Call of Ring(Compleled)

26 Calvin School of Magic

         As the group of three continued their ride out of the desert, Blake’s mood began to lighten. Yet somehow despite feeling a bit encouraged, he also was decidedly on guard. Surely they would be interacting with more people of a new kingdom. New friends or new foes. He was confident he could now trust the princess, even though he felt weakened in other ways by the increasing amount of her seductive advances.

         The scenery around them changed surprisingly quick. More vegetation appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. It was clear they had left the desert. They were entering into what appeared to be a very fertile plain. The Plain of Aeryn at the tip of the Vex Empire.

         Blake remembered an odd detail from the map he had studied. The Path of Senna connected the Midori Empire to the Blanch Desert. And then randomly at the edge of the desert on the far side, a new path emerged. The new path was still labelled “Path of Senna.” It was almost as if the creators of this world were daring the brave to traverse the desert and for those who survived, their reward would be finding the same path again. The path on this side of the desert was much different than the one that had led Blake through a myriad of endless foothills where he eventually encountered the princess. This path was constructed to announce a survivor’s arrival. It was as if the maintainers of this section wanted travelers to know that they were arriving at a place of importance.

         The path was wide and well maintained. It felt like a boulevard. The exterior was lined with palm trees on each side. In the center of the path were flowers of various sorts, planted in patterns with purpose and manicured with care.

         “This is beautiful!” Blake blurted out.

         “It’s almost like we’re being lured into a trap,” replied Princess Sophie skeptically.

         “Well, I didn’t say we shouldn’t be on guard. I just think we should enjoy it,” said Blake in response.

         “It looks like I’m not enough of a distraction anymore. It seems as if you’ve found something more beautiful than me,” the princess replied with a wry smile.

         Blake fell right into her trap, “I’m not sure it’s possible to surpass your beauty, my dear princess.”

         Her smile grew which warmed Blake’s heart and they continued.

         A few moments later, Blake noticed a smaller path forking off to the left. He looked down the path and saw the opening to another street. He saw many people crossing the intersection and wondered what he had passed, but as they continued, his view of the scene quickly vanished.

         Blake closed his eyes:

         “What do you hear?”

         I hear the sound of many voices. It sounds like people in another busy market.

         “What do you feel?”

          I feel curious about the new market. I want to know more.

         “What do you sense?”

         I sense that I will visit this market soon. I sense that I must be aware of a threat that will appear when I visit the market.  

         “Blake?!”  shouted the princess, as if she were repeating his name for the third time.

         “Yes,” replied Blake feeling perturbed by the interruption.

         “Open your eyes!” she said in a frustrated tone.

         As he opened his eyes ready to protest, he noticed that he could see the Path of Senna coming to an end. Although the end was still extremely far away, he was able to determine that the path ended abruptly at the entrance to a large building. He could see a flag flying in the distance, but they were still too far away for him to distinguish even its colors.

         “Switch horses with me Blake,” commanded the princess, as she dismounted her horse.

         “Whatever for?” asked Blake still feeling irritated by her intrusion into his quiet thoughts of mediation.

         “You now know who I am, and that is fine. You have earned my trust. But remember the story I told you about the Dwarfs?”

         Not waiting for him to respond, she continued.

         “The label of ‘demons’ for my race has spread among the three Kingdoms. I must conceal my identity, and my time of study at this school must be under a different name. If they see me ride in a white horse with my tiara, they will presume me to be royalty of a different Kingdom. It will most certainly compromise me. My identity could be revealed, and my life will be in danger.”

         They had stopped beside a beautiful water fountain fashioned out of stone. Princess Sophie looked both ways, but seeing no one around, she grabbed a small dark glass bottle from the sack attached to her white horse. She then took off her tiara adorned with precious stones and hid it in her sack. Stepping into the water fountain, she bent over almost as if she was trying to touch her toes. The princess gathered her long beautiful white-blonde hair and began to wet it at the spout of the fountain. The water began gently splashing her white gown as if attempting to be playful. Unphased by the splashes of unruly water, she opened the bottle of powder and began washing her hair with it.

         Blake wanted to interrupt and ask her what she was doing but decided instead to allow himself the guilty pleasure of staring at her. He did notice from his peripheral that the servant had decided to post himself on guard by the Path of Senna, presumably to protect the princess, but also simultaneously missing out on the view. The process took only a few minutes, but he couldn’t believe the conversion that took place. Her hair was still wet, but it had turned a dark brown.

         Princess Sophie looked up at Blake as she stepped out of the fountain. She flashed him an adorable smile as she began organizing her now brown hair into a large braid.

         “What do you think?” she asked still smiling.

         “I umm…” Blake stuttered.

         “It’s okay, I know I’ve distracted you again, and I’m kind of enjoying it,” she quipped.

         “Time to go, but before we do, give me the ring on your finger” she said, not expecting Blake to refuse her request.

“Why?” Blake asked to her surprise.

“We will talk more of this later, but this ring will bring unwanted attention by enemies yet unknown.”

Blake wasn’t sure how to make sense of it all. Regardless, he handed her The Ring of Cora. The princess carefully concealed the ring where she had hidden her tiara. She then mounted the horse Blake had been riding.

Her servant mounted his horse, seemingly oblivious to what had taken place at the fountain. Reluctantly, Blake mounted her majestic white horse, and followed the two of them toward the building in the far distance at the end of the Path of Senna.

Princess Sophie spoke up as they got closer,

“Time for you to lead Blake. I will return to my subservient role as a woman following the lead of a man.”

Blake was unsure how to respond. He tried to smile but found her whole statement rather confusing. He kicked his horse gently with the back of his heel inching forward a few yards in front of the princess who was now thoroughly in disguise.    

The building was small in one sense, only one story high. But it was large in another way, because the span of it covered hundreds of meters in both directions. They were close enough to it now to confirm that the Path of Senna led right up to the front entrance smack in the middle of this intriguing building design. In the front, beds of flowers adorned the entrance.

         They were now less than a hundred meters away when Blake saw an older man emerge from the entrance, almost as if he had been anticipating their arrival. He was dressed in a brown gown but was barefoot. He had long white hair that seemed to flow seamlessly into a matching large white beard.

Blake decided that he should dismount first, and the other two followed suit. Blake now looked the man in the eyes, and noticed they were blue. The old man greeted them in a distinguished and yet gentle voice.

“First of all, my name is Mage Zenith. I am the Grand Master of this school. You have arrived at the ‘Calvin School of Magic’. This morning as I awoke to my time of meditation, I sensed the eminent arrival of three new guests. I would welcome you, but I’m afraid we have a few problems to address first.”

Blake suddenly noticed that this old man seemed like an older brother of Apollos.

“Could it be that they were related?” Blake thought to himself.

Princess Sophie cleared her throat as if to speak first, but Blake quickly recognized that she was simply reminding him to take the lead.

“What seems to be the problem kind sir?” asked Blake with as much confidence as he could muster.

“Well, let’s begin with you. Although you have come to our school on a white horse, you don’t strike me as a Level 2 Mage, and students must have achieved at least this level before they can be considered for admission.”

Without leaving Blake any time to respond, the old man continued.

“Now let’s deal with the young lady. Even if she is your servant, we do not allow servants in our distinguished school. In this place, we learn to serve each other.”

“She is not my servant. We met on the journey here. She is a prospective student as am I.”

The old man laughed out loud and then said.

“We have never permitted a woman to study here, regardless of any claims she might have at the magic arts.”

Princess Sophie decided to speak, fighting back any look of indignation, even though Blake guessed that her blood was boiling inside with anger in response to the insults that had just been thrown at her.

“I am aware that you do not allow women to study at the Calvin School of Magic. But I have a question to ask of you in response, Mage Zenith.”

“Please proceed,” replied the old man with a smirk still lingering on his face.

“I am sure that you have heard of a young girl from the Bron Empire who spent time among the local mages. She astounded them with her skills but especially her intuition. She impressed them so much that she was the first woman to gain entry to their school of magic, the Sage College of the Arts.”

“I have heard of this girl, yes,” replied the old man still unimpressed.

“Well I’m sure that in some of your meditative times, you wondered if that girl would ever descend upon the Kingdom of Vex as well. And that she might even dare to attempt entry into your distinguished school,” she said with confidence.

“But Calvin School of Magic is much more distinguished than that other lowly school with its meager reputation,” defended the old man.

“And what did you sense in your meditation this morning. Please indulge us with the details.” Princess Sophie inquired.

“Very well. I sensed that three guests would arrive. One of them would be a servant, and as I’ve said before, we do not allow servants in our school. The second would be someone unqualified to gain entrance. And the third would bring forth the twist of a surprise undefined. Finally, a fight would take place before any decisions were made.”

“I can help interpret your meditation,” stated the princess with continued confidence.

She did not wait for the old man’s permission to speak.

“One of us is a servant,” she said pointing toward the man who wasn’t Blake.

“He will not be staying.”

As she spoke, he bowed and then left, leaving his horse unattended.

“I am the young girl who studied among the Mages of Bron Empire. My name is Sadie. The ‘surprise undefined’ as you have stated, is that I will be studying here as the first woman to attend the Calvin School of Magic. And finally, let the battle commence. My fellow traveler’s name is Blake. He is ready to pass today’s test and gain entry to the school along with me.”

“Very well, if Blake passes the test, then you will both gain entry to our school today,” conceded Mage Zenith reluctantly.

An overwhelming sense of confusion descended on Blake. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling about Sophie or Sadie, whomever she truly was. He didn’t know whether to feel angry at her deception or comforted by her plan.  Blake had not anticipated an obstruction like this on his path toward learning more magic, and he certainly didn’t anticipate what came next.