Regiara: Academy of Sorcery – Part 4

If you haven’t read Part 1, you can begin your journey here.

…

Mildred collapsed onto the king-sized bed in her room, suddenly exhausted by her first lesson and the overwhelming maze of a school she had to navigate to find her room. The bed was quite plush though. She laughed aloud, hands rubbing the velvety softness of the blankets. She rolled over and pulled back the comforter. “Silk sheets, obviously.” She plopped down again, sighing as she settled in. 

“Dinner is at seven,” the servant had told her before she departed. “And hot bathwater will be brought up at five.”

After her earlier mistakes, Mildred had known better than to tell the woman she knew a spell to heat her own bath water. She shook her head. She didn’t understand the need for so many servants at such a prestigious magic academy. Magic could be used to accomplish many daily tasks. But she supposed she would need to follow along with how things were done here. She had proven herself enough of an outsider as it was.

Mildred sighed. She supposed she had better study before dinner. She had a lot to catch up on. Mildred sat at her desk and opened the beginner spellbook to the pages on moving objects. As she practiced the motions and incantation for the spell, she became increasingly frustrated. Not because the spell was difficult to learn, but because it was clearly inferior to the spell she had already mastered. 

Mildred pushed back her chair and began pacing the room. Why would they want her to learn a worse spell? Was it really about the risk?

A knock sounded on her door, and Mildred opened it to find a thin girl about her age standing in her doorway. 

“H-hi, I’m Lorelei. I’m in your Beginner Spellcasting class. Could–” she paused to look down the hall, “could I come in?”

Mildred hesitated, mostly because she was confused as to why anyone who had seen her performance earlier would want to visit, but the girl’s nervousness warmed Mildred. She stepped back and opened the door wider.

Mildred pulled out the desk chair and offered it to Lorelei, while she sat on the bed facing her classmate. 

Lorelei stared down at her hands and words rushed out. “I know this is quite odd, and I’m not really sure where to begin, but I was really impressed by your performance in class.” 

Well, that is quite odd, thought Mildred.

Lorelei looked up and made eye contact with her. “I’ve never seen magic like that.”

“Really? But surely–” Mildred paused. After the reaction in class, she supposed it was possible that the students here had never seen teleportation magic.

Lorelei continued. When I told my mother about my first lesson, she mentioned how you had been kind to her when you entered the school. She thought you might just be willing–” Lorelei took a deep breath, “she thought you might like a friend.”

Mildred now understood the nervousness. Lorelei must be lonely and came here to ask for a friend. But there was one thing that didn’t make sense. “Your mother…?”

Lorelei blushed. “She’s the servant who took your bags.”

Mildred blinked. “Oh, but you’re a student at Regiara?”

Lorelei stood. “If you wouldn’t like to be friends with me, I understand. I just thought you might be different…” She turned to leave.

Mildred hopped off the bed. “Oh no, I didn’t mean that I wouldn’t want to be your friend. I was just surprised…With how they treat the servants here, I–” Mildred didn’t know how to voice that thought. Instead, she touched Lorelei on the shoulder. “I would like to be your friend, Lorelei.”

Lorelei squealed and rambled excitedly. “Would you be willing to teach me to teleport things? I could help you with your lessons in exchange. I won’t tell anyone of course. I know we’re not supposed to, but it just looked…” Lorelei’s cheeks turned pink. “Well, it looked amazing!”

“At least someone thought so,” Mildred grumbled.

Both girls laughed merrily, their feet dangling from Mildred’s bed. By the time the bathwater had cooled, Mildred had mastered the spell for moving objects and Lorelei could teleport small items from the bed to the desk.

“You’re a fast learner,” Mildred said.

“You too,” Lorelei replied. “I suppose that’s why we both got accepted. I didn’t think for a second they would consider me, but somehow my mom knew I would get in. She’d been saving for a while to get my supplies.” She shifted on the bed and looked at her feet.

“She sounds a lot like my mom.” Lorelei looked up at her words. Mildred smiled softly. She told the story about how the whole town had come together to help. “We’d better get ready for dinner now, but would you like to meet in my room at this time each day? You can help me with our lessons, and I’ll teach you my version of the spells.”

Lorelei hopped off the bed and turned to beam at her. “That sounds great!”

After Lorelei left, Mildred fell back on her bed and smiled. For the first time since coming to Regiara, something good had happened. 

…

What do you think of the story so far? Do you like the friendship that is blooming? Do you think things will go better for Mildred now that she has a friend at Regiara? Let us know in the comments!

To continue reading Part 5, click here!

Thanks so much for reading!

-Clever & WTF