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23: Quill Hunting

Now that Cassandra thought about it, she hadn’t really had much interaction with the students of Quill. Unfortunately, Wayde didn’t count despite his unique apprenticeship. They did, however, have one second year there who had been through this before.

“Alois? How did your faction recruit a Quill last year?” Cassandra asked.

“We didn’t,” Alois corrected, “We were recruited by one. I actually ended up on the team with the majority of Quills. Quills are all incredibly talented and not to be looked down on.”

“They are,” Wayde agreed, thinking of his mentor, “Should I ask Madam Danielle about the situation? Maybe she will have some ideas.”

“Let’s do that,” Cassandra agreed, “I will ask Princess Rosalind for some advice on negotiating.”

“Could Wayde possibly switch courses?” Autumn suggested.

“With this timing I doubt that Osmond would allow it,” Alois disagreed.

Maximus nodded. “I don’t think it is a good idea.”

Autumn deflated a little with all of the instant opposition to his idea, but Keane ended up comforting him with some head pats. Rather than pairs or partners, the two looked like owner and pet. Cassandra decided not to think too hard about that.

With nothing else to discuss and plenty of other things to do, they broke off their meeting. Cassandra was left with a lot to think about between the issue with Nathan and the dilemma of recruiting at least one Quill. First things first, she headed back to her room to pen a letter to Rosalind.

Yuki was resting on one of the armchairs her room had provided and Cassandra found herself talking the situation through with him. Well, he was sleeping so it was more like talking at him. She talked about Nathan and his grudge against Alois, and how she couldn’t afford to waste time with him since she needed to find a Quill to join their faction.

As she spoke, her path of action became obvious. She needed to ignore the situation with Nathan for now and focus on what was important.

Decision made, Cassandra wrote her letter to the seventh princess stating her desire to learn more about negotiating. Once that was sorted she left her room to explore. After all, it was impossible to meet anyone cooped up in her room. Perhaps that was why the halls of Nobility were far busier than usual, full of students on similar missions to her own.

Cassandra even spotted Nathan cornering Iris, her fellow Tear. So much for ignoring him. She was sure he was using the same underhanded tactics to ‘convince’ her as he had everyone else. Cassandra intended to put a stop to that.

“Nathan,” Cassandra called out, “Alois told me the story you mentioned.”

That immediately caught Nathan’s attention and he turned away from Iris. Her impromptu plan had worked, but now she had to deal with him herself.

“Really?” he asked, “What did you think? Or did he paint himself as some kind of hero?”

“Definitely not,” Cassandra denied, “Unless you consider it heroic to purposely try to get expelled.”

That caused Nathan to stop in whatever mental tracks he was forming. “He told you he was trying to get expelled? Why not just withdraw?”

While he had tried quitting later, it was true Alois had taken the extreme method first. Cassandra had to agree it was a rather odd choice.

“Dramatic flair?” she guessed.

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“Surely you aren’t going to form a faction with someone who doesn’t even want to be here,” Nathan judged, looking hopeful.

“Those were his thoughts a year ago,” Cassandra told him, “I won’t pretend he is a saint, but he is the headmaster’s apprentice. Unless that changes Alois is the one I will be working with in the future. The faction system exists to test those dynamics, does it not?”

Nathan scowled. “So you called out to me to brag?” he demanded, “You first years are so full of yourselves. Even that dumb elf who can’t tell left from right rejected me without a second glance.”

“You could try to be a little patient,” Cassandra argued back, “There is still plenty of time until the deadline.”

Nathan shook his head with a sigh, calming down a bit. “You only say that because you don’t know,” he told her, “Any faction that fails to meet the requirements fails the entire second semester and is either expelled or stuck doing odd jobs for the headmaster.”

It was Cassandra’s turn to freeze as she processed the new information. “Alois didn’t say anything about that.”

“That’s because first years aren’t supposed to know,” Nathan replied with a smirk, “See how it feels to be left out because of some rules?”

If she wasn’t meant to know there was no way to tell if he was lying or not. Cassandra felt a sudden thrill of panic as she whipped around to see if Iris had heard too only to see that the elf in question was long gone. She had likely fled the scene the moment she saw the chance. Hopefully Iris didn’t get too lost along the way.

Before Cassandra had even turned back, Nathan had started aggressively trying to recruit a Quill that happened to pass by. She was short and petite, making the average height Nathan seem to be towering over her. Despite the clear difference in height and Nathan’s obvious attempt at intimidation, she did not seem fazed in the least.

“A Dusk this time? Disgusting,” she shot out, fixing him with an incredibly unimpressed stare, “I know I am small and cute, but as I am a dwarf I am far from weak. Quills don’t exist to serve the every whim of the so-called four pillars. Honestly, if I was to choose I would boot the headmaster out of those and replace you stupid Dusks with the Sages.”

“I haven’t even-” Nathan began to protest.

“You don’t even have to,” she told him, “You are going to pretend to offer me good working conditions with some nonsense about salary and pay as if I am your actual servant. Has anyone ever told you there is a huge difference between professional butlers and maids and hired help that just do common chores? We do better in guiding and supporting the next generation than any Dusk ever has.”

Nathan began to grow frustrated at her endless beration. “Quills are servants, so what is the problem of seeing you like one?” he argued back, “Isn’t that exactly what you signed up for, pipsqueak?”

The dwarf rolled her eyes. “Now you are resorting to insulting my height. I must have stung your poor pathetic pride. The answer is no, never. No Quill in their right mind would work for a Dusk, much less an idiot Dusk like you.”

Cassandra stood there in stunned silence, possibly even more shocked than Nathan who had been ruthlessly hammered by her words. Was this what Quills were like? How was she meant to recruit one of them like this? Perhaps some of the others were a little more tame. Hopefully.

Suddenly, she looked over and spotted Cassandra, her face breaking into a smile. “Cassandra! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” she called and trotted over, ignoring the unfortunate Nathan whose pride was fading into ashes, “I am Juliane, apprentice of the Steward of Tear. Would you let me join your faction?”

That was certainly a complete change in attitude. “I am sure my faction will be happy with your application,” she told her, “but this isn’t a decision I can make on my own. You should also meet the others before you decide.”

“I already know about them too,” she replied with a shrug, “Alois has a good reputation among the Quills for a Dusk. The rest of you are first years with no prejudices. With the little kitty around, at least I shouldn’t be judged too much for my height.”

So she had done her research. That was a relief, at least. It was hard to say how the others would react to this sudden application, but Juliane wasn’t a first year so she likely had been doing her research before the faction system was announced. All of the older students seemed to be in such a hurry. Maybe Nathan had been telling the truth after all.

==========

Wayde was surprised how quickly he received Madam Danielle’s response after he sent his letter. The Steward of Heart was a very busy woman and she always dealt with things in the order of importance. The speedy reply meant that she considered whatever she had to say to be very high on that list.

The letter itself was short and to the point. It wasn’t like her to waste time on wordplay, so this was expected. Wayde preferred things this way too. His past future as the King of Tethia had been a horrible experience, but so far his apprenticeship to Madam Danielle had been quite nice. Their personalities had meshed well from the beginning.

“Be cautious when recruiting Quills. No one can destroy you faster than those who run the inside.”

Just like Alois, she warned of the danger involved with Quills. Wayde remembered his first attempt at forming a faction. It had been humiliating, to say the least. That was actually how he had first met Maximus. Had Maximus not already been aiming to be a knight and a general, Wayde might have convinced him his leadership skills were suitable for a king.

There was one more sentence in the message that made Wayde a bit wary.

“Be more cautious of your other peers who do not understand the Quill’s purpose.”

It seemed that some research was in order. The answer to his questions was discovered far easier than he expected, but not in a good way. It seemed that at some point ranks had been formed by the students of the courses of Nobility.

The so-called four pillars were obviously the best. This included the Hearts, Tears, Souls, and Dusks. Sages were considered something like sidekicks. Important but nothing like the pillars. Then there were the Quills. The lesser leftovers that were seen as extras to fill in whatever cracks remained.

Even among those of the higher courses, a Sage with an apprenticeship was worth more than a pillar without. However, this ideal did not extend to the Quills. A servant apprenticed to a servant was still a servant. It was as if the school had bred its students into the snobbish brats of their namesake. Wayde had met the nobles of other countries and they were entitled and proud.

Was it not the headmaster’s job to prevent the students of Tethia’s Nobility from becoming the same?

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