Lessons and Carols

[Sighter Tnailog]

"But Dagorathar, you can't be serious!"

Findelfin was becoming more exasperated by the registrar with each passing moment. "My dear lady, I am. I wish to enroll in courses for the coming term. A full course of study, in preparation for obtaining a basic degree. And please..." his voice betrayed a hint of his frustration "...try not to call me 'Dagorathar.'" He was getting tired of being referred to by the elvish title for "General."

He had said the same phrase at least three times now, and each time the older elf's eyes had gotten a little bit wider, betrayed a little bit more disbelief. She was about to open her mouth and protest again, but Findelfin would have none of it. Leaning in close, he lay down 500 GP on the table.

"There you are. The entire tuition fee, paid in full for the remainder of this term and the next two terms, the full course of study. And don't protest that Raiaera needs its general! I have left our military affairs firmly in the hands of the Bladesingers General. I am not enrolling here simply because I wish it, but also because the High Bard himself feels I need the training your walls provide. Now, if you can see it plain to give me a syllabus, I would be more than grateful."

The registrar's mouth worked wordlessly, but she seemed to have finally gotten the picture. Rummaging quickly through a desk drawer, she withdrew a slender file of parchment pages and handed it to Findelfin. Giving him a board to write on and a quill pen, she pointed to the corner, "As you will, Dagorathar..." at his fierce glare she corrected herself, "I mean...Winyar Fingolfin." She pulled a file from a large wooden filing box behind her, mulled over it, and said, "It appears your Bardic Certificates are in order for Turlin, but no others. Might I suggest Dagorlin? You are closest to completing that course of study."

He smiled, although it was somewhat forced. He was planning on Dagorlin anyway, but he knew she was only suggesting it to try to make him remember that he was supposed to be out fighting.

But she had given him the proper title for a student, so he'd take what he could get. While he was here, he intended on living precisely like one. Sitting on a chair in the sitting room and setting his pen to paper, he began selecting his coursework for the term.

[Skie and Avery]

"Would Raiaera make you happy?" the baritone asked in it's most soothing tone. She had grown to know it well in the last few days. As Skie had fallen more and more into a depression, her will to do much of anything but lay on the cool chaise lounge and stare at a wall decorated with dancing lights had begun to lose itself. Griffin, never armored and always so dangerous, would come in, caress the shackles that kept her his, and pleaded with her to try and change her willpower. It was true that he could force every movement of her body, but his distress at the condition of her soul was something he had no control over. His pleadings of a day of freedom, a lover, gold, jewelry, and anything else he had suggested thus far were ignored, only sighs coming from her lips. Now, however, she let her dark eyes slide towards his, the blue in them lightening up so slightly from the clouded storm that hid the lights of the stars in them. She wet her lips with her tongue, and took a breath to steady herself.

"I want to study in the Schools." she said quietly, the only request she'd ever asked of him. She watched as his ruffian's face moved from surprise, to puzzlement and then into something darker. Again she looked to the wall, knowing the answer would be no.

"If I let you go, do you swear to me, on the blood of your brother, that you will not use the elven teachers to leave me?" Skie didn't even have to contemplate his question. Avery's safety was of the utmost importance to her.

"I promise."


~*.oOo.*~

Now she stood in Istien, the rush and flow of the University around her. Dressed in a white tunic that covered the scars from where her wing had been taken, Skie's confused gaze passed over a professor. A quick string of questions later, and he led her to the enrollment board with only a bit of aggravation. The elves who waited saw only hesitation, before she began to speak.

"I've come to enroll for classes here." She'd seen the flyers around, the brochures that explained the sort of financing that went into classes and degrees at the illustrious school. Higher education involved more gold than she could ever remember having. "Um, my name is Skie dan Sabriel, and I was given a voucher in the Adventurer's Crown for classes here, but I've lost the paperwork on my end." She gave a nervous smile. Griffin could monitor her through the bands of blue metal that circled her wrists and neck like ill-forged jewelry, and the moment they turned her away, she'd be back in the underwater prison she hated so much.

"I was hoping that it wouldn't be a problem."

[Sighter Tnailog]

Findelfin shuffled through the course directory with ease, reading the descriptions and deciding which classes he needed to take. He had already decided he was done taking courses for specific spells -- he didn't need many, really. Instead, he wanted to know more about magic itself. What made it work? What were its ingredients, the cut of its cloth? How could it be used and manipulated in ways unforeseen? The true power of magic, after all, was not in the person who know how to cast a spell. It lay in the one who knew how to make the spell in the first place.

He saw a few courses that interested him, one in advanced Dagorlin technique and another in introductory spell crafting. He added another in musical theory and notation, more a refresher than a truly necessary course. He had a few more to select when noises from up front called his attention away.

"Absolutely not, my dear. I hate to be so blunt, but if you wanted to train here, you should have held onto your voucher. I can't make exceptions."

The girl was protesting, but feebly, and it seemed that she was about to turn to leave, when Findelfin's breath caught in his throat. She looked different, with a face freshly washed and seen in the light above ground, but there was no doubt. The savior of Eluriand herself, reduced to haggling about admittance to the schools like some poor farm girl!

Rising, Findelfin's voice boomed with command. He had intended to be as like a normal student as possible, but this sight was simply too much to bear. "How dare you deny admittance to Skiel dan Sabriel! Were it not for her bravery and daring, this school's doors would not even be open!"

Striding quickly across the room, he placed one hand on her shoulder. The registrar did not seem pleased, but at his furious glance she bowed her head and simply slid a sheaf of parchment across the table. Mumbling, she said, "Your papers are in there, fill them out and bring them back to me."

"That's better," Findelfin said, turning now to look at Skie. "Skie, I would never have expected to see you here, at the same time as me, no less! What fortune smiles upon us? Come, you must tell me what brings you here, I want to hear all about what has befallen you since..." his face darkened, remembering the darkness and the shadows. "Since we saw one another last."

[Skie and Avery]

The mention of their brief time amongst the Shadows of Concordia brought a solemn, somber expression to her face. There were things that had happened there that she wished she had not been part of, wished she had no happened upon the small party the day she'd been outcast by her mother's people. Then again, it had been her mother's dying wish that she find a way to Findelfin. Skie was not a woman who believed in fate, but there seemed to be a master plan at work in her life when it came to the elf who had been Natamrael's best friend.

Taking her parchment from the elf, she moved closer to Findelfin as they sought a quiet place upon the campus to talk. When they'd survived together in the place where not all were so lucky, Skie had fled, seeking somewhere to hide far from the darkness that Corone beheld. As she and Findelfin sat down with their paperwork before them, she smiled, and answered his question.

"I've been meaning to come here since I left you," she said, skimming over her one night stand with Victor Callahan, careful not to mention her time spent in Griffin's care. "I believe there are many saying about good intentions for us both to know that things so oft don't turn out how we wish." Her smile now was bitter. The blood and heartache they'd seen in Suikan's Haven enough for them to know how true the words she spoke could be.

"Did you know my mother always wanted to be able to craft magic with a song?" she asked, trying to pry their minds to better times. "She told me once when I was a child that you gave her a gift of a song, once. It was the only example of love she said she'd ever been able to really feel."

Now a true smile on her lips, she turned back to the paperwork. She'd only skimmed the classes and schools, and her mind was debating back and forth between Lissin and Turlin. She and Natamrael shared having been leaders of the Beauty, a people of demons, and a people of healing and love.

[Sighter Tnailog]

Findelfin smiled as Skie spoke to him. She was truly amazing to see, the way her Mother shone through her face, yet her father gazed at her through her deep, knowing eyes. There was fullness of experience in her glance, yet a longing there that spoke to the emptiness of the heart. They were the eyes of a Starslayer, there was no doubt of that.

He got the feeling that she was keeping something back as she spoke, but it was none of his business. She would tell him when and if the time came. Smiling at her mention of the gift of song, he laughed and said, "Yes. I tried to give her the gift of a dance, too, but I'm afraid your mother had at least five left feet." Noting her confusion as she looked at the course listing, he put his hand on her sheet, arching one eyebrow as if to ask permission to look. When she gave no protest, he pulled the sheet closer to himself.

Making a few marks, he said, "You seem to be focused on the healing and purifying schools, but you haven't been at this long. So I've put you down for two introductory classes in both. That should give you a feel for which you prefer to get your first certificate in. And even better yet, now we're both in Introduction to Lissilin. Maybe taking the same classes together will help us both out. And I have my certificate in Turlin already, so if you need any help, you can feel free to ask me. Does that work?"

Handing the parchment back to her to peruse, he glanced back at his own form. Quickly, he realized what he wanted to take, and with a few marks he had registered himself for "History of Raiaera -- The War of the Sixth School." It would serve him well to know more about that period in Raiaeran history.

Turning back to Skie, he said, "If you are ready, we can turn our papers back in to the registrar. Are you planning on rooming in the student quarters? If so, we can arrange to have rooms close to each other."