#chapter 4!!!!

Upon leaving Ikithon’s private study, the group made their way towards the far corner of the large library, reaching a door with the tour leader’s name embossed across it. Though the walk was no longer than a minute or so, Vex had managed in that time to squeeze her husband’s hand red with the immense tension she was feeling. He winced slightly at the pain, but swallowed his protests and let her continue.

The door swung open and revealed a room much larger than the study they had been in, the walls made of shelves that housed more books, as if the supply just outside the door might run dry. At the far end of the room was a large, solid dark wood desk, filled with neatly stacked papers and other meticulously organized tid-bits. The room had no personal effects to give any hint of what DeRogna was like outside of her work, and it was presumed that this was intentional. 

“Please, come, take a seat,” DeRogna said, gesturing to a matching three piece set of fine emerald furniture, the color darker but equally as brilliant as the green in her robes. Two single seats sat on either side of a longer, padded bench, the two chairs angled to face the desk. Allura complied quickly, taking one of the single seats and promptly placing herself at the edge of it to be closer to DeRogna’s grand desk. Vex, on the other hand, hesitated, still stuck in the tangled thoughts in her head. Percy, seeing her pause, pushed her forward, leading Vex to the bench where he placed her down before walking behind her, placing a firm hand on her shoulder. 

“Why don’t you take a seat, as well, Lord de Rolo?” DeRogna asked, eyeing the seat beside his wife.

“I’m fine,” Percy responded, flashing a placating hand before returning it to Vex’s shoulder, beginning to rub tenderly into it, “I just want to make sure my wife is okay. We’ve been here a few days and still this time difference is getting to her.”

“Oh, what a shame,” DeRogna replied, her pitiful tone not matching her flat affect, “The downside of teleportation magic. It’s a wonderful tool for the travel but a pain in the arse for long stays. Well, if you need anything to help remedy your ills, let me know, Lady Vex’ahlia.”

There was no reply from Vex who, although looking in the Elven woman’s direction, was not quite with the conversation. Instead, Percy supplied, “She should be fine, just needs to sit for a few minutes.” 

“Very well then. Why don’t we get down to business?” DeRogna hummed as she grabbed a small stack of papers from the top of one of the piles, “I know you said you’d rather look on your own, but I have here the transcripts of some of the students I had in mind…”

The voice trailed off in Vex’s ears as she continued to attempt to parse through her many rushing thoughts. With the heavy pressure of Percy massaging rhythmically into her shoulder, Vex was able to steady her shallow breaths to a healthier count, slowing the speed of her mind in the process. 

Ermendrud. 

She needed a first name. Calling the boy by his surname seemed so clinical. This mission was bound to get her in close quarters with the boy, she needed to know what to call him. She wanted to call him by his given name when she met him again. She didn’t want to appear as stuffy as her title might make her seem. Most of all, she wanted him to know the real Vex’ahlia, not just some affluent lady from another continent who’s too nosy for her own good. 

No, this was not the time for self-doubt. This was a time for planning, a time to come up with some way to get to this boy and do what was needed to be done to make him safe. Whatever that may mean.    

Vex then realized she knew next to nothing about this boy, just his surname and that he was a student at this strange academy. However, she did also know that he was a kind son. Vex hoped that one day, when her boys were older, that they would be as thoughtful. She also hoped to never see the fear that she saw in his eyes in theirs. 

She needed to speak with him soon, so she had to act quick.

“Pardon me,” Vex’ahlia spoke up, seemingly interrupting the flow of some sort of conversation.

DeRogna barely stifled the groan that passed between her taut shut lips, “Yes, Lady Vex’ahlia?”

“I-I don’t mean to interrupt,” she continued, shaking somewhat out of her trance like state, “But those three students in the Archmage’s study, could you tell me more about them?”

  “Very well,” she droned, falling back into her chair as she brought her steepled fingers to her chest, “Those three bright minds have been with us for a number of years, having all been selected for scholarships after demonstrating a prowess for the arcane at such young ages without any formal study beforehand. When the Archmage noted their talents, he took them under his wing and has been personally tutoring them for nearly a year now. They are all on their way towards their graduation from the Academy rather soon, with Mr. Ermendrud being at the top of their class, but they first have quite a grueling… test in front of them before that.” 

“Well, if they are as studious as you make them seem, I don’t see why they shouldn’t pass with flying colors,” Vex smiled, feeling oddly proud that the boy was being praised, “Could he possibly be the one you’re looking for, Allura?” 

As Vex turned to the other woman to give her some sort of signal that he was the one, DeRogna interjected, “I’m afraid Mr. Ermendrud, as well as Ms. Vergiften and Mr. Schnitt, are off limits to this apprenticeship offer. I doubt the Archmage would be pleased if all of his hard work was poached from him.”

“Of course,” Vex attempted not to let her disappointment be heard in her voice, “Could we perhaps maybe still shadow them? If they are the best of the best, I’m sure the can show us others here of similar prowess.” 

DeRogna let out a sharp exhale, her patience with Vex’s demands, that contradicted with her own plans, seeming to wear thin, “The Archmage may have them for a time, as he has some important plans that are time sensitive to discuss with them,” she paused, considering how much she wanted to allow her guests to see and know of the Academy, “but, if it is alright with the three of them, it is alright with me.”

“That’s wonderful!” Vex beamed, “I’m sure they will help us find the perfect match for Allura.”

“I’m sure they will, Lady Vex’ahlia,” DeRogna replied, her tone unenthused. 

The conversation then continued as DeRogna had originally intended, as if Vex didn’t already make up her mind about how the rest of their visit was going to go down. As soon as this meeting was over, she would head back to the Archmage’s study and find the boy. Hopefully he wouldn’t be resistant to their help.

As the Lady continued to talk, Vex presented herself with an air of attentiveness, not so much listening to her words, but watching her body language. She had already gathered that DeRogna was a stiff, rather serious woman, but she was curious to know what laid beneath the surface. She obviously knew the boy well, she hoped that his gifted mind meant that she treated him with more kindness than she had her guests, but Vex was hesitant to believe that. This woman did not seem the type to openly display any warmth or affection. 

Still, she hoped at least the boy was being treated well. However, knowing what she knows about this Academy and what the people who run it are capable of, she doubted that everything was rainbows and sunshine. 

After about a half hour of listening to the Elven woman drone on, a knock at her door interrupted her. 

“Come in,” DeRogna bellowed from her seat. 

Slowly, the door creaked open and in stepped the boy himself, a thick, rolled tube of paper in his hand. Meekly, he stepped forward after closing the door behind him, trying not to show his nerves as the three guests all turned their eyes to him. As he finally met DeRogna’s inquiring eye, he stood up taller and steadied himself to talk. “Uh, Mistress DeRogna, Master Ikithon instructed me to come deliver his schematics to you,” he paused as he rushed forward, handing off the rolled papers to the Lady, “Everything is set to occur tomorrow night. He has high hopes that this will go as well as Astrid’s, I mean, Ms. Verfigten’s test.” 

 DeRogna nodded as she placed the paper down on her desk, “I have no doubt in my mind that you will do well tomorrow. I have the utmost faith in you, young man.”

Ermendrud smiled sheepishly, bowing slightly as he turned to leave. However, before he could, DeRogna stopped him, sighing, somewhat miffed by what she was about to say. “Mr. Ermendrud, before you go, are you done with Master Ikithon for the day?”

“Ja...” he replied hesitantly, not knowing what to expect from the Mistress.

“Then... would you do this Academy a great honor by showing our guests here around? They are looking to get to know some of the students and I’m sure you can show them our prime elite.”

Ermendrud turned to the group that sat before him, all of their eyes trained on him. He hadn’t gotten a proper look at the other two, having wanted nothing more than for all of them to have disappeared when he found them in Ikithon’s study. He knew how to read people, to know what made them tick, he had been trained to do that. However, at the moment, he couldn’t focus on anything but the Half-Elven woman who seemed to be taking as much of keen interest in him as he had in her. He turned to look back at DeRogna, “It would be my pleasure.” 

“Wonderful!” DeRogna clapped her hands together as she leaned forward in her chair, “I do actually have some work that needs attending to, so would you mind showing them around now?”

“Of course,” the boy replied stoically, nodding his head slightly at the Lady before turning back to the guests once more, “If you don’t mind, may we stop by my dormitory first? I just need to go retrieve something and we can be on our way.” 

“Not at all,” Vex supplied quickly, now more attentive than she had been the entire time at the school. 

The three stood and said their cold, faux-pleasant goodbyes to DeRogna as the young man lead them out of the room, the group barely able to keep pace as he strode off. Vex, not wanting to waste a moment, attempted to walk by his side as he led them out of the grand library.

“Before anything, what’s your name, young man?” Vex held her tongue from adding ‘I know you already know mine’ to the end. 

“You heard the Mistress, I am Ermendrud,” he responded, quickly adding a “ma’am” as he kept his eyes trained forward.

“But what about your given name? I don’t know many boys your age who like being referred to as a ‘Mr.’.” 

“I am not like many boys my age,” Ermendrud fought back the urge to peer up at her. 

“Of course not,” Vex’ahlia smirked at his cockiness, “But still, I would appreciate to know your first name. I’m not big on formalities unless necessary. Don’t futz around with all this Lord and Lady nonsense with myself and my compatriots. I am Vex’ahlia, Vex, if you prefer, and that is my husband, Percy, and our friend, Allura,” she paused, hesitating about what she was to say next, “Hopefully we can all be friends here.”

At that, the boy stopped, Vex nearly tripping at the suddenness of the break. His eyes met the floor as he stood stark straight, trying to consider his next move. Vex peered at him curiously, trying to work out what his mind was currently doing. He sighed, sounding resigned as he turned his bright blue eyes up to Vex. “Bren.”

“Bren?”

“Ja, my name is Bren," he said pointedly, articulating each word, "Bren Aldric Ermendrud.”

Vex’ahlia smiled warmly at him, “Well, Bren, I am certainly looking forward to getting to know you during my time here.” 

Speaking of frustrating, the landlords are getting ridiculous. We still haven’t signed the new lease. Not because we don’t want to, but because the landlord company won’t send it to us. I asked them to hold off for one thing, I wanted my brother added, and I told them if they needed anything else from us, tell me. Otherwise we’re good to go. So he did the stuff they asked him to and he got access to the online portal and everything. So you’d think, now that the one thing is done, the new lease would be up and ready to sign, right? 

Nope. So I emailed them about it on... Thursday. I still haven’t heard from them, but that’s okay. It’s the weekend. The issue is that I tried to pay my rent early. Forgot my password. So I had them send me a password reset... nothing. I’ve tried five times. It’s the weekend, so I can’t call the landlord to see what’s up, but I also can’t pay my rent. So, I don’t know if this is a me thing, a server thing, or a them thing. The plan right now is to see if my siblings, who know their passwords, can log in. If they can’t, I’m gonna email again on Monday. That doesn’t work? I’m gonna call. That doesn’t work? I’m gonna show up at their office with my law license, a copy of my state’s Landlord-Tenant act in hand (appropriate passages highlighted), and a check for the rent. All indication is that they still want us as tenants. We don’t cause a fuss, we take care of most issues as soon as they crop up, and we keep the yard neat. The house isn’t up on their site, and by law they have to give us a 30 day heads-up if they’re kicking us out since we’re technically month-to-month right now. I’m not worried per se, but I’m starting to get pissed.

On a brighter note, my new black ink and fountain pen showed up. The fountain pen is not as fine a line as I was hoping (none of them are, to be honest, but this one seems especially thick-lined) but it’s pretty. I have such cramped writing, though, that I have to force myself to use broad strokes or else it turns into an illegible smudge. So I carry around 3 separate but equally important types of pens at all times (I have a lot of pens in my bag). The fountain pens, which are pretty and help when I need motivation to keep writing (I’m not kidding about putting ink to paper being creatively stimulating for me); Sharpie pens which are practical, affordable (comparatively to the other two types) and come in quite a few colors which makes them ideal for editing, since I end up writing more notes than original text when I self-edit. And micron artist pens. Yeah... I mean, yeah, I use them for actual art, but really? They have such nice fine and distinct nibs. When getting the idea down fast is the important bit, the microns let my tiny, cramped, messy, but fast writing be... well, mostly legible.

But I never know what kind I’m gonna need when I leave, so my backpack and purse carry anywhere from 3 to over a dozen pens of various types and colors at any point in time.

Okay, I’ve now wasted a lot of time on this post. I’m actually moving forward on chapter 4 (finally) and I think I’ve got a good flow worked out for the conversation. (Ugh). So I’m gonna get a new drink and try to snag a table inside. Am I gonna be overcaffeinated tonight? Yes. Yes I am. But I’ve got nowhere to be tomorrow (shopping is contingent on my sister’s plans. We haven’t really hung out outside of tv watching for a while) and some stuff to work on tonight.

Knitting and cleaning and list making. Lots of list making. My parents are showing up on Friday and I’m gonna have this house clean.