Like Eldridge’s house, the inside of the Court was more beautiful than the outside, although in this case for entirely different reasons. Where Eldridge’s house had been closed in and cozy, this building opened into a grand foyer with a roof soaring to the third floor. It was predominantly made of stone, with columns built into the wall for support. The effect was to create a giant vacuum of space, which drew Elvie off the entrance step, all the way back to the administration desks situated at the rear of the foyer.
Well, it would have if there weren’t so many people lingering. Elvie couldn’t work out what they were doing; some moved back and forth in heated argument, some rushed in and out of doorways, and yet others did their best to overhear conversations they weren’t meant to. They all wore a variety of brightly colour cloaks – different blues, greens, pinks and so on. Amongst the throng, the dark blue uniforms and bell-shaped helmets of the police stood out.
Elvie was forced to push and plead her way through the chaos, until she arrived at the back of the foyer where a woman sat, efficiently shuffled paper across her desk.
‘What’s your name?’ She didn’t bother to look up.
‘Elvie Harper,’ she replied politely.
‘You’re new?’
Elvie nodded, then thought better of it as the woman didn’t look at her. ‘It’s my first time here.’
Hazel eyes flicked up to meet her face, before dancing away. ‘Through the door to my left, and wait there. There are some other recruits about. Find them, and stay together. Definitely no wandering. Somebody will come.’ She returned to sorting scribbled paper into piles.
Elvie paused, curiosity getting the better of her. ‘What is with all the…?’ she waved her hand around to indicate the commotion.
The woman started as her chain of thought was broken, hesitated, made to speak, but stopped her initial response. ‘Don’t worry. Everything will sort itself out soon. We’re just a bit busier than usual. Now head through the door, and wait there.’
Elvie proceeded through the doorway, taking a last lingering glance and the thrall of people.
When she entered the side room, six other students were seated, some chatting to each other, while one with brown hair stared at the floor despondently. He looked up when Elvie entered, tried to give a small smile, then continued his study of the decorative pattern on the floorboards.
Elvie took a seat as some of the other recruits conversed. ‘There’s lots of talk. Have you heard it?’ The girl wasn’t talking to Elvie but she shook her head anyway.
A dark haired boy replied. ‘No. I’ve been here a few days, and you don’t get told anything when you’re a magician in training.’
The girl snorted. ‘Well, I’ve found out.’
‘Found out what?’
‘What’s causing the commotion. Turns out, one of the Masters went and got…’ she made a squawking sound and slashed across her neck.
‘And that’s the truth?’
‘As near as I know. Heard it whispered in the halls as I came through.’
The quiet boy broke his study of the floor. ‘Doesn’t mean you know it. Whispers aren’t the truth. Why don’t you wait until someone announces what happened?’ His words made sense – speculation always led people to the wrong conclusions. Surely nobody had passed the Sentinel on his perch and killed a Master – whoever that was?
They sat quietly, worried by the ruckus they had witnessed outside even if nobody was willing to admit it. Quite suddenly, the black haired boy declared: ‘I’ve heard they do all sorts of tests on our first day, and they’re not pleasant. My brother said so. I’m not sure whether he wanted to give me a fright, or if it was the truth…’ Nobody replied. The boy shrugged. ‘It’s what he says.’
‘Sounds stupid,’ the quiet boy replied calmly, and Elvie appreciated his no-fuss attitude. He was the sort of boy who stood out from the rest, to Elvie at least. He wasn’t loud or brash, and he kept his head down, not because he didn’t have anything to say, or was shy, but because he chose not to.
‘How’d you end up here?’ She asked, trying to catch his eye and make polite conversation.
‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ He must have really liked the floor the way he kept admiring it.
‘I… ’ What did you say to that?
Her awkwardness was cut off as a man swept in from the side room, looking overly bright in a red cloak with complimentary hair.
‘What’s your name girl?’ he asked without any preamble. She gave a dutiful reply. ‘And where are you from?’ Hostility lined his voice, and she really hated the way he called her ‘girl’ like it was something to be frowned upon.
‘I’m from Australia.’
‘Haven’t heard that one before. Where are your chains? He chuckled at his joke and moved on to the next student. Was that some sort of common reaction here? Even Eldridge had referred to convicts when they first met. But clearly, the question, and answer, meant little to the man; more a point of curiosity. Once he’d questioned his way down the line, he turned to all of the students and directed them to follow him into a different room, this one with three small doors leading off in different directions.
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‘I don’t usually do this, but the Court is rather hectic this morning and I’m the best they’ve got. In these rooms beyond me, you’ll find a magician whose purpose is either to test you or orient you to your new life on the Island. Questions?’
Nobody moved.
‘In that case, we’ll get started. Elvie, you’re in room two. You, Flynn, wasn’t it, you’re in three. I’ll be in room one when you’ve finished with these other two rooms. If you aren’t one of those students, sit down and wait until you’re called. Make an issue and there will be the usual painfully monotonous consequences, so sit, don’t go anywhere. Get to it.’
The students shuffled in several directions, some fixing themselves to seats. Elvie’s heart fluttered as she moved into the indicated room.
It did not appear she needed to worry. A dainty woman sat behind a desk, shrouded in a light blue cloak. She had a welcoming smile on her face which Elvie mimicked.
‘Hello, you must be Elvie? I heard your name through the door. I’m Elspeth. How’re you?
‘A little nervous,’ she replied honestly. ‘Kind of overwhelmed by everything as well.’
‘That’s natural. But you’ve nothing to worry about. I’m here to do a simple test that will determine which Great House you enter.’ She gestured to numerous pieces of wood laid across the table. Each piece came with a corresponding card stating their type, and an imprint of the leaf. ‘We don’t decide you see, we’re chosen, or so many like to think. I like to think that we are born with gifts passed down through the generations.’
Elvie recognised Elder. ‘I’d like to be this one.’ Reaching out, she grasped the patterned wood she’d seen in the forest not long ago.
‘Uh – wait!’
Light and warmth instantly flared in her chest at the contact. Not a burning heat but a soft warmth of recognition, as if to say, ‘hello old friend’.
‘I guess there is no need to test the rest. But my oh my, do you think you could at least try to follow instructions next time? Wait, no – at least let me give the instructions… I hadn’t even finished my mysterious speech on the wonders of selecting your House!’
Elvie blushed, despite the lack of malice in her words. ‘Sorry, it looked familiar.’
‘An Elder branch is familiar? Unusual. It’s not like an Elder tree is rare or anything, but most people wouldn’t be able to identify it from a block of firewood. Maybe that’s why there aren’t too many magicians in the House either. Three at last check. Guess you’ll make four. Oh well, it’s the easiest placement I’ve ever done, especially with the strength of that reaction – in the long run, I believe that you just might have made my day the tiniest bit easier. That said, you might want to think about curbing that desire to jump straight in when you’re dealing with magic!’
Chastened, Elvie made her way to the second room where she was given new clothes and allowed to change into them in a small stall set to the side. White shirts with sturdy brown pants weren’t too fashionable in the 21st century, but as Elvie did not have much of a selection in clothing, it was nothing to turn her nose up at. They also handed out a thick woven bag with writing materials, some books, and various other pieces Elvie needed to sort through when she finally found some breathing space.
That left the third room – with Red Man.
Cautiously, Elvie poked her head through.
‘Come in, we don’t have all day!’ Red Man snapped. Elvie moved in response, taking the empty seat. ‘You have everything?’ She nodded. ‘Good, now what Great House have you found yourself in?’
‘Elder.’
Red Man’s eyes crinkled in surprise but he recovered quickly. What did that mean? ‘Your loss. Pity you weren’t fortunate enough to make it into the greatest Great House – Birch. Anyway, moving this right along because one of us still has plenty to do, what do you notice about me that’s different?’
Elvie eyed him askance, taking in the flaming red hair and matching coat. That wasn’t what he wanted her to say, was it? ‘Ah… you like red?’
He opened his mouth, stopped and choked out a cough. ‘I like red?’
‘You’re wearing a lot,’ Elvie explained. ‘Not that you wear your hair I guess…’
‘I’m wearing a lot?’ He repeated, his voice going higher. ‘I guess I did ask.’ He cleared his throat and restored his tone of authority. ‘I don’t like red – it’s my colour. All the Great Houses correspond to a colour. Mine is Birch – Red obviously. But I have secondaries of Apple and Beech and that gives me the light blue and dark blue edging to the cloak.’
Red Man rose to his feet and yanked open a large cupboard door, throwing things around while he muttered to himself. He pulled his head out to look Elvie up and down, double-checked her height and thrust a purple cloak into her hands. ‘Purple for Elder, and the blue and green trim for Ash and Oak. Go on, try it on – when it fits, get back out there and wait.’
The cloak fitted comfortably although it was quite big. The purple cloth nearly dragged on the ground, and the hood and sleeves would swallow up her arms and head if she let them. Nevertheless, it was warm and comfortable as she slipped inside it.
‘It’s a mask,’ she whispered. She’d fit right in with everyone in the same clothing, although she could not recall seeing anyone in a purple cloak so far. Elspeth had said there were only three Elder magicians.
She took her seat outside and waited for the rest of the students to have their turn.
As they re-emerged, she immediately noted Flynn had one similar colour – the blue – but his cloak was completely so, rather than edged with it – that role was taken up by purple and light green. The blonde haired girl who’d spoken earlier – named Jos – came out in a deep red cloak, and a severe looking student with cold grey eyes and short cut black hair – Anander – extravagantly twirled his cloak of yellow. The last two students, Margaret and Kerwell had surprised expressions as they sat; the boy in pink, the girl in soft blue. Anander struggled to restrain his laughter at their conundrum.
Red Man and Elspeth followed the last students out, with Red Man beaming at the matching girl. ‘Good work all of you, especially you, Jos.’ He nodded at his new compatriot in Birch House. ‘You’ve been given your cloak so everyone knows which house you belong to – it’s a bit of a tradition. By the end of the day, you’ll have further clothing delivered to you in the form of tunics, pants and other essentials. We aim to give you everything you need to be comfortable and focus on your studies. A word of warning though,’ his tone dropped. ‘You won’t be getting an endless supply of cloaks. So keep them clean!’
‘Questions? No. Good. Now, you four are going to come with me, and you two,’ he pointed at Flynn and Elvie. ‘You’re going with Ms Schule.’ He walked off without a backwards glance at the students who followed.
Ms Schule – Elspeth – smiled in his wake. ‘Don’t mind him. Sometimes those from Birch House are a little bit unrestrained, shall we say. You’ll need to get used to different personalities while you’re here. That’s the way it is.’
Not sure what to say, Elvie nodded.
‘Now, we’re going to get you settled in your Houses so you feel comfortable and ready to start your new life on the Island. Elvie, Elder residence isn’t open at the moment, so you’re going to bunk down in Ash House until we sort something out.’
‘Why isn’t it open?’
She looked over with a soft smile. ‘It’s complicated, but they don’t have a Master at the moment. Once that formality is taken care of, I’m sure they’ll be open again. For now, you’re welcome to visit, but it will be best if you board in Ash House where there are a lot more students.’