Fall of Autumn, Week 5, Day 2

Taking the letters from the [Courier], I said a thank you, and then she was gone. Simply vanished.

"That wasn't just a [Courier], was it?" I asked Gristle seriously.

Beside him, Sir Neil spluttered. "My Lady, I can assure you she is quite Skilled at [Movement]."

Turning my eyes to Sir Neil, I smiled lightly. "That wasn't what I asked."

Arlen was bouncing his gaze between us until finally it settled on me. I waved the hello I couldn't give him when the other knight showed up.

"Lady Nora," Arlen said, rushing his words and lowering his voice. "You shouldn't question a Knight Charlatan's position outside of a private room."

I looked at Arlen fully then, my smile dropping. He was clammy and shivering, his usual tan skin a pallid color. He looked entirely unsettled. I turned to Sir Neil.

"It's fine, we can just go."

A Knight Charlatan? I repeated in my head.

>It's a position of questionable honor, but a necessary one. Ridan is probably in command of a squad of them as his specialty is strategy and covert operations,< Eunora said, obviously prompted by my own thoughts.

It was nice, having her in my head sometimes—when she wasn't tearing apart my decisions.

>So, never.<

Keep it to yourself, please.

Sir Neil looked immensely relieved at my words, though, and he opened the large entry door.

"Perfect, the Tower isn't far from the main square with the Church. Do you want to"—I froze, worried about what he would say—"go to that cafe from last time? We're quite a bit early."

I made an effort not to sigh in relief, instead nodding at Sir Neil. "That'd be great."

"Wonderful, Lady Nora, I'll give Sir Neil a portion of your allowance, then," Gristle said, pulling out a small velvet bag from nowhere at all.

I blinked, then shook the confusion from my head. Enchantment probably.

>Definitely.<

Stop responding to my thoughts!

>I'll stop when you do.<

Swallowing a groan, I climbed into the carriage as Sir Neil and Arlen climbed up front. Once I realized that, I hung my head out the door and said, "Arlen, you're in the carriage."

"Lady Nora—" he started.

"In. The. Carriage," I repeated slowly and pulled my head back in. Sitting by the window, I waited for Arlen to climb in and settle himself uncomfortably across from me.

He looked supremely overwhelmed by the inside of the carriage. Which I could understand, but I had spent months trapped inside a much nicer one, so even though I understood, I could not relate. The etching of the wood was nice, but the seats weren't nearly as soft as the carriage I rode in on the way to Fellan, nor was it as decorated.

In a way, that carriage had become a second home. Or an asylum used to mend my broken mind. Either metaphor worked.

"Nora," Arlen whispered, looking nervously at the window that led to where Sir Neil was sitting on the other side, "why am I inside the carriage?"

Leaning my head up against the glass, I let my gaze trail across the passing shrubs—no leaves could be found on them anymore.

"Klein sat inside, of course you should too."

Arlen audibly swallowed. "But Klein is—he's—he—"

"—is a noble?" I finished for him.

"Yeah." His voice was quiet in a resigned way, then, rather than a whisper. And I felt a prick of anger in my heart.

"So?" I said, flat and annoyed. "Who cares? If I call you my equal, who is anyone else to deny it?"

I caught Arlen's eyes in his reflection, and he flinched away. "But I'm no one. I'm a commoner. I don't even have a last name."

I turned to look at Arlen head-on. I stretched out my fingers, letting the sensation of the muscles pulling soothe me. Then, I chose not to be soothed.

"How many times do I have to repeat myself, Arlen?" I said, measured but firm.

"Uhm—"

"Do I have to tell you three more times? Five? Ten?" I took a deep breath. "You call me Nora, when it's just us three—you, me, and Klein—we hardly abide by etiquette. What does it matter if you sit in a carriage? In front of Neil?"

At that, the window behind Sir Neil popped open, and his voice filled the carriage.

"Lady Nora, please, I can feel Captain Limrick scolding me already."

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He sounded as if he was holding back a laugh, and I rolled my eyes, flicking my gaze back to Arlen, who was once again white as a sheet.

"Neil, tell Arlen to calm down! He's acting as if I've told him he's to escort me to a ball!" I complained, loud and petulant.

"Arlen, it's okay. Besides, it's actually better to have a guard in the carriage, even if it breaks etiquette. You're making Lady Nora safer."

Finally, finally, Arlen's mind seemed at ease. Then—

"But I'm not a noble!"

I leaned back, exasperation and displeasure on my face.

Sir Neil and I spent the majority of the ride harassing Arlen into having some self-respect and understanding the difference between etiquette in private and etiquette in public. I was pretty sure Arlen spent the ride ignoring everything we said and insisting to himself that being a commoner meant he was dirt under a noble's shoe, which was arguably even more disturbing than actually saying that out loud.

At least then he would see the look of disgust on my face.

It wasn't until we got to the cafe, The Fritter, that we stopped trying to force Arlen to grow some sense of worth. The seats were full, but I went straight to the register, where a vaguely familiar woman was manning the counter.

"Hello, welcome to The Fritter!" She said, a bright smile nearly blinding me.

I smiled back at her. "Hello! Three Mistlight Lattes, please."

The woman froze, glancing between me and Sir Neil, a question clear on her face. Sir Neil nodded gently.

"My Lady," Sir Neil said quietly, too quiet for anyone with a [Common] Class to overhear, "You're going to give Sir Limrick's squire a disorder."

"Anything is better than his current vibe," I retorted. Then, I looked up at the woman again. "Do you have a way for us to take them to go?"

"Oh, um, well, no?" Her smile faltered, but I waved my hand as if to shoo her worry away.

"That's fine, can I buy the cup it usually comes in? The pretty glass ones? I have to get to class soon."

The woman blinked, then glanced behind her to a burly man wiping down a counter. Looking back at me, she sighed. "Give me a second, I'll have to ask my boss."

"That was an obscene price." Sir Neil said, taking the small bag of very large coins back from me.

"But," I held up the sparkling glass with the navy blue Mistlight Latte, "now we have some very nice glasses! And I can take this to the Tower."

Arlen was holding his drink so tightly, I worried the glass was going to shatter, meanwhile, Sir Neil was looking at me with a crooked grin that made his scar dimple.

They were right earlier, when they said the Tower was close to the town center —it was only a few minutes walk in the direction of the oversized structure before I saw some familiar faces.

"Lady Dawn!" Came the shout of a boy with round cheeks and dark brown curls.

"Lord Edwin," I greeted, lifting my drink in recognition. "You can call me Nora."

"I didn't realize you'd be at the Tower as well." His satisfied grin said otherwise, but of course, the local nobility would make a point of shifting the schedules of their children to match mine.

Knowing that it made sense didn't make it any less uncomfortable.

"Yes, well," I sighed dramatically, "what else is a girl to do with her time?"

"Jules is here as well —ah, Lady Juliette Mithra," Edwin said, shifting as he glanced between me and the knights behind me.

"Wonderful," I said lightly. "Let's go say hello."

Behind me, Sir Neil snickered and Arlen sipped his drink loudly. Probably to hide his discomfort.

Edwin led me up the steps of the tower, chattering about the Sword Academy, and I only briefly glanced at the brick construction. It wasn't as tall as one would expect something called The Tower would be —a dozen stories at most. It was surely the tallest building in Fellan, but it was nothing compared to the merchant district in Adeline.

You're in the borderlands, of course the Tower won't be as tall. I reminded myself.

>You're also in a valley between the Galation and Skylar mountain ranges, there's no room to go up unless you're willing to encroach on the domains of avians.<

I hummed in acknowledgement, passing by Edwin as he held the overly large door open for me. I looked around curiously, looking for a sign of magic, of enchantment, of well, something interesting. But it was just the inside of a brick tower —a circular room with a staircase lining the edge of the wall. The bricks were jagged, it looked like it'd been hastily built, and the panels of the floor were uneven as I stepped on them. I had to be mindful not to trip before getting to the edge of the rug that covered a majority of the ground.

"Our class is on the second floor, but the third and fourth floors also have classes," Edwin said.

"We need to go to the registrar, my Lady," Sir Neil cut in, gesturing to the desk that took up the far end of the wall. There was a single woman sitting there writing in a book. Even from the opposite end of the room, I could see the bags under her eyes.

"Okay." I looked over at Edwin, "Save me a seat, I guess."

Edwin blinked and then a wide smile spread across his face. "Perfect, I'll let Jules know."

Then he went off to climb the stairs. I was a little surprised there wasn't some kind of elevator or equivalent levitation device.

Milling about the room were a few teenagers chatting, some men in robes pointing aggressively at the books stacked on a table between them, and a group of middle-aged women with pointed hats whispering. They were all hanging out on the edges of the room, so it felt as if I was on display as I walked through the center to get to the registrar.

"The bag, Neil," I hissed under my breath.

The knight only put up a mild disgruntled expression before pulling out the bag of coins and tossing it my way.

"Thanks, Sir Knight." I did a mock salute with my free hand and Sir Neil shook his head.

"You push the bounds of propriety, my Lady."

"No, I don't," I said mindlessly. "I break them."

That earned me a snort and a shake of Arlen's head.

"She's got you there, Sir Neil," Arlen said dismally, his shoulders slumped.

"All right, enough, you two. Let's get Lady Nora registered." Sir Neil dug his hand into Arlen's shoulder, guiding him forward forcefully. "And you and I will keep watch outside the class. Perfect practice for maintaining passive vigilance for our darling squire."

At that, I approached the woman, who had not looked up from where she was writing.

I waited for a moment. Then another. Then several more. I twitched my nose.

"Excuse me?" I called to the red-haired woman, and then, several more moments passed before she paused writing and glanced up at me.

"Hello? Can I help you?" Her voice was tired, and she looked annoyed at the interruption.

"I need to pay for my tuition," I said uncertainly. "I'm supposed to start classes today."

She furrowed her brow and used her pen to point to a book a few feet down the desk. "You do that there. Not with me."

I glanced at the front of the desk for a sign, or some other direction that was meant to point me there, but saw none. Still, I felt a knot in my stomach form.

"Oh, um, thank you."

I went to the book, and as I reached for the leather front, the book popped open and began flipping through pages. After getting to the middle of the book, I saw my own name written in neat script.

'Eunora Dawn, First Year, Theoretical Classes - 5 silver a season owed. Please deposit tuition now.'

I looked at the book curiously, and a black circle roughly the size of a silver coin was at the center of the right page. Pulling out a silver coin, I nervously pressed it to the book. Without hesitation, the silver coin sank into the page.

The words on the page shifted.

'Eunora Dawn, First Year, Theoretical Classes - 5 silver a season. 4 silver owed. Please deposit tuition now.'

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