FF Chapter 10

Alex meets up with Eira and her handmaiden, Frey, but his entrance to the academy hits a snag.

Chapter 10

      Having left the crowded city of The Capital behind, their hour walk came to an end in front of the stone bridge to Yanus Academy.  The small town of Sanel had built up around the academy, catering to the richer, foreign students. The area was crowded with other children and staff, each making their way through the station at the entrance of the bridge.

      Future found a dark alley and changed into his younger form. Now it looked like Alex was standing with his older brother. The two found a spot and decided to wait for King Gaius and Princess Eira; they had all the entrance papers after all.

      “Keep your beast marks hidden for now.” Future whispered to Alex. “We don’t want to cause a scene.”

      Alex heard a noise from nearby, and peeked around the corner. Some men were gathered around a wagon and some boxes. Alex then noticed that one of the wagon wheels had come off, spilling the boxes everywhere. The men were standing around scratching their heads and mumbling.

      Alex pointed to the group. “Can I go help them?”

      Future gave the small band of men a discerning glare, before smiling and nodding. As Alex ran off, he was followed by a root that extended underground from Future’s walking stick. He’d keep an eye on the boy, and if anything happened, he would be ready to help.

      Alex walked up and greeted the group of workers. “Hello.”

      One of the men grunted “Good morning.”

      Alex smiled “Would you like some help?”

      The group of men laughed. “You want to help?” Alex nodded, and the workers decided to humor the cute kid. “Sure, grab onto this corner and lift on ‘three’. One, two, three!” Alex joined three men in lifting the cart, while a fourth and fifth replaced the broken wheel.

      Alex heard a noise from the main street, and turned his head to see what it was. Eira was riding beside Gaius, and the two royals were escorted by a group of royal guards in full armour with Captain Johnathan at the head on the company.

      Alex took one hand off the cart and waved “EIRA!” he called out to them, but they were too far away.

      While Alex was distracted, the men finished changing the wheel, and the three men tried to set down the cart, but it wouldn’t drop. Then they realized Alex was lifting the whole wagon with one hand!

      One of the workers cautiously tapped his shoulder. “Um, you can set it down now.”

      “Oh, ok.” Alex smiled, and set down the heavy cargo wagon like it was nothing.

      One of the men removed his work cap and bowed his head. He approached Alex slowly and politely asked “Um, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but do you have a beast mark?”

      Alex rubbed his forearms, suddenly very nervous and self-conscious. He nodded slowly.

      They all reacted suddenly, becoming very formal. “Oh! Our apologies young lord, we didn’t realize who you were. Your simple clothes don’t do you justice.”

      Another marveled. “What strength in someone so young!”

      “You must be here to attend the academy.” One smiled, and Alex nodded. “We figured, with you having a mark and all. We’re actually preparing this shipment for Yanus.” He patted the boxes. Speaking of which, we should be on our way. Sorry to keep you, young man.”

      They piled into the cart and rode off. “Good luck at Yanus.” One yelled back.

      Alex waved. “Goodbye. I hope I see you again…” Then Alex realized he never introduced himself, or got their names; Erald would be cross.

 

      Alex rejoined Future, and the two walked towards the crowd that had gathered around the royals. After some explanations and displays of power, they were allowed past the guards and reunited with the pair of nobles.

      Eira wore a much more regal looking red shirt now, and had another girl, a few years older than Alex, by her side. The new girl had silver hair, almost white. Her appearance was formal, with a light blue shirt buttoned up to her neck.

      Alex was careful not to forget his manners this time, and bowed. “I am Alexander Abaven, but I would be grateful if you just called me Alex.”

      The silver haired girl giggled slightly, and curtsied. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Alex. I am Frey Valery, handmaiden to Princess Eira Yarlden.”

      King Gaius turned to Future. “We have some final paperwork to attend to.” He led Eira away towards the school.

      Future gave Alex a strange look the boy had never seen before, then said. “I have something to attend to as well. Alex, stay right here with Miss Valery; you have a lot in common, since you’re both Eira’s servants now.” He stuck his tongue out teasingly and walked away.

 

      Alex stood awkwardly beside the young lady. She seemed very nice. Her demeanor was warm and welcoming, almost motherly, although she was quite a bit taller than him. Eventually he worked up the nerve to speak. “Are you going to the academy too?” He asked.

      She fidgeted nervously, and Alex wondered if he’d said something wrong. “I-I will be going with you but, I don’t know if I’ll be allowed to attend classes.” She replied politely, but with a sad smile. “That is Lady Eira’s ambition, and I will do my best to support her.”

      “You wanna go too?” Alex asked casually.

      The question seemed to catch Frey off guard. “Well…Yes, I would, anyone would, but Eira’s worked very hard to get here, going as far as running away to the school.”

      “Why did she do that?” Alex asked, tilting his head slightly.

      Frey patiently explained. “The academy is neutral ground. Even if the King wished, he couldn’t force the school to expel his daughter. Then Lady Eira could study and eventually get a beast mark as she’s always wanted.”

      “Oh! Is that what happened when she got chased by those dralgs?”

      Frey was quiet, but nodded. “Yes. We snuck out together, and were making our way out of the city, when the dralgs attacked. I tried to slow them down, but they completely ignored me. They climbed around me and chased Eira. I was left behind…useless.”

      Alex thought for a moment. Wild dralgs would attack anyone they saw. What Future said about them being controlled was right.

      Frey continued. “Although, I suppose, if Lady Eira had managed to kill them then she would’ve gotten a beast mark. Then we wouldn’t be here competing with everyone else.” She looked around the entrance way. It was a large crowd, but it was just people from the mainland; students from overseas would’ve been arriving, or already arrived, at the islands’ dock.

      “All these people are here to get a mark?” Alex looked around.

      “Probably not all of them, but I imagine most are. Those who graduate with honours, or complete the Warden Specialization course, are taken out to the western wasteland.”

     “I think I understand why Eira wants one, but why does everyone else?” Alex pulled back his sleeve a bit and stared at the red zig-zags that covered his arm. “Are these things really that important?’

      Frey saw the mark and was stunned. “Wait! You’re the one the Lady Eira spoke of? Forgive me. You seemed too nice to be the ‘monkey’ she described.”

      “Monkey?” Alex cried!

      Frey held back a smile. “She spoke at length about how you climbed around like, well, a monkey.” Her eyes then went wide, as though she just realized something very important. She bowed deeply, and begged. “I’m so sorry for being so candid, young lord.”

      Alex was confused. The man he helped before did the same thing. Everyone started bowing as soon as they saw his arms, was that their power? Was that why he had to keep them hidden? He quickly covered the mark with his sleeve and said “No, please, go back to how you were.” He waved his hands in front of her face, trying to break whatever trance he might have placed on her.

      Frey rose, but still acted very formal “But my lord, you have a mark, and are attending Yanus alongside Lady Eira, I am to be your servant as well.”

      “But I don’t want servants, I want friends!” Alex cried, stomping his foot childishly.

      Frey stared at him, as tears began to well in his eyes. It was true he had more power than a king, but he was still just a boy. She looked around to make sure no one was watching before kneeling down to eye level. “I’m sorry if I scared you. It’s part of my job. Most people with a beast mark demand to be treated with respect, and I could get into a lot of trouble for not acting very polite to them, but if that’s not what you want then I won’t do it.”

      Alex smiled and nodded. He’d made a new friend.

 

      Future watched his pupil from a distance, and smirked. Things were going well. He walked alongside Eira and Gaius towards the main office that guarded the bridge, and mused to himself. Good, he’s getting along with Frey. He’ll need her help and support later if he’s going to-OW! His thoughts came to an abrupt end as he ran into an invisible wall.

      King Gaius turned to him. “What happened?”

      Future rubbed his nose. “The barrier; it’s invisible, but very solid.”

      Eira stared off at Yanus Island in the distance. “It extends so far from the academy grounds?”

      Future shook his head. “That barrier stops us Hands from setting foot on the island, but another one, an oath, stops us from going near the bridge.” The nobles gave him a curious look, and he explained. “The last three bridges weren’t destroyed by storms, like the reports would have you believe, they were destroyed by us Hands fighting over who got to send people to the academy. Eventually it got so bad that we all decided Yanus’ old base would be neutral ground, it was too important to be anything less.” His gaze drifted off. “It was one of the few times all three of us agreed on something.” His mind returned to the present “Well, it seems I can go no further. Would you mind taking this? It’s a letter to the principle regarding Alex.” He handed a sealed envelope to Gaius. “It should be delivered to her along with the rest of the paperwork.” After a boring talk with a bored guard, they handed in their final papers and regrouped with the others.

 

      Eira whispered something to Frey, and the handmaiden nervously nodded. The three students walked towards the gate, with Gaius and Future waving goodbye, but they ran into a problem immediately.

      “What do you mean I’m not allowed my knife?” Alex yelled at the guard.

      “No weapons on Yanus, no exceptions.” The guard lazily restated the rules just as he’d done for every other traveler and bodyguard he’d encountered that day.

      Eira tried to calm Alex down. “Just leave it here; you can get it on the way back.”

      Alex took the knife from his boot and stabbed it into the stone railing of the bridge before sulking away with Eira and Frey. The guard walked over to try and retrieve the knife. He pulled and pulled, but nothing happened. It was stuck. He called over another guard, but neither of them could budge the blade.

      From his spot outside the bridge, Future shook his head. As Alex disappeared into the distance, he could only think to himself. What have I done? Oh master, I hope you know what you're doing, gambling like this.