by Melody Rose
“Let’s see…” I began. “I’m not very patient. I get fed up with injustice, hypocrisy, arrogance, cruelty, and bad manners. I am pretty self-indulgent and love to eat sweets and fancy meals. I’m not very physically strong, can’t do a pull-up if I tried! I can’t stand my step-family and don’t even want to be in the same room as them. I also say I don’t care, but I really do wish that I had more friends.”
Saira applauded with her translucent hands at my candidness. They didn’t make much of a sound at all, but they sent off dazzling sparks, and I found that neat. “Excellent! Not a dash of deception or a stroke of falsehood! Should you harness your honesty, you will prove to be a mage to be reckoned with!”
She continued, “Now that you have evaluated yourself, please hold your hand over the fountain and chant, Je dis la vérité, I speak the truth. After that, you shall embark upon your journey at Bouclier in earnest!”
I nodded, hovered my palm above the pristine water, and uttered in a clear tone, “Je dis la vérité, I speak the truth!”
19
Joan
As soon as those words escaped my lips, the water hummed in response and spiraled up to create a liquid vortex. It radiated a supernatural force that uprooted me from the ground, pulled me into its center, and engulfed me. I was originally terrified that I would drown, but my lungs were never filled by the enchanted substance. In fact, I remained completely dry as I fell down through it. To my surprise, I landed safely on my feet at the end of it. I wondered if that was uncharacteristic grace on my part, survival reflexes, or a spell that had guided my descent. In any case, I was glad for the safe landing.
After catching my breath from that fall, I found myself in front of a towering oak door carved with motifs of witches casting spells, mages wrestling giants, phoenixes spreading out their wings in the sky, and what appeared to be a small dragon flying in the distance. It truly seemed as though an entire story was depicted on the lovingly crafted wood.
Next to the door stood a highly burnished cherry wood table. Neatly stacked on the top were several pieces of expensive stationery impeccably folded and closed shut with wax seals in various colors. These were likely invitations because I had seen some brides use these when I catered for their weddings. I always thought it was a nice touch, but I’d never received one personally. All of this seemed too high-end to apply to me, so I wondered why the scrying fountain dropped me off here. When I contemplated leaving before I got yelled at for loitering, I heard footsteps and turned to look. My muscles tightened as I readied myself for some choice words.
Instead, I was met by a warm smile and kind amber eyes. A very tall and built young man with a square jawline and a simple buzz-cut greeted me.
“Hey, you must be here for the orientation. Nathan Belmonte, at your service.” He extended his hand, and as I shook it, I noticed that my fingers were tiny compared to his. It was as though his grasp had swallowed my whole hand. “What did Nascha recruit you for?”
“Joan MacKenna. Nice to meet you,” I greeted him in a breezy sort of way, at ease in his presence. “I… don’t know who Nascha is. I’ve been told that Abelard asked for his son, Theo, to bring me here. I guess Bouclier is looking for the next up-and-coming beast tamer.”
Since we started off on the right foot, I didn’t want to divulge that I was from a different world or that I hadn’t dealt with magical beasts other than my new familiar. I’m sure that would probably come up in due time, but why ruin the moment?
Nathan let out a low whistle after he heard my explanation, shook his head, and chuckled good-naturedly. “The renowned Abelard personally selected you, and the esteemed Theodore fetched you! You must be the only student who’s been given that honor. The rest of us were recommended by Nascha, the Dean of Mage Advancement. You must be a big deal to be hand-picked by the Headmaster himself.”
“Oh… thank you. I’m just grateful for the opportunity,” I responded. It would be best to remain humble, especially since I didn’t want to make any promises I couldn’t deliver on. “It all happened very quickly, and this is only the second day I’ve been here. I hope I’m in the right place.”
“Well, it definitely sounds like you are with that impressive background. Why don’t we check and see if your invitation is here?” Nathan asked, and then gently sifted through the stationary until he found the piece addressed to him. His letter was sealed with silver wax with the impression of a mountain. He flipped it around and revealed his name calligraphed with dark grey ink.
“There’s mine… and let’s see,” he said softly as he continued his search. I thought he was very generous to go out of his way on my behalf. I was especially grateful since he had been the first student to treat me so well out in the open. He turned over the invitations to inspect the names until he had found the one that bore my name.
“Here we are! Joan MacKenna.” He beamed with sparkling white teeth that complemented his dark hair and tanned skin. He looked as though he spent a lot of time outdoors. Maybe it was all the vitamin D that made his mood so bright.
“That’s me!” I chirped to match his upbeat attitude and took the offered invitation. I double-checked my name and then reversed it to look at what seal was created for me. The wax was a dark scarlet with the impression of a heart that was crowned with flames. Someone had also gone through the extra effort of applying a gold powder onto the design. I raised an eyebrow as I contemplated what it said about me.
“Well, I guess that settles it!” I laughed to play myself off as casual, as though I had known all along that I was one of the intended guests.
As I saw other students approach the table, I began to feel pinpricks of nervousness and resolved to sit by Nathan since I didn’t have a reason to trust any of the other mages. I smiled and tilted my head towards the door.
“Hey, want to head in before we’re late?” I asked with the right touch of friendliness without seeming too desperate.
“I was going to ask you the same. It’s nice to have someone to talk to here.” His voice began bright but was then dimmed with some sadness. “I’m not from the same wealthy regions as most of the students here, but I suspect that most of the mages at this gathering are on the same barge.”
Ever the gentleman that he had proven himself to be in just the last ten minutes, he opened the door for me. The polite gesture seemed to perk him up again, as though he thrived on serving others. I was glad to see chivalry wasn’t dead in guys my age. I tucked away the tidbit of information he had given me to discuss later and nodded with gratitude when I stepped into the meeting hall.
He trailed behind me courteously, allowing me to scan the room and decide where I’d like to sit. Before us was a long table that curved into an oval shape so that all the participants could sit with each other and still talk easily. Wall sconces made of bronze and stained glass carried flickering candles which lent a formal mystique to the gathering. Walls of rich, dark mahogany topped with gold trim surrounded us, and polished hardwood floors without a single scuff mark stretched out under our feet. All the seats were upholstered with walnut brown leather, but two at the far end of the table were gilded with scintillating dragons. Above them hung an expansive tapestry where two knights in medieval armor stood on either side of a dragon that placed a taloned paw on a shield. What was strange is that in legends from my world, every party involved in this scene would be engaged in a ferocious battle. This, on the other hand, was a tranquil motif where the knights seemed to be friendly, even allied, with the dragon.
No one had taken the obviously reserved seats, probably for the leaders of this ceremony, so I sat on the right end of the table toward the middle. That way, I would have a good view of the speakers and my fellow students. As soon as I settled into my chair, a goblet full of what smelled like full-bodied coffee materialized in front of me, as well as a powdered beignet.
I laughed because the human delicacies looked so delightfully out of place when served with exquisite gold dinnerware. I figured
that this must have been an even higher level spell than what Chef Douglas used because I had never told him about Creole food. I’d always wanted to visit New Orleans because the cuisine seemed so magical, so the irony that I had literally enchanted food set before me was not lost on me.
Whoever was responsible for this charm must have been highly talented. I wondered if this person would reveal themselves and if I could learn from their secrets.
Nathan took his place in the chair next to me, and so his meal was activated as well. Apparently, Nathan was a fiend for protein, as his platter was much larger than mine and piled with different meats, including a whole roasted bird, slabs of pork, and glistening sausages. I peeked at his goblet with a curious smile. His beverage smelled like a decadent spiced wine.
He blushed as I leaned close to him as though he were embarrassed by the pomp and circumstance. “Wow, uh, I guess you’ve found out what I fantasize about... much less modest than you, but a man can dream, can’t he?” he said apologetically, as though it were a crime to want a fancy meal.
“This is really incredible! Anyway, nothing to be embarrassed about. Who doesn’t love a good, old-fashioned gourmet meal?! Anyone who makes you feel bad about that is out of their minds.” I remarked before glancing at my own plate. “As for me, looks like I’ve got the finest beignet New Orleans has to offer! Genuine Creole goodness!” Crap. The cat was out of the bag thanks to my big mouth, but he was bound to find out anyway with all the gossip about me.
“Er, that must sound like a foreign language to you. Uh, I guess now is the time to come clean. Don’t get mad that I didn’t tell you before, but I’m actually human,” I confessed in a hushed voice.
His eyes widened, but Nathan didn’t show any sign of wanting to move away from me. If anything, a sense of wonder sparkled in his eyes as though I had divulged a remarkable fact.
“By the cosmos!” he exclaimed. “What a whirlwind few months I’ve had! First, getting recruited for Bouclier, then meeting a legendary human! My family won’t believe it when I tell them!”
“Legendary…?” I asked doubtfully. I was practically drowning in lamb’s blood put-downs since I’d been here, so I found his claim difficult to believe. I would have thought that he was being sarcastic, but he’d been nothing but nice so far. Students began to filter in and take their seats, so I lowered my voice for the sake of privacy.
“That’s not what I’ve heard lately. Most students I’ve run into only have nasty remarks to make,” I divulged. “Except for Rebecca, who seemed pretty excited to meet me, actually.”
Nathan was sensitive enough to catch my drift and dropped his voice down to a whisper like we were engaged in some type of conspiracy. I was really endeared by how thoughtful he was.
“Well...” He paused as he tried to piece together his words. “You probably had the bad luck of running into Bouclier’s upper crust. Don’t feel too badly about it. They called me a muddy ox because I come from the farmlands.”
Nathan grinned. “In the less well-off regions of Lemuria where the common folk live, we’re all fascinated by stories of humans. We hear that you’ve created metal boxes that tell stories and communicate, and that you’ve even created contraptions that look like you but don’t have souls, just clever automatons. Everyone where I’m from thinks you’re all pretty impressive.”
“That’s nice to hear! It would be great if you’re not in the minority and there are others like you at Bouclier?” I asked hopefully.
Nathan laughed heartily and clapped me roughly on the shoulder. I winced in pain but gave a shaky smile. When he realized that he had applied too much pressure, he looked terribly remorseful.
“I’m so sorry! That’s the Belmonte clan for you. We never know our own strength! To answer your question… this whole hall is filled with our kind, so you can actually just be yourself here.”
With that, Nathan stabbed a fork into his pork and started carving it with a knife. He popped the succulent cut of meat into his mouth and closed his eyes to savor it fully. Taking that as a cue, I tore off a piece of my beignet, dunked it into my coffee, and chewed on the doused dessert. It was truly heavenly.
My nerves were more settled with his reassurance and the gratifying sweetness I had just enjoyed, but I still didn’t quite understand him.
“Why do you say that, though?” I questioned. “What makes this gathering different from any other part of Bouclier?”
“You don’t have to worry about being judged for your background or how much coin your family has,” he explained, “because this is an exceptional circumstances ceremony. This is where mages who have unusual talent but who can’t ordinarily attend Bouclier are invited. We’ve each been set up with a scholarship.”
Once several minutes passed and everyone in the room had the fill of their idealized meals, I wiped my mouth with a napkin and was in a bubbly mood.
“That was really something else!” I said. “They’re really pulling out all the stops for us. Why do you think there’s so much put into this ceremony when we’ve already been given free room and board?”
Nathan sighed with satisfaction and then placed his fork down on his completely clean plate. I guess it must have taken a lot of food to sustain all of his muscle mass.
“I think we can credit Nascha Mora for that,” he explained. “I met her when she visited my family to assess my strength and dexterity. My family is well known in my village for producing strong sons, and I’m the tallest of my siblings. She set my household up with a whole feast and even thanked us for welcoming her!”
He continued, “Her generosity is really quite incredible, and she talked about how she believes that all mages should have access to high caliber training despite their resources, especially if they are gifted. She’s so kind-hearted, you’d think she was an angel from the astral plane which is actually strange because…”
As soon as Nathan saw who was walking to one of the chairs at the helm of the table, he paled and shut his mouth. He looked as though he wanted to eat his words, and I flicked my eyes toward the scene to see what had unsettled him so much.
A woman unlike any I’d ever seen gracefully glided to the front of the room. She wore a caramel brown robe with a hood that hung at the back of her neck. It must have had to be specially tailored for her to let an incredibly large set of bat-like wings with black bones and light red flesh spread out behind her. Horns similar to those of a yak which pointed inward at each other were situated on her temples. Her skin color was a lovely mixture of cinnamon and rosy pink, and her eyes were a bright magenta that looked like they were back-lit.
The attire she wore was considerably demure in comparison to her sensational appearance. In fact, her robe almost looked like that of a stereotypical monk. Perhaps she’d selected it to downplay her attention-grabbing features. Her outfit would have been completely baggy to the point of concealing her figure if it weren’t for a black corset belt that wrapped around her waist and cinched it so tightly I wondered if it was painful. This contraption showcased her completely covered chest, which was just as large as mine, but her hips were slimmer.
“A succubus,” Nathan whispered in my ear so he wouldn’t be caught, but I didn’t know what that meant.
I looked at him stupidly, and he must have realized that there was too much to elaborate on, so he let me shift my attention back to the woman.
“Greetings, esteemed mages!” she addressed the room with an exotic accent I couldn’t quite place. It sounded like a sultry villainess I had seen in a cartoon before, but she seemed quite good-natured. I mean, she had looked out for all of us here, after all. “I am Nascha Mora, Dean of Mage Advancement, and it is my absolute pleasure to welcome all of you here today. Abelard wishes he could have attended to meet you all personally, but, alas, he is caught up in his studies.”
She paused to let those words sink in before continuing. “So, allow me to induct you into Bouclier! Each of you is here today because I was tasked with harnessing my det
ection magic to find the most promising recruits for our academy.”
She laced her fingers together and dipped her head down, looking many of us in the eye with a tender smile. I could almost forget her horns because her demeanor was so syrupy sweet.
“I scoured the realms to discover young mages who possessed unquestionable gifts and potential, but who may have been barred from the opportunity to harness these due to familial and circumstantial setbacks,” she stated as her voice became increasingly impassioned. “I am intimately familiar with the plight of being either unrecognized or belittled. I am here today to say that none of you will fall away from your greatness if I can help it.”
Nathan paid rapt attention to Nasha with a dreamy gaze and a contented smile. He looked totally transfixed by her compassionate energy and her sincere speech. I even wondered if he had a bit of a crush on her, which seemed understandable. Maybe he was just extremely grateful for how committed she was to lifting her students out of poverty and providing them a better path. I shifted in my seat and held back any questions for the moment.
She took confident strides around the oval table and began to engage with students every now and again in the middle of her speech. Sometimes, she gave a warm, knowing look to a student and an encouraging word to another.
“Some of you display phenomenal abilities in herbalism and botany.” Nasha paused and nodded toward young female mage with skin that looked like it was made of bark.
The girl’s eyes looked like flowers, with yellow rings around her pupils and irises of dark purple. They lit up with joy as she soaked up Nascha’s praise like it was water she needed to survive.
The winged woman seemed well aware of this and walked away with fluid steps, a gentle smile dancing upon her lips. The students gathered seemed hungry for her validation, and while she gave crumbs here and there, some mages were given a greater amount of attention.
“Or even a finesse for harnessing your hereditary magic to contact your dearly beloved for guidance that can be refined to contact any wayward soul,” Nascha’s eyes gleamed with sympathy as she approached an odd-looking mage who looked like she was basically skin and bones. The girl was so pale I was concerned and was struck by the impulse to drag her to the beach, both so she could get a little color in her cheeks and experience the outside world. Judging by her horrible posture and the dark circles under her eyes that were obvious even from a distance, she probably just shut herself inside all day.
