The Necromancer’s Daughter – Chapter 15

The Arcane Archipelago

Miranda IV
After the unfamiliar woman took her time strolling through the library and left again, Miranda felt a little bit more relaxed. Throughout her visit this person had been friendly and polite to her at all times, but something about her demeanor made Miranda feel on edge. She had an uncomfortable feeling as if she were in danger in the back of her mind. Now that the woman had left again, that feeling was gone and things were much more peaceful. She still missed Liari, of course, but she had spent many years here before Liari came and she would spend many more years here in the future. After a surprisingly stressful day, Miranda decided to spend the afternoon reading in a nice place in the forest. It was still cold out, but not too cold to sit outside, especially not for Miranda. She loved finding a quiet place in the forest even in winter. Unsurprisingly, the librarian was a pretty big reader herself. She wasn’t all that interested in magic and this often bothered Fesquera when he visited, but she loved history. Picking up a book about a foreign land and reading about their cultures, their holidays, their language and what made them unique was a special kind of joy she didn’t find anywhere else. Today she was going to read a new book about the nearby mountain kingdom of Zargahal. The dwarven kingdom may be direct neighbors to the Celeran Canopy and the Foxire Library, but they were  a closed off sort and Miranda knew very little about them. She’d been there once, to a city whose name she couldn’t even remember. This city was on the outskirts of the kingdom and one of the places where outsiders were freely welcomed. This book, one that Fesquera only recently added to the collection, was a recollection of a trader that traveled through the kingdom itself, talking about the things he saw and experienced there. Bringing a large jug of tea with her, she found a spot next to the babbling book and opened up the first page.

“That would be me, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Layek stepped forward towards this stranger that just stepped aboard the ship. “My name is Layek Gindir, captain of this ship. Can I presume that you are with the Astrianara Academy?”
The man nodded enthusiastically, reaching out his hand to shake Layek’s outstretched hand. “My name is Ludwig Staras. I am in charge of contact with outsiders. May I ask you why you are visiting our archipelago? It doesn’t sound like you’re just floating through our waters by accident.”
Layek nodded. “You’re certainly right about that.” The tall, broad shouldered captain always took up a lot of space in any conversation he was in, but Ludwig somehow had an equally big presence in this moment despite being a much more bookish person. “I have several people aboard my ship at the moment who are hoping to enroll at the academy.”
Ludwig smiled. “That’s why most people visit us, may I ask who all want to apply, seeing as you said several?”
Layek nodded. He looked around and saw that Accipiter, Danae and Liari were all looking on from nearby, having spotted the man arrive. “One of them is currently below deck, I don’t think the open seas have treated her well. The other three are standing right over there.”
Ludwig looked over at the trio for a moment, nodded at them politely and turned his attention back to Layek. “Well you’ve certainly provided us with some interesting candidates. I think I’ve seen enough.”
“But you only just got here,” Liari remarked.
The mage turned back to Liari. “I know, but it’s my job to see if there’s anyone interesting enough to hold a proper interview on each ship that comes by. The real interview will be done by myself and four of my colleagues.”
“And you can see in an instant if we’re interesting enough?”
He nodded. “I have my talents.” He turned his attention back to the captain. “If you follow my raft in a north-western direction you’ll soon find the nearest island in the Arcane Archipelago; Staras. There you’ll find a small dock. Meet me there.”
Layek nodded and shot a look at Accipiter, who immediately started yelling orders at the other sailors to adjust their direction.
“Well then, I’ll see you all in a few moments then.” Ludwig nodded politely once more and then stepped off the ship, softly landing on his raft before taking off at an impressive speed. The ship quickly steered to follow in the same direction.
After Ludwig left the ship, Liari went down below deck to go get Charlotte. She’d missed the entire ordeal, taking a nap trying not to focus too much on the swaying of the ship. “Oh, so we’re about to be off of this blasted ship?”
Liari nodded. “Yes, we’re coming up on a town called Staras, it’s where people first enter the Arcane Archipelago according to this Ludwig guy.”
“Well, that’s good news. That does mean the most stressful part of this journey is ahead of us.”
“More stressful than fleeing the first town we visited?”
Charlotte thought back to that moment, that already seemed strangely far away. “Maybe not that stressful, but close.” She stood up. “Well then, let’s go up to the deck then, we wouldn’t want to keep them waiting, lest they use that as an excuse to send us away again.”
“Do you really think they will be that strict?” Liari asked.
Charlotte shrugged. “I have no idea, but it’s not something I want to find out.”
“Fair enough.”

Staras looked much more normal than Liari expected. Coming from quite a magical place, she realized not everywhere in the world was as nice as her home. But a town nestled on the archipelago of a magic school would sure look fantastical as well, right?
Instead, what Liari saw first was a pretty unassuming fishing village. There was a decently sized dock where the raft that Ludwig had traveled on was already being taken care of by a few dockworkers. A little bit beyond the dock itself were a few shops and a large open space where fish were being prepared. Further into the village were what looked like a shopping street, a small church and a residential area. The only two things that stood out in the unassuming village were the two tallest buildings in town. The first one was a large building, taller than most others and fairly large. Liari wasn’t sure what it was. The second building was much clearer in its design and also more familiar to Liari. This looked very similar to Fesquera’s tower. She wondered if a mage lived in this tower as well. They were about to find out as the ship docked and the plank was lowered. Liari, Danae, Accipiter and Charlotte were all invited to come along. Layek and the rest of the crew were welcome to visit the shops in town and get any supplies they may need, but only the four that wanted to apply to the school were to join him. As they followed the mage through town, Liari walked up next to him and asked. “I noticed two tall buildings when we sailed by, what are those?”
“I assume you’re referring to the dormitory and the tower. The first one is a place where visitors stay. Although we don’t allow people to just stay here whenever they like, we do often encounter students that have friends, family or just visitors that they want to keep nearby. For them, we have a place to stay temporarily. Depending on the reason for their visit they can stay anywhere from a few days to a few years.” He pointed at the tower ahead of them. “And that is the tower of acceptance. It’s where we’re headed right now and where every applicant is interviewed before they’re either accepted into the academy or sent back home.”
“I see.” Satisfied with the explanation, Liari had no more questions as they walked. She was far more occupied by looking around at the different people. Compared to the empire, it was a much more mixed group of people. Most of the people they walked past glanced in their direction or were outright staring at the group. Liari guessed that they were all curious about the newcomers. The other three in their little group didn’t have the nerve to ask any questions so the rest of the short walk to the tower was filled with silence as the cold ocean air blew through the village.
Eventually the small party of strange folk made their way up to the foot of the tower. The tower looked quite impressive up close. Fesquera’s mage tower looked fine in its own way but it was built for comfort and functionality. This tower was built to make a statement. “We are powerful and wealthy and this is the threshold to our world.” That’s how it felt to Liari at least as she followed Ludwig out of the sunny morning and into the mage tower. “If you’d please wait here for a moment, I’ll make sure the room is available right now,” Ludwig said. He pointed to several empty chairs near the corner with a table with some cups and water on it. He then made his way up the spiral staircase that went all around the side of the tower and disappeared into the floor above.
Liari looked around the room, taking in all of these new environments and experiences one at a time. It was a relatively empty room. Besides a few corners where people could sit and wait, there wasn’t much to see. There was a painting of a majestic tiger-like beast on one of the walls staring at them as they sat there. The stairwell that led up was made of expensive looking marble and the walls were a dark mahogany wood on the inside, even though the outside of the tower was made of gray, black and white bricks.
After a quick moment of waiting in the room below, Ludwig came back to them and called them up the beautifully carved spirit staircase that led to the next floor. Arriving on the first floor of the tower, the four found themselves in a beautiful study. Light wooden exterior with darker wooden interior finished with green fabric and leather cushions. At the far end of the room were five chairs standing empty behind a curved desk. Strangely enough – even though the tower had looked much taller than a floor or two – there didn’t seem to be a staircase leading to another floor here. “If you’d please wait here for my colleagues to arrive,” Ludwig said with a smile. “Can I get you all some coffee or tea?”

After a short wait, Ludwig returned with their drinks. Liari thanked him and sat down. She looked at the table where the mages would sit down when they arrived. Only then did she notice that one of the chairs was no longer vacant. Sitting in the chair closest to the door was a spindly looking woman with almost creepily long arms. Her hair was tied into four separate buns that were on top of her head. In her hand rested a staff that was made out of glass. She smiled when Liari noticed her but didn’t say anything. Her eyes were black color, almost creepily so. There was definitely something different about her, but Liari wasn’t one to talk. She was about to ask her how she got into the room undetected when footsteps behind her distracted her. Stepping up the stairs was an older man, gray hair on his head and a twirly gray mustache on his face. He wore flamboyant robes and had some beautiful purple and green eye make-up on. Leaning heavily on his wooden staff he made his way into the room with a bright smile. “Well hello there, so nice to meet you all,” he exclaimed to the room as he made his way to the desk. “Beatrice, you’re here first, as usual.”
“I was in the area,” the woman with the long arms replied, her voice almost hissing as she spoke. “And I don’t take twelve days to walk up a set of stairs like you do.”
The older man chuckled. “Now, now, no need to rush here when we know that Garath will be late either way.”
“Garath is actually dealing with some business in the harbor and should be here shortly, he might not even be the last one to appear.” Ludwig said as he took his seat at the far end of the desk, on the opposite end of Beatrice.
The old man sat down next to Beatrice and looked at the room, his eyes tiny under his heavy eyelids. “Four applicants today, that’s quite rare. My name is Donovan, good to see you all show interest in our lovely institution. We could use some youngsters.”
“Everyone’s a youngster compared to you,” a stern voice spoke from the staircase. Contrary to Donovan, whose arrival was announced through his careful and slow footsteps, this new person who entered the room made no noise whatsoever. “And it’ll be a dark day when I arrive later than Garath.” The voice belonged to a woman who looked to be in her early thirties. She wore a tight fitted beautiful white suit and had a bright blue mohawk. Her green eyes were almost hawkish, looking at each of the four of them intently before she made her way to the middle chair. She walked with confidence but there wasn’t a sound when her feet hit the floor. Her leather boots looked like they must make noise whenever they made contact with the ground yet there wasn’t a sound. Liari realized that she hadn’t even fully processed that when the woman was already sitting down. These were some strange people and unbeknownst to her she hadn’t even seen the strangest of the eclectic bunch yet.
Finally, as they were starting to get a bit impatient from all the waiting, the last mage entered the room. Where all the others had entered quietly or with a normal amount of sound, this person was different. Liari heard a strange noise from outside and a moment later the wall next to them exploded as something came tumbling into the room. After the initial scare they could all see that an extremely muscular man had come barreling into the room, destroying the wall and the bookcase in the process. He got up and dusted off his clothes before picking up his staff which looked like a sunflower made out of precious gems. He carefully tapped several of the yellow gem leaves and after a few seconds of humming coming from the staff they all watched as the wall and the bookshelves repaired themselves, leaving no damage from the crash. He grinned at them and sat down on the desk itself, ignoring the fourth chair.
“You know that we have a door, right?” Ludwig commented.
“I missed.” this new man gave as an excuse, seemingly believing that to be a satisfying answer.
With all five mages present the woman in the center deemed it ready to start with introductions.

“Well then, I’m sure that Ludwig here has done some rudimentary introductions of our stations and what we do here at the Astrianara Academy, but allow me to formally explain the process of enrollment. First I’ll tell you who we are.” The woman in the suit pointed at the thin and spindly woman with the long arms and her hair up in four buns. “To my right is the arcanist Beatrice Serath. Beatrice is the arcanist of shadows. Ludwig is the arcanist of diplomacy. Donovan is the arcanist of artifice. Garath is the arcanist of strength.
The woman smiled at them. “And I am Lisette Duress, archmage of stars and one of the eleven council members that run this institution.” She looked at all four of them intently for a few moments, then turned her attention to Beatrice. “Beatrice, dear, what can you tell me about our applicants?”
The woman with the spindly arms and hair tied in four buns leaned forward on the deck and crossed her fingers. She looked them all over, making several curious expressions before speaking. “Accipiter Avaroth, first mate of the Varshen. Grew up near the ocean and has been involved in sailing for most of his adult life. Looks up to Captain Layek but sometimes worries about his actions. Aptitude for magic is low, but not completely absent. Reason for applying is unknown, but likely has to do with accruing power for his crew.” She smiled. “No need to start sweating, many people come here for power.” She moved her attention to Danae. “Now you’re interesting. I heard your name is Danae, but I truly do not know much about you. You carry within you an incredible power that isn’t yours originally.” She absentmindedly tapped the table with her nails. “I am incredibly curious where you got this power.”
“I have no idea,” Danae admitted.
“That makes me all the more curious.”
The sound of someone scraping her throat brought Beatrice back to focus. “Either way, you have incredible potential, dangerously so.” She moved her attention to Charlotte. “The former princess of the empire, Charlotte Fyrston.” She carefully looked Charlotte up and down. “Unfortunately there is no aptitude for magic in you.”
Charlotte wanted to protest but Beatrice shushed her. “No interrupting me.”
Anger rose into Charlotte’s face but she didn’t try to speak up again. Finally, Beatrice turned to Liari. “You, my dear, are the most interesting person I’ve seen walk through this building in quite some time.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I can see the flow of magic in people, dear. This tells me a lot about them. I can tell who you are, what your name is and what your potential is. Of course, potential can be increased and can also decrease if not utilized, but I’m often accurate in my assessment.” She stood up and walked around the desk, eyes trained on Liari. “But you, you elude my sight. Your potential is distorted.”
“What does that mean?” Liari asked.
With a swift step Beatrice was right up in her face. “Your potential is limitless,” she whispered.
“That’s quite enough, Beatrice,” Archmage Lisette said.
Beatrice nodded and retreated to her chair, still keeping her focus on Liari who felt a chill go down her spine. She didn’t know why she would be an exception.
Lisette also looked at Liari. “I have a pretty good idea of who you are and why Beatrice cannot read your potential, but let’s save that for a later date. I will now give you my suggestion and then call a vote.” She looked around and the others nodded.
“All in favor of letting Liari enroll?” All five hands went up.
“All in favor of letting Danae enroll?” Four hands went up, Beatrice was the one abstaining.
“All in favor of letting Accipiter enroll?” Two hands went up, Ludwig and Garath.
“All in favor of letting Charlotte enroll?” No hands went up.
Beatrice looked at Garath and Ludwig. “Make your case.”
Garath spoke up. “I see potential in the lad, he has keen eyes and I have selfish reasons to want to train someone like him.”
“So would you like to sponsor him?”
Garath nodded. “I would.”
Liari was utterly lost in the incredible pace at which this conversation was heading towards a conclusion. She’d expected a proper interview that would include questions and a back and forth. Instead they just looked at her and let her enter. Not to mention that the archmage might know who she was and that there was something blocking her potential? Everything was much more intense and confusing than she was used to and she was completely overwhelmed.
“Excuse me, but does that mean I will have to leave?” Charlotte said.
Liari forgot about that part. If Charlotte would have to leave, would she go with the princess? She decided right now that she would.
“Well, you seem to not have any potential for magic, so we can’t let you enroll into the academy.”
“But,” Ludwig interrupted Beatrice. “She is a former princess and could be a great asset.” He looked at Charlotte, “no offense.”
“Counterpoint,” Beatrice said. “She’s no longer a princess and harboring her could put us in danger with the new rulers.”
“So you would send her off to be hunted on the mainland?” Garath suggested.
“She is not our responsibility.”
“If Charlotte has to leave, I will leave with her,” Liari said. She was confused and overwhelmed, but she did understand that she was different and if there’s one thing that arcanists liked – according to Fesquera – it was people and things that were different.
Ludwig winked at her, apparently that was a good move. If he supported them, why did he not vote for Charlotte?
“I have a suggestion,” Ludwig said, as if he heard Liari’s thoughts. “Although we do not take students without an aptitude for magic, we do make some exceptions of course. As you all might have seen by now, there’s an entire town on this island and most of the people here aren’t enrolled in our institution. They just work for and with us. How do we feel about letting princess Fyrston stay here for the time being while her friend attends our school. You’ll have access to our main library – which is on this island – and are free to come and go as you please.”
Liari looked at Charlotte who still looked angry. But Charlotte likely knew that this was as good of an offer as she was going to get. With no aptitude for magic it was a coin toss if she would be perceived as a possible ally or as a liability. And it seemed the general attitude here leaned more towards liability. This offer was probably Ludwig’s way of giving her a chance, he seemed to be on her side. That or he had ulterior motives. That didn’t matter to Charlotte right now. The main library here was likely also full of useful information and Liari would still be able to learn magic and grow powerful while they stayed here. Besides – as Ludwig just pointed out – she would be free to leave at any time, so there was no downside. “This would be acceptable to me,” Charlotte said, trying to sound as dignified as she could in this difficult situation.
She looked at the other four arcanists to gauge their thoughts. Eventually Lisette spoke up. “Very well, we will allow the former princess limited access to our facilities. In the meantime, the other three present will be accepted into our academy. Is that satisfactory with the arcanists present?”
No one argued against it.
“Is that satisfactory with the applicants?”
They all nodded.
Lisette stood up. “Then our work here is done, please follow me to the enrollment office.” She rang a small bell on her desk and from the staircase came a young man in cyan blue robes. “Marcus here will help you get settled in town, princess Charlotte. After the others finish their enrollment process here, we’ll have one of our mages show you the premises.”
Charlotte followed the man named Marcus down the staircase while the rest of them looked back at Lisette. Liari noticed that both Beatrice and Garath were already gone. Donovan patted her on the back, almost pushing her off her feet. “Welcome to our academy, come by my office sometimes for a chat.” With that he bouldered down the stairs.
The rest of them followed Lisette up the stairs, which were cleverly disguised as being part of the bookcases, but once a switch was hit, some of the shelves moved, revealing that the more empty spaces in the bookcases were actually a built in staircase. It seemed like the wonder of this place was only just starting.