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Twinborn: The Royal Academy of Astraeus
Chapter 9 - No Ambiguity About It

Chapter 9 - No Ambiguity About It

“My name is Grace Ashdowne, though when you are attending school here you may refer to me as Professor or Lady Ashdowne. I am the Assistant Headmistress here.” A tall, middle aged woman was standing in the twins’ hospital room. Her well-kempt hair was mostly brown with several gray streaks forming in it. She wore glasses, and had the kind of face that made Aeric and Elsie know just how seriously she took her position at the academy.

“A pleasure to meet you, Professor Ashdowne,” Elsie said. “I’m Elsie Stormrider.” She attempted a small curtsy, but her point of view through Aeric’s eyes made her realize how uncoordinated it looked.

I’ll need to practice that.

It’s not like we’ve ever curtsied before. Also do people even curtsy on this world? Maybe she thinks you’re just unsteady on your feet after being in a coma.

Aeric realized that Professor Ashdowne was looking at him expectantly. “Aeric Stormrider,” he said with a smile and held out his hand. She shook it mechanically.

“You might be interested to hear that hand shaking is an Earth custom we did not previously have here,” the professor said. “It’s one I’m well familiar with, however, having worked with plenty of summons from your planet.”

Now who’s the one getting new customs wrong?

“Ah,” Aeric said. His hand dropped to his side. “That is good to know.”

“Since Lady Marcelle has given you both a clean bill of health, the headmaster and I have decided it’s time to move forward with placing you in the Academy. I’ll be escorting you to dinner where you’ll meet your new roommates. They will then show you to your dormitories where you’ll be living.”

“About that,” Elsie said. “I was thinking, I mean Aeric and I were thinking we wouldn’t mind just continuing to share a room together.”

Professor Ashdowne gave her a contemplative look. “I’m afraid our dormitories here are separated by gender. I’ve been told by previous summons that this notion is not always held the same way on Earth. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate your request even if you are siblings.”

“That seems a bit restrictive,” Aeric said.

“For non-summoned students attending the academy we allow the option of living in off-campus housing. It is common enough for students to stay with their families or other living situations nearby and make their way to the academy for classes as needed. However, for summoned students we prefer to keep you nearby. We’ve found that this tends to give you a better chance to succeed in your new lives,” the assistant headmistress said.

Aeric and Elsie shared a glance. “This may be an awkward question,” Aeric said, “But what makes us required to enroll in your academy anyway? Couldn’t we just strike out on our own and find our own place in the world?”

Professor Ashdowne frowned. “The Royal Academy of Astraeus, which as you might guess is located within the Kingdom of Astraeus, is the absolute pinnacle of academic learning. Students from around the Kingdom, and even some from neighboring ones, have studied for years of their life just to have a chance at passing our strict entrance requirements. You would so easily pass up the opportunity that others would have paid a fortune to obtain?”

“Not exactly, Professor,” Aeric said. “It’s just that we have no context for any of this. For all we know the Astraeus Academy could be the equivalent of some out-of-school suspension rehab program for troubled students and we’d have no way of knowing the difference.”

Professor Ashdowne’s expression hardened. Elsie quickly jumped in. “I think what my brother means to say, Lady Ashdowne, is that we’re just feeling so overwhelmed with all the new opportunities presented before us. Of course it is our greatest honor to be enrolling in the Royal Academy of Astraeus,” she emphasized the full name of the school with a glare at her brother.

The professor glanced between them for a moment, then continued. “Regardless, I do not believe the Kingdom takes kindly to summons who choose to run away from our school. You do not, for example, have the required documentation to be citizens of Astraeus. As such you would be subject to whatever punishments await those who would enter our Kingdom without going through the proper steps first.”

“We understand,” Elsie said.

“We’re happy to enroll here,” Aeric said.

“Then that’s settled. Now before we go I’d like to give you both a welcoming present.” Professor Ashdowne presented two black bags that she had brought into the room with her. They had straps like backpacks, and gold trim decoration matching the professor’s uniform. “These special bags have been enhanced with Sylvan magic to increase their internal volume.”

Aeric and Elsie took the bags from the professor. The bags were slightly heavier than they would have guessed. Aeric opened his bag and shoved his entire arm in farther than what should have been possible. “It’s bigger on the inside!” he said.

“Indeed. One branch of Sylvan magic involves spacetime distortions, which has allowed some creative artificers in our world to create things like this. You will find that while the bags are larger than they may first appear, you will still feel the full weight of everything you place inside of them.”

“I love the golden trim around them,” Elsie said.

“Then I think you’ll enjoy the school uniforms that you’ll find waiting for you in your dorm rooms,” the professor said with a smile. “You’ll also find an allowance has been provided to you should you find yourself in need of anything else. It’s in the front pocket of your bags.”

The twins opened the bags’ front pockets and found printed paper money in various denominations. A quick count showed that the total value was exactly three hundred notes each. The center of each bill had the face of a man wearing a crown.

“That should be enough to get you started. I encourage you to check our jobs board in the academy’s entrance hall to find ways to earn more notes.”

“Thank you so much!” Elsie said.

“Yeah, thanks,” Aeric added.

Professor Ashdowne smiled, satisfied with their gratitude. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to the dining hall. It’s a short walk, but we won’t arrive too late after dinner starts if we leave now.”

“Lead the way,” Elsie said brightly. They stood up and walked down the hallway.

“Take care, you two,” Sapphire called from the front desk as they walked through the foyer. Lady Marcelle had already headed to dinner early, as she needed to grab a bite to eat before starting her second sleep phase for the day.

“Bye, Sapphire,” Elsie said. “Thank you so much for everything.”

“Of course, I’m always happy to help,” Sapphire said.

“See you around, Sapphire,” Aeric said. He did not make eye contact with her for very long. Sapphire smiled politely at him.

Assistant Headmistress Ashdowne led her two newest students on their first walk through the grounds.

---

“This is Hammersmith’s Wall. It was previously the curtain wall of the castle when it was originally built nine hundred years ago,” Lady Ashdowne said, gesturing to the two-story stone wall they were approaching. The street they were on led to a large entrance beneath the wall. A portcullis was raised to its highest position. A few other people were walking along the street, most of them heading in the same direction, though not all.

We’re literally walking through history.

Just not our planet’s history.

The professor continued her tour. “And this is known as Eleanor’s Gate. The wall and the gate are named after two of the earliest summoned students of the academy. Hammersmith was a summoned Astral Architect who specialized in building fortifications. Eleanor, on the other hand, was a summoned mage specializing in Firefin magic.”

Lady Ashdowne gestured to a placard mounted on the wall to the side of the entrance. An old metal relief portrait of a woman’s face turned in profile was placed above a metal inscription. The professor explained, “This was the site of a decisive battle against the Enthralled in the early days of the war.”

“The headmaster mentioned they have been around for centuries,” Elsie said.

“Almost one thousand years ago, actually. This academy was created first and foremost to be a means of training officers in the war. Sadly it has not always been the safe haven that we enjoy today. The earliest generations of students paid for this land with their blood.”

Lady Ashdowne gazed with compassion at the woman’s face on the metal placard. “During one such harrowing conflict, Eleanor the Steadfast held this gate against all odds, ultimately sacrificing her life to keep her fellow students safe. The academy remained standing without any damage to the main castle itself. You will find that the portcullis is lowered for one full day each year in her memory: on the day she was killed.”

The twins stood at her side solemnly, not sure what to say.

Are we expected to give our lives like that too?

I don’t know. I’m just glad we’re here now instead of so many years ago.

The moment passed and Lady Ashdowne continued her tour. The twins looked up at Hammersmith’s Wall as they approached the gate. It certainly looked like what they would expect to see in a medieval fortification. Arrow slits, battlements, and machicolations ran along it in both directions. They could see two watchtowers further down the wall: one in either direction.

“Of course now Hammersmith’s Wall is only the last out of four defensive walls that surround the town here,” the professor explained. “If the Enthralled have made it here they’ll have already done more damage outside the castle than they could yet do by reaching it. At least in terms of construction costs.”

“Do you fight the Enthralled often?” Aeric asked.

“Here? No, we haven't had anything reach Brightglen in decades. Not since my first few years of teaching here actually.”

“Brightglen?” Elsie asked.

“That’s the name of the town that surrounds the academy,” the professor explained. “Anything outside of Hammersmith’s Wall could be considered part of Brightglen, though you’ll find plenty of academy buildings have been built out there as well, such as the new medical ward you were staying in. The territory within the wall is all owned and operated by the academy proper.”

As they passed through Eleanor’s Gate they finally had their first glimpse of the academy’s keep itself. The path leading out of the gate converged with two others to form one very wide stone road. There were buildings on either side of the road leading up to an enormous stone building: a beautiful gray castle complete with its own crenelated turrets, steepled towers, and a defensive outer walkway. There were no windows on the ground level, but several of the upper floors held larger windows, chimneys, and even a few balconies.

Aeric whistled in appreciation. “Now that is a piece of art right there.”

“I know!” Elsie said. “It looks straight out of a fairy tale.”

“I’m glad to see your appreciation for our fine institution,” Lady Ashdowne said with a small smile. “Welcome to your new home.”

---

Amos Eagleye wanted nothing more than to eat dinner in peace. He usually took his food outside of the dining hall back to his solitary dorm room. The castle had several stations set up where you could leave your dishes after a meal. Someone would be around to collect them eventually.

His usual routine had been ruined, however, when Lady Ashdowne had instructed him to sit at a particular staff table during dinner tonight. He felt out of place, eating alone up at the front of everyone on a table typically used by teachers or other staff at the academy. A large folded piece of paper with the word Reserved written in fancy lettering was resting on the center of the circular table.

No one else had joined him yet, so Amos tucked into his food alone while occasionally glancing out over the rest of the students mingling in the main dining area. The loud background noise of people chatting as they ate dinner made it so Amos almost didn’t notice someone call out his name.

“Hi, Amos!” A sweet, feminine voice said from behind him. He nearly choked on the terkin drumstick he had been eating when he looked over his shoulder. The small game hen they had on this world was close enough to chicken that he often selected it over other options. He grabbed a napkin and wiped his face.

“Lyric?” Amos said. “Why are you here? This table is reserved.”

“I know,” Lyric Thistlewood said. “It’s reserved for me, silly!” She walked around the table and sat down across from him with her own plate of food. It was almost entirely filled with selections from the dessert bar.

“It’s reserved for the new summons. Go bother someone else.”

“Aww, but bothering them isn’t as fun as bothering you!”

“I don’t care. Leave me alone.” He ripped another bite off the drumstick and glared at her as he ate it.

“Do you want to hear what happens to you tonight?” Lyric asked.

“No,” he said through his mouthful of food.

“Not even a tiiiiny little hint?” she said in a pleading voice.

“Not interested,” Amos reaffirmed. He took a drink from his cup, enjoying the tanginess of the spiced crownberry juice. “And your predictions usually don’t come true anyway. I’ve never found a toad in any of my boots no matter how many times you’ve said it will happen.”

“Fine then. But I’m telling you anyway! You are about to be the second-luckiest boy in this school.”

“That prediction is either too ambiguous to be verified, or else too specific to be something a Diviner can even know,” Amos said.

“No ambiguity about it! I can say with confidence that you’ll be the second-luckiest boy in school because I saw that you’re about to be assigned to be roommates with my once and future boyfriend.”

“Okay, first off you probably found out from Professor Ashdowne that I was going to be the new guy’s roommate. Or you could have just guessed that since I was at this table. Just like I can assume since you’re being so insistent on sitting here that you’re going to be the new girl’s roommate.”

Lyric smiled in confirmation. She placed a spoonful of pudding in her mouth and then let go of the spoon, biting down on it to make it stay in place.

Amos sighed at her antics. “And second off… actually no. I don’t even care why you’re calling the new guy your boyfriend.”

“That’s because he is my boyfriend,” she said through gritted teeth around the spoon. Then she pulled it out of her mouth clean. “Or at least he will be once he gets to know me better. I can’t wait!”

“I’m so happy for you,” Amos said with as much sarcasm as he could muster. “You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t give you a standing ovation for your amazing and clearly very important use of your class’s abilities. Why does being your future boyfriend’s roommate only make me the second luckiest guy anyway?”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Oh that should have been obvious. I’m disappointed in your lack of deductive reasoning, Mister Top-of-the-Class. Clearly the luckiest boy in school will be the one who gets to date me: your new roommate, Aeric!”

Amos set his elbows on the table and leaned his face into the palms of his hands. Lyric simply smiled and continued working on her desserts.

“Why did the Spark even summon you here?” Amos asked into his hands. “You chose such a ridiculous, unreliable class and all you ever do is goof off and ignore what you’re being taught during our lessons. You’re going to get someone killed one day when they need your help in an engagement with the Enthralled and all you can do is warn them about stepping on frogs or whatever random thing you come up with that day. We’d all be better off if you just dropped out and went to some Royal Middle School of Astraeus instead where you belong.”

“Mister Eagleye,” a stern voice said. Amos looked up to see Professor Ashdowne standing with a boy and a girl at each of her sides. They were all staring at him while holding their plates of food. “That is no way to talk to your fellow student. I expect you to apologize to Miss Thistlewood immediately.”

Amos looked over at Lyric. She looked like she was barely holding back tears. “My sincerest apologies, Lyric,” he said immediately. “It was wrong of me to say that. Will you please forgive me?”

“If I must,” Lyric said with a small sniffle. “Though your words were as a dagger piercing my heart, I shall take the higher ground and forgive you.”

Lady Ashdowne nodded. Lyric grinned and stuck her tongue out at Amos when the professor wasn’t looking, then resumed her hurt expression once again. The young man and young woman who had accompanied the professor just stood there, clearly not knowing what to do.

“Lyric Thistlewood, Amos Eagleye, it is my pleasure to introduce to you the two newly summoned students to our academy: Aeric and Elsie Stormrider,” said Professor Ashdowne.

“Hi, friends!” Lyric said. She made eye contact with Aeric, smiled, and patted the chair next to her in invitation to sit down.

“How do you do,” Amos said with a nod. He didn’t feel any need to pat any chairs; let them sit where they please.

“You’re the girl from before,” Elsie said in recognition. “The one who helped me with my hair.”

“Whaaat, how crazy that we would run into each other again!” Lyric said. “I genuinely thought that was the only time I’d ever see you in my life.”

Elsie and Aeric exchanged a glance, then Elsie sat in the chair that Lyric had indicated was for Aeric. Lyric’s smile diminished slightly. Aeric sat between his sister and Amos, and Professor Ashdowne sat on the other side of Lyric. There was one open seat on the circular table between Amos and the professor.

Professor Ashdowne looked up towards the ceiling and mouthed a few words without speaking anything out loud. A few seconds later she looked back down at her present company and picked up a fork and began loading it up with some vegetables on her plate. “Well, dig in. Don’t let it get cold,” she said.

Looking like a pair of deer in headlights, the twins grabbed their utensils and followed suit.

---

Have you noticed how much this Lyric girl keeps staring at you?

How could I not notice? She isn’t trying to be subtle about it at all.

If it’s a problem I can ask to be roommates with someone else. I don’t want us to feel uncomfortable just because they randomly assigned me to room with this creepy girl.

She’s not creepy. She just maybe keeps her big purple eyes open a little wider than other people normally do. No need to make waves asking for things to change before you’ve even properly met her.

She has to be a summon. People here don’t normally have eyes that big, do they?

If she is then she’s not the only summon who bumped up a few size settings during customization.

Oh quiet, you. You’re the one who chose that anyway.

I think we both did, in a way.

It was a few minutes into their meal. Most of the conversation at this point had been about their dinners. Apparently what the twins had thought was chicken was actually something called terkin. It tasted the same though. Elsie enjoyed the spiced crownberry juice, while Aeric discovered a nice warmed, honey-milk. They thought it was odd that they’d have different tastes, but decided it must be more of a physical difference after all.

Different bodies have different taste preferences I guess.

It’s weird, but if I focus on the body you primarily control then I actually find that I like your drink better, compared to if I have my body drink it.

I wonder if taste is the only physical preference we’ll find that differs from one body to the other.

“Amos was our most recently summoned student until the two of you arrived,” Professor Ashdowne said. “And Lyric was summoned about a year before you.”

“Oh!” Aeric said.

“I didn’t realize you were from Earth,” Elsie said politely.

“Just for the record, I’ve never actually confirmed that I was summoned from Earth,” Lyric said.

“I’m from Earth,” Amos said. “Lyric was probably summoned from a kindergarten near Alpha Centauri.”

Professor Ashdowne set down her fork and glared at Amos. “Mister Eagleye.”

“Sorry professor,” he said. He turned to Lyric. “Sorry.”

“Is that possible?” Aeric asked. “ The headmaster seemed to think they were all just from our world. Could there be summons from a different planet?”

Lyric beamed at him. “No, you silly goose!” She leaned across Elsie’s plate of food and lightly bopped Aeric on the nose with the tip of her index finger. Aeric blinked, too surprised to properly react. As Lyric pulled her arm back, her elbow bumped into Elsie’s juice, spilling it onto the front of her dress.

“Oh, Sparks,” Lyric swore. Her cheeks grew red, making the freckles on them stand out a bit more. “I’m sososo sorry, Elsie! How terribly clumsy of me.” She grabbed a napkin and handed it to Elsie.

Elsie looked down at her purple dress now stained red. “This is the only outfit I have,” she said. She tried to soak some of the dark red juice out of it with the napkin, but it was too late.

“Don’t worry too much about that,” Professor Ashdowne said. “You do have school uniforms in your dorm rooms, as I mentioned earlier.”

“Oh no one wears those,” Lyric said to Elsie, slightly invading her personal space as she leaned closer. “They’re not required attire except for special occasions. Other than boring old Amos over there who wears them every day.”

“Hey,” Amos said. “I happen to like the school uniforms.” He brushed a few crumbs off of his school jacket.

“You can wear some of my clothes instead!” Lyric suggested.

Elsie gave a brief, embarrassed glance at Lyric’s smaller frame. “I don't think I could fit into any of your clothes,” she said.

“Nonsense, I can already think of a few outfits I have that might work.”

There’s absolutely no chance she has anything that will fit you, Elsie.

I don’t know, maybe she has something like a big hooded sweatshirt.

Look around and tell me how many hoodies you see people wearing in the cafeteria.

Lyric clapped her hands as if she just thought of something. “Or even better I could take you shopping tomorrow! I know the absolute best tailor shop in Brightglen. Except I’m a little short on notes right now so that might not work after all.” She gazed down at her hands so dejectedly, making no eye contact with anyone.

Amos rolled his eyes and folded his arms, believing he knew exactly what Lyric was playing at.

Professor Ashdowne pursed her lips for a moment before speaking. “We did provide an allowance, however it might be worth providing a little extra considering the circumstances. Normally we expect students to find a way to earn their own notes, but given the situation I think a little charity wouldn’t hurt.”

“Oh thank you, professor,” Lyric said. “That would be absolutely delightful of you.” The professor opened her side bag and dug around in it for a moment. Lyric stuck her tongue out at Amos again while the professor was distracted.

“What was that for?” Amos grumbled, irritated.

“Just because,” she said quietly with a smirk.

The professor finished pulling a few slips of paper out of her bag and handed them to Lyric. “I expect you to use these to help outfit Elsie, not yourself.”

“Of course, Lady Ashdowne,” she said.

“Professor, may I be excused, please? I'm finding this dinner not to my liking,” Amos said.

“Oh, would you mind waiting for Frederick to stop by first? I believe he wanted to talk to all four of you as a group.”

“The headmaster is joining us?” Amos asked. He glanced at the empty chair next to Professor Ashdowne.

“He'll be here after his meeting with the Leymaster,” Lyric said. “Apparently so many work orders have been piling up that they’re going to have to consider hiring outside help. Not to mention that a couple of showers somehow stopped working properly today, which just adds to everything else going on.”

Aeric and Elsie pointedly did not share a look.

We’re never practicing our powers on castle infrastructure again.

Agreed.

“I wasn’t aware of the exact details,” Professor Ashdowne said. “But you’re correct that Frederick was meeting with Leymaster Spindler.”

“How do you know all this?” Elsie asked her.

“Just a benefit of being a Diviner, I guess,” Lyric said. “It’s seriously an amazing class. I don’t know why more people don’t pick it.”

“Maybe it’s because of people like you who just use it to be annoying busybodies,” Amos said. “Why do you use your class’s spells for such useless knowledge?” Amos asked. “You could just ask the headmaster when you saw him at dinner tonight if you really wanted to know. Or you could just keep your nose out of other people’s business for once.”

“Like I said: just a benefit of being a Diviner.”

“What exactly is a Leymaster?” Aeric asked, thinking about what Lyric had said about the headmasters meeting.

“Leymaster is the name of a Legendary rank class that specializes in manipulating the raw astra that is provided by connecting a leystone to a leyline,” Professor Ashdowne said.

“Kind of like an Astral Manipulator?” Elsie asked.

Amos froze, mid-sip of his drink. Lyric smirked at him again. “Did you not know that Elsie is an Astral Manipulator?” She asked.

“You wouldn’t know either if you didn’t go around prying into everyone’s personal affairs without any sense of decency!” Amos retorted.

“To answer your question: a Leymaster and an Astral Manipulator can do very similar things. Astral Manipulators can typically control very fine details over their work with ease, whereas Leymasters are better capable of channeling vast amounts of power while struggling to get the finer pieces set in place just right,” the professor said.

“Assuming they have access to a leystone and a leyline,” Amos added. “Otherwise they’re just sort of like an Astral Manipulator but worse.”

“That’s a fair assessment, Amos. I’m glad to see you’ve been paying attention in my class.”

“Why not employ both then? You could have the Astral Manipulator fix smaller things like broken showers.” Elsie said.

You would have fixed it if you could. Don’t try to volunteer us for something we can’t handle.

I couldn’t tell what I was doing exactly! I pushed a little astra around in the connection and it changed from hot to cold!

Then push it the other way, genius.

…I couldn’t figure out how.

Professor Ashdowne studied her over the rims of her glasses. “Astral Manipulators are extremely rare and extremely versatile. Leymasters are also quite rare, but they require specific circumstances to fill their roles well. The Royal Academy of Astraeus was intentionally situated upon the convergence of two very powerful leylines. We have a healthy list of Leymaster applicants who would jump at the chance to operate the leystone here.”

“While Astral Manipulators could work just about anywhere, I guess?” Elsie said.

“That’s right. Leymasters are a small pool of candidates with an even smaller number of competitive places to work. Astral Manipulators are a similarly small pool of candidates, but they have a very large number of possibilities they can pursue.”

“Most Leymasters end up in frontier keeps,” Amos said. “They’re given access to what they need in order to work, but there aren’t as many amenities nearby. The really fancy places to work, like here, are much more difficult jobs to land.”

“Here comes the headmaster,” Lyric said.

The group looked around but didn’t see him anywhere. A few seconds later the door opened at the end of the dining hall and the headmaster entered while still talking to a large, muscular woman. The conversation was inaudible from this distance, but it was clear that neither party was pleased.

“Guess who was riii-iiight,” Lyric said in a singsong voice.

“You can’t have seen exactly what point he would arrive at dinner like that,” Amos said. “That’s not the way your class works.”

“Excuse me, I’m pretty sure I’d know better than some archery master how my own class works, thank you very much.”

“I’m a Master of Projectiles! Not just archery itself. Why do people always get that wrong?”

The headmaster finished his discussion and walked towards the group’s table. The tall woman went to the buffet line. Elsie tried to cover the front of her stained dress with a napkin. It was not large enough, unfortunately.

Feeling self conscious much?

I just don’t want him thinking I’m some clumsy oaf.

“Lady Ashdowne,” the headmaster said with a polite bow of the head as he arrived. “Thank you for gathering our friends together tonight.”

“Of course, Frederick,” she said.

“Good evening, Headmaster Frederick,” Amos said.

“Good evening, Amos, Lyric” he said with a nod to each. “And hello again to you two newest additions to our school.” He had a warm smile for Aeric and Elsie as he sat down in the final remaining seat.

“I’ve asked the four of you together tonight to make a request. Before that though, I trust that everything is in order for the rooming arrangements we discussed?”

“I actually was just going to explain that before you arrived,” Professor Ashdowne said. She turned to the students. “We would like to propose that you pair up as roommates. Amos has typically chosen to have no roommate, so his room has a vacancy. Lyric is… currently between roommates at the moment as well.”

“Of course I would love to be Elsie’s roommate,” Lyric said. She did not show any hurt in her face from the way the professor had described her living situation. “We’ll have so much fun together, just you wait!”

“Sure,” Amos said. He looked at Aeric. “As long as you agree not to distract me while I study.”

“Sounds good to me,” Aeric said.

“Except that all he ever does is study. Either that or shoot his bow and arrow,” Lyric said.

“I’m glad to hear that we are in agreement,” said the headmaster. “Now as for my request: as Lyric and Amos are already aware, we have strict requirements for our prefects.”

Amos immediately leaned up straighter in his seat. Lyric played with a strand of her green hair, twirling it around a finger absentmindedly.

“Part of the qualifications to become a prefect includes showing exemplary leadership,” the headmaster continued. “So if the Stormrider twins don’t mind, I’d like to present a little competition. This will be a series of challenges combining both academic study and combat training. The victor of each challenge will be awarded a point, the student with the highest number of points at the end will be declared the winner.”

“Sounds fun,” Aeric said.

“I’ll try not to beat you too badly,” Elsie said.

Why do I feel like we’ve just been asked to play chess against ourselves?

Because you don’t want to feel bad about yourself when I win every single challenge.

I really doubt it will turn out that way, Elsie.

The headmaster continued, “Amos and Lyric will have the responsibilities of acting as teachers, coaches, or personal trainers to get you two up to speed on the matters involved in this friendly competition. At the end, we will assess your leadership skills in how well you trained your roommate for the challenges involved.”

Lyric reached over and placed her hand on Elsie’s arm. “We are gonna pump! You! Up!” She said, giving the arm a little squeeze with each word. “Let’s show those boys who’s boss!”

“I appreciate the opportunity to prove myself, headmaster,” Amos said. “I’ll train Aeric day and night if I have to; I won’t let you down.”

“Just remember that this does not mean one of you will fail if your trainee takes second place in the competition,” Professor Ashdowne added. “Instead we will be holding interviews after the contest has concluded and using other observational metrics to determine whether you pass or fail this leadership aptitude test.”

“That’s good to know,” Amos said.

“I look forward to your help, Amos,” Aeric said.

“I’m not going easy on you though, Aeric,” Elsie said. “You’d better hope your roommate knows what he’s doing.”

“One final thing,” the headmaster said. “At the academy’s weekly Firstday breakfast assembly I will be introducing you two, Aeric and Elsie, to the school at large. That should give you tonight and two free days to get to know your roommates and the castle grounds before your normal schedule will start.”

“I’ll provide you with a class schedule as well,” Lady Ashdowne said. “Lyric, we’ll be moving a few of your classes to be on the same schedule rotation as Amos so that all four of you can be together.”

“Fine by me,” Lyric said.

“I thought it was fine the way it was,” Amos said.

“Now if we’re all agreed here, I would very much like to grab a bite to eat,” the headmaster said.

“Very well,” said Lady Ashdowne. “I will see to it that the veteran students escort the new arrivals to their dormitories. Thank you for your time, Frederick.”

“Of course, Grace,” he said. He bade farewell to the students and went his way.

“I should be leaving too,” said Professor Ashdowne. “Amos and Lyric, why don’t you get these two settled into their new living quarters?”

The group finished their dinners and then dropped their dishes off at the washing station. Aeric and Elsie admired the automatic scrub brushes moving across the dishes without anyone actually touching them. Lyric smiled at their glee, but Amos just stood off to one side with his arms folded until they were done acting like kids watching a carwash.

“Come on,” Lyric said as she took hold of Elsie’s hand. “I can’t wait to show you the dorms. You’re going to love them.”

“We’re going to the archery range for some quick practice before it gets too dark,” Amos said to Aeric. “If there’s one thing in this competition that I’ll make sure you win, it’s projectile combat.”

For the first time since arriving in this world, the twins found themselves going completely separate ways from one another.