The rest of the way to the capital was uneventful- every child in the wagon was being taken from a nearby village to the capital by Meddyg, and all of them saw what happened to Cedric. Saer, Aderyn, and Eos were particularly affected, with hardly any words spoken by any of them. Meddyg tried to keep the mood light, but hardly anything helped.
A half dozen days after they left the village, Meddyg announced that the capital was in sight. The children stirred slightly, but nothing moved the trio. After an hour more, kids were looking out of the front of the wagon- and the gate of the capital loomed over them. The kids were chattering, but Eos was focused on nothing. After an indeterminable amount of time, the wagon abruptly stopped, crossed by the gate’s shadow.
“Name and business in Infally?” An unseen guard asked.
“Meddyg,” he began, “I put in a request, fo-”
The guard swiftly interrupted him, “Meddyg? We’ve expected your arrival; your request was approved after you departed. Do you have anything to declare?” After finishing the sentence, the guard peered into the wagon, “Besides the children.”
Meddyg laughed, “Not in particular, but let the Adventurer’s Guild know that Holstez was raided, and every other town down there as well.”
The guard’s armor rattled as he made some unseen motion, “Ya know, if it wasn’t for the request you put in, I woulda thought you were with those slavers.” He laughed slightly, followed by a chuckle from Meddyg. With the rattling of the gate and the clinking of the guard’s armor, the wagon began to move forward once again.
As they crossed the perimeter of the city, Eos looked outside of the wagon. She saw the gate behind them, farm fields all across the rolling landscape even further than that, dotted with farmhouses, fields, and grazing land. The well-worn cobblestone path had deep treads in it, leading to the gate to their wagon, and beyond. She saw between the farmland and the gate were other houses, packed tightly together.
For only a moment, she marveled at the portcullis of the gate, and the gate’s architectural styling- before, suddenly, buildings appeared on either side of her vision. Four stories tall, the sudden appearance of these stone and timber structures caught Eos off guard, and she turned her head towards the front of the cabin- looking beyond Meddyg, or all of the rest of the children- including Aderyn and Saer- huddled together at the front, murmuring something Eos couldn’t make out.
Rising tall into the sky, a cathedral stood out prominently in the skyline. Colorful stained glass adorned its numerous large windows, and its brown masonry, with elegant buttresses and distinguished spires, stood in stark contrast to the thrifty stylings of the buildings flanking the wagon.
Eos attempted to scan the skyline for any other distinguishing landmarks, however, she couldn’t clearly see anything with the buildings blocking her view. She looked back at the gate, only to see it had disappeared behind a turn Eos didn’t notice Meddyg make.
Eos looked around at the buildings and the people around them. A few shops had signs and glass windows displaying their merchandise- from outfits to gemstones, from cookware to raw meat, from a tavern to a grocer.
One storefront caught her eye. Situated next to an alleyway, the shop lacked any branding whatsoever but had what looked like wands on display.
Perhaps they know where I can learn magic! Eos thought, before looking around the wagon again. Everyone’s attention was still forward facing, so she quickly leaped off the back of the wagon. She attempted to roll onto the ground silently, but rather failed the roll, effectively splatting onto the cobbled road, with people all around looking at her failure. One woman seemed to express concern and began to approach Eos. Before the woman said anything or reached Eos, she picked herself up and dashed into the storefront.
She looked back as she saw Saer turn towards her. She waved at him, and he shot up in a panic- right as Meddyg made another turn and disappeared into the city.
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The store was littered with messily arranged stands and displays, featuring glowing rocks and wands and staves and everything in between. The shopkeep was behind a register, with a dumbfounded look on his face.
“Can I help you?” He said slowly, yet with distinct sternness.
“Yes!” Eos exclaimed, “Is this a magic shop?”
“A magic shop?” He mused, “It could be described as that, I guess… It doesn’t really matter, I assume you’re not here to buy anything, given…” He trailed off, motioning to her and her wardrobe.
“Nope!” She exclaimed with the same enthusiasm, “I don’t have any money on me anyways. But, I wanted to know if there was any place you knew that I could learn magic?”
He scoffed, “I can only assume you don’t have the money to attend a school or get a private tutor.” His conviction with that assumption only grew while looking at her increasingly desperate face, “You only really have two hopes. You can be self-taught at the library, but good luck with that. Or, you can pray to Ayailla to get in at Avivenorlin, they’re holding open applications for the next week.”
“Avivenorlin?! What's that”
“Have you heard of SHARD? School for Historical, Arcane, and Residual Disciplines? Avivenorlin is the overarching college.”
“Didn’t Meddyg study at SHARD?” Eos mused.
“Meddyg did?” The shopkeep asked, “I suppose that makes sense.”
“W-wait,” Eos hesitated, “You know Meddyg?”
“Yeah? Everyone does- He’s totally reformed the hospital system. Ever since he got elected to surgeon general, the hospitals have been treating everyone regardless of status. My brother’s life was saved because of Meddyg himself after my brother was jumped in the alleys.” The shopkeeper explained, slightly confused at Eos’s lack of knowledge, “Everyone has a story where Meddyg saved them or someone they know, he’s basically a hero- and that's even before the reforms took place!”
“I see,” Eos said, despondent for a moment before shaking her head, metaphorically shaking the emotions off, “anyhow, do you know how to get to Avivenorlin?”
“It’s a few streets away- you won’t reach it today before they stop doing rehearsals for today.”
“So, I can’t reach it today?”
“I didn’t say that,” The shopkeep replied as if they were trying to rewrite reality, “If you take the backways, you would reach it with about a half hour to spare- but, it’s dangerous, particularly for... A young girl such as you. A lot of slavers and human traffickers are looking for a prime target like you.”
“Can you give me the way?”
For a few moments, the shopkeep hesitated. “Ya know, I really think you should go back to your house for tonight- I-I have a niece, you remind me of her. I’d hate for something to happen to you.”
“So, are you gonna give me the way or am I just gonna wander the back alleys and get lost?” Eos insisted, “Who knows what would happen then…”
“Fine, fine,” he more than relented, “I’ll just lead the way. It’ll be faster and safer that way.”
Eos was taken by surprise, but not about to refuse the man’s generosity. He locked the door to the shop behind them before they headed into the alley adjacent to the shop. Their trip through the alleyways was rather uneventful, not even seeing another living thing aside from rats and stray dogs. Upon reaching a small doorway, inset into a building with a man standing out and a line of 3 children, all slightly bigger than Eos, the man turned to her.
“Here’s the entrance to the examination room.” He said, “I sh-”
He was interrupted as a child came running out of the examination hall, past the line, sobbing with their elbow covering their eyes, and ran into the adjoining street, disappearing into a crowd of people. “I heard it’s rough in there.” He said.
“Thanks for leading me,” She replied, “I don’t know how to make it up to you.”
“Simple,” He smiled, “Let me know your name. Avivenorlin publishes the names of all who are in the newest class at the beginning of the school year in the public squares. I’d love to know if you got in.”
She told him her first name, and he was content with that little. They parted ways, and she joined the line as the 3rd child in it- the previous first had gone into the examination hall when the crying child ran out, ushered in by the man standing outside, watching the line.
After some time, and three more children running out of the examination hall crying, Eos was ushered into the hall. There was a spotlight in a seemingly otherwise dark room, with the only other exception being a group of men, varying in age but all stern in disposition, transfixed on Eos as she entered the center of the light.