, awake and safely with her family. She was incredibly surprised, however, to find that she was being called Lord Claude’s wife. It was only in name, since he had only been referring to her as his wife so that people would allow her to come and go. She was hesitant at first, since she didn’t know the man, but grew more comfortable with the idea as time passed.

Lord Claude was a master with words. He seemingly had an answer to every question that anyone asked. They all came out so naturally too, like he had thought of them all and had prepared in advance. It was nice to not have to worry about people bombarding us with questions. But what was even better was going into town with my mother and seeing others treat her with respect. When they saw her, they didn’t see the poor mother of a bastard prince, they saw Countess Claude and treated her like a noble. She was still a little uncomfortable with this, even after two years, but did her best to act with poise. We all had to do our part to act like nobility, since others were always watching. Agents working for the royal family, known as the Watchmen, were tasked with observing noble families to discern if they were continuing to act in a manner suitable for nobility. If a family failed their tests, they would be stripped of their nobility and forced into military service. You would never know when you were being watched, but there was always a chance, so we always needed to be mindful of how we acted in public.

Quickly finishing our meal, Hazel and I dismissed ourselves from the table. We only had a short time before we needed to leave, and we didn’t want to be late on our first day to school. The College allowed students to attend on the year they turned thirteen. Lord Claude was apprehensive with allowing me to go out where other nobility would attend, but the natural change in my hair color and two years worth of growth should be enough of a change that most people wouldn’t recognize me. The only people I could think of who would recognize me were Olivia and her sons and my father. Most others never really spent much time looking at my face.

Before we could leave, my mother grabbed both Hazel and me and pulled us into a tight hug. She had always feared for me when I was little, but was never able to provide the support and protection that she wanted to. Now, because of Lord Claude, we had all of that and more. However, I was about to leave for somewhere that neither of them could protect me in.

“Please, be safe.” She spoke gently and kissed us both on the forehead before letting us go.

“We will.” Hazel and I both replied, waving as we left.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I watched for a moment as the heavy doors closed, seeing my mother’s worried face disappear behind the dark wood. Honestly, I was probably just as worried as she was. All kinds of scenarios ran through my mind of how things could turn out poorly. Pushing these into the back of my mind, I turned to Hazel who gently smiled at me before we started towards the massive shape in the distance.

The College was a short walk from Lord Claude’s home. Normally, to get to a place like this, we would have taken a carriage, but students were not allowed to. In this place, the only thing that truly matters is your abilities. Your outside heritage only determines which classes you can attend, not where you are able to go, or how you are able to get there. In the College, there exists ten schools of education, each with their own dedicated buildings and staff of teachers. Each student is required to choose one to be a part of, however, they are required to first complete a year of general education. Some students can bypass this requirement if they are able to pass a grueling examination during their enrollment. Thankfully, both Hazel and I were able to pass. I had an easier time since I was able to study with the help of a tutor in the castle. Hazel, on the other hand, had no formal education. She spent weeks studying and preparing and all of this paid off as she nearly got a perfect score. There was only one other student that scored higher.

After walking for a few minutes, we finally arrived. In front of us stood an enormous gate with two, thick wooden gates spread open as countless students of all ages flooded in through the opening. Behind the gates stood three enormous buildings, each of which stood larger than the castle. Surrounding these titanic structures were dozens of other buildings, each more than half the size of the larger ones. The shadows cast by these buildings stretched far behind us as the sun rose over the horizon.

Taking her hand in mine, Hazel and I merged with the bustling crowd and passed through the gate. We had to take extra care to not be separated. Carefully, we moved through the enormous campus grounds as groups of teachers and older students guided us towards a massive dirt field behind the central building. Anxiously, we stood ready for whatever instruction would be given to us. There were at least four hundred other students all gathered together, chatting and bumping against each other without a care in the world.

Finally, everyone settled down and stared forward as an enormous ball of fire appeared in the air. The fireball hovered over to the center of the crowd and pulsed, releasing a scorching heat over everyone in its vicinity. Finally, the orb of flame shot up into the sky and stopped as the wind visibly gathered around it and threw it into the distance where it exploded, sending a flash of brilliant light over everything in the area.

“That was a demonstration of the result of one student’s hard work and dedication.” A woman’s voice boomed over the crowd. “A spell that directly interferes with magic and disposes of it safely.”

At the head of the crowd, standing several feet in the air, was a tall woman with silky, blond hair. This was probably the principal that Lord Claude had warned us about. She was a vengeful woman who stopped at nothing to get what she wanted. His reason for warning us was that she had, in the past, tried to charm him, but failed to do so. From what he had heard, she reacted very strongly to the news that he had gotten married and nearly destroyed her own home. Judging from that alone, Hazel and I did not want this woman to know about us.

“Welcome one and all to the College. All of us here welcome you and hope to see what great things you can do.” The woman called out, spreading her arms wide.

I frowned as the woman turned and looked directly at Hazel and me. A chill ran down my back as a devilish grin appeared on her face before hiding behind a plain expression as she descended from the air. Immediately after the woman disappeared from sight, ten large flags rose into the air. On each of these flags was written the name of the school of education they represented. Hazel and I had decided to attend the school of Battle Magic. The reason for this is because the school of Magical Engineering worked together closely with Battle Magic. Faria often spoke of her friends in the College she called “nerds” who worked with her to develop strange new technology like the Storage Ring on my finger. We could have gone to the school of Magical Engineering directly, but neither Hazel nor I were confident enough that we could last there.

After finding the flag for Battle Magic in the air on the opposite side of the crowd, we pushed our way through toward the line that was quickly forming. However, before I could actually get to the line, a firm hand grabbed onto my shoulder and pulled me back. This sudden action pulled my hand from Hazel’s as whoever had grabbed me effortlessly and quickly pulled me away.

Wrenching myself from their grasp, I turned to see that the culprit was the principal. She stood far taller than most people and looked down at me with a smug grin.

“Principal Leonte, is there something I can do for you?” I asked politely. This was not a woman to make an enemy of. In this place, she had full control over anything and everything.

Her grin widening, she squinted her eyes and bent down to close the distance between us. “I just wanted to see what Callum’s kid looked like up close. I can’t really see the resemblance.”

“Well here I am. I’m sorry, but I would like to sign up for a class before the sun sets, so we will have to continue this at another time.” I excused myself, trying to distance myself from her as much as possible.

She simply nodded her head and turned away, her smug grin still visibly present. I turned to look for Hazel and felt a wave of energy rush through my body as my hair stood on end. Hazel was in some kind of trouble. This feeling was a familiar one that did not bode well. Turning, I could feel exactly where Hazel was and rushed to her side. Frantically pushing past students of various ages, I quickly found Hazel standing in the crowd. She was standing still with her head tilted downward. Behind her was a boy a little taller than her who had his hand on her shoulder and was whispering something in her ear.

I quickly ran over and grabbed Hazel’s forearm, pulling her away. Her breathing was ragged and heavy. Turning to look at her, our eyes met. Her usually round pupils had turned to violent slits. This was something that had started happening after what happened with the Dragonstone. Any time either of us felt any strong emotion, our eyes would change like this and that emotion would become much more intense. Luckily, we were able to sense when it was happening in each other. We also found that being near each other allowed us to better control that emotion. It was good that I arrived when I did, or she may have done something rash.

“I beg your pardon, friend.” The boy called out behind us. “I was having a conversation with this young lady. It was very rude of you to interrupt us.”

I turned to see the boy reach his hand out to Hazel and swatted his hand away before he could touch her. Anything could set her off at this point, and violence of any kind is grounds for expulsion from the College. The boy, having his advances halted by a third party, looked like someone had just rubbed manure in his hair. He had silvery green eyes and greenish brown hair that just happened to look like someone had rubbed manure in it.

“How dare you! I am the son of Duke Manasette!” The boy screamed. Reaching down, he removed one of his gloves and threw it at my feet. “I demand satisfaction!”

Before I respond, Hazel grabbed my wrist and took a deep breath. She had returned to normal, though her face was filled with rage. Bending down, she grabbed the glove from the ground and threw it back at they boy, glaring at him angrily before pulling me away.

“Let’s go.” She spoke softly, her hand shaking as we rushed over to the Battle Magic stand.