When he got back to the dormitory, he could hear voices from the left, just past the entry hall. Gregory put on his slippers and went that direction. Opening the door to the room opposite the one Keeper Dia had been in, he found a large room with five tables and cushions. Four of the tables had novices in white robes sitting around them.
“Another new face,” someone called out, alerting the room that Gregory was standing there.
“New, indeed. He’s still wearing his old clothing,” another said.
“Just come in today?” a third asked, waving him over to a spot at his table.
Gregory gave the room a polite bow of his head before shutting the door behind him and moving to the offered spot. “Yes, just a few hours ago.”
“Make sure you’re in your robes tomorrow, or Keeper Dia will scold you,” another novice at the table said.
“I remember my lecture,” a third shivered. “Stay on her good side if you can.”
“I will. Thank you,” Gregory said.
“It’s late for new novices to get in,” a novice with a haughty bearing added from the nearest table. “Where are you from?”
“Alturis,” Gregory replied.
“Where is that?” the haughty one asked with a smirk.
“Wait, I know,” another novice at the same table said. “My father deals with ores. It’s way out on the northwestern fringe.”
“A fringer… yes, that explains things,” the haughty young man snickered. “What magic do you have? I’m betting it’s earth.”
Gregory took a dislike to the novice. “Can’t tell you.”
“Oh, why is that? We’re all taken to the Blade when we register. Or did whatever backwater proctor that found you forget to do that?”
Gregory’s eye twitched, “The master didn’t know.”
The conversation in the room dimmed, and everyone was now interested in hearing more. The haughty novice sniffed, “Impossible. Master Damon is the foremost expert on the Blade.”
“Hayworth, no one knows everything about it. It’s Aether’s Blade, for Aether’s sake,” the novice who had invited him to sit sighed. “Which stone was it?” he asked, turning back to Gregory.
“Ryuite. I’m Gregory Pettit, by the way,” Gregory offered his hand.
“Nick Shun,” the novice said, shaking his hand. “Sorry about the lack of introductions. Let me fix that,” Taking a minute, he introduced Gregory around the table. “We mostly use given names, since we’re supposed to ‘all be equal.’”
“What’s your village like?” Michelle, the novice who had been lectured by the keeper, asked.
“Normal?” Gregory said questioningly. “It’s a small village, smaller than any of the other places we went through on the way here. It has a mine, where most of the people work. The rest are mostly hunters or farmers. We have people skilled in the basic crafts, and a good clothier.”
Hayworth snorted, “Good… so not worth using for the servants, you mean.”
“What in Krog’s balls is your problem?” Gregory snapped. “You don’t even know me.”
“Who would want to?” Hayworth hissed back, before he coughed and held up a hand as if in apology. “You do have a point, though. I should make allowances for a fringer. Your mother also being your older sister must have been hard enough. It has to be inbreeding; I mean… just look at you.”
Teeth grinding, Gregory got to his feet, “What did you say, you—!”
The door to the room shot open and Keeper Dia stood there. She sternly cut Gregory off, “Fighting is not allowed inside the walls of the dormitory. If you have a need to fight, challenge each other and go to the arena.”
Hayworth got to his feet. He had a sneer on his lips as he looked at the keeper. “If that is your word, Keeper,” he said, his voice dripping with disdain. Hayworth headed for the door and Dia stepped aside when he got close. The others who had been at his table went with him.
When Dia looked back into the room, Gregory had calmed down enough to bow formally to her. “I apologize, Keeper. He insulted my mother. I will do my best to abide by your rules.”
“Very good, Novice,” Dia said, her gaze sweeping the room. “This room is for novices to use to relax, read, play games of chance, and even have debates, as long as they are kept civil. Good evening to you all,” Dia said before she shut the door.
“Well, that was one way to make an enemy,” Nick said. “Hayworth is an asshole, but one from a powerful clan, which is why he has friends and lackeys. You’ll be having some difficulty in the coming year.”
“I didn’t even say anything to him.”
“Didn’t have to,” Michelle sighed as she got to her feet. “Being a fringer is enough for him. If you aren’t from wealth or power, you’re either nothing to him or you’re a target for his enjoyment.”
“We should be going to get dinner,” Nick said. “Would you care to join us, Gregory?”
“I ate before coming here. It was very good.”
“We’ll see you later, then,” Nick said as they left.
Most of the others also left, talking about dinner. Discouraged, Gregory headed up to his room. What the fuck is wrong with people? Gregory wondered as he climbed the stairs. Why hate someone you don’t even know?
Lost in his thoughts, he did not notice that the door next to his room was standing open. Opening his own door, he was about to enter when a voice broke him out of his thoughts.
“Excuse me?” the soft voice called out.
Pausing, he looked over and saw the novice he had been with in the Blade room. “Did you mean me?”
A quick bob of her head and a small smile answered him before she said, “Yes. Do you have a moment?”
“Of course,” Gregory said. “My room or yours?”
“Yours is fine,” the novice said, shutting her door behind her and following him.
She was wearing the white robes of a novice, which covered her from the neck down and looked a little loose on her. Gregory shut the door behind her, moving over to take a seat at the table.
Giving her a smile, he introduced himself first, “I’m Gregory Pettit.”
“Yukiko Warlin,” she replied, taking a seat across from him and folding her legs underneath her. “I wanted to thank you for catching me earlier. I might have been injured if you hadn’t, and it was rude of me to not thank you.”
“Anyone would have done the same,” he said.
“No, no they wouldn’t,” Yukiko replied.
“Why do you think that?”
“My heritage…” Yukiko sighed before meeting his gaze, her cyan eyes locking on his. “I have eurtik snow owl blood. It’s only a little, but enough that many others would let me fall if they knew.”
“I’d catch you every time,” Gregory said simply.
Blinking slowly, Yukiko’s head tilted slightly to the side. “You mean that?” A small smile started spreading on her face.
“My mother always said help those you can,” Gregory replied, returning her smile. “Your heritage isn’t noticeable, outside of your eyes.” Which are gorgeous, he added in his own head.
“My eyes, my hair, and my pale skin make me stand out, bringing trouble,” Yukiko sighed again, looking away from him. “Father took me on the road with him to help me avoid the troubles, which is why I’m here so late.”
“Your father travels a lot? Is he a merchant?”
“Yes. Warlin’s Mercantile. He does a lot of business in the east, along the Buldoun border. I almost missed the ritual altogether, but we were in Jezup when Proctor Harrison arrived, and father decided to have me do the ritual to become an adult. We never thought…” Trailing off, Yukiko’s eyes began to fill with tears.
“You didn’t want to be a magi?” Gregory asked, unsure of what to do for her. “I’ve wanted to be one since I was a child.”
“I wanted to follow in his footsteps,” Yukiko sniffled, doing her best to hold back her tears. “I’ll never be a merchant now, only a magi.”
“You can be both,” Gregory said slowly. “Some of the clans are merchants.”
Yukiko’s smile dimmed, and her eyes crinkled in displeasure. “They aren’t merchants, they are bullies. They use their power to intimidate others into doing what they want. They have no finesse, no soul for the deal.”
“Oh,” Gregory said awkwardly.
Yukiko looked at him again, “You didn’t know that?”
Gregory sighed. Might as well just tell her… it’s already out. Clearing his throat, he shook his head, “I’m from Alturis, in the northwest fringe.”
“That explains why you are here so late, too,” Yukiko said softly. “Jezup is on the eastern fringe.”
“You’re not from there, though.”
“No, my home is… was… Tivano. Father will be heading home to tell Mother, if he isn’t back already. I didn’t get to say goodbye to her.”
“Can’t they visit?” Gregory asked.
“Only during the tournaments,” Yukiko said.
“But they’ll come. Your father obviously loves you a great deal if he went to such lengths to keep you with him and see you become an adult.”
Tears began to fall, and Yukiko nodded, “Yes, he does. They’ll both be here for the first tournament without a doubt, but I’m going to disappoint them.”
“At least your family will be here,” Gregory said softly, reaching out to gently pat her hand. “I doubt they will be disappointed if you do your best.”
Sniffling, Yukiko met his gaze, “Yours won’t come?”
Gregory looked away from her. “Father is a servant to the village for the next five years. Mother… died years ago.”
“Oh,” Yukiko whispered softly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up—”
“It’s fine, you had no way of knowing,” Gregory said, cutting her off. Wanting to change the subject, he did so clumsily, “What do you think the classes will be like?”
Yukiko sniffled again as she forced her emotions down. “Tedious. History will be what we’ve been taught for years. Economics will be simple and repetitive. Aether introduction… I’m not sure about. Conditioning will be grueling.”
“History might be more than you think,” Gregory said, going to the closet to get his book. He set it in front of Yukiko, “I didn’t know a lot of what’s mentioned in here before I started reading it.”
Yukiko opened the book and skimmed the first few pages. “Hmm, maybe you are right about that. I don’t recall anything about the emperor being a war leader. Economics will still be trivial.”
“To you, maybe,” Gregory sighed. “You were raised around it.”
Yukiko nodded, smiling again. “Maybe I can help you in that subject, then, as a thank you for your kindness.”
“I won’t say no. I have a feeling I can use all the help I can get.”
“What about aether introduction?” Yukiko asked.
“I only know what Proctor Bishop told me. They’ll teach us the basics of each kind of magic.”
“Will they know your magic?” Yukiko asked.
“I don’t know, but it’s a new class for both of us, so maybe we can help each other?”
“Yes.”
“As for physical conditioning, I’m not going to be good at it, either,” Gregory admitted. “I was the weakest in our village… well, the weakest man.”
“My heritage doesn’t help me in that regard,” Yukiko said.
“We can push each other, to help keep us motivated and working.”
Yukiko’s smile was strained. “Yes. I need to make sure Mother and Father are proud of me.”
“I have a feeling you’ll be able to do that pretty easily.”
“I should get my things ready for bed,” Yukiko said, rising to her feet smoothly.
“Yeah, uh… me, too,” Gregory said. “I’m thinking of visiting the archive tomorrow, after the proctors’ fight. Did you want to come?”
Yukiko paused at the door, “You don’t mind?”
“I miss my friends,” Gregory said on impulse, getting to his feet. “Having friends makes life better. Ria, El, and Gunnar would like you, too.”
Yukiko had not turned to face him, but the smile in her voice was clear, “Might I go with you to the fight, as well? I would like to see Harrison lose.”
Gregory laughed, “Me, too. Sure. If you want, we can make a day of it. Breakfast, see the grounds, duel, and then to the archive.”
“I’ll look forward to it,” Yukiko said, opening the door. “Goodnight, Gregory.”
“Greg. All my friends call me Greg.”
“Goodnight, Greg. I don’t have many friends, but you can call me Yuki, if you wish.”
“See you in the morning, Yuki.”
Greg shut the door after her and smiled as he went to the closet to get his stuff put away. Looks like I made one friend, at least. Might want to tell her I already made an enemy… no reason for her to get tangled up. Maybe at breakfast tomorrow?
