Chapter Five
"Welcome to the Collegium. I am Herald Elcarth, Dean of the Collegium, as that scamp may or may not have told you. It is my duty to oversee all the newly Chosen. I must admit I was surprised to find out that another thief was Chosen so quickly after the first, but who am I to judge a Companion's Choice. Aranya Chose you and so you are to become a Herald. But I need to know where to place you in classes and such forth. Who are you?" He folded his hands on his desk and smiled at her, a friendly open smile that invited her to be his friend and confide in him.
Mairi smiled tentatively back, but years of street life had taught her to not trust anyone immediately and completely. But she gave him some of what he wanted. "My name is Mairi, daughter of Ilene. I am fourteen years old. I used to live at the Boar's Head, which is a tavern in Haven near Exile's Gate. I worked for Roskyter, the innkeeper. My mother died giving birth to me, and I was raised by Eulima, a midwife and one of my mother's friends. She taught me reading and writing, how to talk right, and some figuring. I learned more later, at a Temple school. She died when I was six, and then I went to the Boar's Head, where I was born in one of the rooms. A serving girl spoke to Roskyter for me. She was there for my birth. He trained me as a pickpocket. I dunno much roof work, and I always worked alone. Alberich found me when I tried to lift his purse." She stopped there, and he did not press her for more.
He looked at her for a moment and changed the topic, quizzing her on her scholarship. He asked question after question and soon found her what she already knew- her academics were easily at a level with the others her age especially history and geography which she loved, she knew little of comportment except her "please-and-thank-yous", nothing of riding or of court life, and the little weaponry she knew was crude knife-fighting and common maneuvers from drunken men who tried to grab her. Elcarth rather expected most of it, having dealt with Skif two years before. He let her go, calling Skif to come show her about. He'd work as her mentor in the immediacy, but soon he'd have to find a female, and talk to her before introducing them. He decided she'd be best off with Aderyn, a bird-like girl in her last year with a joy and exuberance for life. Mairi and her insecurities would be a perfect match with this happy eighteen year-old. Now the only problem left was what to do when Mairi and Jeri meet. It would be a shock to them both.
Skif took Mairi around, leading her on a tour of the Collegium and introducing various people along the way. She meet Trainees and Blues, spent time with Aranya, and was shown the classrooms, the salle, and what seemed to be Skif's favorite spot, the kitchen. Here they got a little something to eat to hold them both over until supper, and then Skif led her to the library, leaving her there so he could get his chores done.
Mairi stared in shock at the library, the overwhelming feelings of being around so many people leaving her and she took in a sight wonderful to behold. She quickly worked out the categorizing system and spent a rapturous candlemark engrossed in a history of Sunsinger and Shadowdancer, tucked away in a tiny cubicle. However enraptured she was, she didn't fail to miss the soft tread of footsteps coming closer and the voice that range cheerfully out, "Well, hello there." Mairi turned to gaze upon a tall, slender girl with bright blue eyes and a halo of fluffy blond hair framing her circular face. "I'm Aderyn, Chosen of Ritiah. Skif said I'd find you up here. I'm to show you around, at least everywhere you haven't been and Skif can't bring you. Hope you're not too interested in that book, that you can't put it down 'cause Elcarth wants you geared up by supper." Mairi shook her head slowly and moved to put the book back on the shelf she got it from, feeling slightly overwhelmed by this Aderyn for she had never met someone quite as exuberant. But she shook the feeling off with the internal assurance that Heralds, even Trainees, just couldn't be "bad people". It just wasn't done. She trailed Aderyn out of the library.
Aderyn led the way down the long hallways, talking animatedly the entire time. Mairi couldn't catch and didn't understand most of it, but it seemed to be mostly the latest gossip and events in the Collegium. She recognized the hallways as leading towards the main areas, and wondered exactly where they were going. Aderyn said that she needed to be "geared up" and she assumed that meant she needed a uniform like all the others were wearing. They took many stairs, since the library was on the top floor and they seemed to be heading towards the basement. Mairi's suspicions were correct when they reached the main floor and kept going downwards. They reached the end of the stairs and Aderyn reached back and propelled her through the door at the bottom of the stairs.
They entered a whitewashed room that held only a desk and a middle-aged woman behind it. The woman gave her a penetrating look and she cringed back towards the door, but Aderyn was in the way of her escape.
"This is Gaytha," Aderyn said gently, prodding her forward again. "She's the Housekeeper. She'll fit you for uniforms." Mairi swallowed, and moved towards the desk as Gaytha beckoned with a crooked finger.
"You're too tall for a ten and too skinny for a twelve. We might have to do a little tailoring to get to fit right, at least until you've put a little meat on those bones of yours." She disappeared into a side door, returning with a pile of silvery-gray clothing, neatly folded. These she passed to Aderyn, who took them expectantly. "There's uniforms, now let me see your feet. Just prop your foot up right here on my desk, there's a girl." Mairi placed her dirty, bare foot on the desk, embarrassed by her shoeless state. She wore a pair of tattered sandals in the winter, with thick socks, but Roskyter put those away during the summer. Her skirt was long enough that her bare feet went unnoticed in the better parts of Haven. Gaytha tsked. "Well, looks like you could use some shoes. Give them up for the summer, hmm? You were lucky you didn't cut yourself and get an infection. Aderyn, put those down on the desk and measure her for some boots while I get some temporaries." She disappeared into the side room again, while Aderyn took some tracings of Mairi's feet, while Mairi stood there, feeling very embarrassed at her dirty feet, but Aderyn portrayed no sign of disgust at touching them, so she felt a little better. Aderyn finished just as Gaytha came back carrying a lumpy bag.
"Put those on the desk, Aderyn, and Mairi, take this. Now, we wash thoroughly before every meal, with a full bath at night. If you get sweaty or dirty at arms practice or with your Companion, you wash up and change your uniform then too. If you don't measure up, it's back to the bathing room with you and you get whatever's left over when you get back. Now, do you have any experience with household chores?" Gaytha crossed her arms over her chest and leveled a gaze at Mairi that warned her better than any words that cleanliness was to be taken seriously. It didn't come to much of a surprise to Mairi- if thieves couldn't be slovenly, then Heralds most definitely couldn't.
"I can patch some, but not very well, and I can clean. I worked in an inn before, and I mostly served meals and cleaned up afterwards," Mairi said timidly, hoping to not seem too inadequate in Gaytha's and Aderyn's eyes.
"Then I'll put you down for dishwashing and hmm… Early riser or do you prefer to sleep in?" Gaytha asked, a speculative look on her face.
"Early riser," was the quick reply. Whether she started out one or not, she had to while working for Roskyter, if she didn't want a kick in the ribs to start out every morning. Besides, the mornings were nice. There wasn't anyone else around generally.
"Server then, for the morning meal, and dishwashing after luncheon. That leaves you plenty of time to have free and do your classwork. Also, remember to tidy up your room, which is to be done every morning without fail unless you're too ill to move. Here's your schedule. If it's too hard to fit in with you classwork, come back to me and we'll tidy it up for you." A dismissal, both Mairi and Aderyn realized and left through the same door they entered, Aderyn carrying the uniforms and Mairi, her new and potentially uncomfortable shoes.
Aderyn led the way upstairs again, this time to the second floor. They went down a long hallway covered with doors all down one side. "This is the girl's side. On the other side of that wall is the common room, where we all have meals, and on the other side of that is the boy's side. We all eat together, but generally the boys aren't allowed here and we aren't allowed over there. The middle door along this wall, the bigger one with the blue frame, is the bathing room, where we go to clean up." Aderyn kept talking until the end of the hall and she chose a door at the very end. In a small holder on the door, was a card with Mairi's name on it. "Here's your room. You're a lucky one alright, with a corner room. Now I'm three doors down if you have any problems or questions, or just if you want to sit down and chat for a while. Let's put your stuff away…" she trailed off, silent for once as she saw the incredulous expression on Mairi's face. She realized belatedly that the girl had probably never had room to call her own. She poked a finger into Mairi's back, pushing her into the room. "Let's put your stuff away and then you can get cleaned up for supper, which is very soon, but you should have time to take a full bath if you want and you hurry." She placed the pile in the wardrobe, grabbing a uniform from it before closing the door. Mairi placed the bag in the wardrobe as well and followed Aderyn back into the hall and through the bathing door.
There, Aderyn showed her where all the towels and things were kept, and helped her draw a bath with the unusual system that had Mairi baffled. She left to take care of a few things of her own, while Mairi took the best and hottest bath she'd ever had in her Finally, when Aderyn came back, she was clean and arrayed in the new uniform, which felt strange and free after her accustomed skirt. Aderyn sent her back for shoes, which Mairi pulled on reluctantly. When the bell rang, she was ready and trailed Aderyn into the common room.