Chapter Three
"And had a very strange dream, which even now I can remember so clearly that I believe it was no dream." –Jessica Charlotte Driscoll, From The Mystery of the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks.
People say first impressions are important. Audra was late to breakfast by almost a half-hour. She missed the blessing, the first serving, and the chance to thank Master Si-cham. Novices openly stared at her as she silently received a plate of food from a server. Then Audra realized something all new kids face at least once. She didn't know where to sit. 'I can't sit with Thom. It would draw attention to both of us. But I don't know the rules here. Maybe it's done by age, or rank in learning, or anything at all. And….' Her thoughts came to an end as someone tapped her on the shoulder.
Audra turned to see a friendly old man, who was rather short, smile and whisper, "Come. You can sit here." Having the feeling that this was probably one of the masters or priests, she followed him as he led her to a table near the back wall. Few students sat there and there were several empty chairs. The old man gestured at a seat and bowed. "You must be Audra. I've heard several stories about you, young lady. I am Master Si-cham." He gave a chuckle when Audra's mouth popped open. "Don't start fussing. I trust you'll be on time from now on?" Master Si-cham walked away before the stunned Audra could recover.
'That was the Master Si-cham? Sweet Mithros. An adult with a sense of humor.' She sat down numbly and barely recognized she'd begun to chew until she choked on a steaming mouthful of cornbread. Gasping for air and then coughing harder as the inhaled breath took the food back into her lungs, Audra couldn't seem to stop. Finally, one of the novices sitting near here whapped her across the back until the food came up. She leaned over her plate and took deep breaths even as tears streamed from her watering eyes.
"Are you all right?" it was the same novice. Audra had to admit he seemed nice enough. He was average height and rather plump. His blonde hair was very short, leading Audra to believe he was a brand new novice. The boys had to shave their heads while in classes with the girls. "You were choking. I'm Jerome, by the way."
"Yes, I'm fine. Just fine, thank you. I'm Audra of Queenscove."
"You're the renegade lady that's to take classes with us, right? Rumors have been flying, although we scholars are supposed to be above gossip."
She straightened immediately. "What rumors?" Audra demanded sharply. She had always hated the way the convent girls pored over the latest gossip, or if there wasn't any, created some. She had been looking forward to dealing with what she had hoped was a relatively chitchat-free lifestyle.
"Oh, that you wanted to be a knight and your parents insisted on lady. You skip your etiquette lessons to practice fencing, that sort of thing." Jerome's voice was cheerful.
Audra grinned. "Not quite. Neither of those is correct, I'm afraid. I do skip my etiquette lessons if I can help it, but I didn't like fencing. Too boring. I prefer playing pranks on the Daughters when they annoy me. Of course, they annoy me every day, but that's irreverent."
He joined in her laughter, then showed her to their first class, which happened to be—the absolute horror—etiquette.
Thom was not having a good day.
Actually, there's a massive understatement. He was having the worst day of his life, so far. He hadn't had a chance to study. He had agreed to teach a complete stranger how to use her Gift, when he didn't even know what type of Gift she had. He had begun suspecting one of the new servants was spying on him, for the smiling friend. They had been listening at his door earlier in the week, and this morning he had found them rummaging through his desk "to clean it." Thom thanked the Goddess he had his valuables and other items of interest tucked away in various hidey-holes.
Now he sat, bored out of his mind, in his ancient runes class. It was getting harder and harder for Thom to resist tapping his quill point on the desk. 'Know it, know it, learned this already, why can't I be studying in the library…" but he had to keep his eyes focused on the teacher and his face interested. If he were one of the slower boys in the class, he would be trying to remember as much of the lesson as possible. But it was so dull.
'Wonder how I should get word to Audra that she should come to my room so I can decipher her Gift type? Maybe I'll pass her a note in the hallway...nah, too risky. Thom, you're a sorcerer. Send a speaking spell across the mess hall to her. Sheesh, you really have been practicing alone too long.' Thom became absorbed in his much more stimulating thoughts and stopped paying any real attention to the class.
Master Rylen asked Thom a question. When he didn't get a response, Master Rylen tried asking again. The third time, he brought his pointer-stick screeching down the blackboard. The entire class glared at Thom while wincing. "Now, Lord Thom, if you could so kindly tell me the answer to the question I asked you?" the master was definitely not in a good mood.
Thom blanked out. He couldn't even concentrate on what they had been learning that day, forget a specific question in the later part of class. Meeting the teacher's eyes squarely, he replied, "I do not know the answer, Master Rylen."
"Really. And why do you not know the answer, or presumably, the question as well?"
"Because I was not paying attention, sir."
"Go to the supply cabinet after you finish your studies, Lord Thom. Clean out all expired materials and organize all the remaining supplies. I don't wish to see you in your bed before you complete your punishment work, is this understood?"
"Yes, it is, sir." Thom hadn't meant for the insolent drawl to creep into his voice, but it had. The master evidently didn't feel like continuing to waste class time; he settled for a glare in Thom's direction before picking up where he had left off and droning on again.
Thom kept his eyes focused on the teacher for the last hour of the lesson, but fumed inside. 'My day just went from bad to worse. Why me?' Then an idea struck. 'I'll take a little of all the supplies, a shard of glass, some dried plants, spools of thread and so on. I can test Audra to see what likes her best. She'll know what she specializes in, and I'll know what I need to do to teach her.'
Or maybe Thom's day wasn't so bad anymore.
Audra almost fell through her door after dinner; she had started laughing so hard. 'Who would have guessed that the younger novices learn the same things we do? Even though they wear brown robes and we wear dresses, almost every single class I attended today was identical to what I've been doing for the past three years. They practice magic instead of sewing, which means I get a free hour, but still.' She perched herself on the window ledge, carefully avoiding looking towards the reversed mirror. Audra wasn't sure how she'd done it last night, but she didn't want to See that tomb again. Something bad would happen there, she just didn't know what.
'Wonder when Thom will get in touch with me? It's not like I've got schoolwork, I finished it during my free time.' Audra shook her head. Rather than waste her time pondering a question she couldn't answer, she decided to catch up on the sleep she had missed last night. She had planned to move to her bed, but she was suddenly so sleepy. Audra couldn't understand why she was tired, but was fast asleep before she could question it again.
She stood in a pitch-black room, although Audra could see perfectly. The corners were shielded in cobwebs, and there was almost nothing else. And a throne in the center called her attention. It sat on a dais. Audra didn't want to, was yelling at her feet to STOP, but to no avail. She moved towards it until she was barely five feet from the throne.
The throne was truly magnificent. Made of black opals carved in swirls and runes, the back was inlaid with white marble with a stained glass picture. Audra was to see this picture in her dreams for the rest of her life. The Black God hovered above a woman holding a child. Upon closer inspection, the woman was her mother; the baby had brown eyes identical to her own. Audra's mother appeared to be weeping; her arms were frozen in the motion of rocking her child to sleep. Another small girl with blond hair and gray eyes stood clutching the edge of her mother's skirt. A toddler-aged Kristen, Audra realized through her shock.
The Black God was smiling mournfully, as if he regretted having to do this. His fingers reached for the infant and his carefully blank face radiated sadness. Audra's mother didn't look up, couldn't see the God of Death about to claim her child. But apparently Kristen did. Her innocent little face wasn't concentrated on her mother and sister, but above them. "No," the expression on her face said clearly. "She's my sister. Go away."
The picture moved then, the figures were about to have an audible conversation, but Audra was waking up. She fought, needing to know what had happened causing the Black God to allow her to live. The dream god Gainel had other thoughts, and Audra felt everything fall to bits around her.
She opened her eyes a second before she hit the floor. "Ouch. Note to self: never sleep on window-sills." 'And what was that dream trying to say? Oh goody, more unanswerable questions.'
A/N: Chapter 4 up within 2 days—I promise. Please please please review!!!!
Thanks go to all reviewers!