Gloria Oliver (3 page)

The dragon waited patiently until they stepped away and then rolled up to his feet. He shook himself, sending dirt and pieces of bush flying everywhere.

Talia used her arms to cover her face against the assault. When it seemed to be over, she peeked out only to find Clarence looking in her direction.

It was a pleasure to meet you, Talia
.

“Y—yes, the same here.” Though she definitely hoped she’d never have the pleasure of ever having to ride on him again. If all dragons flew the same as he did, she wasn’t sure why anyone would ever want to become a Dragon Knight in the first place.

Clarence inclined his head, almost as if he guessed her thoughts. He then lumbered along the long dirt track they’d used for the landing over to a wide, cobbled path between the cultivated fields. Kel turned to follow in the same direction and waved for her to come along. Taking a deep breath, hoping her legs were steadier than before, she started after him.

Once her confidence grew and she became positive the ground would stay beneath her feet, Talia looked up ahead at what lay down the road. The stone castle she’d seen from the air towered over her, imperious and foreboding. Three rows of balconies crowded the upper floors of the four-storied structure. Her mind boggled as she quickly tried to count them and guessed they numbered around a hundred per floor.

Between each balcony and descending all the way to the ground flying buttresses supported the massive walls. As she studied them, it felt as if she were gazing at a many-legged spider, lazily waiting for its next meal. She shuddered, feeling more and more insignificant in comparison to the mighty building. She glanced at Kel, who just kept on walking as if the oppressive, towering structure before them were nothing at all. It was difficult to fathom how she might ever think of such a place as home.

The road split off to the right, and Clarence wove off in that direction. Kel kept on the main course and headed toward a set of dark double-doors. The doors were a full story tall and at least as wide as the length of two horses. The door on the right was slightly ajar and he stepped through it to the inside. Talia reached out to touch the dark wood and found it amazingly smooth. The doors were as thick as her forearm was long.

Kel’s footsteps echoed in the still air as he walked on the polished green marble floor within. The light was muted inside though still bright enough to see by. The entryway was large with cushioned benches on the far side facing the doors. Bright paintings of knights astride ferocious-looking dragons decorated the walls. A carved column rose to the tall ceiling every ten feet or so, shaped to represent knights in armor.

The air smelled clean and the floor shined, yet all of it still seemed imbued with a deep sense of antiquity.

“Nice, don’t you think?” Kel was smiling at her open-mouthed amazement. She was only able to nod, not having seen anything so splendid in her life.

“This way.” He led her down a broad hallway on the right.

They’d not gone far before he stopped in front of a closed door. He knocked on it twice and then opened it, but didn’t go in. “This is where I leave you. Tammer is inside and he’ll get you your room assignment.” He gave her a shy smile. “Maybe I’ll see you again later.”

“Thank you.” It was all she could think of to say. She was here. This was all really happening. The fact the only person she’d met was about to leave her only made her heart beat faster.

“Take care.” Kel took his leave.

Talia watched him go as she stood not quite in the new room’s open doorway, until he disappeared from sight.

“Come on in, would you please? I haven’t got all day.”

She turned around and quickly stepped into the room at the impatient voice. “Sorry, sir.”

The office she found herself in was small but comfortable. Several deep chairs sat before a long oak desk, which was bare except for an inkwell and quill as well as a lone folder.

“Sit. Sit.”

She did as she was told and tried not to look directly at the desk’s occupant. The man there looked to be about thirty. His hair was even lighter than Kel’s, but his eyes were a deep brown. His squared features were bland and unexcited. Without ado he opened the folder before him. “You’re Talia from the village of Queegam, is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.” She felt butterflies swash madly in her stomach.

Tammer made a notation on the papers before him. “You’ve been assigned to the Rimorn room,” he said without much emotion. “You’ll find it up the right corner stairs on the next level, the one with the red marble floor. Just follow the hallway. Your room will be the twenty-fifth on the right.” He made another notation on the papers.

“Your appointment with the Administrator is tomorrow morning at nine,” he continued. “You’ll find her office behind the gold door on the fourth level.” He glanced up, for the first time making eye contact. His brow arched high as he looked at her. “You do know how to read a clock face, don’t you?”

“Y—yes.” Pendrora, Queegam’s schoolteacher, made sure they all learned how. The village owned a leaky water clock in the center of town, but it didn’t keep good time. On many occasions she’d wondered why her teacher bothered. The sun was more than good enough to tell time by. And they didn’t own a clock at home. Now she mentally thanked Pendrora for having made them learn it anyway.

“Good.” Tammer scribbled something else on the papers. “I guess that’s it then.” He set the quill down.

“Go ahead and find your room. Don’t forget about your appointment in the morning.” He closed the folder and dropped it into a drawer.

Talia stood up, clear on the dismissal, yet feeling there surely needed to be more. “But—”

Tammer stood up and led her outside into the hall, closing the office door behind them. “The stairs are over there. I suggest you get moving.” He pointed off to the right to a stairwell in the far corner.

“But—”

Without another word, he turned away from her and headed off in the opposite direction. She stared after him, totally uncomprehending. This was all he felt she needed to know?

For hours the night before Kel came for her, she’d wondered what it’d be like to come here. Yet, though the building itself seemed more than anything she might have expected, her introduction to the guild was less than she’d thought possible. Was this how they did things in the outside world? How could they just bring in total strangers and tell them nothing at all then leave them on their own? How was she supposed to know what she could and couldn’t do?

Abruptly uncertain and lost, Talia felt conspicuous standing there in the vast hallway alone. Realizing there was nothing else she could do, she quietly headed for the stairs Tammer had pointed out to her.

The staircase leading up to her room at home was barely wide enough for a grown adult. The stairs before her now could have easily handled at least ten people standing side by side. The hard stone was worn down from use and her mind boggled at the number of feet which would have needed to walk on it to make it that way. Even the dark, wood banister was large, the same as everything else she’d seen of this place. She felt dwarfed and alone. Was such a huge place really necessary? She remembered her guess at the number of balconies she’d spotted on the outside of the castle and she was stunned by the number of apprentices it would take to fill them all. Most large guilds held ten to thirty apprentices at a time and those were only located in major cities. This place held many, many more. And they were all to be Dragon Knights? Were there that many dragons in the world?

The stairs reached a landing and then continued up. The second floor, as she’d been told, was covered in red marble. Doors were set only on the wall closest to the outside, while on the opposite side were chest-high banisters facing the middle of the building, making the hallway a sort of indoor balcony. Other than for her, the hall was totally empty.

Talia started down the hall, counting doors, and tried to ignore her rising uneasiness. As she went along, she thought she heard low voices coming from the other side of the banister. Curious, and at the same time eager to prove this place held other living beings, she stepped over to take a look.

Beyond the railing, a vast expanse spread out before her all the way to the other side of the building.

Looking up, she could see two more stories like this one. All three stories made a full rectangle and were open in the middle.

Beyond the top floor, she could see the angled ceiling for the roof, which in the center displayed huge round holes covered in what appeared to be glass, which allowed the sunshine to filter inside.

Looking down, she found all those she’d not seen so far. The area below her was split into roofless rooms by flimsy, movable wooden walls. Children who appeared to be grouped by age sat in desks in clusters of twelve or so, listening raptly to a teacher. Their voices rose and mingled together so she couldn’t make out what was being said. Soon she, too, would be there with them.

Talia watched them for a few minutes, her previous unease settling a bit at the normal looking activity.

The children and young people she spotted below her looked to be of all races and colors. She’d not realized so many existed. Back home, Pendrora used some simple maps to show them other places but they’d never really meant much to her. Now she saw the world might just be a lot bigger than she’d ever thought.

Finally pulling herself away from the short wall, she resumed her count and searched for her room.

Beside each door was a small plaque bearing a name. The twenty-fifth door, the one which was supposed to be hers, stood slightly ajar. The plaque beside it was inscribed with the name Rimorn, just as she’d been told it would. Taking a deep breath, she ventured inside.

To say the room was large was an understatement. It was at least the size of the main floor of her house, if not bigger. To the left, nestled in its own nook in the wall, was a massive set of bunk beds made of mahogany. Its thick supports were carved, but were almost worn smooth by the thousands of students who’d slept on them over time. On the far wall were two wide doors with glass, an extravagant expense, which opened out onto a large balcony. With each door came a set of shutters and a large bar that would fit in the hooks behind them. Offsetting this were thick curtains, which at the moment were pulled back.

To her right, Talia spotted a majestic stone tub filled almost to the brim with steaming water. She frowned as she noticed this and wondered if someone just finished filling it right before she arrived, for she could see no signs of a fire.

Two dressers sat against the wall by the door and perpendicular to them was a generous desk with a stack of unmarked books, several quills, and an inkwell. In a niche close to the balcony doors stood a gorgeous arrangement of flowers. The niche on the opposite side held a miniature water clock and pendulum. Talia stared at the latter in total fascination, not ever having dreamed one could be made so small. If she stood close and listened hard, she could even hear the water as it flowed inside it.

A small, utilitarian vanity sat not far from the beds and held a water-filled basin. Beside it were two buckets stacked inside each other. Next to them was a regular sized door. Opening it, she found a small closet filled with linens, two more buckets, and cleaning implements.

As she looked around, Talia noticed not all the light in the room was coming from outside. High in the walls she spotted several globes, which seemed to be glowing. She raised her hand toward one, but felt no heat emanating from it. Her brow furrowed even as she wondered how it was possible.

Shaking her head, she turned and decided to put her things away. Her meager possessions barely took up two of the available drawers on the first dresser. With the two beds and the extra dresser, she wondered if she’d be sharing the room with someone. As far as she could tell, however, there was no indication this would be the case.

After she finished, she noticed a bronze plaque set into the back of the room’s door as well as a place for another wooden bar. Embossed on the plaque were the times for the serving of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which were at seven, noon, and six. It seemed cold and impersonal.

A pang of longing for her parents and home cut through her. Everything seemed to be so different from what she was used to. Nothing felt familiar anymore. She sighed, suddenly tired. Moving toward the balcony to glance at the sun outside, she made herself stop and looked at the clock beside her instead.

She saw it was only three o’clock. That was three hours before dinner, three hours on her own. Her stomach took this as its cue to remind her she’d not eaten lunch. With another sigh, she lay down on the lower bed and was almost swallowed by the soft, thick mattress.

She glanced up and didn’t see the familiar sight of her room’s low rafters or the gentle sloping of the roof.

Instead she found the carved and scarred surface of the bottom of the bed above her.

Someone had scratched in rough sketches of the school’s floor plan on the wood. Each floor was there, even the location of the Administrator’s office. It also showed her other important things like the location of the kitchens and the dining hall. Other students looked to have added other bits of information—class names and times, things she wasn’t sure applied to her. Others seemed to have been content just to add their own names or initials almost as if to make sure those who came after would know they’d been there.

As her eyes closed on their own, she wondered where they all were now.

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THE CHIRPING SINGSONG of a bird startled Talia awake. Abruptly realizing she’d inadvertently fell asleep, she scampered out of bed in a panic. What time was it? Did she miss dinner? She glanced at the clock, once she remembered it was there, and saw it was only a quarter past five. Her speeding heart slowed as she realized she hadn’t missed another meal after all.

Without slipping back into the bed, lest it lull her back to sleep, she leaned over it and looked up to study the map scrawled there again. Having time, she decided it might not hurt to make sure of where the Administrator’s office was as well as where she’d have to go for dinner.