Miranda III
A full month had passed since Liari and Charlotte left the library. They were likely already at the academy by now, if everything went well. Things had gone back to a normal rhythm at the library. It was still quiet, but Miranda was getting used to the quiet again. As great as Rimah and Moroc were as company, they were here primarily to study so they were busy a lot of the time. It was the morning of a particularly pleasant day when a visitor appeared at the door.
Wearing bright greens, reds and oranges, the woman was a striking figure standing in the door.
“Can I help you?” Miranda asked, putting some scrolls down on the desk next to her.
The woman smiled. “The name is Mel, I’m here to pay my respects to an acquaintance.”
“And who might you be referring to?” Miranda asked, knowing the answer.
“Fesquera and I had a complicated relationship, but he was a great mage that deserves respect now that he’s passed away.” She reached under her cloak and pulled out a thin leather bound book. “This book was precious to him but it was confiscated by one of the archmages at the Astrianara Academy for breaking their rules. It sat in a drawer in a dusty office for a long time but I feel like he would prefer it to be here.” She handed the book over to Miranda. Pressed into the cover and painted in silver lettering it said “The endless possibility of the creative mind” and below that it said in beautiful lettering “Inari Foxire.”
Miranda smiled. “Thank you, I’m sure he would appreciate this.”
Mel nodded. “Do you mind if I have a look at this place?”
“Go right ahead.”
Liari stood off to the side while Charlotte talked with the two men that they’d approached. One of them was the captain of this ship, Layek. Charlotte seemed to be well acquainted with bartering with favors, something that was alien to Liari. She had never really wanted for anything and most of the time when she asked something from Miranda she’d get either a yes or a no back and that was the end of that conversation. She missed Miranda. Standing here in the harbor of a busy city it became all the more real to her that home was far away.
“Are you and your friend trying to book passage to the Arcane Archipelago?” A voice asked from next to her. It was the second person who they saw when they approached, a young elven man with dark blond hair, currently tied neatly into a ponytail. He had kind eyes that showed a hint of mischief.
Liari nodded. “We’re trying to get enrolled there.”
“Your friend must be quite the important person if she can boss the captain around like that.” He smiled. “I’m Accipiter, who do I have the pleasure of talking to?”
“I’m Liari, nice to meet you.”
“Well then Liari, where are you traveling from?”
Liari hesitated. They had been very careful the past few days not to share any personal information with strangers in case they would figure out who they were. But these were the people that would sail them to the Academy, if Charlotte’s friend was right. It probably wouldn’t hurt to tell them. “I’m from a village on the edge of the empire called Larania.” Liari figured that wasn’t too far off from the truth. “And as I said, we want to get to the Academy safely. Charlotte is trying to convince the captain to bring us there.”
Accipiter laughed. “Well if that isn’t a bizarre coincidence, I don’t know what is.”
Liari looked confused at him. “I’m not sure I follow?”
“Your friend seems to be in a heated argument trying to convince our captain to sail somewhere he was already planning to go. He must be laughing on the inside right now.” He put his finger to his lips. “Don’t tell either of them I said that.”
“Why are you headed to the Academy?” Liari asked.
“Some business. One of ours is going to try and enroll there. I’ve never been close to the Archipelago at all so I’m excited to see it in person.” He paused. “Assuming they let us in, of course.”
“Is it difficult to enter?” Liari asked.
“It’s far from easy, that’s for sure, you need to have a talent for magic that they can determine and even then they’ll gladly reject you if they think you prove a risk to them or aren’t going to be of value.”
That didn’t bode well for Liari and Charlotte. They had hoped to leverage Charlotte’s former position to get in easily, but maybe this would actually hinder their chances. If the leaders of the Astrianara Academy saw them as a threat, then negotiations could break down very quickly. Right as Liari was thinking about all the possible ramifications of this, Charlotte walked over to her with a smile. “The captain has agreed to sail us to the Arcane Archipelago.”
Accipiter walked past the two of them, winking at Liari and giving a polite nod to the approaching Charlotte. “I’d best help with preparations then.” And he deftly walked up the plank and started helping one of the other sailors out with moving crates.
“I’ve convinced them that they’ll take us to the Archipelago. It took some convincing, but eventually he said it was fine.”
Liari smiled. “So the difficult part is done now?” She figured she’d keep what Accipiter just told her to herself and let Charlotte enjoy this little victory.
“Well, I hope so. It’s known that being allowed into the Academy is very rare, so for all we know we get rejected as soon as we get there. I don’t even know what the entry requirements really are. For all we know there’s a test involved.”
“Stop it, you’re making me all anxious.”
“Tell me about it.”
“So do we board the ship immediately?”
“We have a few hours, so I figured we could go into town and have a look around. I’ll keep my hood up and if we keep a low profile we should be alright here I think.”
Liari nodded. She wasn’t fully convinced, but her curiosity beat her wisdom and she followed Charlotte away from the docks and back towards the city center.
Where they avoided K’mirah as much as they could, they felt a little bit safer in K’tapur. Not only was it further away from the center of the empire and thus the new rulers, but it was also a much seedier place. As long as they steered clear of the richer districts they would be able to mingle with the smugglers and thieves that frequented this town. As much as Charlotte would probably deny it, their family was never very good at dealing with organized crime in their empire and now that the entire region was in chaos, this problem was multiplied several times. Regardless, this was neither the time nor place to worry about it. Instead, they would get some last minute supplies before making their way off shore and towards an isolated academy. Their first step on the road was a jeweler. Charlotte needed to pawn off two pieces of her jewelry. They had some money when they started the journey but due to having to flee town and leaving their bags and magic chest behind, and the costs of traveling through the empire they were now close to broke. The jewelry wasn’t sentimental to Charlotte, she kept those pieces separate. These were just two expensive rings she was wearing when she fled the castle. Perhaps they could get a good price for them here. At least enough to get them out of here with proper supplies.
The jewelry store they entered was a fairly large one, but simple in presentation. It seemed like the owner had bought up a big storefront, but contrary to most bigger storefronts didn’t care about luring in customers but instead used the space to stall out as many wares as they could. Large tables were set up on which the jewelry was spread out. Charlotte walked up to the counter immediately, with Liari following behind her. A woman with a powdered face and several rings through her nose, lips and ears looked at them approach and smiled her best merchant smile. “Good morning, how can I help you ladies.”
“We’re hoping to sell off some jewelry, we’re strapped for cash.”
“That can possibly be done, what did you have in mind?”
Charlotte opened a pouch on her side and took out the two rings she had.
“Mind if I inspect them?” The woman asked.
Charlotte nodded. “Go ahead.”
The woman took out a small monocle and started inspecting the ring rigorously, using a piece of cloth to remove some minor dust from it. “This is fine craftsmanship, where did you buy it?”
“I’d rather not say, if that’s alright.”
The woman gave her a peculiar look but then nodded and continued. She repeated the process for the second ring before coming to a decision.
“These are worth about two hundred gold each if I’m being generous. Obviously you’re trying to get some quick money and I need to make a profit off of these. For those reasons I’d be willing to pay you 250 gold for the both of them.”
250 gold was a lot of money, Liari thought to herself, but this was also the only thing remaining of Charlotte’s family fortune, so she wouldn’t be happy about underselling it.
“I understand all of that,” Charlotte said, “but these belonged to my mother before me, if I sell them for anything less than 300 gold she will surely haunt me.”
The woman smiled. “I understand.” She considered it for a moment. “I can do 300 gold.”
What Liari didn’t realize, and Charlotte had to tell her later, was that she probably decided on that amount beforehand, so that Charlotte wouldn’t ask for more than that.
Reluctantly they came to an agreement, and Charlotte and Liari walked out of the store with a hefty sum of money.
“I know I sold off my own rings for this, but I want to make sure that both of us pick up anything we need. For starters, we should definitely pick out a few new sets of clothes. They won’t let us into an esteemed academy looking like this.”
“There’s also a few other small things I would like to pick up,” Liari said. She felt a bit bad about it, but she had very little money herself.
“Sure, we’ll get everything we need for the journey.”
After a full round of shopping that lasted a couple hours, the duo made their way back to the ship, where the crew seemed to be mostly done packing things up. The captain and the same guy that Liari spoke with earlier that day, Accipiter, were standing on the bow of the ship. Upon their approach, they both walked to the plank and greeted them as they came aboard. “Accipiter here will show you your rooms. Unfortunately we’re a little bit full so they won’t be particularly comfortable, I hope you understand.”
Charlotte gave her best smile. “I’m happy enough we’re getting to our destination, we can manage a few days of discomfort.” Liari nodded in agreement.
“Please follow me then.” They followed Accipiter below deck. As they walked down the small and steep staircase, Liari noticed a young woman, roughly her own age, standing near the railing. She looked lost in thought and didn’t notice Liari looking at her, before she descended down the stairs and out of sight.
“This right here will be your quarters.” Accipiter held open a curtain that served as a wall into a nearby makeshift cabin. There were a few of these setups throughout the ship, to allow the people a little bit of privacy and comfort. There were two hammocks for them to sleep on and not much more.
“Thank you,” Liari said.
Accipiter smiled. “If you need anything, just find me on the deck and I’ll help you out.” He turned around again. “I’ll be finishing up preparations for a bit, but after that I should have time to help you out with anything you might need.
They waited for Accipiter to leave again before sitting down on their hammocks.
“It’s closed off a little bit at least,” Charlotte commented.
Liari chuckled wryly. “It is going to be fine, it’s not a super long journey. We can deal with a little bit of discomfort. It can’t be much worse than being on the run from guards.” The memory of having to flee town without their stuff was still fresh in Liari’s mind and had been a massive shock to her.
“I can agree with that much at least. Let’s go above deck to watch the harbor disappear in the distance when the ship departs.”
Liari’s eyes lit up at the thought of watching a continent turn into a thin line on the horizon while being surrounded by water.
The two made their way up to the main deck. The sailors were just finishing up hauling the last few crates onto the ship. At the bow of the ship stood the guy they spoke with earlier, Accipiter, as well as a young woman. Liari and Charlotte walked up to them. “Coming to see the departure?” Accipiter asked.
Liari nodded. “I’ve never been on a ship before.”
“Well this is a great ship, so you picked a good one to start with.” He put his hand on the shoulder of the woman next to him. “This is Danae, she’s also heading to the Astrianara Academy. Perhaps the three of you will get along.”
The young woman with bright pink eyes gave a small nod, shoulders tense and a nervous look in her eyes.
“I’m Charlotte and this is Liari, it’s nice to meet you,” Charlotte said.
“Can you use magic?” Liari asked.
Danae shook her head. “No, but we think I might have some magic in me that I need to learn about.”
“My dad was an archmage once. But I only found out about that recently.”
Accipiter smiled. “I’ll leave the three of you to it, I’ve got work to do.” And with that he walked off towards two other sailors, helping them secure some stuff. Danae quickly excused herself too.
Watching the harbor slowly disappear in the distance was an experience unrivaled by anything else in Liari’s life. Even after Charlotte had gone back below deck to take a nap she was still staring at the horizon, where the mainland was no longer even visible. Charlotte said she didn’t do well on ships, feeling a bit sick already, but Liari didn’t seem to have the same problem. The fresh air, the smell of salt water and the sun high in the sky all felt great to her. It was a very different kind of atmosphere to the forest but it was still a part of nature. As she stood there, she heard someone approaching. Turning around she saw the young woman that spoke with them earlier. “Danae, right?” Liari asked.
Danae nodded. “I wanted to ask you something, if that’s okay.”
“Sure, I’ll see if I can be of any help.”
“You said your dad was an archmage?”
Liari laughed nervously. “I did blurt that out, didn’t I?” She leaned on the railing. “I grew up in a library away from civilization. It’s been only recently that I left. There was a kind mage that taught me many things who lived there as well. I found out recently that he passed away and left me a letter. In that letter he explained to me that he was actually my father. Pretty wild, isn’t it?”
Danae nodded. “So you don’t really know much about what it means to be a mage?”
Liari shook her head. “No, I’ve been studying a bit lately, especially after I learned that we’d be headed to the Academy. So my knowledge is rudimentary at best. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, you’re already more knowledgeable than me.” Danae paused for a while and nothing but the sound of the wind and the waves filled the air for a moment. As if shaken back awake by the sound of one of the sailors yelling something she continued, “I don’t know anything about magic. I was attacked in my village and all I remember is fire. I only recently came to be aboard this ship and join these sailors. The reason they picked me up was because they believed there might be magic in me. That’s why we’re going to the Astrianara Academy. To find out more about what’s going on with me.”
“So we’re in the same boat.” Liari’s eyes lit up. “And we’re actually on a boat as well.”
Danae laughed at the silly joke Liari had made. “Well, perhaps we can figure things out together.”
Liari smiled. “That would be nice.”
The morning of the next day they were called into the captain’s chambers. Entering the room, Liari and Charlotte saw that the captain as well as both Accipiter and Danae were present. An unfamiliar sailor had been at the door, letting them in when they arrived. He didn’t enter with them though.
“I’m sure you know why I called you in here, we need to have a discussion about our destination.”
“I’m all ears,” Charlotte said. Liari was impressed by how quickly she jumped into her important persona. She was used to commanding a room and you could really see that in situations like this. The captain didn’t seem all that impressed although he did seem to recognize her status. “Now, we’ve already been thinking of how to get Danae and Accipiter here into the academy. With two more people here, things will become even more difficult. I doubt we’ll be able to convince them at all.”
“I’ve got a solution to that,” Charlotte said.
“Please, do tell.” The captain leaned forward, his presence far more impressive than Charlotte’s somehow.
“My name is Charlotte Fyrston. I’m hoping my family ties, albeit currently not worth much, will convince them to let me in.”
The captain leaned back in his chair and an awkward silence filled the chamber before a chuckle interrupted it. The chuckle then turned into a full belly laugh. “Well I’ll be damned, we’re in the presence of royalty.”
“Former,” Charlotte corrected.
“Your empire still stands does it not? Just because a usurper sits on the throne does not mean it’s fallen forever.” His eyes narrowed. “Unless you have no intent to retrieve what is yours.”
Charlotte met his gaze, holding strong against the captain’s intense personality. “I will get back what is mine, you can count on that.”
The intense gaze turned back into a smile. “You hear that Accipiter? We have a future queen in the room. I should have ordered some cake to celebrate.”
“We can still sail back if you want,” Accipiter remarked before continuing, “I think that increases our odds a little bit, but there is no guarantee that they will let you in purely because of your name. What if they side with the usurper thinking there’s more benefit in that?”
Charlotte shook her head. “I don’t think they will. They might send me away for safety reasons, but I think it’s in their best interest that I owe them. At least my family is known to be trustworthy. Dealing with those humans from Zanian is a risk they’re probably not willing to take.” She looked at the captain, who was also human. “No offense.”
“None taken, I’m not from Zanian after all.” He stood up. “So that’s step one. We have our ticket in. Then we need to figure out how to convince them to let all four of you enter. None of you know how to use magic, so it’s going to be a pretty difficult task.” He turned to the wall. “Any ideas?” he said, seemingly staring off into a corner for no reason.
The room fell silent for a little bit again. “Not all at once please.”
Accipiter spoke up. “I think our best bet is to simply convince them that the power that seems to be dwelling inside of Danae as well as the potential that Liari here seems to have is enough reason to allow us to enroll. Besides, and I don’t mean to be rude, but you have a fairly unique appearance. I hope that ups our chances a bit more.” He looked at Liari who blushed and suddenly felt self conscious. She’d mostly hidden her tail and ears on the way here, just to avoid any stares, but now that they were on a ship she was walking with her hood down. “I don’t know if it’ll help or hurt, but we’ll just have to try.”
“So the odds are terrible and we have absolutely no plan for what to do, is that right?” The captain looked at everyone, with none of them being able to give an argument against it.
He smiled. “Excellent, we thrive when pushed into a corner.”
“You said that when we were gambling the other day and then you lost all your money,” Accipiter reminded him.
“Bah, even I’m wrong sometimes.”
“Most times,” Accipiter mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Nothing captain.”
“That’s what I thought. Well then, enjoy your stay on the ship, we should get to the Archipelago within the next few days, it’s not terribly far from the mainland. When we get there, please let me do most of the talking. I’ll convince them that Danae and Liari are interesting enough for them to let all four onto the island. If that fails we can reveal that Charlotte here is a princess of the Fyrston Empire. If that also fails, then we’ll just have to take what we can get. I’m pretty confident I can get what I want most times but even I’m not stupid enough to fight a bunch of ancient mages.”
And with that final thought they all dispersed and Liari and Charlotte went back to their room, if you could call it that.
The rest of their relatively short journey towards the Archipelago, located slightly south-west of the coast of Fyrston, was uneventful. The mild weather continued and the waves stayed relatively calm. Despite those factors, Charlotte spent most of the journey being miserable. She very clearly wasn’t made for ships and Liari felt really bad for her. Liari herself enjoyed the journey on the ocean tremendously. She spent quite some time talking with Danae, the young woman they’d been introduced to by Accipiter, and although they had very little in common and Danae wasn’t very talkative, they still seemed to appreciate each other’s company. Liari had never had any friends her own age. She saw Charlotte as a friend, but that was the only friend she even really had and she was – understandably – not in the most amazing mood for the short time they’d known each other. Danae seemed to enjoy Liari’s stories as she herself didn’t remember much about who she was. She asked her questions about the library, Miranda, Fesquera and some of the visitors that she mentioned came through from time to time. Liari was eager to share these stories and the two would spend hours on the deck of the ship, watching the waves roll by as they talked. Accipiter would come and sit with them from time to time, mainly when he was on break. He usually just listened in on what they were talking about and didn’t add much himself. He seemed to be quite important on the ship and would often be called away shortly after he sat down. Liari wondered if the sailors would be okay without him if he were to actually join them at the Astriana Academy. Danae and Liari also discussed what sort of place they expected the Academy to be. Liari had a basic concept in her head due to the books she’d read on the topic but a lot of those were very factual. They talked about the archipelago as a landmass, the academy as a political organization and mentioned some of the important mages by name. None of them really gave her much on how it would be to walk the halls. It was during one of these conversations that they spotted a person standing on what seemed to be a small raft. They weren’t the only ones who noticed the figure as voices were shouting across the ship and they slowed down. The figure approached them pretty rapidly and precisely and not long after Liari spotted him, he was standing right below the ship. After the ship had come to a halt and one of the sailors threw a rope ladder over the edge the man climbed up onto the ship, dusted off his tunic and looked around. “A pleasure to meet you all, who is the captain of this vessel?”
Opal Kaharis 