“Yep.”
“So how many students here are still taking these tests?”
“More than you think. Most likely all of them. They continue to the next test based on their readiness, and that’s determined by the proctors. The Academy isn’t your typical four-year program. We don’t have enough infantry to wait that long. Usually within a year, you’re in the infantry and being sent out. If you’re not, then you’re just continuing your training here.”
“And if you’re in the infantry, you technically graduated.”
“That’s right. Though it’s not as special of an honor as it seems. See, no one ever gets kicked out of the school because we have so few soldiers. And we even keep those that fool around for the same reason. Sure, it might take you longer to be placed into the infantry, but ultimately, you’ll end up in the infantry anyways. Only those who really need help stay longer for extra training.”
“So how long have you been here?”
“Like you, this is my first year, but I’ve already made it to my last test. I’m waiting for Arimus to be ready to proctor.”
“That’s great. Are you excited about—” James gave up on trying to be secretive. “—the Sage classes?”
“What Sage classes?”
“You’re not in training?”
“Dominic’s the only one, remember? I’m going to be in the infantry.”
“Oh,” James said, satisfied that his other question was answered now too. “You sound like you’ll like the infantry.”
“It won’t be so bad. What made you think I was training to be a Sage?”
“Just wondering. It would’ve explained why you’re in with the superiors.”
“Nope. Sorry. I failed the Sage test before it even began,” Catherine laughed, grabbing the bowl of oatmeal and eyeing it over.
“Was it that hard?”
“Not really.”
James raised an eyebrow and shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Why are you so interested? You want to have more ideas on how to beat Dominic tomorrow?”
“If you don’t mind…”
“Not at all. Yep, I’ll give you some sure-fire ways of beating him, but you have to do one thing with me first.”
“What’s that?”
“Take me to the village beyond the Academy wall.”
“Why?” James asked carefully, thinking about seeing his father again. It felt like a whole different life, being in the village. Already he had become accustomed to the Academy’s ways, and he couldn’t deny that as long as he had a chance to be a Sage, it was kind of fun.
“What’s outside the Academy that you haven’t already seen?” James continued. “I mean, if you wanted to see the castle, now that would be an idea.”
“I really want to see the village.” Catherine said quickly. “It’s been so long.”
“You haven’t been here that long…and since we’re on the subject, where exactly do you live in the village? I definitely don’t remember you walking around.”
“James, you think too much. C’mon, let’s just get out of here and I’ll tell you what you need to know.”
“Can’t you go yourself? Or is that not allowed around here?”
“Not while school is in session. We have to concentrate on our training, but I have to get out of this place. It’s driving me crazy.”
“Fine, I’ll help you escape, I guess. It’s not like I have anything better to do today.”
“Gee, don’t sound so excited. I thought a little alone time with a girl would get a guy’s hopes up.”
“Well, I don’t really see you as a girl...”
“Such a charmer… C’mon, we’ll leave now while Arimus is away on business.”
“Do they go away on business often?”
Catherine sighed in annoyance and rolled her eyes.
“What does it matter if they do or don’t? They’re not going to take you along as their mascot or drummer boy so stop asking.”
“Why would they need a drummer boy? Is it some kind of secret mission?”
“Hardly. I can’t remember the last time anyone’s been outside beyond the Kingdom border, even the teachers. It’s probably a workshop.”
“What could they possibly have a workshop about?”
“Oh you know,” Catherine said slyly. “They may need to teach a health class coming up or something and they need to know about women’s—”
“—okay, that’s enough,” James interrupted, cupping his ears. “I guess I don’t really need to know that badly.”
“I knew that would shut you up.”
“You did that on purpose?!”
Catherine didn’t answer, grabbing James’ wrist and pulling him out through the cafeteria doors. James strained to see if the lunch lady was going to pull out a tray of cakes now that he was leaving but she made no move, simply staring at their leaving. James could swear that Kyran was conspiring against him and that she was a spy.
“As long as we get some food in the village, I don’t care what we do.”
“What’s to eat there?” Catherine asked curiously.
“Wow, you have been gone a long time. I don’t know. Lots. Steaks. Noodles would be nice.”
“Noodles? Sounds silly.”
“It’s not bad. I eat a lot of it regardless of the taste, sometimes late at night.”
“I’m surprised you’re so nonchalant about your eating habits, Mr. Sage. Shouldn’t you watch your figure?”
“Oh, I’ve got the metabolism of a stallion,” James declared, patting his stomach in pride.
“And what kind of metabolism is that?”
James frowned and muttered something inaudible under his breath. Catherine giggled as she led him outside to the courtyard. He was surprised that no one was in the lobby or hallways.
“What are you so paranoid about?” Catherine asked. “Everyone’s probably in the cafeteria.”
“I know, I know, but sometimes Kyran is so sneaky, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was watching us from the shadows right now.”
“Yeah. He’s sort of like the truant officer of the Academy.”
“He sure has the personality of one: stale and by the book.”
“Don’t say that so loud,” Catherine giggled. “He might hear you.”
“I almost wish he did hear me. He gets on my nerves.”
Catherine deducted that Kyran was nowhere to be found and led James to the courtyard doors. Pushing it as lightly as possible to minimize any squeaking, she welcomed the cold air that pinched her warm cheeks. James grunted as he realized he had forgotten his coat again.
“Are we seriously going outside? I thought there might be a secret entrance you knew about.”
“Can’t say that I do. The only way we’re going to get to the village is if we make it to the eastern entrance. It’s not too far. About twenty miles or so.”
“Oh, twenty miles, that’s nothing,” James muttered sarcastically. “ARE YOU KIDDING?! You don’t even have a coat on!”
“Neither do you, James.”
James grunted and Catherine laughed and whistled into the wind. James gnashed his teeth from the biting cold, letting them chatter extra loudly to ensure that Catherine heard them loud and clear. Catherine listened intently before grabbing James’ hand and leading him to the courtyard exit doors. They were already suspiciously open but James had little time to consider why. The wind fought their escape with increasing fury as they ran with determination to the exit. Catherine laughed playfully as James shook his head in amazement. A horse-drawn stage coach came into view. It was much more elegant than the one James had ridden in.
“How were you able to pull this off?”
“I have some contacts that owe me a favor.”
“You sure know a lot of people. Could make a guy jealous.”
“Why? Are you?”
“No,” James said flatly, and Catherine laughed.
“Sometimes I just don’t understand you.
”
James didn’t say anything to the comment as he entered the stage coach, barely noticing the identity of the driver who was hidden under a massive cloak and hood. Catherine sat opposite of James and looked at him out of concern. His sudden silence and solemn demeanor disturbed her.
“What’s wrong, James?” she asked gently, placing a hand on his.
“I’m sorry I kind of brushed you off, Katie.”
Catherine lowered her eyes as his nickname for her sunk into her heart. The coach began moving.
“It’s okay, James.”
“Every time I think of men and women together, my father rears his ugly head. All I can think about is how he was such a ladies’ man and how he used to say that even when he was with my mother, he would still flirt with other women simply because he could. He didn’t seem to care about how my mother felt. She was like a trophy to him. The only reason he got her to marry him was because she was the only woman who refused his advances. He saw it as a challenge, and pursued her with all his might. She eventually gave in. The guy has always been stubborn, but…of course, they couldn’t be happy together. She actually thought it could work out, but after seeing how he wouldn’t change, she left him…and me. So every time I think about a relationship, I get scared. I don’t want to lead women on if they’re interested in me, you know?”
James stared into Catherine’s eyes and she turned to glance out the window.
“I never said I was interested in you, James. I was just having a little fun. I don’t get to be myself with too many people and I like the fact that when I’m around you, I can just let go.”
“Oh,” James said, his mood improving at her words.
“Were you old when your mother left—I mean, if that’s not being too forward.”
“No, to be honest I barely remember her. And I don’t really think about her much. Mainly when my dad is being stupid, and then I wonder how happy she must be elsewhere.”
Catherine rubbed the right side of her jaw in thought before folding her hands back into her lap.
“Did she ever tell your dad how she felt?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think it would’ve made a difference though.”
“Why not?”
“Because a lot of men don’t change.”
“People can change.”
“Most men don’t. And certainly not my father. That’s what I believe anyway. I think we’re all too stubborn and honestly that scares me sometimes. When I was fighting Dominic, I got a glimpse of the arrogance that was within me. If he had been the student and I had been the one giving the test, I don’t know how much different I would’ve been.”
“That’s speculation. You don’t know how you’ll act until you’re in the situation itself. And I don’t believe that men cannot change. I think we all choose who we want to be.”
“Maybe…”
A pause of silence ensued, causing James to dwell on the very words that had come out of his mouth. Did he really think of himself that way? Stubborn?
“So what did you have to do to get this stage coach hidden?” he asked, trying to change the subject. “You must’ve had to save a bunch of money and give out a lot of bribes to keep people quiet. This thing isn’t exactly inconspicuous.”
“My father had plenty of money in his ‘savings’ which I can use whenever I feel like.”
“So he’s been pulling some overtime as the court jester lately?”
“James, my father is dead.”
James’ smirk fell and he rubbed his forehead awkwardly.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t know your father had passed.”
“It was a long time ago, when I was four. I don’t remember him that much.”
“Do you miss him?”
“I miss his presence, but nothing more than that. I don’t so much miss him as I miss what he did for those around him. People were a lot happier when he was around. He was a man of order, and that gave people a sense of purpose and balance.”
“He sounds like a well-respected man.”
“From what I hear, he was. I myself rarely saw him. I only heard about him through my mother, who, by the way, died in the same year as he did.”
“Was it disease or—”
“No, it—”
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“No, I was going to explain this to you earlier. See, they died in ‘88.”
“The siege? The same siege I’ve been hearing so much about?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I was four, so I wasn’t particularly aware of my surroundings—how old are you, James?”
“Nineteen.”
“So you were three at the time.”
“You’re older than me?!”
“Is that a problem?”
“I guess—no—I don’t know…”
“James, you’re digressing…”
“Sorry. Continue.”
“I was at the Academy most of the time, where my mother was an active professor. She wasn’t a Sage in case you were wondering, but she did know basic combat and she had a knack for teaching. So, while she stayed at the Academy, my father worked in the castle. They were separated a lot, but my mother used to tell me that she preferred it that way. Back then, all the people you know now weren’t there. Arimus, Kyran, not even Scarlet, who had left with her parents to live in the countryside beyond the five Kingdoms. That didn’t last of course as Scarlet joined the Academy as soon as she was seventeen.”
“So she hasn’t been a proctor for long.”
“Not at all. Arimus is actually the oldest. No currently active teacher besides him has been there for more than a year.”
“How is that possible?”
“Listen, and I’ll tell you. See, in those days, there wasn’t such a distance between the village and the castle or the royalty. The king loved to interact with his subjects, for better or for worse, and the people got to make their requests to him face-to-face. The siege changed that forever. In that time, the infantry was about a hundred thousand strong with over thirty Sages at the helm. Not Sages in training, either. Full-blown Sages. The ones of legend. The best of them all was Lakrymos, their leader. He alone could defend an entire Kingdom from an army of soldiers. His speed, strength, and wisdom were unparalleled and he was an inspiration for all that he met or heard about him. He believed that anyone had the power to be a Sage. Our failure lied only in our own expectations and limitations—the notion that we limit ourselves and that this is what holds us back. The tests and classes were the same as today, but even when someone failed the preliminaries and it seemed like their only hope was to be an infantryman, he stressed how even an infantryman could rise to new heights and accomplish much—that some are just not meant to be a Sage. That the Maker had other plans for those particular recruits.”
“Was he a resident of Allay?”
“He was actually born in the Sage Association—a community where top level Sages would meet and discuss current events. Lakrymos was said to be the youngest to ever release his eidolon—at the age of ten years old. He spent most of his time at the Sage Association, delegating responsibilities to other Sages and such. He came to the Kingdom of Allay only once every ten years to see the Academy. Although the Sage Association is outside Allay in a place undisclosed to normal people like us, every Sage is an Allayan.”
“Why? Why aren’t there Sages from other Kingdoms?”
“Every Kingdom has their own specific powerhouse. Their own niche. Ours are the Sages. At least, they used to be. The year of ‘88 was when Lakrymos last visited, and there was a lot of anticipation, so much so that defenses weren’t at their peak.”
“What do you mean?”
“One Sage is more than enough to take on an army and quite a few elites of another Kingdom should they be stupid enough to attack. There was always a sense of safety in Allay, to the point that we began fe
eling too secure. With so many Sages stationed around the Kingdom, no one believed that anything could happen. Our defenses couldn’t be broken. No enemy could penetrate. But our arrogance was our downfall. On the day of Lakrymos’s arrival, many of the newly initiated Sages left their stations to meet the legend in person. Now, they weren’t completely negligent. Instead of seven Sages guarding each entrance to the Kingdom walls, there were two on each of the quadrants. More than enough normally. But on this particular day, the Quietus came.”
“The Quietus?”
“The Quietus, from the Kingdom of Quietus, are extraordinary warriors. Little is known about them except for that they live for bloodshed and challenge. A Quietus child could easily massacre our entire village if it saw fit, and with little effort. They are brutal and powerful, yet no one knows what gives them their strength. Usually they stay in their Kingdom, fighting amongst themselves, as no one else is deemed worthy to challenge their power. But occasionally, one or two Quietus will try climbing the Allay walls. Of course, they are always killed by a Sage standing guard so we never worried about them. Even rarer, sometimes a whole group of Quietus, usually very young, would stray outside their lands and seek a challenge at another Kingdom. But they always met their doom. Although the Quietus are ruthless by nature, they have strict rules as far as interfering in the affairs of others. This day, however, something went horribly wrong.”
“Was there a group of Quietus?”
“There were only ten of them. That normally wouldn’t be a problem, as weird as it may have been. But they weren’t average warriors. The problem was that they were the elite of their Kingdom, the bodyguards of the King of Quietus himself.”
“The king’s bodyguards left him unguarded?”
“The idea was preposterous. What would these seasoned warriors and arguably the most civilized of their Kingdom be doing here? Whatever the reason, the two Sages at the eastern gate were no match for them. They were executed in seconds and the ten Quietus entered the village. And the village was so oblivious of anything beyond their borders that they didn’t know how to react. Sages, Lakrymos, Quietus—all of it sounded like fairy tales and imagination, and as long as they were left alone to live as they saw fit, they loved being in ignorance of what us soldiers do. When the Quietus arrived, it was a massacre, yet…it was still just a ruse.”
The Works of Julius St. Clair - 2017 Edition (Includes 3 full novels and more) Page 11
