| Chapter 7: The Troubles Begin. |
| "Here we are now. The
Quarter Master's office is right here," Sheila turned halfway,
gesturing to a door. "She'll be getting you your rooms and Grays.
All of that, and take you to meet the Orientation Instructor." She
tapped lightly on the door, a thin voice called out after the tap for
entry. Sheila opened the door and gestured that she would follow
after the two. Sophi shrugged to Tanja and walked into the semi-small office. She stopped a bit short and glanced around the room, rather plain when she thought about it. Shelves around the room held books varying in size, a fire was in the place and a table with several comfortable looking cushioned chairs surrounded it in the near center of the room. A thin woman in light colored clothing walked out of another room, carrying a book at her side. She turned her warm hazel colored eyes on the two and smiled readily to them. Her triangular face was fare and framed with lightly flowing almond-shaded waves to her shoulders. "Two more for you!" Sheila grinned as she stopped beside Tanja. "Just came in today with Anaya and Ezra." "Anaya and Ezra? I must be losing my touch, I didn't even know the two went to Choose." The woman's long fingers curled around the spine of her book as she walked to them. "I'm not sure that many did," Sheila responded with a slight chuckle. "I present Heraldic Student Tanja and Heraldic Student Solphin." Sheila made a bit of a show, half-bowing in a slight gesture of presentation. Sophi grimaced at her name and raised a brow, holding back a small chuckle as the QuarterMaster grinned and shook her head. "Well then, Tanja, Solphin--" She began, but was cut short by Sophi's outstretched arm. "Um, I'm called Sophi, Solphin is just my, eh, birth name." She felt her cheeks flush hotly as the QuarterMaster smiled and nodded once. "Alright then. Tanja, Sophi," She paused again, smiling to Sophi. She nodded and the QuarterMaster continued. "I'm Bertha, the Quarter Master for the Heraldic Collegium." "Nice to meet you," Tanja half murmured back as Sophi nodded simply. They both seemed a bit surprised at their grasp of the language, Sophi giving Tanja a sidelong glance of excitement. Bertha just nodded and lifted a notebook from the table, quickly writing something down and flipping through it again. "Which of you came on Ezra?" She looked up a moment as Sophi nodded and lifted a hand slightly in response. Bertha's smile widened into a grin, the corners of her eyes wrinkling slightly. "I don't know if I should envy you, or be afraid for you with that young stallion." She laughed then as Sophi turned a bit pink in the cheeks and Tanja chuckled, her head lowered a bit. Sophi elbowed Tanja and she choked back the rest of her laughter before standing up straight again. Bertha wrote down a few more things, then set the book down on the table. "Now that we have your names and Companions names, here comes the real work," she chuckled a bit and looked to them both. "The castle doesn't spare us any servants here so we need to list you up for chores according to ability." Catching the hint, Sophi groaned a bit and nodded. "I kept my house almost my entire life so I can just about clean anything, anywhere. I can't sew worth dirt, though. As long as it needs to be cleaned and not hemmed I'll be alright. Light stitching is no problem, though." "I can't sew at all, but I can learn. That and I can cook a bit," Tanja spoke up quickly, watching as Bertha made them up a chart for each of them, tearing a page from her book and handing them over. "Now that we have that out of the way, time to get you some student Grays," she nodded to Sheila. "Could you take them to the storage room and laundry and quickly get them a pair? After that it's to the washroom and get them something to eat! You must all be famished!" She smiled again and winked to Tanja quickly. "Will do, shouldn't take long at all," Sheila responded. "Good. Oh, and your rooms are along the far end near the gardens, the number is written on your sheets. I'm sure Sheila can show you as well," she looked to Sheila, who nodded slightly. "Good, good. Well then," she set her hands up on her hips and gave them a stern look. "Shoo-shoo! Get going before I waste more of your eating time!" Sophi suppressed a chuckled and quickly turned back around, following after Sheila. At the sound of the door shutting behind herself, she lagged back a bit, glancing back behind herself to Tanja. Tanja looked up--or down--to her with a knowing look, glancing pointedly up ahead to where Sheila was. ::Let's see, whisked away to an unknown land, encountered three ghosts, given sp-special horses and now we can speak Valdemarian. What next?:: Sophi thought to Tanja, pausing a moment to wonder why she couldn't even think "Spirit-horse" to Tanja. Apparently Tanja caught the stutter and nodded a bit as she passed by Sophi to follow after Sheila. ::I'm not sure, but there is something we're here for.:: She sighed a bit as they caught up to Sheila. ::Don't bother even thinking about magic here, or what the Companions are. The vrondi are still around, along with the other spells Vanyel set.:: She didn't seem that pleased about that fact. ::So, then, that means this is before Elspeth returned?:: A small frown passed across her lips. ::In other words, Ancar, Hulda, Falconsbane and Charliss are still alive and Hardon still doesn't have a king with Earth-Sense.:: ::That and Karse still thinks we're all a bunch of demons up here, most likely.:: Sophi shook her head gently, catching a peculiar side-glance from Sheila. "Just a bit taken aback still," she offered as an explanation. It wasn't really a lie, she was surprised at something, just not about what Sheila most likely thought. She simply nodded and grinned. "I can understand that, it is all a bit overwhelming considered where I grew up." A mental alarm went off in Sophi's mind as she hoped and prayed that she wouldn't ask. All of it was in vain. "So, where are you two from, anyway?" Sheila smiled sweetly and cocked her head to look sidewise at Sophi. Tanja cringed and looked wide-eyed to Sophi, shaking her head so very slightly. "Well," Sophi began, looking away from Sheila, straight ahead again. ::What the hell do I tell her!?:: She asked Tanja, panicking horribly as she felt her face flush with a sudden feeling of immense warmth, her heart racing. ::I don't know! Make something up, quick. Eh, traveling with those faire people near Hardon, maybe?:: Tanja replied quickly, the own panic in her voice very obvious. Sophi swallowed and took a breath in. "Tanja and I grew up around the same group of people. Not really that close to here," she stumbled a bit, trying to weave a sort of half-truth without giving anything incriminating away. "Oh, really?" Sheila spoke up, looking from Sophi to Tanja, then back again. "you don't look that much alike. Around where did you grow up?" Sophi nearly choked as she tried to think of something quickly. "That's because we don't have the same heritage." Tanja spoke up truthfully. "That's what I thought," Sheila smiled a bit. "Your tinted skin almost looks Shin'a'in, but maybe Rethwallen is more likely since you have dark eyes. Yet, you're not of the usual stocky build from up there. That and how your hair is dark, it suggests somewhere from the south, maybe along Karse," Sheila chuckled. "A whole bunch of contradictions all thrown together it seems!" ::There's a thought, Shin'a'in is a bit far-fetched, but what of a Karse run-away and a Rethwallen faire traveler for parents?:: Sophi licked her lips and looked to Tanja, who looked back. ::It'll take a chance, we don't know when this is still, or if the faire travelers are common.:: She paused a moment before glancing to Sophi again, a slight smile across her lips. ::We could say we're from Iftel. No merchants will tell, and nobody will expect us to know common knowledge around here since it's so isolated.:: Sophi blinked and looked away from Tanja and Sheila again, thinking this over in her mind as she chewed on her non-existant nails. It did make sense, Iftel was about as cut off from this world as you could get. The merchants weren't going to talk and nobody had any idea about what kind of people came from there. They could have green skin and purple colored tentacles for arms as far as anyone knew. She nodded to herself and looked up again, knowing that this would work, at least until that gryphon from Iftel comes down and visits Tremane. What was his name again, Tashiketh? It hardly mattered what his name was now, Sheila was waiting for her answer and so was Tanja, who was looking at her anxiously. Sophi looked away from Sheila and bashfully murmured under her breath, "Iftel." Sheila raised a brow and leaned closer, stopping in front of a door. "Where did you say?" She asked again. Sophi sighed and wrenched her head around, setting on a face of mild torment as if it was being dragged from her. "Iftel. Tanja and I are from Iftel." She looked away again, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, and back again. Tanja looked away as well, keeping her head slightly lowered. "What!?" Sheila yelped and backed up as the door flung open, a middle aged looking man burst out of it, his light hair flailing around his face. "What's wrong!?" He asked in a bewildered shout, looking to Sheila. She shook her head and cleared her throat as Sophi felt her face flush and her entire body become hot again. "Eh, n-nothing, Dirk," Sheila replied shakily, standing a little straighter. "You're just the fellow we were looking for, though. Dirk, these two are your newest Heraldic Students, Tanja and Solph--I mean, Sophi." Dirk nodded as a bit of color came back into his face. "Oh, alright then," he cleared his throat and held the door open wide. "Be my guests, ladies. Step into my humble office." They entered quickly, Sophi noticing a peculiar look the Orientation Instructor cast her way. "Actually, I'm late meeting some friends for dinner. Can you take them to see Teren and their rooms? I can take them to the washroom and the kitchen afterwards." Sheila bit her lip almost looking like she was begging Dirk. He smiled and nodded, waving her away. "Go on, I can take care of these two for now," he set a hand on Sophi's arm carefully as Sheila grinned and thanked him. "I'll see you guys later on!" She promised as she left, waving. "Alright then, you two need to go and see Teren to get your classes set up, right?" Dirk asked them as he held his door open in one hand. "That's right," Sophi nodded and took a moment to look Dirk over. Talia was truly correct when she said that he was no great beauty, he was pretty normal and usual to look at to be honest, but she could see good humor in his eyes. Tanja nodded and Dirk nodded back, holding the door open once more. "No better time than the present, let's go see him now before you two die of hunger," He grinned to Tanja and she replied with a little smile as she walked out past Sophi and into the hall again. Sophi raised a brow, was she imagining things or did Tanja seem to be quite taken by Dirk. It was an interesting thought. "I agree most definitely, and so does my stomach," Sophi smiled and walked out into the hall beside Tanja. Dirk stepped out behind her, chuckling softly as he shut the door. "I don't doubt that one bit, actually. It's nice to have an actual warm meal after traveling for a while, I still have trouble believing that I survived through my Journeyman year, and not to mention Skif's!" He sighed and shook his head. "It wasn't all that bad but I still think it's a wonder we lasted on his and my cooking." Sophi nodded and chuckled a little as they started down the hallway again. "Oh I'm just hoping that I get someone who can cook to show me around when I'm a Journeyman, because the Goddess knows that I cook about as well as Skif, I bet," Tanja spoke up now, chuckling a little. "I know the feeling," Sophi groaned. "I tried cooking for myself once...let's just say I'll never look at soup the same way again." Dirk laughed and nodded in a far too understanding way as he tapped on a door quietly. "Come?" A low, warm voice called out on the opposite side as Dirk opened the door up carefully. "Teren, it seems we have another two students we need to check in before I let you go to sleep," Dirk grinned to the older man behind a desk. "Oh no, not more!" A humor-filled voice called out as the person groaned. "Tell them to go home, we're all full up," Dirk laughed and waved Tanja and Sophi inside. "It's not that bad, they seem harmless." Dirk raised a brow at the two, Teren doing the same, measuring Sophi up as he stood. "Yea, well so does Keren, that doesn't mean she's very harmless, I have the scratch marks to prove it!" He rolled up a sleeve and showed his arm to Sophi, who laughed and shook her head. "Oh please, my sister leaves worse marks than that," She held her head high and winked to Tanja. She smirked and shook her head. "So she does," Teren tsked the marks on Sophi's arm and shook his head. "I feel your pain, Miss--." "Sophi," Dirk interrupted, "Sophi and Tanja," He nodded to Tanja and her in turn. They both nodded back. "Ah, pleasure to meet you, I'm Teren, the Dean here in the Collegium," he beamed. "Oh stop with the dramatics, it's far too late and you know it," Dirk scolded him and sat back in a chair, quite tired it seemed. "Eh, perhaps just a bit late," He shrugged. "I'm just glad that you were still here this late after sunset, I was just about to just take them to their rooms and leave this until later on," Dirk told Teren as he rubbed his right eye with a knuckle. "I was just about to turn in, good thing you just caught me." He responded and gestured to a table for them to sit by. Sophi groaned mentally as she lowered her filth infested and sore little body into a chair. This was bound to be a very, very long night. |
