Disclaimer: I still can't think of anything, but you all know what goes in this spot by now.
Well, chapter 14, here we are. The second half of the plot is here, and the reviews have been good, with the exception of a couple. It seems the story is progressing well. The only question is whether or not I can keep putting out the chapters. I think I can.
Anyway, nearly at 100 reviews, which was my beginning goal for this story. Hopefully we'll get there soon. Anyway, on to the reviews.
Fireblade: Thanks! She's just being her odd self, I think. Silly Herald.
Tenshi: -hugs back- I missed all this too. That's what comes of having parents who believe in family holidays, I suppose. Headaches are awful; I get them a lot during the school year. Glad you could enjoy the chapter anyway, though. Nightmares are my own failing, so I can concoct them quite well, I think. I have a lot of them for some reason. I liked the end too. Glad you think I'm improving. I try.
Wizard: Oh, I feel like an idiot now. I guess it's because there has been such a gap between here and the last chapter. In chapter 12, the Dean tells Karissa that she can come back and see Treet later. She shows up, he's sleeping; she waits for him to wake up, but ends up falling asleep in the chair. Mystery solved. No great plot point there, I'm afraid, only another little scene showing how much she cares about him.
Crinzin: I know, it was. All I can say is that it was rushed, REALLY rushed. I hadn't updated for over a month, and I really wanted to get SOMETHING out. I'll probably read it over and try to fix the spelling errors and such.
Violet Rush: Yeah, I hated that part in Arrows. I'm sorry about the length, but like I said, I was eager to get something out. Hopefully the next updates will be faster.
Oceanmate: Yup, you guessed it. They are. I'm glad you liked it, and I think our Herald will get over it. Now that she's done it once, she should be able to make some other friends, especially among Heralds.
Lurks in Shadows: I will, thanks!
Vaches: Lol, I guess she is. I planned to drop her out of the storyline soon. I mean, she'll still be there, but I don't plan to spend much more time on her, in this story, at least.
Anyway, now the second part of the plot starts in earnest, since Treet's first tour of the Collegium is here. With that, I'll shut up and start writing the actual storyline. These foreword thingies are getting a bit long, but I like to respond to the reviews, so forgive them, please.
Chapter 14: Tours
When Treet awoke the next morning, he felt decidedly the worse for his midnight adventure. His hair was sticky and plastered to his head, which felt sore and swollen around the eyes. His tongue was so dry that it felt like tinder to his equally dry mouth. The bell that was ringing insistently in the background did nothing to help his head. It was quite faint, but it echoed around in his skull like a bird trying to burrow it's way out of a cage.
Making a virtue out of necessity, Treet hauled himself out of bed, blinking blearily until the two bedside tables that appeared in front of him coalesced into one. On top of the now singular unit, he saw a neatly folded pile of clothes in a pale green, topped by a note, also folded. Moving as silently as he could, to avoid waking the gently snoring Herald in the chair beside his bed, he lifted the note from the table and unfolded it. What he read caused a smile to appear on his face. A faint one, but a smile.
Treet,
I had to go back to my room to get my robes and make arrangements with Healer Rith for today. I'll be back to get you a half Candlemark after the waking bell. I've drawn some Trainee Greens for you from the stores. They probably won't be the right size, but they should do until we get you measured. The bathing room is down the hall to your left if you want a bath. You may want to write a note for the Herald telling her that you'll be gone before she wakes up. Wait for me outside the bathing room before you go anywhere else, it's easy to get lost if you don't know where you're going.
-Lirain
Treet turned the paper over. The other side was blank. He could see that Lirain has thoughtfully left him a quill and some ink, so he inked a quick message telling Karissa that he had gone off with Lirain and would try to find her later.
Treet picked up the set of clothes that Lirain had left and shook them out, laughing inwardly to himself. They were the same sort that the infrequent Healer visitors to the Hold had worn, in a slightly different shade. The exact type, in fact, that Treet's Father had denounced as being unfit garments for a "real man" to wear. His Father had been known to snort loudly and ask whoever was next to him, under his breath, of course, if the Healer in question's "gown" had been designed along the same patterns as his women's dresses, for the two were surely equally pretty.
Treet shook his head at this visible symbol of how far removed Haven was from the Hold. He looked at his ankle length robe in pale green and his knee length tunic of the same color and firmly told himself not to mind what his Father would have thought. If this was the price of his escape from the Hold, he would pay it, and gladly.
He gathered the clothes in his arms and hesitantly peered out of the door. He wasn't doing anything particularly shameful, but he still waited until the hallway was clear before darting to the left. He could see curls of steam coming from one door, so he assumed that he was approaching the bathing room. As he entered, two boys a few years younger than Treet were engaged in a fight with soap bubbles, their white gowns discarded beside one of the tubs.
Treet edged past them as quietly as he could. They obviously weren't Trainees. From what Treet had gathered, Trainees had their own bathing room in their wing of the immense building Treet had found himself in.
His shoulders stiff and arms aching from their tense position, Treet edged past the boys to an empty tub on the other side of the room, managing to get hit with no more than two clods of soap on his way.
After he had soaked in the hot water, reveling in one of the few hot baths he had had since his days as a Little, he felt more like himself again, and less like something completely alien. It was as though the steam weighed down the part of him that had been floating and pushed it back into his body again, although people in tales usually remarked of the opposite sensation.
Remembering that Lirain was waiting for him, he tried his best not to linger too long in the tub, but despite his best efforts, his fingers were wrinkled and the water was cool by the time he hauled himself out, freshly clad in his oversized Greens.
Luckily, Lirain was only just coming down the hallway as Treet emerged. He spotted her easily, both by the sight of her green corona of hair and by the feel of her aura, already as familiar to him as his own.
Lirain waved at Treet enthusiastically, as though their friendship had grown through moons rather than Candlemarks. He waved back, eager to find out what they would be doing.
As soon as she got within arm's reach, she engulfed him in her enthusiasm and carried him off, chattering excitedly all the way, as though to push out any lingering doubts that the hot bath hadn't assuaged.
"First things first," she told him. "We need to get you set up in a room." She brought him through the House of Healing and into another attached building, filled with Trainees bustling about their day-to-day business.
Lirain led him through packs of girls aging from ten to eighteen, pausing to wave at a few and exchange high speed greetings interspersed with questions Treet couldn't make sense of, and into a separate side of the building filled with boys of a similar age, who Lirain smiled mischievously at as they passed.
She flashed Treet a conspiratorial grin as he noticed the odd looks she seemed to be getting from many of the occupants of the hall. "I'm not supposed to be in here," she said, winking at him. "This is the boy's side. I'm your mentor type person, though, and there's no way I'm passing up an opportunity to get in here!" Lirain laughed. "It's a once in a lifetime chance!"
Shortly thereafter, they stopped outside a small door in the middle of a row dotted with other similar doors. Upon inspection, Treet saw that the door had a tiny plaque bearing his name. He wondered where the name of the person he would be sharing the room with went. Surely a lowly Trainee wouldn't get a whole room to himself, Treet thought.
Lirain turned the knob and motioned for Treet to precede her into the room. "Welcome home," she said with a grin. "Or at least, this'll be your home for the next few years."
Noting Treet's stunned expression as he noted the absence of a second bed, she added, "Ever had your own room before?"
Treet shook his head mutely. For as long as he could remember, he had shared a tiny scrap of an attic with at least three of his brothers. Desperate for privacy, he had staked out a corner for his own at a young age, or tried to, and every night he would carefully arrange the small treasures he had been able to accumulate that day, a ripe acorn, a nicely shaped stone, knowing that, come morning, his tiny corner would be found bereft of everything but the remains.
His illusion that he could have some small item or place to call his own had vanished the first time he had awoken to the sounds of his older brother pounding his tiny treasures into dust with his boots, knowing that it would go worse for him if he complained, either to Father or to his brother. Still, every night he had tried to save something, hoping against hope that some recognizable scrap would survive past the morning, although it never did.
Lirain nudged Treet in the back, breaking him out of his memories and prodding him forwards. He stepped into the room and looked around.
It was bare and wooden, the clean swept feeling and the faded areas of the walls and floor indicating that someone else had recently vacated the room. The bed, in the corner, was a definite improvement on his pallet under the attic window, and the closet and chest of drawers were functional, which was more than he had ever dared to hope for.
Treet tried not to think too hard about the implications of having his very own room. He knew that if he did, he would never be able to leave it for fear it would vanish before he returned.
Before he had time to sink into another daze, this time an astonished one, Lirain hauled him out of the room. "Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to drool on the pretty clean floor later," she said with a laugh in her voice. "We have other chores to finish."
With some trepidation, Treet followed Lirain out into the hallway again, lovingly patting the doorknob as he gently closed the door, silently promising it that he would return later for a proper look.
Treet gazed steadily at the floor and tried to keep up with Lirain as she expertly threaded her way through the crowds and down a set of stairs. The last thing he wanted was for people to look at him, see him, wonder what he was doing there, an interruption of the pure green snake that filled the hallways.
Before he had time to contemplate this further, much less be proud of his metaphor, Lirain grabbed him by the sleeve and drew him into an office.
"This is the new one, Housekeeper," she said, with the air of someone pulling a toffee out of her sleeve for a little.
The Housekeeper, a dark haired woman who looked about the same age as Treet's mother, looked down at a sheaf of papers on her desk, riffling through them until she found the one she wanted. She looked up briefly once the found it.
"This will be Tretin, then," she said in a musical voice.
At Lirain's nod, the Housekeeper stood up, stepped around the desk, and peered at Treet closely. "I'd say about a nine," she said after what appeared to be careful deliberation.
Treet was confused, a state he had been in all too often since he had entered this strange place. There were so many women here, who obviously spoke with great authority. The Dean, Herald Karissa, Healer Rith, Lirain, and now, this "Housekeeper." Treet didn't know if he liked that. His Father certainly wouldn't have approved.
Treet sternly reminded himself that his Father was no longer here to pass judgment over everything Treet said and did. If these women were thought by the King himself to be worthy of such respect, who was a lowly Holderkin boy to say that they did not deserve it, or that it was not their place?
Bearing this in mind, Treet tried a careful smile in reply to the cheerful one he saw on the Housekeeper's face. Her eyes twinkled in response, and she passed him a shadow of a wink. Then, she turned and left through a different door than the one Treet and Lirain had entered.
Lirain turned to Treet, still smiling, which was a seemingly constant state for her. "That was the Housekeeper. She takes care of all the little things that keep the Collegium running."
The Housekeeper returned in time to hear the last part, and winked at Treet again. "So I do," she said. "All these Healer types, they'd never get new clothing and such if somebody didn't remind them, it's always just one more project, and the Trainees can be like-minded."
The Housekeeper deposited the bundles she had brought back in Treet's hands. "You can come back here for more clean uniforms and linens whenever you need them, but these will get you started. You change your bed-linens once a week and put the dirty ones down the chute in the bathing room, same with your dirty clothes." She looked at Treet sternly. "It is part of your duty as a Healer Trainee, and later as a Healer to always be clean and presentable. Nobody wants a careless Healer when they're sick, and your clothing and appearance will tell them that you aren't. You change your clothes every day, unless you have Arms practice or you're doing something else messy, in which case you change them as soon as you get back to your room. You wash before every meal and have a hot bath each night, come flood or famine."
Treet almost backed up a step from the Housekeeper's righteous vigor, but Lirain's hand on his shoulder stopped him. She divested him of half the pile the Housekeeper had placed into his arms, bending over to get it and whispering in Treet's ear, "Don't worry about Housekeeper, it's her duty to put the fear of the gods into us. You'll get along fine."
Treet smiled weakly and waited for the Housekeeper to continue.
"Now," she said in a much more friendly voice, "It is the tradition in all three of the Collegia that all the Trainees share the chores of their Collegium. Do you have any experience in the so-called "homely" tasks?"
"Umm," Treet said, thinking about it. He had always been told that "woman's work" was beneath him as a man, and as such, he had little experience with it. "I can hunt," he said doubtfully, "fetch and carry, clean a little. That's about it."
He thought the Housekeeper would be disgusted with him, but he was pleasantly surprised. She only nodded and looked at her charts thoughtfully.
"I think we'll put you down for serving, then, and dishwashing the next week." She made a mark in one of her books and scribbled a piece of paper, handing it to Treet. "There's your schedule as it stands right now. If you can't fit it in, come talk to me and we'll work something out. If you're a server, report to the kitchen a few minutes before the meal you are serving for. If you're washing, report to the kitchen as soon as you've eaten. Can you handle that?"
Treet nodded uncertainly, trying to balance his schedule and his stack of clothes so that he didn't lose either one on the way out.
"I leave you in Lirain's competent hands, then," the Housekeeper said, turning back to her books.
Lirain led Treet back up the stairs and back into the little room that she had told him was his, dumping her share of the pile of linens and clothes on the floor with a sigh, then following them down. "We'll have a lot of work getting this place ready for you," she said. "Ah well, I'm excused from lessons until after lunch, so I have time, and you have nothing but, your chores and classes don't start until tomorrow."
Treet sighed gratefully. One more day between him and the inevitable crush of people and lessons was a certain improvement.
Lirain rose from her seat on the floor and began to sort out what was for the bed and what was clothing. The Greens and associated garments, she carried over to the closet and began to hang up, motioning for Treet to take the bed.
Treet looked dubiously at the bare bed and pile of fabrics. He untangled what appeared to be a sheet and began to wrestle it onto the bed. By the time Lirain was finished with the closet, Treet had managed to struggle half the mattress into the wrong side of the sheet. Sighing, Lirain helped him.
They had only just finished when the same bell Treet remembered from that morning began to clang insistently. He jumped in surprise, but Lirain barely seemed to notice.
"That's the lunch bell," she said, dusting her hands together. "We'd better go wash up. I have to go back to the girl's bathing room, but I'll show you where to go. I'll meet you at the end of this hallway in a few minutes. Just do what everyone else is doing. Can you handle that?"
"Sure!" Treet said, with far more certainty than he felt. After she had left, he changed into another pair of Greens, which, he was relieved to notice, fit far better than the ones Lirain had gotten him. He followed the mass of other boys washing up for lunch, and, by copying their movements, managed to escape fairly unnoticed, apart from a few friendly pats on the back and calls of 'Hey! You're the new one, aren't you?'
He struggled out of the crush, cleaner than he had entered it, and joined up with Lirain, already waiting for him.
"And they say girls take an age to get ready!" She exclaimed upon seeing him, with a smile
and a wink to show she was kidding.
"Let's get lunch, I'm starving!"
Treet had no objection. Having missed breakfast, food was a most welcome thought. He followed Lirain through the hallway, trying to walk in her shadow as much as possible, so that people would see her and not him. He knew that he would have to meet all of these new people eventually, but, like his classes, he was just as glad to put it off for a while.
When they reached what Lirain identified as the Cafeteria, he slouched into the room, hoping to find a corner seat and escape notice, but it was futile. Before he had a chance, Lirain grabbed him by the arm and hauled him off to a center table.
Although it was already crowded, the occupants willingly moved around to make room for Lirain and her guest.
Treet was bowled over by the sheer amount of people sitting at the tables. There were many people who wore the darker green robes of a full Healer, but the tables were packed with those clad in the lighter robes of a Trainee as well.
Lirain looked over at Treet. "We do the eating thing a little differently than the other Collegia. Because Healers have such erratic schedules, the kitchen is open for a space of about three Candlemarks for each meal. You come in, grab something and leave or stay as you wish."
Treet looked around the room. He could see that only a few of the full Healers actually stayed to eat. Most simply filled their arms with food and left as fast as they could.
"Those are mostly working Healers. The teaching Healers have a more regular schedule, and eat at a more sedate pace," Lirain said around a mouthful of food. Noticing that Treet hadn't taken any, she shoved a plate at him and urged him to serve himself from one of the large, communal platters that studded the tabletops.
As he did, she introduced him to everyone at the table, literally. Treet found it amazing how she managed to know absolutely everyone at a table packed with Trainees, and even more amazing how she managed to command their attention long enough to introduce him.
Before he knew it, though, the lunch was over and Lirain was standing up. "I have dishwashing as a chore today and after that I have lessons with Rith. Will you be alright for the afternoon? This'll give you a nice chance to explore the Collegium in all it's glory."
"Sure," Treet said, with more enthusiasm than he felt. "Umm, I'll see you again, right?" He asked, suddenly nervous that his new protector would abandon him in this strange place.
"Of course!" Lirain laughed. "You can't be rid of me that easily! You're stuck with me at least until you're done your training, in some form or another. Now go on, go spend some time alone."
Treet left the room, heartened and somewhat looking forward to the prospect of a little time alone.
