Wielder's Awakening (29 page)

18

As Traven approached the steps of the merchant school, he realized that he had forgotten to change into his nice clothing.  He couldn’t believe he had almost walked in without changing.  If he went in looking like he did now with his soiled traveling clothes, he wouldn’t make a very good impression at all.  He wondered where he might be able to change before going inside the merchant school to check in.  He turned away from the school and continued down the street.  At the end of the street there was a narrow alley that wound away from the street between tall buildings.

Traven got down from Pennon and after looking around to make sure that no one was watching, led him back into the alley.  When the alley abruptly ended at a stone wall, he set Pennon to block him from view from the front and pulled his black clothes from his saddlebag, quickly changing into them.  Once he had stuffed his dirty clothes into his saddlebag, he tried to smooth out the wrinkles in his brand new silver threaded black clothes.  He then tied his red cloth back around his arm and buckled his sword belt on.  He squeezed past Pennon and led him back out of the alley.  A few people looked at him strangely as he emerged from the alleyway but continued on with their business.  Traven walked down the street leading Pennon, confident in his new appearance.

After leaving Pennon with a stable boy at the side of Kalia’s Merchant Academy, Traven took a deep breath and walked up the stone steps and into the reception area of the school.  The room was quite large with a fireplace at the end and several couches to sit down upon and visit.  He spotted a middle aged, overweight man doing some paperwork behind a large desk and approached him.  The man was intent on what he was doing so Traven waited patiently.  He was surprised that there were not more people checking in.  He had been told that check in was anytime during the week before the term started.  He was only a day or two early and had thought there would probably be others who would be arriving about the same time.  From what he understood, the schooling would consist of six days in a row of classes and then he would have a day off before starting another six consecutive days.  Other than that he really didn’t know what to expect.  The man behind the front desk finally set his papers down and came over to help Traven.

“Sorry about the wait, young master.  Can I help you?”

Traven was so surprised at how the man had addressed him that it took a few moments for him to answer back.  He guessed that he really did look like he was wealthy in his new clothes.

“Hello, sir.  My name is Traven, and I’m here to check in for the winter and spring term.”

The man looked at Traven with confusion for a few moments before walking over to a notebook and opening it up.  He flipped through some pages before a smile crept on to his face.

“So you are the one who has come all the way over from Oak Tree.  My name is Mr. Kiscin, and I’ll be one of your instructors,” the man said as he came over to Traven and shook his hand.  “I am glad that you finally made it.  It is a good thing you showed up today.  The headmaster instructed me to strike your name from the role book if you did not show up by tonight.”

“Excuse me, sir, but I don’t understand.  I was told that registration went all the way up to the beginning of the term.  Was I misinformed?” Traven asked the man.

“You are right about that, but the term started six days ago,” Mr. Kiscin answered.  “The starting time was changed about a month ago.  We sent out notices to all of the young men who would be attending, but it probably did not get to your home before you left.”  Traven couldn’t believe that he was a whole week late.  “Do not worry about being late.  Not much has really been going on this first week except for orientation and class assignments.  You will be able to get into the swing of things fast enough.”

“Thanks, I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Oh, do not be sorry.  It was not your fault.  Nobody besides you is from anywhere farther than Four Bridges.  Most of the young men are from Calyn itself.”  The instructor stopped and chuckled.  “Listen to me carry on.  You probably want to get up to your room and rest before dinner starts.  I am sure your journey has been long and tiring.  I will just finish up here, and then I will take you up to your room.  Go get your belongings from the stable.  I will be ready for you when you get back.”

Traven thanked the man and went back out the front doors and down to the side of the building where the stables were located.  After he retrieved his saddlebag from Pennon’s stall, he went back into the building and found the instructor waiting to show him to his room.  The man greeted him with another friendly smile and led him up the stairs that were almost hidden at the back of the front room.  Once on the second floor, the man led him down a long hall lined on both sides with doors.  Towards the end of the hall the man finally stopped and opened one of the doors.  He then stood back and let Traven enter the room first.  The room was small but seemed comfy.  There was a soft looking bed, a wardrobe, and a desk in the room.  The one window at the back of the room looked out over the street in front of the merchant academy.

“This is where you will be living while you are here.  It is not as spacious as most of the other rooms in the hall, but it is livable.”

“It’s just fine,” Traven told the instructor as he set down his saddlebags.

“The dinner bell will ring in a couple of hours.  Until then you can get unpacked and rest.  The other students will be done with their classes in about an hour if you want to meet any of them before dinner,” the man then paused before going on as if he was uncertain if he should say something or not.  After a moment he started up again.  “Now, Traven, there is something I want to tell you.  You had me fooled into thinking you were some wealthy lord’s son when you walked in at first, but I know who you really are.  I know you want to make a good first impression, but the others will see through it so do not try to fool anyone.  I have to be honest with you.  Most of the students here come from very wealthy families while the others come from fairly wealthy families.  You on the other hand are one of the few people who come here throughout the years because your family has been saving up and sacrificing for years to send you here.  Many of the teachers and students here do not have very open minds when it comes to regular peasants.  I myself am the son of a peasant who married into money and do not have that prejudice.  Some of the others might give you a hard time, but do not let it bother you.  Just keep on going and fulfill your dreams.”  Mr. Kiscin patted him on the back.  “I have to get back to my duties, but you remember that okay.”

“Thank you,” Traven said.  “I’ll remember that.”

Mr. Kiscin left the room, shutting the door behind him.  Traven sat down on his bed to think.  Showing up a week late was not going to help him blend in with the other students, but he was sure that they all weren’t as bad as Mr. Kiscin had made them out to be.  Besides, he was here to learn how to become a successful merchant not to find a bunch of friends.  He did hope, though, that he would get along with the other students.  He got up from the bed and unpacked his saddlebag.  When he had transferred his possessions into the wardrobe and around the room, he thought about changing back into his other clothes but decided against it.  They were too dirty for him to wear around.  He decided that since tomorrow was the day off for the students he would have time to get them washed.  When he was done getting himself situated in his new room, he unbuckled his sword belt, set it down next to the bed and fell down onto his bed to get some much needed rest.

No sooner had he closed his eyes than he heard whoops of excitement as people rushed into the hall outside of his room.  He figured that the classes must be over.  He thought about going out of his room to introduce himself, but he was tired and decided to rest a little longer.  The bed was actually quite soft, and it didn’t take Traven very long to get comfortable.  As he lay there with his eyes closed, he thought about the journey to get to Calyn and how it was now over.  After all of his long awaited anticipation for the time when he would actually be at the merchant school, he was finally here.  It would be interesting to see what his new schedule would be like.  He wondered when he might have time to go through his sword exercises.  Soon the noise in the hall died down, and he drifted off to sleep.

“Riiinnnnggggggg!”

Traven bolted upright in his bed at the piercing sound that had invaded his rest.  As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he realized that what he had just heard was the dinner bell.  He climbed off of his bed and tidied up his rumpled clothes.  It was then that he realized he had no idea where the dining hall was.  He quickly dashed out of his room, hoping that some of the students were still in the halls and could show him where the dining hall was.  To his disappointment, the hall outside was completely empty.  He shut his door and slowly began to walk towards the end of the hall.  He hadn’t meant to fall asleep, and now he was going to be late for dinner if he even found the dining hall.  His dismal thoughts were interrupted as one of the doors behind him opened and closed.  Turning around he saw a fellow about his age, maybe a little older, heading down the hall towards him.  He was almost as tall as Traven and was very skinny.  He had red hair and his face was covered with freckles.  He was wearing well cut clothes made of cotton and had on spectacles.  What Traven noticed most, however, was that the fellow was wearing a shy smile.  Traven was about to ask him how to get to the dining hall, but the fellow spoke up first.

“We better hurry up if we don’t want to be late.  I don’t think I have met you yet.  My name is Thadius, but most people call me Thad.”

Traven shook Thad’s outstretched hand.

“Nice to meet you.  My name’s Traven.  You haven’t seen me around because I just arrived a couple of hours ago.”

“A late comer are you?  Here, we can talk while we’re walking to the dining hall.  We’re definitely going to be the last in line by now.”  Traven followed Thad as he took the stairs down at the end of the hall.  “So, Traven, why did you get here so late?  You don’t want to get on the bad side of Headmaster Brock.”

“Well, it wasn’t my fault.  I was never informed that the term was starting a week early,” Traven explained.

“Really!  You mean they never told you?  The staff here prides itself on never making a mistake.”

“Oh, I think they probably sent me a notice, but I was already on my way here before it got to my home.”

Thad led Traven through the front room and into a smaller one.  From there he could hear the clatter of silverware and the noise of hungry young men dishing up and eating food.  When they stepped into the large dining hall, the noise was even louder.  Traven followed Thad to the end of a long line and looked out over the room.  The dining room consisted of three long tables down the center and a raised platform at the end with a podium.  The back, where they were at, consisted of a serving bar where chefs were busy slapping food onto the young men’s plates.

“So where are you from then,” Thad asked while they waited at the end of the line to get their food.  “If you had to leave before you got the notice, then you must be from quite a ways away.”

“I’m from Oak Tree.”  When Thad just looked back at him questioningly, Traven elaborated.  “It’s a few days southeast of Kavar.”

“Okay.  I know about where that is.  Wow, you have come pretty far.  Most of us are from right around here.”

Thad then became distracted by a spot on his spectacles and became engrossed in wiping it off and making his glasses perfectly clean.  Traven just smiled as he resumed looking out over the room.  The first table was already halfway full.  All of the people who were sitting at it were older and appeared to be instructors and so forth.  The second and third tables were quickly beginning to fill up as people got their food and sat down.  The line was actually moving fairly swiftly, and soon Traven was up to the serving bar.  He followed Thad’s example and picked up a rectangular wooden tray.  He then placed a tin platter along with eating utensils onto the wooden tray and set it up on top of the serving bar.  As he slid the tray along, the chefs slopped down food onto his plate.  The meal consisted of some carrots, mashed potatoes, several slices of roast beef, and a chunk of dry looking bread.  At the end of the bar a chef poured a thick brown sauce over his potatoes and slapped a tin cup full of cider onto his platter.

Traven pulled down his tray and followed Thad as he made his way to the third table.  He noticed that Thad only had carrots, mashed potatoes, and bread on his platter.  He asked him about it while they were walking.  Thad explained that he did not eat meat.  When Traven asked him why, he replied that meat was not healthy for the body and that he did not think that it was right to kill animals to eat them.  Traven just shook his head.  He had never heard of anyone who didn’t eat meat.  The third table was pretty full, so he suggested that they eat at one of the other tables instead.