Darkness of the Heart
Chapter 3: A Notice of Nightmares
Rikash twisted one sleeve nervously, eyes trained on the simple white fabric. He had known the meeting with the University Masters was going to be awkward for him, but this was a bit much. He had spent the entire time huddled in a corner, careful not to catch anyone's eye. All around him, other students were holding up lively conversations with the professors. To make it that much worse, he only had five minutes, if that, before the exhibitions started. Rikash groaned, you would think that by now he was used to making a fool of himself, but sadly, that was not the case. He could almost hear the laughter now.
Hang on, he could hear laughter. Rikash glanced up, and immediately regretted doing so. Jekair was leading a middle-aged man in his direction, flashing a smirk at him before saying something to his shadow. "I'd like you to meet a colleague of mine, professor. This is Rikash Draper, he's in the same year as myself, and is graduating as well." Rikash gave Jekair a dirty look before offering the professor a weak smile. "Rikash, this is Professor Manza, he teaches the study of animals at the University. I leave you two to get to know each other."
Rikash watched Jekair's retreating back until it was lost among the other students. He turned to Manza with a gulp. "Um, have you, uh, enjoyed yourself this evening sir?" He was quite aware of all the blood draining out of his head and wouldn't have been surprised if he just keeled over on the spot. Fortunately, Manza chose not to comment on this.
"Why yes," He said, brushing a stray hair behind his ear before continuing. "Your school is quite charming. I came here myself you know, but that was many years ago, and it's quite different than how I remember it. Have you been here quite long?"
Rikash blinked. The man appeared to be rather fond of that word. "Er, yes, seven years now. I enrolled when I was ten." He bit his lip and looked down at the wooden floor. He knew what Manza's next question would be, and there was no way to answer it without sounding absolutely pathetic without lying. And there was no point in lying because in about two minutes, he would have to go and make a fool of himself in front of the entire room.
The light globes blinking out for a second very nearly brought Rikash to his knees. It seemed that luck was on his side tonight. It was about time. "Would all final year students please approach the front of the room?" A magically magnified voice announced, but this was no request. Licking his suddenly dry lips, Rikash nodded politely to Manza before shuffling away, wondering whether or not he should consider this fortune or not. On one hand, he was saved from the embarrassment of having to admit he wasn't powerful enough to get into the University, but on the other, he was going to have a chance to prove it.
An elbow in the side distracted him. "Ready to be laughed at?" Jekair whispered nastily, covering up both the shove and the words exchanged by pretending that he had tripped. Rikash shuddered. No, no he really wasn't, if he been given the choice, he would have run as fast as possible in the other direction by now. Unfortunately, things didn't work that way.
The students jostled each other as they moved into a line. Rikash managed to stay on his feet, and got a spot near the middle. Hopefully, this way, he'd be forgotten about by the end of the night. Probably not, but it was certainly better than going last. Rikash watched quietly as, one by one, the students reached into the bowl with their eyes closed, and pulled out either a gem or a piece of jewelry. He watched as, one by one, they concentrated carefully on casting a spell of some sort on the object. He watched as, one by one, they demonstrated what they had done, and, one by one, bowed to the politely clapping crowd. He watched as, one by one, the line in front of him grew shorter and shorter.
And then, the way to the front was clear, and it was his turn. Swallowing nervously, Rikash stepped forward, carefully placing one foot in front of the other, afraid to step even a little in either direction, knowing it would only give him the opportunity to bolt, which was looking quite appealing at the moment. Rikash shook his head, he couldn't give up before he even started, even if it was entirely hopeless. Shutting his eyes tightly, he stuck a hand in the offered bowl. He dug around for a bit, looking for something that he would be able to do something to. At last his fingers closed around something very smooth. He pulled his hand from the bowl carefully, and opened his eyes at the same time that he opened his hand. A perfect black opal, a bead of sliver hanging it from a silver chain, lay in his hand.
He had gotten lucky. So very lucky he could scarcely believe it. Opals were the most receptive to magic a stone could get. But he wasn't out of trouble yet, it wasn't like his spell was very impressive. It was nothing compared to what Henan Leppa, the class clown, had done, just a few students before him. His charm, a piece of solid blue quartz, which just happened to be the least receptive to magic, had started whistling a popular tune, one that everyone in the audience knew, whenever a weapon was trained on its wearer, no matter how far away the weapon maybe.
Rikash blinked, and then focused on the opal. He felt for his tiny seed of magic, and drew out a fine thread, feeding it into the stone in his palm. The sparkling blue fire seeped into the opal slowly, filling it with a harsh, cool, light. "So mote it be." Rikash whispered, the words audible to only him, when the stone could take no more. Thankfully, it was a considerably small opal, as he was nearly out of magic already. He was just glad he hadn't picked up a piece of quartz, or a solid metal. He would have been laughed off the imaginary stage then for sure.
He glanced up at the professor nearest to him. "You don't happen to have any poison?" He asked nervously, waiting as the professor pulled out a small vial. He took the offered container, and opened it carefully. Taking a glass of plain water from the table next to him, he added a drop of the poison. He capped the poison and returned it to its owner. He waited for the poison to mix with the water for a moment, and, crossing his fingers, brought the opal closer to the glass.
A few inches away from the glass's opening, the opal flared a bright blue, the same color as his meager gift. Rikash's knees nearly gave out in relief. Sure, it wasn't spectacular, or even particularly useful, considering most hosts would be quite offended if you went around testing your drinks for poison, but it had worked. The applause, though delayed and rather hesitant, was still applause. Rikash bowed, dropped the stone reluctantly, and moved away to allow the next student to show off.
As students continued to move forward and take their turn in the spotlight, Rikash fiddled with the hem of his shirt. He didn't dare look up, he didn't want to see the stares that he could feel. He also didn't want to have to deal with the angry look from his professors, the ones that had been so against his even applying to the University. Rikash couldn't even remember why he had bothered, it was so pointless. He wasn't going to get in, he was just embarrassing himself.
Sighing again, Rikash glanced up to see how many more students were left. Unfortunately for him, there were at least twenty, so he would be stuck there for at least another half hour. This was just his luck. He looked away from the front quickly when one of the University Delegates gave him a cold look. Did he really deserve that? Rikash wondered. He hadn't done anything wrong, per say, he just wasn't very good with magic. That much at least should be obvious.
He scanned the crowd despite his better judgment. People avoided meeting his searching eyes. Was he really that embarrassing? Did they want him gone that badly? Stupid question, Rikash thought wryly. Of course he was, of course they did. If he was one of them, he would probably feel the same way. You would think they might have a little pity for the poor magically impaired boy though, but apparently not.
Jekair caught his eye as he continued to look around, and smirked at him triumphantly. Rikash just ignored him, it wasn't like Jekair had actually expected him to do anything spectacular, so he wasn't sure why he was being so superior. So what, he wasn't any good at magic, or fighting, or getting along with people, or… Rikash sighed. There he went again, making himself depressed. But it was so hard to stay cheerful, especially at times like this.
Back in Tortall, all his parents' friends, and his family, and, well, everyone, had at least one thing they were good at. His mum could talk to animals, his dad could turn people into trees, his sister could hunt criminals, his godparents were master swordswomen, great rulers, diplomats, soldiers, and spymasters. And he had to go back to that in just under two weeks. Rikash briefly considered drinking the poison he had used for his demonstration, but mentally kicked himself. Suicide wouldn't help anything.
There had to be something he was good at, anything. He wouldn't care if that one thing was juggling, or cooking, or even sewing. There just had to be something he could do, something that would mean he wasn't useless. Closing his eyes tightly, and blocking out the noise form the audience, Rikash wished that he would find it soon. Unfortunately, for the first time in his life, the gods were paying attention to the youngest Salmalin.