Melody of Mana

When I got to the room for passing candidates I found Kala waiting for me. I was glad she passed even without me going to the extremes I'd done with Dras. I would have if she'd wanted it, but that had never been requested. We smiled at each other and I nearly fell into the chair beside her.

"How'd it go?" She asked as I flopped down.

"Well, I'm wiped from all the mana I used, but very well, you?"

"I did good enough. The written was kinda hard, but I think I aced the practical."

We chatted about the exam and it's results and eventually Lora was let in as well. She looked ready to collapse and nodded as she passed me. I hadn't had more than a few words with her, but she seemed personable enough.

As the room began to fill slowly I looked around at who had made it. There were quite a few fewer commoners here than there had been in the beginning. All but the priests and one other person were dressed as nobles. Everyone was also exhausted looking, running through all of your spells in front of a teacher was no easy feat.

We spent a good long while waiting, and after a bit a group was led in to join our own. This room had apparently been designated 'passing' with another put to the side as 'potential' for those who'd done not quite well enough to grab a spot for sure. The failing candidates had been shown the door.

"Greetings everyone." The Dean looked about as we all rose at his entrance. "I'm glad to see you all here and eager to continue, but there are things which must be done first. You'll each be provided with a list of needed materials and your time for uniform fitting. There will also be a few meetings with the professor in charge of your group, information will be provided to each as you exit. Classes begin a week from today."

I had to split from Kala and join with the other bards as we went to see Professor Magnolia. He was in a corner and gave us a big beaming smile.

"Three is an excellent crop this year, some I don't even get one. Allow me to congratulate each of you on your hard work and success. We'll have one class that will be just for you girls and focused on making sure you've got some basics down during your first year, then we'll be moving you onto bigger and better things. That's for later though, for now, schedules."

He handed each of us a small booklet. The meeting and fitting times were all written on a scrap in the front, while the rest was dedicated to rules and a rough map of the campus. There wasn't much to the rules. Stay in uniform during class and on days when we had classes, with a few exceptions. Don't attack other students or teachers. Don't damage the campus. There were also some rules about keeping the dorms in order and where we were allowed to work on new spells and items, but nothing odious. Appended was a section for rules for servants, we were apparently allowed to bring one and they had their own guidelines.

The more concerning thing was the list of things we needed. Most of it was basic, but near the bottom was listed attire appropriate for social gatherings. I hated the idea, but apparently they did require it.

Professor Magnolia had a little speech that sounded like nothing so much as a regular greeting before he released us. The other students had gotten their information and were going now too and I was ready to head out.

I found Professor Rooke talking to Eleanor as I exited the room. He had apparently finished rather earlier than the rest of us had, and taken to speaking with my current guardian. I wasn't sure if that was to be expected, or if it boded poorly for me.

"Greetings again Alana, I'm glad to see Professor Magnolia didn't keep you too terribly long." The man said as I came over to them.

"Ah, there you are dear. This kind gentleman was telling me how well you did. He's even volunteered to be your guardian for the time you spend at school."

"I'm quite grateful for that professor." It was painfully obvious that he just wanted me close by to try and observe my magic as much as he could.

I got the feeling he knew that I was doing some out of the box things, and wanted in on that while the getting in was good. Frankly I was going to hide a lot of it from him, at least in the specifics on what I was doing. Some of the thoughts I had told me that a wizard with even a fraction of the limited understanding of physics and chemistry I had would be far, far too dangerous for me to loose upon this world.

"Well then, when exactly do you have your meeting with Professor Magnolia? I'd like to have a few words with you before you go to that. Eleanor and I will have to get all the forms in order and we need to discuss your classes and preparation."

"It's two days from now sir." I brought out my schedule to check, and it was there, in the morning. Apparently they gave higher status students what were considered more convenient times, later in the week, and later in the day. Most had celebrations to attend.

"Then let us meet tomorrow afternoon. We have much to discuss." I made a small mark on my schedule before Professor Rooke bid us well and left to attend to his own business.

"Are you okay with him as your guardian Alana?" Eleanor asked as I walked back to The Starlit Sky with her. It was nice that she was taking my opinion into consideration for once.

"I am. I suspect he's just interested in my magic, but he seems like he's a decent enough person. If things go wrong I'll contact either Theodore or the Dean. My experiences with the latter say he's someone I can trust."

She snorted. "You would actually contact Bishop Theodore?"

"He's a jerk, but if I were actually in danger I think he would probably step in. He's also powerful enough politically to handle it. I would be loath to owe him any favors though."

"You're right about that at least. If you were in danger The Shield would try to protect you. As we do with all children in your situation."

As I opened the door I was greeted by my friends and pulled into a party they'd thrown together for me. It wasn't some big noble fancy get together, but everyone had chipped in a bit. Dras was pulling out a few small presents he'd bought. He got me some pens and the like that I'd apparently need for classes. Lucien and Lude had handled food. Charles and Meg (though i didn't know her past our one conversation) had shown up. There were also a few of the neighborhood folks here, regular customers and some of Dras' friends.

I hadn't known, but it seemed that Lucien had taken my idea of making sugar to heart and been doing a bit himself, the scamp. He let me know that as he passed out a small amount of ice cream. He also told me the tools for that had been hard to get. People weren't sharing it freely it seemed.

There was also a slow roasted beef dish, the sauce for which was sweet and mildly spicy. Lude just winked when I asked her what the recipe was. Seemed she had some surprises for me yet.

Charles looked like he was suffering through a social anxiety attack. His little brother sat with him and chatted lightly to help him along. I joined them for a bit as things settled down and we sat in silence for a bit.

It was well into the afternoon and we were all roughly done. The Sky had to be ready for the dinner rush, and everyone else was good and partied out. I was considering making a quick trip to offer congratulations of my own when a rather confused messenger in clothes far, far to nice for this part of town appeared at the door.

"Er... I'm here looking for a bard?"

Both Lucien and I raised our hands in greeting. Relieved he came over to me.

"May I please have your name miss?"

"Alana..."

"Ah, excellent. Lord Johannes wished for this to be conveyed to you." He held out a letter written on thick parchment with a rather complex seal plastered on the opening.

"Oh... thank you." The young man nodded to me and left.

With a shrug I opened it, curious as to what he wanted.

Dear Alana

Word has reached me that you have passed your exam, my congratulations. When I heard this it occurred to me that I had failed to offer proper thanks to you for your actions on that most disastrous night. It is therefore in the spirit of thanks, and of joy that you shall soon find your proper place amongst the finest casters of our esteemed nation that I have made arrangements with the finest tailor I know of. Please accept this small gift from myself and my house.

Thank you once again

Lord Johannes of House Kiedern

I called over both Eleanor and Lucien. Not sure how to and if to respond to this letter. They both took time to look over it and the directions on the back. I recognized the location of Marcus' shop there.

"What are your questions?" Lucien asked first.

"What should I do? Should I go and accept whatever 'gift' he has arranged, or not? What are the repercussions of doing so? Will I owe him any favors if I do? Will he cause any problems for me if I don't?"

"Good questions. He's labeled it as a gift and one in thanks, so you shouldn't owe him anything if you accept. If you don't he might try to send you something else, or who knows. Nobles can be kinda weird when they feel they're obligated to someone. Also, he's definitely trying to get you on his side, probably hoping you might end up with his son or something."

I'd already come to the conclusion of the last part and nodded along with him. Then I looked to Eleanor. She read the letter a few times with a rather furrowed brow. We didn't get along much, but she did know her stuff when it came to handling issues.

"Alana, I would like to have one of the priests look over this and advise before you accept or decline this 'gift' I think that the wise position."

"Why one of the priests?" I was glad she was at least asking my permission to do that rather than just trying to force it, but she wouldn't be my guardian for much longer anyway.

"Several of them have been to the academy and have some training when it comes to the etiquette of the nobility. I'm not sure on the proper response, but one of them certainly will be."

"Perhaps I should ask Professor Rooke as well? I would imagine he has a good idea, and he'll be my acting guardian soon enough."

"Good thought on that one dear. He's surely someone who'd want input as well."

Eleanor was eager to go and take the letter to The Shield, and I wanted to go and see my one friend who wasn't here. We both headed down to the Temple District, bidding our current party goodbye. She requested that I stay with Kala at the Temple of Lovers until she returned, something which I could easily agree to.

Kala's party was still swinging as I came in. It was a bit smaller than mine, but it seemed the priests took one of their apprentices getting accepted as a big thing and had gotten tons of good food for those who were coming in and out. We hugged and excitedly chattered about how awesome school would be as I took a few small bites of a really wonderful little tart.

Somewhere nearby a couple of men pored over the letter for a bit, discussing every phrase before deciding it was innocuous enough. Those of The Shield knew how much of a pain nobles could be. Not even they knew that another letter had been sent over to The Lovers that was very nearly word for word for another young woman.