Tenthé woke from his nap. Having trained himself to wake up every hour or so to check what was going on, he pretended to sleep as he listened and peered around with his magic sight. Everything was okay, except for the gigantic creature watching him. It was so large that only part of its face fit into the room. He could see through the walls, kind of, and its body disappeared into the gloom below. He opened his eyes and waved to it. The creature looked a little surprised and hesitantly returned his wave, with only the tips of its fingers appearing above the floor, moving slowly back and forth.
Not unaccustomed to waking up in strange places, Tenthé got up and started poking around. He found the toilet, used it, then dug through the drawers in the bathroom. He didn’t recognize much, but there was a nearly new toothbrush on the countertop, so he brushed his teeth and took a drink from the faucet.
Next, he rummaged through the office, finding some candy, which he ate, and many sheets of parchment with glyphs printed on them. He also discovered a few secret drawers and panels in the desk. They all contained dust and cobwebs, a few had more parchment, and one held a few blocks of heavy metal. No pennies, though. Maybe he would tell Tomas about what he’d uncovered. Or maybe not.
No-one had appeared while he rummaged, so he took the time to do a more thorough search and discovered a vent grate behind a cabinet. It came off with only a little heaving. He bent down to listen and could hear the faint murmuring of voices. Of course, he could probably just go out the door and look around, but he was still in his infirmary gown, which would stand out. On the other hand, he did like to crawl through small places and since the gown was already dirty…
The biggest problem came from the wards. He was sure they talked to the tall man, Tomas. And, even if he got past them, the Guardians were watching. At least the big one was.
It didn’t seem too worried as he poked about, but he’d deal with it if anything changed. On the other hand, the wards were a kind of unintelligent magic trap. Now that he had some time, he could probably figure them out. He had a thought: maybe the College gave classes in sneaking? If so, would they teach him how to fool wards properly? Until then, he’d see if his current skills were good enough.
Looking down the duct, he saw triggers, traps, and wards everywhere, mostly stuck in place, but some moving about. Occasionally, one would pass through a duct wall, drift around, and then disappear through another wall.
This was going to be fun! Challenging, but fun.
He had never really come to understand all the details, but by playing with his magic sight, he could make different things happen. After some attempts at trying to mix what his green and blue eyes saw, he found a way to look through the walls and see the drifting spells before they got to the duct. Fortunately, they didn’t move very fast, although there were a lot of them. After watching for a while, he figured that, if he was careful, he could avoid setting them off.
When he examined the fixed wards, he found that not all of them were hooked into the magic that probably went back to Tomas. If he ate those, he could use the space to get around the others. Maybe, as he got deeper into the ducts, there might not be so many. He’d see.
For Tenthé, this was long-range planning.
He decided to go for it and canceled the solo wards, then returned to the couch, waiting for the screaming and yelling to begin. Glancing up, it wasn’t obvious, but he was sure the huge creature was grinning.
He waited for a few minutes.
Nothing. So far, so good. He crawled into the duct, speeding up and slowing down to avoid the drifting wards. A few times he thought he’d set them off, but apparently, a little touch once in a while was ok. He proceeded on, mostly on fingertips and toes. He had been right; once he reached the main ducts, there weren’t any fixed wards, just a few moving ones. In one direction he could hear people talking, so, for lack of any other idea, he went that way. As he neared the source of the voices, he found it once again necessary to bridge the occasional ward, but fewer than in the office duct. He ended up behind a grate where he could sit and peer into the room on the other side.
He recognized the nurse, the soldier guy, and Tomas, but everyone else was new. The nurse was talking about him! His favorite subject. He listened in.
Hey! They’d been spying on him!
What, a lot of scars? That was normal. How could you learn without getting scars? Maybe fixing them was something that the College could do for you.
So, they were going to pick friends for him? Perhaps that was another reason for College; they matched people up. He would have to see what his new friend was like. Hey, to have a friend again! That would be okay. Not counting Crazy Soo, the last one he’d had was Lausanne. They’d watched each other’s backs until she got big; then she went off to work at the casino. Once they were apart, she’d forgotten about him. He was used to it. Just a thing that happened.
He might call Crazy Soo a friend too, but with her, it was hard to tell. She really fit her name. They’d run together and still talked when he traded with her gang, but frankly, he could never figure out how her mind worked.
The people started talking about boring stuff, not him, so Tenthé returned to the office. After exiting the duct, he replaced the grate and pushed the cabinet back into place. He turned around and found he was staring right into the eye of the huge ward creature.
Tenthé heard a rumbling, a deep, deep sound. It took a while, but he figured out that it was the creature trying to talk. He concentrated to make out words.
“Are you… a… bad guy?”
“No, I’m just a kid. Who are you? You are the biggest thing I’ve ever seen. Are you a god? Are you in the Guardians? I just heard I’m going to go to school here, at least maybe. My name is Tenthé. What’s yours? Are you my spy?”
The creature looked at Tenthé and started to bobble up and down. “Ha… Ha… Ha…” Tenthé figured out that it was laughing. That was funny! He laughed too.
“A lot of words… from a little man… I am… the Guard… I watch… Not many… can look big enough… to see me.”
“Aren’t the Guardians guards?”
“No… and yes.”
“Huh?”
“I am… the Guard. They are… the Guardians. Any one of them… can guard, but they aren’t… the Guard, only… a guard.”
Tenthé was confused. Not unusual.
“Okaaaay,” was what he came up with. He had learned to just go with things someone a bazillion times larger than you said. Instead of pursuing it further, he changed the subject.
“I met the Turtle God. I thought he was a big body with big magic, but you’re a huge body and big magic. Do you know him? Ah, it? The Turtle God?”
“Yes… show me… your arm.”
Tenthé pulled up his sleeve and showed the tattoo to the Guard. It brought its eye right up to it.
“The Turtle God… said he put his mark on someone… I expected that… you would be taller.”
“Do you go over to his temple, or does he come here?”
“Don’t be… silly. We… are close enough… we can use a spell… to talk to each other.”
Tenthé didn’t know what that meant. Magic communication was unreliable, so messages were usually sent by runner. To be able to use a spell would be handy.
“Will the College teach me how to do that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can’t you see everything going on?”
“Not… everything. And a lot… of it… is boring.”
“Oh-oh. I don’t like boring.”
“Ha… Ha… Ha… I don’t think… you… will be boring. So, I’ll be… watching.”
Tenthé could hear some voices in the hallway. He turned back to the Guard.
“Can I talk to you anytime? Um, without everyone knowing.”
“You want… to keep secrets? Maybe even from… me, your old friend… the Guard?
“Well, yeah!”
“Ha… Ha… Ha…” Its head withdrew, leaving just one eye at the corner of the ceiling. “I am… always here. Or, at least, somewhere. Ha… ha.”
Tenthé heard a brief conversation outside the door and, after some time, Tomas entered alone.
“Good. You’re up. We need to outfit you with proper clothes and start your admission process. I have sent for a student to help you settle in. It is a bit late, but my position has its perks.”
“Can I get my stuff?”
“Ah, yes. Right. I think it’s all in the infirmary. But first, follow me.”
He turned and left the room. Tenthé followed.
Because of the hour, only a few students were about to stare at the odd sight of a very young kid in a dirty hospital gown accompanying the Head of the College. Ignoring the gogglers, Tomas led Tenthé up and down several staircases and through more hallways. Eventually, they ended up beside a doorway with a panel of frosted glass displaying a few embossed symbols. Tomas threw the door open and strode in. Tenthé followed.
The room was small, with a counter at one end. Tomas walked up to it and rang a bell, loudly. There was an indecipherable yell from somewhere, and after a while, a younger man sauntered in from the back.
“Yes? What do you want?” he said rather abruptly.
“I would like you to outfit this boy with an entire kit, suitable for a beginning student of his age.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because I asked?”
“And who are you?”
“Headmaster Tomas.”
“Ha, good one! He wouldn’t come down here for the likes of him.”
“You’re treading on thin ice, my young man.”
“Yeah, uh-huh. I’m in the union.”
Tomas concentrated for a few moments. Energy flowed out of a few amulets in Tomas’ pockets. A large hulking gargoyle manifested, as well as a floating black thing that sucked in all the light and made everything go gray.
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Tomas looked at the clerk. “The union can’t do anything if they can’t find the body.”
The clerk wasn’t impressed.
“Get rid of your silly show. I’ll do my job and you still have to prove that he can pay for his kit. No money, no stuff.”
Tomas sighed and walked out. The two creatures remained, the gargoyle looking like he was going to tear through the counter and clerk at any second. The other just floated and moaned. Tenthé watched. He wouldn’t want to be in the clerk’s shoes. Although the guy wasn’t wrong, he was still a jerk.
A short time later, Tomas came back carrying a sheaf of parchment and followed by a lady wearing a Magister’s cloak.
She spoke. “Ah, William, William, William. What are we going to do with you? How long have you worked here, and you don’t recognize the Headmaster? I’m afraid you’ve done it now.”
She looked at the creatures Tomas had summoned.
“You know, no-one except a senior staff member could summon something like these things in here. You are truly dense.”
Tenthé broke in. “Excuse me, ma’am, I think you got it wrong. What would happen if he gave away stuff without knowing who he was giving it to? He could have been nicer, but he’d lose his job if he wasn’t careful.”
Tenthé was far from stupid. He knew the clerks of the world ran everything. It would mean talking to the guy here every day or two so he wouldn’t forget, but that was how things were.
Everyone except the ghost looked at him. Tomas and the gargoyle with no real expression, the lady with interest, and the clerk with disdain.
The lady spoke, “I suppose you must be Tenthé. I’m Magister Weddig of the Admissions Office. I was supposed to meet with you after you were done here. Aren’t you the little diplomat?”
Tomas broke in, putting one parchment sheet on the counter.
“Here’s a requisition form for a set of suitable clothes for immediate use, and this is a list of items to send to his room, which is noted on the form, and here is the request for his food card. Note the signature at the bottom of each form. Do you recognize that, at least?”
The clerk took his time to examine the forms. He eventually looked up.
“Yeah, it’s the Headmaster’s. If you’d shown me that first, we wouldn’t have had any problems.”
Tomas sighed, “Okay… Um, um?” He glanced at Magister Weddig.
“William.”
“Alright… William. Now that you have the documents you risked your life for, can you see about getting an outfit for the boy, here?”
“Certainly, sir.” He looked over at Tenthé, examined him from head to toe, and ran off.
Magister Weddig spoke up. “Yes, yes, I know. William’s a bit of a petty dictator, but he’s fairly adept at running the stores and keeping track of the things the students need. Your boy’s no slouch either. That was good politics to say what he did.”
“Yes, it was.” Tomas looked at Tenthé, who couldn’t read his expression.
William returned in a surprisingly short time with a bundle of clothes.
“Here you are. Underwear, socks, shoes, pants, belt, shirt, vest, tie, and a cloak. Sign here, please.”
He held out a stick to Tenthé.
Tenthé simply stared at him, having learned long ago that if someone handed you something, you didn’t take it.
“Go ahead. Take the Gods damned form and sign it!” William suggested forcefully.
When Tenthé remained unresponsive, Tomas sighed, shoved in, signed the documents, scooped up everything, and passed the pile to Tenthé.
“Here, sort this out and put on the uniform, then we can get you to Admissions.”
Tenthé stripped off his gown and started to puzzle out the clothing. He had seen underwear before, but never used it himself. The same for shoes and socks.
Tomas exclaimed, “NOT HERE!… Oh, never mind.”
Tomas and William watched Tenthé while Magister Weddig stared at the wall. She seemed to be finding something amusing.
Tenthé mastered the underwear, then slid on the pants. He then slid them off and put them on the other way around. This placed the buttons at the front, which was certainly more practical. He added the belt and then put on the shirt, which Magister Tomas helped button. The tie and vest he stuffed inside his cloak. Cloaks, he knew. This one was really good, with lots of pockets.
Socks and shoes were a challenge; he’d never worn either. This time Magister Weddig assisted him. He watched while she tied the laces and hoped he would be able to do what she did. He would probably have to do a more basic knot; the thing she did looked complicated.
Tenthé stood up and then examined himself as best he could. This was by far the most clothes he had ever worn, but everything seemed ok. If worse came to worst, he could wear just the cloak, like normal.
“So young master, is everything to your liking?”
“I dunno, the cloak’s pretty nice.” Tenthé took a few steps. The shoes were strange, but he could deal with them. The underwear rode up a bit. He might have to ditch that. He wiggled and pulled it back into place.
At this, Magister Weddig and William snorted. Tenthé looked up at Tomas.
“What now?” he asked.
“Well… Magister Weddig will accompany you to Admissions and see about enrolling you. Afterward, we’ll have someone show you around and take you to your room. Classes haven’t started yet, so you’ll have a few days to figure things out. If there are any issues, come to my office. My secretary will help you if I’m busy. I’m sure, though, that you’ll find life here to be rewarding.”
He turned to Magister Weddig. “We can talk in the morning, Thecla. I’ll see you for breakfast.”
With that, he walked off.
Magister Weddig looked at Tenthé. “Follow me, young sir. Let’s pass by the dining area and scare up something to eat, then we’ll head to Admissions.”
“Are we going near the infirmary? I want to get my stuff.”
“Yes, it’s next door to Admissions.”
After another journey up and down staircases and through various hallways, Tenthé was totally lost. Finally, he asked, “How do you find your way around? I can’t figure it out.”
“Oh, I forgot. The professors and senior students can access the wards, which tells them where they are and where most other things are currently situated. Younger students have areas they have to stay in, and there are maps at various locations. As well, every student receives their own. I advise you to learn as much as you can, but the College defenses change the paths every day, and you need to keep track. You’ll get used to it.”
“We’ve walked a long way. Is this one of those places that are bigger inside than out?”
Magister Weddig laughed. “I see how you could think that, but no, we’re traveling through a number of the buildings without having to go outside. The map will help and you can look through windows to find out where you are.”
She led Tenthé to the small dining room, where she packed a box with food for him while he grazed and put more in his pockets when she wasn’t looking. They exited, and after taking a number of stairs and hallways that left Tenthé even more lost, they found themselves in the front foyer. Tenthé looked over at the infirmary, but there weren’t any lights on. He glanced at Magister Weddig.
“Don’t worry,” she told him. “Once we finish, you can get your stuff.”
They entered one of the other rooms. Tenthé assumed it was Admissions.
The inside was normal: a medium sized room with lots of chairs, a desk, and a door that led off to somewhere else. A lady sat at the desk.
“Tenthé, this is Katarine Spinwebbe; she’s who you’ll deal with if you have problems. It’s our job to help you integrate into life here. For some, it takes a while. Come into my office.”
Katarine smiled. She was very pretty.
“N-nice ta meetcha,” Tenthé mumbled shyly as he walked past.
He followed Magister Weddig into her office, which was well appointed. Not as fancy as Tomas’, but still quite respectable. Not that he had a lot of experience, but he wasn’t stupid.
Tenthé sat in the chair that faced her desk and fidgeted. The Magister handed him the lunch she had packed, so Tenthé munched while she did whatever she was doing.
She pulled out some parchments, then shuffled them around. It took a while. Eventually, she sniffed, and recited, “Welcome to the Magister’s College of the City Proper. This institution has had many names over the years, but this is what it’s called at the moment.
“We are glad you have chosen this College, rather than those in other cities, and we are sure you will find it very fulfilling and rewarding. Remember, hard work is its own reward! You may not be familiar with how we operate. The details will be provided to you in the form of a booklet. I advise you to study it; the wards are not forgiving. Let me re-iterate, welcome!
“Now, tomorrow we’ll send you for testing, to see what classes will benefit you the most. You are free to select your own curriculum if you want. Most houses have a specific set of requirements for their children, and we try to accommodate them and provide the student with a well-rounded education to guide them as they travel along their path through life.
“But tonight all we’ll do is fill out the documents necessary to register you in this institution.”
She pulled out a sheet of parchment and placed it in front of Tenthé. He looked at it, and at her.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“Oh, this one is just so we can get a little information about you. Where and when you were born, who your family is, some idea of what your parents do. You know, the normal details concerning your background.”
Tenthé fidgeted even more.
Magister Weddig watched him for a few moments. “Hum, alright, I guess you’re not our typical case. Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll ask you the questions, you give me the answers, and I’ll fill in the form for you.”
“Yeah, that would be okay,” Tenthé mumbled. The Magister took the parchment and picked up one of the sticks on her desk.
“Your name is Tenthé? What is your last name?”
Tenthé thought for a moment. “Maybe… hand-of-the-Dreamer?”
“Well, a classic name,” she wiggled the stick on the parchment, Tenthé could see it left marks behind. Oh! That was a stylo! They weren’t that common in the Mission district, since most people used chalk to make signs and stuff.
“So, when were you born?”
“I don’t know.”
At this, she scowled.
“Wait! I’m ten, everyone says so.”
“Okay, any idea of what day?”
“At the Mission we all have our birthday on Birth Day.”
“When is that?”
“Uh, I don’t know.”
“Well, I can find out.” She started mumbling to herself. “Um, today is the… yeah, and ten years ago would be… uh-huh, so about… then. I’ll add the day later. Okay!
“Where were you born?”
“Don’t know. Probably the City. I can’t remember anything else. Hey! I could ask Bear. He might know.”
“Oh, who is this Mr. Bear?”
Tenthé laughed. “Bear’s my friend. He took care of me when I was small, but he’s pretty much just a head, now.”
“Uh-huh… well, let’s put down “The City”. That okay?”
“Yeah.”
This went on for a while, Tenthé mostly answering “I don’t know” and then the Magister would make up something that sounded good. Eventually, they completed all the forms.
“That has to be the least information I have ever put on an admission form. No home, no parents, no relatives. And no money.” She seemed a little sad about the last point.
“You realize that we asked at the Mission about you, and nobody remembers you?”
“Yeah. That’s how it is.”
“You talk about the Mission like you’ve been there. I’m not sure why you fell through the cracks. Anyway, this will do, for now.”
She gave him back the sheet and the stick. “Sign here.” She pointed to a line. Tenthé took the stylo and scribbled a mark.
“Well, you were supposed to sign above the line, but that’s okay.”
Tenthé was proud of himself. He could write!
Magister Weddig started piling parchments in front of him. Even some that were bound together.
“Here’s your itinerary for the next few days. You need to go to the infirmary to be checked out. Although, in your case, it’s sort of redundant, but we have to follow procedures. Here’s a map and the College rules. Oh, also a Calendar.”
She added another bound set of parchment.
“What’s a Calendar?”
“Oh, it’s a book that lists all the classes and electives. Read it over!”
Tenthé had a revelation! The bound parchments were books! He’d heard of them but never seen one. Or if he had, no-one told him that it was a book.
He thought about it and realized that he had seen books before! When he was treasure hunting.
The Magister stood up. Tenthé grabbed all of his parchments and followed her out of the room. He avoided looking at Katarine.
Magister Weddig spoke out as they walked past.
“We’re heading over to the infirmary to see if we can find Tenthé’s belongings. I’ll be back. Tenthé, just leave your stuff on this chair.”
He dropped everything where she directed, then followed her across the foyer. The Magister put her hand on the infirmary door, mumbled something, and it opened. As they entered, the Magister waved, and the lights came on.
“Look for a box. That’s what they usually put the patient’s things in. It should be here somewhere.”
Tenthé found it under the bed he’d been in. It had all of his stuff.
“Here it is,” he called out, and dragged it out. Bear was on top. Tenthé grabbed him and gave him a subtle hug. Bear was still asleep, but that was okay. They could talk later. Under Bear was his cloak, folded for probably the second time in its life. Tenthé noted that his ordinary possessions had been searched, but that the hidden Pockets were undisturbed; a testament to what he’d learned in the Pool of the Assassins. He finished rooting through the box and put his old cloak and the loose things into the pockets of his new cloak. He’d finish transferring everything else once he had some privacy.
At the bottom of the box were all of his knives.
As he grabbed them, Magister Weddig spoke up. “Well, aren’t we the little warrior? For now, I think it best that you keep those in your pockets. Fighting in the College is strictly forbidden, and the Guardians keep a close watch. You wouldn’t want to earn demerits on your first day.”
Reluctantly, Tenthé put everything into his pockets and stood up. There were a few colored stones left in the box, but they were kid stuff. Now that he was in college, he didn’t need rocks to play with, anymore.
Well, maybe. He scooped them up and tucked them away as they exited the infirmary. Back in Admissions, Magister Weddig informed Katarine that she was heading to bed, and to lock up after the guide came for Tenthé. While he was waiting, Tenthé took the time to strap his knives on and practice drawing them just to make sure they wouldn’t snag on his new clothes. He was quite aware that Katarine was watching.
~~~
The Guardians had followed the entire interview with great amusement. They were quite familiar with Tenthé, and none of them could think of an occasion when two people had failed to communicate as thoroughly as these two. And, for some of them, that was a very long time.
Bets were made.