To be honest, I had no idea the value of the letter given to me by Saville and Spencer. I was there when Saville penned the thing, Spencer only gave his assent and his personal seal and signature along with Saville's. Many a night we sat down at the local taverna, back at the docks of Sorez. It was sometime after that ill-fated....'expedition' (I'll get to that bit later). I always found myself at their company in the taverna, exchanging stories, drinking refreshments or watching the nightly festivities that are so famed back home. It was in one of these conversations that they threw my way the possibility of me attending Lonethorn, their alma mater. Uncle Arnao often spoke of opportunities of advancement and to satisfy myself (as well as the old man) I agreed, (after much convincing from the two scholars).
Besides, part of me needed to get away from Sorez at the time. Reasons relating to said ill-fated 'expedition'.
By that point in our association, I had become somewhat of an "assistant" to Saville and Spencer. I hauled their equipment, purchased necessary supplies and guided them among the near vicinity of the coasts and hills of Sorez and so on and so forth. Not that different really when I worked under my uncle as an aide in his law office, only main difference being I spend much of my work on the outdoors.
Aside from a few eccentricities and quirks, the two scholars never struck me as renowned academics with near-celebrity status among their peers. I never knew the extent of their reputation nor the prestige they garnered until my arrival at the Uplands territories. But it was more glaring now more than ever. The administrative staff of the university were quite apologetic of my current predicament but it was clear to all parties involved that the fault not lie in them but rather on the duo that is Saville and Spencer. Both of whom, unsurprisingly, were not on University grounds at the time.
"A symposium at Monarey, they've been away a week now," Explained Mister Gyl, the Administrative Officer IV of the Student Admissions Office. We walked a leisurely place as they guided me to my temporary accommodations at the University. The streets were wide and empty, save for a few custodial staff maintaining the manicured lawns scattered thereabouts. We were accompanied by the young-ish woman, who introduced herself as one Mildburgh Leynham, while the other clerk, a Mister Siward Bell, manned the desk.
"I never figured them for being famous, Saville and Spencer," I admitted to both staff members, who walked in front of me. Miss Covington was right that the grounds of Lonethorn made for a fine stroll at such a clear day. The roads where cobbled and the silence afforded by the mountain was serene. Situated above and around a mountain peak, Lonethorn's main roads gave the illusion of straightness by a subtle curve in them, accommodating to the peake's terrain. Stairs are inevitable in a mountainside topography but as we crossed the thousand acre property, I saw little of them, as if the architect felt the need to avoid them. Two main roads diverged from the front gate, one assigned as ingress while the other as its opposite. They coiled around the mountaintop in a subtle spiral meeting and conjoining into lanes at the very top. Buildings dotted the sides of the main roads: Staff housing, dormitories, society lodges, science buildings, commerce buildings, official residences and so the list goes on and on.
"All accounted, there are about a hundred and eighteen structures within the property," Mister Gyl proudly stated. "And that includes the Abbey and the Castle as well, our pride and glory."
I glanced at the domineering structures at the very top of Lonethorn. Even here they appeared as if they are a singular entity. Castle Lonethorn. The main hub of knowledge and the University's heart and soul. It's spires jutted out of the sky and the obsidian stone it was built upon looked as if the stonemasons quarried it from the very night itself. Even in the full bright glory of day, the castle was stuck in perpetual darkness. It was beautiful just as it is terrifying to behold. I found my throat dry just looking from where I stood.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
When I resumed our walk I found both Mister Gyl and Miss Leynham where looking at me with expressions of delight. Delight at my awe of the Castle Lonethorn.
"Professor Saville and Professor Spencer are among the recognized authorities of their respective fields," supplied Mister Gyl, our conversation resumed as this time we walked alongside a great field with seats carved in the stones that bordered it. We would pass two more just like it with minor differences in style and architecture but in essence remained the same. My thighs and joints began to ache and I wondered if both my guides were faring any better. Maybe they have, having been in service here for a while. "Between the two of them, they've about publish a dozen different books on groundbreaking topics and discovered just as many sub-studies," piped in Miss Leynham. "Admittedly though, they are rather infamous as well among the administrative staff, all for a different reason."
"Present situation being an example?" I said in jest. Miss Leynham chuckled and nodded, while Mister Gyl lips were set in a straight line, muttering something about an incident with the daily time records.
Oh I was more than enjoying myself then, my heart felt like swelling atop the clouds and lying beneath a radiant blue sky with naught a worry in the world. The complete left-hook of my admittance into the university filled with such joy that it blinded the age old senses I carved into my soul. Looking back at things, I should have known better of life's amorphous nature, one moment at the top of the world, the next down on the dregs in the chasm of despair. But I am getting ahead of myself.
"Here we are, Berwycke Hall," declared Mister Gyl with bit of pomp and ceremony. I had to restrain my jaw from dropping once more. I had expected some out of the way dormitory or lodging house for the staff. Berwycke Hall was no such thing. It was a well maintained manor estate complete with a small garden and fountain on the outside. The property seeped of antiquated privilege with its high pillars and pitched roof and stucco walls. Ivy creeped an entire wall till it was greenery. It stood three stories high and was absolutely lovely.
"Of course, once we process with your full admission you'd be assigned your own dormitory room but it would take a few weeks to see it through," Mister Gyl explained, "Until then Berwycke Hall would be your temporary abode. We hope it would suffice."
The way he said it made it seem like it was a meagre thing, as if I was a given consolatory desert by a restaurant for a mishap on my order. "Oh, it is more than sufficient," I said, amazed and grateful. "This is...Well...Thank you. It is more than enough." Both staff looked satisfied with my expression. Miss Leynham produced a key from her pocket and stepped into the red-bricked pathway. Flowers of varying hues and complexity lined the shrubbery to the sides of the path. Chrysanthemums, larkspurs, pansies and hibiscus were in full bloom.
"I hope you don't mind, what with the irregularity of your situation, we have to house you with other habitants that call Berwycke Hall their residence. So far, you would have to make quarter with several other people. It is a temporary situation. I hope you understand," Miss Leynham explained politely.
I didn't mind of course. Not half-an-hour ago I was more than content at missing my shot at advancement in life and preparing my journey back to Sorez. Living with other people would be a necessary and livable grievance as I live out the next couple of years of my life here in Lonethorn. Though the idea of my own private abode was such a nice thought.
I said my goodbyes and thanks as both Mister Gyl and Miss Leynham had a prior appointment set up, both regretting not being able to introduce me to my new housemates: A brother and a sister who have stayed the term, with others coming in in the encroaching new term. "Seems they are not home at the moment, which is a shame, Helewis and Hervey are an utter delight. I'm sure you'd get along," Miss Leynham added as she departed. She handed me my keys to my room, which is commodious (along with a privately attached lavatory). When they left, I plopped down on the gargantuan mattress and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Thing is, joy and elation are just as intoxicating as any alcoholic beverages, they dull the senses. As much as I tell myself to smother any feeling of optimism, I could not help myself. I am human still. I fall and stumble every now and then of my preconceived principles and notions I set myself to. I completely trusted and believed the assessment of Miss Leynham of the character of my new housemates: the siblings Helewis and Hervey, with more tenants on the way.
I ought to have known, with my history with peers my age, that I seldom get along swimmingly.