The Mage’s Academy

The entrance was big enough to fit an elephant through easily. The great oak reinforced doors took two men each to open up. Iatus felt a little uncomfortable making these men go to all the trouble just for him so early in the morning and he slipped through as soon as possible. Aelith also seemed impressed and nodded approvingly as he looked about.

A man in a simple outfit came running out to greet him. He was quite small, only a head bigger than Iatus. He had dark red hair, a short cropped beard, warm brown eyes and a smiling face. Though he was obviously tired his athletic figure and ease of movement made him seem full of energy.

"Greetings. Welcome to the Mage's Academy young sir. You look like you have travelled far, the bathing house is just over there if you wish to freshen up and the servants can get you some clothes. I am Philip by the way; I am the head servant of the palace and am at your service. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Umm, I don't really know, the man in the mage's testing house sent me here."

"Oh, so you will be joining our academy then? Very good, if I could just get your letter of recommendation..."

Iatus fumbled through his pockets, a worried look on his face.

"Umm, hold on," he said.

Aelith rolled his eyes and gave a little flap, then gestured with his wing to Iatus' inside pocket. Iatus looked a little confused then pulled the scroll out and handed it to the man.

The man gave a little chuckle, "Interesting owl you've got there, almost as if he knew where it was. Cute little thing as well. Has he got a name?"

"Aelith," Iatus said and the owl scowled at him.

"Yes very good sir, these seem to be in order."

A young girl suddenly burst out of a building on the far wall and came running up to Philip. She inclined her head to him and started talking as fast as she could "I'm very sorry sir, Lydia kept me back and wouldn't let me go until I finished preparing the meats."

Philip frowned at her, but waved his hand in dismissal, "This is master Iatus; he has just arrived from Rome and will need you to show him around. Master Iatus, this is Ava, she will be looking after you while you are here," Ava nodded her head at Iatus respectfully.

"I apologise for her uncleanliness, when we saw a guest arriving I borrowed her from the kitchens, students aren't supposed to arrive for another month but if you like her I can talk with Lydia and get her reassigned to housekeeping. Now, Ava, take him to his room, put him in the east wing."

Ava nodded again and turned to Iatus with the faintest hopeful smile on her face, "You don't seem to have any bags sir, are they coming later?"

"Umm, no, I don't actually have any."

Ava frowned, "Well, that's okay; we have a tailor on site that will provide you with all your clothing, if you need anything else you can always just ask me."

She then beckoned him to follow and led Iatus into the main palace. They went through a smaller set of oak doors, smaller, but no less impressive because of the fine adornments engraved in them. They entered into a long and spacious lobby with painted walls and busts on little tables along the sides. Now that he had the chance he examined Ava, she was roughly the same age as Iatus but she was a head taller, Iatus was small for his age, probably because of the hardships on the street. He could remember there being at least 8 different consuls so he presumed he was maybe 13 or 14 years old but he couldn't be sure. Ava was almost as skinny as he was and had dark blonde hair. She had pretty features and a light in her eyes that told of an inner joy despite the layer of grime across her skin and clothing from the kitchens.

They went through another set of doors and came to two giant sets of staircases. Ava bounded up the right hand one gracefully and Iatus had trouble keeping up. When he reached the top he was slightly out of breath and Ava was stood in front of a solid looking door. She was holding a key out to him.

"This is your room and this is your key. I wouldn't advise losing it, the smith isn't the most temperate of men," she said, smiling a little.

Iatus took his key and thanked her, she then produced her own key and unlocked the door. The room was huge with four sofas facing each other and a fire in one corner, there were three doors leaving the room. Ava gestured to the one on the right.

"That there is your bedroom, the one on the far side is the toilet and the door at the back there is my room, if you need anything just call. While you settle in, is there anything I can get you?" she smiled sweetly and her whole face seemed to light up.

"Umm, I don't think so," Iatus said, a little taken aback at all that was being thrown at him. Then Aelith gave a forlorn little hoot and shuffled about on his shoulder.

Ava laughed, "Looks like your owl would like something, we have some seed that the gardeners put out to attract birds to the gardens, shall I get some?"

"If you don't mind, I think Aelith would like that," Iatus smiled back.

"Good then, I will be back soon, then you must want to visit the baths after your long journey," she said and then bustled off.

Iatus was then left in the room alone with Aelith again and he marvelled at the splendour.

"Why didn't you say anything, embarrassed by that extremely high pitched voice?" Iatus giggled and Aelith flapped off his shoulder onto the back of a sofa.

"No, you idiot, you don't want anyone to know that you managed to summon a shedu on your first attempt. Magi hate magi more powerful than they are, and when a mage hates someone, they usually go out of their way to send a jinni in the night, get my drift," Aelith scorned, "You also want to limit the amount of people who know you were of common birth, that means learning to read and write as quickly as possible, and getting some new clothes would not hurt as well, it looks like you were born in that thing and have never taken it off."

Iatus didn't like the owl's harshness but he had to concede he had a point.

"If I were you I would ask to see the library and take out a book, I'll let you know which one. Then we can start teaching you some stuff," Aelith continued.

"I wonder what the bedroom is like," Iatus said distractedly and he wondered through the door.

Aelith rolled his eyes but hopped off the sofa and fluttered back onto Iatus' shoulder. The bedroom was about half as big as the living area but was no less impressive, it was dominated by a large four poster bed against one wall, it had plush white sheets and purple drapes that almost touched the floor, and a mahogany desk against the opposite wall. Iatus stared in wonder and Aelith flapped contentedly.

"Fancy place you got here," he said.

"Yeah," Iatus said dumbly.

They took a look around the desk and, finding nothing of interest returned to the living room.

Iatus went in to sit on the sofa facing the fire but Aelith stopped him.

"Don't sit there, I know there is no obvious threat, but get in the habit of sitting with your back to a solid wall."

Iatus tutted but sat on the sofa with its back facing the bedroom anyway. Iatus had no idea what to do now, he was completely out of his comfort zone; he was used to the street and not the lavish trappings of palace life. Everything had happened so fast, it was crazy.

Iatus lounged on his plush sofa and started to think about what lay ahead, if the wars lasted longer than his training as a mage did he could end up fighting on the front line and, judging by the constant need for recruits, he wasn't expected to last very long.

Ava came bustling in a few minutes later, interrupting his brooding, holding a paper bag marked 'bird feed' and a silver platter of bread and cheese.

"I know you didn't want anything but I guess you haven't eaten in a while so I got you this anyway. I also took the liberty off telling the carpenter that you had a bird and asked him to make you a perch for it, save your shoulder," she smiled down at him.

"That was very thoughtful of you, thank you," Iatus said, taken aback by the girls' thoughtfulness.

"Now, I think we should go to the tailor first, then after your bath you will have some fresh clothes to get into," she said cheerily and led him out of the room.

They left the main palatial building and went to the craft rooms at the back of the academy. They were a collection of single storey buildings made of a white stone. Smoke could be seen coming from the chimney of one at the far left.

"That is the blacksmith over there, then the carpenter, then the alchemist then the tailor. Come on," she pointed out the buildings in turn and then headed into the tailor and Iatus followed.

The tailor was a tall and thin man, so much so his head almost scraped across the low ceiling. He had a small knife of a beard that jutted out from his chin a little. There was also what appeared to be a dwarf man, sat in the corner. The tailor looked up from adjusting one of his wooden mannequins. "Ah, Ava and Master Iatus I presume, I am Cornelius, the tailor for the academy. Ava tells me you will be wanting a whole wardrobe. That is fine but it will take a few days. I am thinking maybe five tunics and a toga for formal occasions," the tailor spoke with a soft, whimsical tone of someone with no worries in the world.

The dwarf man grunted in the back of the room. "That's right, you just take on the work, it's me who's got to do all the ruddy stitching,"

"Ah, that is Chops. He is an imp given to me by a former student of the academy, he has been commanded to do all the tasks I set for it to the best of its abilities, however it was never commanded to keep quiet," the tailor said morosely.

"Now, your size," the tailor produced a measuring rod from a pouch at his side and took Iatus' arm length, height and width and scribbled them down.

"I do hope you will be taking him to the bathhouse soon, Ava," he said critically when he got close enough to smell Iatus.

"Yes, Mr Cornelius, very next thing," she replied quickly.

"All done Master Iatus. I shall give them to Ava when I am done. I presume you will want one set as soon as possible." the tailor continued, looking at the rags Iatus was wearing disapprovingly.

"Yes, that would be good," Iatus said, grimacing bashfully.

"Very well, now Ava, show him to the baths."

Ava smiled and led Iatus out. They had to cross the entire length of the academy to get to the bathing house. It was a large, building with a main door and then a set of stairs going down at the side.

"Where do the stairs go?" Iatus asked.

"The furnace room, for the underfloor heating," Ava said, a little surprised at his ignorance.

They walked into a corridor with a door on either side and Ava gestured to the door on the right.

"This is the men's baths. I will go and collect your clothes and be back soon."

The bath house was deserted, the baths were warm and refreshing though and Iatus sunk into them gratefully. It was the most blissful experience he had ever had. Aelith had fluttered off to sit on a stack of towels so he wouldn't get wet.

"Don't you want to enjoy the waters Aelith?" Iatus laughed at the owl's obvious discontent at being in the humid building.

Aelith looked back at him harshly but didn't say anything.

Ava greeted him when he came out, wrapped up in no less than 3 towels.

"There you go, sir, Mr Cornelius finished your first tunic. I have to say your skin has completely changed colour," she said smiling.

Iatus smiled good naturedly, Aelith back on his shoulder. He noticed now that the tailor had sewn a patch of leather under the soft material on his shoulder so that Aelith's talons didn't dig in so much. He suspected that it was at Ava's suggestion but didn't raise the matter.

I could get used to this he thought.

"Ava, is there a library anywhere on site?" Iatus asked, remembering Aelith's advice earlier.

"Yes, it's back in the palace, would you like to go there now?"

"Yes please."

Ava nodded and when he was dressed led them out of the bathhouse. They went up two flights of stairs to come to two doors opposite each other.

"That one is your summoning area and this one is the library, make sure you ask the librarian before you take any of the books, he isn't a mage but I hear he even gave the Legate a thrashing when he took one without permission," Ava informed him.

"The Legate?"

"You don't know what a Legate is? A Legate is the head of an army, or in this case the whole academy. Below him are the two Tribunes who will take most of your classes."

"Oh, okay, I will meet you back in the rooms later."

Ava nodded and went back down the stairs. Iatus went through the door and into the Library. It was a dark and musty place with rows and rows of bookshelves. An old and wrinkled man with thick spectacles was sat at the desk on the opposite end of the room. Iatus turned away from him and went down the aisle most hidden from view. He set Aelith on a shelf and gestured towards the rows of books. Aelith began to look through them quickly. He eventually settled in front of a thin book with a green binding and pecked its index. Iatus slid out the book and took it over to the librarian.

"Hello, I'd like to borrow this book please," Iatus said politely.

"Ah, hello there young man, yes, yes of course. What is your name please?"

"Iatus."

"What house are you from then?"

Iatus swallowed, he had been hoping that he wouldn't have to label himself a commoner in his first conversation, "I don't have one."

"Oh, so you're a commoner, how did you learn to read?" the librarian said, surprised.

"Well, my mother taught me when I was young, my father died suddenly and we went bankrupt and put out on the streets. My mother died soon after and I was left on my own, without any family or name."

"Oh, now that is a sad tale. Well, I hope you do well here, commoners aren't usually treated well here, by the other students I mean. But once you graduate you should be okay. In the last year's trials the whole senate will be in attendance and, if you are lucky and powerful, one of them may offer to adopt you. The school year doesn't start until the first of next month. The rest of the students will probably arrive the day before but it's the holidays now, they are with their families."

"Thank you, you have been very helpful." Iatus smiled and left the library. He headed back down to his rooms, book in hand. He found the door unlocked and went in. He called out for Ava and she came out of her room.

"Oh, Master Iatus, your back."

"Yes, Ava, I think I will turn in for the night now, it's getting late, you should get some sleep to."

"Yes sir," she replied and gave a little bow and went back to her rooms.

Iatus went to his bedroom and Aelith fluttered onto the top of the desk.

"Right, let's get you reading like you've been doing it your whole life. Sit down and get that book out, it's been a while since I've read Latin characters but it can't have changed much."

Iatus sat down and Aelith began to lecture him on phonics and how the words were constructed, Iatus wondered about the demon dwarf and how the mage had given it a binding instruction.

"Aelith, how do you bind a demon to follow a specific task that it can't get out of?"

"Yeah, like I'm going to tell you that, now get back to reading or your life is going to become pretty bad, pretty quickly," Aelith replied indignantly.