by Jay Boyce
“Good heavens woman, this is a library. What did you yell for? Also, hello Prince Will. What brings you here?” Will shook his head as Jade stepped forward, looping her arm through Eric’s.
“He was playing tour guide this morning. Thanks for that, by the way. Are you coming shopping with us this afternoon?”
Will scoffed at the idea. “Shopping with my sisters? No thank you. I’d end up being the packhorse!”
She giggled. “But think of all the muscles you’d build!”
“No thanks!” He shuddered. “Well, now that you’ve been more or less safely delivered on time, I’ll catch you later. Pleasure seeing you, Eric.” Eric nodded, looking a little befuddled before shrugging and turning around, leading Jade back to his office.
When they got there and he closed the door behind her, he asked incredulously, “And what exactly did you do to merit a personal escort by the prince?”
She smiled and shrugged as well. “I sat at his table at breakfast, then learned that travelers were supposed to meet the king, so he brought me to do that. He seemed to have fun not warning his parents before he brought me.” She pulled out the platinum card. “By the way, I stole this from him. Change it to my name, please.” He sighed, taking the card from her. Unlike what she expected though, he didn’t change it, but pocketed it instead. “Hey, mine!”
He shook his head and poked her in the forehead. “Platinum is for royalty and dukes only. Neither one of us qualifies, unless you’re declaring yourself his fiancé.” She frowned, then pouted.
“That’s a stupid rule.”
He sighed, gently pushing her towards a chair. “It’s just above your privilege level, sorry.”
She paused, observing his office. She hadn’t really paid attention when he led her to the second floor of the building. His office was huge and had a giant window on one wall. She stared at it enviously. “Something going on outside?” He asked curiously, seeing her staring at the window.
“I want a window in my box!” He raised an eyebrow, and she continued. “The study room you gave me is like a dark, creepy cage. I want to see the sun! I want to be able to tell what the passage of time is without having to check my watch all the time, because I know I’ll forget. It’s easier to tell if the light changes. Did I mention it was dark and creepy before I got there?”
He was full on laughing at her. Walking behind his desk, he pulled out a small, familiar metal box. She stared at him quizzically, and he mentioned with a grin, “I can’t authorize a staff office for you to use without asking my superior, but maybe this will help with the dark and creepy factor. I saw it in the window this morning, and it made me think of you.” She accepted the box, opening it to see a cloth. Smiling, she put the box down and then gingerly pulled out the lighted glass sculpture. This had been one of the ones she liked best after the phoenix. It was a few wild daisies in pretty colors popping out of a grassy hill. She’d made it so most of the light was coming from the petals, making them appear as if they were reflecting sunlight.
Smiling gently, she wrapped it up and put it back in the box, then walked over and hugged Eric. He looked shocked, and she hummed, “Thank you. I love it.” Letting go, she giggled and continued, “Though I am curious as to how much you paid for it.”
Eric shrugged. “Does that really matter?” She grinned and nodded. “Fine. Eleven laurels.”
She laughed darkly and then muttered, “That rat!” Now Eric looked baffled, and she explained. “I’m the one who put light magic on it. Damian told me he was going to sell them for a crown, but he obviously got an extra laurel out of you!”
Eric stared blankly, then shook his head ruefully. “He’s got them listed at fifteen laurels. I bargained him down.” She laughed, patting him on the shoulder.
“Well then, congratulations for not getting TOTALLY ripped off. Next time, if you want one, buy it unlit and bring it to me. I’ll light it up without his extra markup.” She grinned and he sighed, settling behind his desk.
“I’ll think about it. But for now, why don’t you have a seat? We’ve got to figure out which classes to put you in.” He pulled out several incredibly full sheets of paper, and her eyes widened as he spread them across the table. He had also pulled out two fresh sheets of lined paper. They had Monday through Saturday columns and every hour written down the side starting at 8-9AM.
Pointing at the 8-9AM, she declared, “Not happening. I am not a morning person. Nine is the earliest I’m willing to go. If you make me go any earlier, I swear I will magic things as inconveniently as I can for whatever instructor you give me.” Her expression was deadpan, and he sighed.
“The morning classes are the fitness classes because it’s best to train before it gets too hot. It isn’t something you should want to slack on, now is it?”
She pondered his statement, and nodded, replying. “You’re right. But I’ll be fine without it due to my ability. Besides, you arrange it according to stats, right?” He nodded. “Then it’s fine. I’d be switching classes way too often anyway.” When he appeared puzzled, she sighed. “Several of my stats have gone up by a point again today.”
“Seriously?” He looked incredulous when she nodded, and he rummaged around, pulling out a copy of her record from yesterday. “What’s changed?”
Contemplating her profile, she stated, “Strength is now 9, Dexterity is 10, Constitution is 9, Magic is 12, and Charisma is 10.” He stared down at the sheet in awe after marking what she said.
“This is insane,” he muttered, still staring at the stats she’d told him. It really was. He sighed, then gave in, “Fine. You can come in at 9, but just think about it. It’s probably going to cause resentment in the other students that you don’t have to do it.”
She shrugged. “I won’t be bullied. What’s from 9-10?”
He glanced back at the papers and grimaced. “Personal study. It’s mainly meant to give those who need to shower or heal time to do so.”
She grinned. “That’s perfect!”
Quizzically, he asked, “It is?”
She nodded. “Yes, it is! Put me down for helping the healer. I need to raise my level somehow, and the only way I can do so is if people are hurt. I’m not enough of a masochist to hurt myself so that I can heal.” Other than that first time, of course. She’d learned her lesson; no more hurting herself. It was much better to let other people be the ones hurting.
He paused, then wrote healing in the clinic next to her 9AM slot. He muttered softly, “It’s perfect…” She grinned when she heard him, but he quickly moved on. “Ten o’clock is weapons practice. Do you have a weapon in mind?”
She grimaced, thinking about what she’d seen earlier, but she knew that no matter if she found it distasteful to kill things or not, she needed to be able to defend herself. So she nodded. “Archery and daggers would suit me best. If I have to fight, I’d prefer to do it from a distance, but I also need to be able to protect myself if someone gets close.”
He nodded approvingly, writing beginner archery at 10 and beginner small blades at 11. Apparently there were two hours of weapons practice, which he hadn’t mentioned. Would he have put her in archery twice if that’s all she said? Whatever. Eric nodded pensively, “All right, that should be fine. 12-1 is a free period for lunch, which is provided on campus if you desire.” She nodded. “The afternoon is a bit different. Most of the afternoon classes are only held once a week for two hours each. They include everything from various magic classes to etiquette and crafting. There are also a few classes such as riding, alchemy, drawing, music, tracking, reading, or the obstacle course run.”
“May I look at the schedule of what’s offered when?” He nodded, and she joined him on his side of the desk to study the schedule. There were around five classes offered for every two-hour block until six. She asked curiously, “Do the students normally have a completely full schedule?”
He shook his head. “No, they just sign up for the classes they’re interested in. For instance, they’r
e not allowed to enroll in the magic classes unless they’ve been tested and shown an aptitude for it.” She nodded, because that made sense. She could imagine the teacher getting frustrated trying to explain something when the student just couldn’t produce.
They spent the next half hour putting her schedule together, and finally, she sat down again, satisfied with what they’d decided on. She held her copy while Eric was studying his.
Jade Winward
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
8:00
–
–
–
–
–
–
9:00
Healing
–
Healing
–
Healing
Healing
10:00
B. Archery
–
B. Archery
–
B. Archery
History
11:00
B. Small Blades
–
B. Small Blades
–
B. Small Blades
Riding
1-3:00
B. Fire
Geography
B. Lightning
I. Metal
B. Earth
B. Spatial
3-5:00
B. Contractual
I. Water
B. Illusion
I. Wind
B. Life
B. Death
6-8:00
Business
I. Light
B. Dark
–
B. Summoning
–
Overnight
–
–
–
–
–
–
She sighed, peeping at him as she pointed out, “This is probably fine for the first week, but you do know it’s probably going to change after that, right?”
He sighed too. “Just try it. Who knows, maybe you’ll stay where you are.”
She shook her head. “I seriously doubt that. But you can keep thinking happy thoughts if it makes you feel better.” She’d already talked him into putting her into the higher classes for water, metal, and wind. He hadn’t fought her much on water and wind, but he’d only caved on metal because he was the one teaching the class and he figured she’d be able to keep up with his explanations.
She’d also tried to figure out what some mysterious class was that had been marked for Saturdays, but all it had had was levels and not the name of the class. Despite her digging, Eric had remained tight-lipped about it. She got the feeling that Eric wasn’t supposed to have shown her the full list of classes, but that he’d forgotten that the mysterious class was noted there, even if it didn’t have the full name.
He was about to respond to her when a knock came at the door, and he called out to them instead. “Come in.” When the two princesses opened the door and popped their grinning heads in, he jumped to his feet, looking like he immediately regretted not getting the door himself. “Princesses! To what do we owe the honor?”
Tisha bounced into the room, coming over to latch onto Jade’s arm as she tittered with enthusiasm. “We’re going SHOPPING!”
Chapter Twenty-One – Bags
“Oooh, is that your class schedule?” Camille came over, peering over the shoulder Tisha wasn’t leaning on in order to get a better look. In this way, Jade was surrounded by princesses. Camille let out a disappointed sigh a moment later though. “So many magic classes, but we only share one. I was hoping you’d be in more…”
She was frowning, and Jade laughed. “Don’t worry; it’s just for the first week until we figure out where I settle. I’ll most likely be bumped up to the higher classes the next week.” Eric tsked, but she ignored it and smiled at him. “Oh right, I think I forgot to tell you. The reason our meeting was rescheduled is because the princesses are taking me shopping.” She vaguely thought she had told him, but he’d seemed surprised, so she probably hadn’t. Maybe it was just that she was talking to Will about it before they got here...
“SHOPPING!” Tisha squealed gleefully. Unfortunately, she was right next to Jade’s ear, who winced and pulled away. Tisha looked a little guilty. “Oops. Are you okay?”
Her ear was still ringing, but she reached up, letting the warmth flow through. Thankfully it worked, and soon her hearing was entirely back to normal. “I’m fine now. Just be careful about doing that in the future, yes?” Apparently, screaming directly in the ear did something…and it was enough to warrant healing. Good to know.
Tisha looked heartbroken that she’d hurt her new friend as she nodded. Jade smiled dotingly and patted her on the shoulder. “It’s okay, no permanent harm done.” Peering at Eric, she asked, “There were a few other things I wanted to talk to you about, but they can wait. Is there another time we can meet?”
He thought for a moment, then nodded. “I’m still free tomorrow. I can help you then.”
She grinned. “Perfect! Oh, since we’re going shopping, do you know where I can get some scrap metal to play with–I mean, to familiarize myself with metal magic? I don’t want to break either my library card or pocket watch. Which I forgot, thank you for that as well!” All three of them had caught her little slip there. She just wanted to play with the metal! Thankfully, they didn’t call her on it.
Eric just grinned indulgently. He was happy she was interested in something he taught. “Sure, if you have a few minutes, we can just stop by my family’s store and I’ll get you some.” Jade looked pleadingly at Camille, who seemed to be in charge, who sighed and nodded.
“Yay! Great, let’s do that! I just want to take my flowers down to the cave before we go.”
“Flowers?” Tisha asked curiously at the same time as Camille asked,
“Cave?”
Jade grinned mischievously at Eric as she chirped, “Yes, Eric gave me the use of one of the study rooms for a while. It was just really dark and without a window, so I call it the cave.” Or cell. Or box. Meh, it was just semantics.
“Oh. I see. Shall we go then?” Camille seemed to recover, and Jade grinned, bouncing up. She meticulously collected her precious little metal box, then turned and led the way out and downstairs to her little hidey hole.
“Can I see your flowers?” Tisha was hovering at her elbow, making her a little nervous, so she smiled placatingly and replied.
“Sure, I’ll show you as soon as we get down there and I can set it up.” As they were walking down the dark hall with their little light globes, Eric frowned.
“Why is there light coming out of your room? I gave orders that it was to be left alone…”
Jade smiled, grateful for his concern, before she said cheerfully, “Oh, that’s my fault. I told you I didn’t like the darkness, so I lightened things up a bit.”
“A bit? What on earth…?” His voice had trailed off in amazement when she opened the door and light as bright as noonday came pouring out. She walked happily into the room and over to the corner where her phoenix was resting. She carefully pulled the flowers out of the box, setting it beside the phoenix on display.
She stepped back with a flourish so they could see her little glass sculptures. “There, it’s not much, but it made me feel better than sitting in the dark!”
Camille had turned a reproachful look at Eric, and he sighed, saying, “I’ll have her moved to one of the employee offices while you’re shopping. Jade, make sure to ask where to go next time you come in.” Camille looked satisfied, and Jade just grinned. Sweet sunshine was once again going to be hers! Score! Apparently royalty overrode the need to ask superiors for permission.
Tisha was admiring the sculptures, and she turned to gawk at Jade in awe. “Where’d you get such pretty lighted sculptures? I’ve never seen them lighted like this!”
Jade gr
inned. “I lit some of Damian’s sculptures from The Glass Phoenix, so this is my work together with his.” Tisha went slack-jawed for only a moment before bouncing onto her toes.
“I want one!”
Jade laughed. “Okay, I guess we can stop there too. I need to see if Damian is done with something I requested anyways.” With that cryptic statement that she refused to explain no matter how much they cajoled, they made their way out of the library bickering like old friends. Jade couldn’t stop smiling. Was this what it felt like to go on an outing with friends? She felt light as a little cloud.
When they got to The Glass Phoenix, Jade felt it necessary to give Tisha a little warning. “Just be careful. Pretty much everything in the shop is breakable, so one wrong step could send glass shards everywhere.” She was honestly amazed she hadn’t broken anything yesterday.
When the little bell went off, announcing their presence, Damian came out of the back with a generous smile. When he saw Jade his smile got bigger, dimmed a little when he noticed Eric right behind her, then went wide with shock at seeing the very distinct appearance of the princesses. He boomed out in a much more subdued voice than yesterday, “Ah, welcome to The Glass Phoenix! How may I help you?”
Jade grinned, walking forward. “Oh calm down, they’re with me. Girls, go ahead and look for something you like. If it’s not lit already, just let me know and I’ll take care of it.” She grinned as they scurried off to inspect all the glass sculptures as Eric loomed behind her and she smiled at Damian. “I take it business is good, eh?”
He flushed a little. “Err… Yes. The light within series has all sold but one. I didn’t realize Viscount Eric and you were so close…” She grinned because Eric was still looming behind her. She filed away his title to think on at another time, as this was the first time she’d heard it. “Ironically, he thought I would love the sculpture he bought, so it was for me. I had quite the laugh about it. But since business is doing so well, I think perhaps we should take a look at the terms of the contract before we sign anything.” She gave him an astute stare, and he sighed, shaking his head.
