Chapter three:

Visiting the Dean

Kethry opened the door to the Deans office, and was amazed at what she saw. She looked around the huge room. All the walls were filled solidly with books. She never knew someone needed that many books… even the library in her families estate didn't have that many books. The office was unlike anything she had ever seen. It was the nicest of offices, even nicer than her fathers' office.

The Dean chuckled as he saw the newly chosen's amazement. Most newly chosen were pretty stunned at the look of the palace. He gave her a warm smile. "Good day youngin, please, introduce yourself, and take a seat."

Kethry nodded, a little nervous. "I am Lady Kethry Beltran… from the Beltrans that hail from Kettlesmith." She curtseyed and tried to look somewhat together.

The Dean Chuckled. "No need to be so formal dear." He smiled again. "I've heard of your family. A good family they are, good Nobles."

Kethry nodded again slowly in agreement.

"So, Lady Kethry, what is the name of your companion?" The Dean asked.

"The Companion Vryna." Kethry replied, still stuck in the formal state.

"Ah yes… of course." The Dean replied. "Now… Tell me your history, so I can place you in the right classes. What sort of tutoring and house skills have you had so far?" He asked.

Kethry thought hard. "Well… I was tutored since I was 5, by the family tutor my father hired." She began. "I can read and write pretty well. I'm fairly good at math. History is my best subject…. Oh, and for housekeeping, I can garden, sew, cook and clean."

The Dean smiled, he was a little surprised to hear that out of a lady. "Well, that's great, I'm surprised you know that much housekeeping… that's fairly uncommon on noble young ladies."

Kethry shrugged. "Well… my parents made me do a lot of chores… They did that to punish me for not being as lady-like as I should be." She grimaced. "I was lucky I got to horseback ride in that family. Oh… I'm also good at the flute, and I took daily horseback rides." She said, trying to think of everything she was good at.

The dean smiled. "Well I think you will get along fine here. You seem to be a pretty well rounded individual. Now all I need to do is a Gift test, and I can place you in classes right away. I will probably place you in the intermediate math class, advanced history and riding, and beginning weaponry. Oh yes, and advanced reading and writing as well." He smiled.

Kethry smiled a small smile. She wasn't expecting to be placed that high in classes. "What's a Gift test?" She asked.

"Well, a Gift test, like the one I'm going to give you now, is simple, it judges what type of Gifts you have… like if you have the mage Gift, or the ability to see things far away which is Farsight, or the ability to set things afire… there's lots of gifts." He concluded.

Kethry nodded, "alright."

The Dean began her Gift test. He went through the list of Gifts. He was surprised to discover that she had exactly the gifts that they were short on. He applauded Vryna for her choice. "Well Kethry, it looks as though you have a master potential for the mage gift, strong Farsight, and a good strong Mindspeech. So I will be placing you in mage class 1, and assign you heralds to deal with your Farsight and Mindspeech." He smiled. He wrote down her classes on a piece of paper. "Here are your classes, oh yes, and for chores, you have mending on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and Cooking on Tuesday and Thursdays for lunch. Here you are, and now go see the housekeeper to get your uniform measurements."

Kethry nodded and took the paper the Dean handed her.

"Off you go now, and good luck, herald-mage trainee Kethry." The Dean smiled, and patted her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll do just fine."

Kethry felt light on her feet as she headed out the door. It felt so good to be called "herald mage trainee." She no longer had to deal with her parents, and she was free from her ladyship. She was free from her betrothed and free from all her past life. She nearly bounded out the office door. She met the other trainees outside. The other new trainee… Sasha was her name smiled.

"How was it!?" Sasha asked excitedly.

"It was amazing! The Dean is so nice!" Kethry said happily.

Sasha beamed. "Great! I hope we get room assignments together!"

"Me too!" Kethry said. She looked down at her paper wear the room was listed on there. "I'm in room 105." Kethry told Sasha.

Sasha nodded. "Maybe I can talk to the Dean." She said as it was her turn to head in.

"I'm going to go to the housekeeper. I'll meet you there." Kethry told her. Kethry headed down to the Housekeeper. On the way, she glanced out the window. It was now close to noon. Maybe her and Sasha could get lunch after this. This had been an extremely long day, and Kethry was ready to fall asleep now, after riding all night long.

Finally she reached the housekeepers office. A big, yet sweet lady came to the door. "Good day child." She said sweetly. "Here for uniforms?" She asked.

Kethry nodded. "Yes ma'am."

The housekeeper beamed. "Great, lets get you fitted. My name is Alicia, if you ever need me for uniforms."

"Uh, maybe I'm supposed to see you too. The Dean scheduled me for mending three days of the week." Kethry told Alicia.

Alicia beamed even brighter. "Good good, we are in need of menders. Oh we have huge piles of uniforms to get through!" She pulled Kethry in by her shoulder. "Come in, hurry up!"

Kethry was startled, but followed. She was moved onto a block of wood in front of mirrors. Kethry stared at herself. She still looked pretty good, for riding all night, but her dress was now a little torn at the bottom, and she had dirt marks on her arms. She tried rubbing them off.

"Okay, lets see, oh here we go." Alicia said as she fumbled through a drawer, finding a measure, some needles and thread. She took measurements of Kethrys body, and recorded them in a notebook. "Hmm, ok, it'll take till tomorrow afternoon to get you a correctly fit uniform, but I have something for you to wear today. Your new uniform will be sent to your rooms later on." The housekeeper handed her a gray tunic, blouse, and pants. Then she got gray riding boots, winter boots, and lighter shoes for the summer. "The shoes should be fine. I'll just send you some more clothes. You get plenty of uniforms, because you're supposed to wear them every day, now hurry, go change, and have lunch." The housekeeper shoed her out the door.

Kethry took the bundle of clothes and headed to what would be her new room. She opened the door and was pleased with the size of it. She heaved her clothes onto her bed. She glanced over at the desk and saw a trunk laying next to it, and a note left on top. She quickly opened the letter and it read.

"Dear Kethry,

We are sorry about forcing you to marry so quickly. We are very proud to hear of your being chosen. Here are some things from home that will make your new room more lively. Please accept these as an apology. You are our lady… always.

Love, Mom and Dad."

Kethry smiled, and opened the trunk. It was filled with fancy linens and fabrics, and a few of Kethrys books. She dug even further and was very happy to find her flute. Other objects to go on top of her desk were there also, along with a floor rug and some hangings for the fireplace. "Wow, mom and dad really sent a lot of stuff." She said surprised.

She began taking out all of her things and placing them around the room. She put the rug in the center, and put the linens and sheets on her bed. She hung painting on the wall, and set her books on the bookshelf. She took another glance down at the trunk and was surprised to find yet another trinket. It was a crystal companion, carved in the finest quality. Attatched to it was a smaller note. She opened it. "From your brother Keil." She smiled happily, and almost cried. She placed the companion on her desk.

Once she had everything in place, she stared around the room. "Woah, this looks really nice." She said, critiquing her work.

"It really does!" She heard a familiar voice from behind her. She turned around. "Sasha!" She said excitedly. "So we are roommates?"

Sasha nodded happily. "Yep! Got the Dean to put me in this one." She smiled.

"Lets go to lunch." Kethry said. "We can get settled and get our books later."

Sasha and Kethry headed out their door, and down the hall to the dining hall. It was massive. It had rows and rows of wooden tables and benches. It was beautiful. It had a fireplace in the corner. The cook greeted them.

"Hey, you two haven't changed into your uniforms yet." He smiled. "Ah well, I'll give you your meals, you look starving." He began loading their plates with every imaginable food item. Meat, cheese, mashed potatoes, meet gravy, biscuits, fruit, and he topped it off with a glass of wine. "Dig in ladies." He chuckled.

Kethry and Sasha stared at the pile of food. "I've never seen this much food in my life!" Sasha chuckled happily.

Kethry smiled. "I have, but this is the best I've ever eaten!" She said, taking a bite of the fresh rolls. Kethry and Sasha gobbled down their meals almost too fast. It was so delicious they couldn't help themselves.

After eating, they headed back to their room, to grab their uniforms. Then they headed to the bathhouse to wash up. The bathhouse had huge copper tubs with fires lit underneath them, and soap in the near cupboard, and fresh towels. "This is amazing." Kethry said excitedly. She quickly undressed, and jumped in the nearest tub, filling it with water. The water was nice and hot.

She soaked for a good half candlemark, or at least till the water was no longer hot, but lukewarm. She finally heaved herself out of the tub, and dried off. "I love this place already." She said in a peaceful state of bliss. She changed into her uniforms, and followed Sasha back to the room. They had nothing else to do for the day, because their classes didn't start till tomorrow. So they decided to take a nap.

Kethry crawled into her bed. It had a nice soft mattress, and she had a good down comforter that her parents had sent her. She curled up, and almost instantly fell asleep.