The short part of my life that I could remember had not been calm or absent of drama.

  I had faced down creatures that had been nothing but pale flesh and black finger nails. A near infinite amount of sand had crushed me against the bottom of a glass pyramid. Serpents, beasts, and spiders had hunted me in dark forests. I had come to blows with The Lady in Red, or rather, The Lady in Red had come to blows with me. I had stood in open defiance in front of The Circle of The Nine Mothers and had lived to quietly whisper the tale to the ones I loved.

  The amount of terrible and powerful things I had been through and stood against was not small. Thinking of all of them, I was certain that nothing had ever made me as anxious as I was while I was walking towards Precept Seram’s class room.

  Be yourself. I repeated in my mind as I followed Alexei towards my first class as an Underwitch of Lun Arcanicil.

  It was the first agreement I had made with Anna the night before.

  After our bath and the seemingly endless amount of things I had to tell her about the new moon ball, the nervousness had come for me.

  I had never been to school before, and I didn’t have a history of following rules or listening when I was told to do something. Underwitch Tana would be there and there had been nothing between us that told me she would be any different than she had been before. More importantly, Reese would not be there. She would not be able to pull me along behind her as she ran headlong into whatever we were asked to do.

  For all intents and purposes, I would be alone.

  Everything was going to go wrong. I knew that in the way that I knew my mother loved me or Sam tolerated me. I would find some way to embarrass myself or get into trouble. It was only a matter of time.

  What if I was asked to do something I didn’t know how to do? Tana would start in on me for being motherless or about wanting a familiar, even though she did not know my real name and I had done nothing to receive Sam.

  I had agreed to be myself, but how could I when my place in the school depended on me (not) doing that.

  I had to be Ire, not Autumn.

  When we turned onto a short hall that’s end was marked by a pastel blue door, the nervousness turned to full on panic

  Ask questions. I repeated Anna and I’s second agreement through the panic.

  She had been playing with my hair when we had made it, so I had not been paying full attention to what she was saying, but I had agreed nonetheless.

  “Master Alexei?” I said, hating the shake I heard in my voice.

  “Yes?” He answered simply, not even turning to look at me.

  “Do you know what this is going to be like?” I asked. There was no need for me to pretend to be innocent or timid in an attempt to make him like me. Both of those things were present without prompting and I could feel the irritation my guard had for me radiating off him.

  “No. I have never been an underwitch.” He said simply as we reached the end of the hall.

  I made a poor attempt at humor in response. “Good. I don’t want to imagine you in one of these uniforms.”

  So slight that I could have imagined it if I had not seen it happen, the white haired man let out a little exhale through his nose. Though he didn’t smile, the line of his lips curved just enough for me to notice.

  He thought that was funny. I thought excitedly, taking the slight and momentarily change in his expression as a victory. All I could think about was what I could say next to push him further towards a laugh.

  Stay calm. The third agreement came to me, and I took a deep breath.

  His snort and ghost of a smile were enough. I could not win him over in one fell swoop. In that way, he reminded me of Sam. My intentional endearment would be a slow and gradual process, so I took my small victory for what it was.

  “I have word for you from the headmistress. She is searching for a twinsoul to mentor you, but for now, you are expected to keep your nature to yourself.” My guard said, his face making the slight change back to its usual state.

  “Oh, I will,” I said, surprised. With everything that happened since I had been in front of the mothers, I had barely thought about my nature at all. “Have you ever met a twinsoul?”

  Alexei peered down at me with his one white eye and I could not help but wonder if his mother’s gaze had been anywhere near as cold.

  “Your class is beginning.” He said without answering my question and opened the pastel door for me to enter.

  Stay calm. I repeated and entered the classroom without another word.

  Everyone within it turned their eyes to me as soon as the door shut behind me.

  It was a round room thats middle sunk on cascading terraces that circled the width of the room. There were six white curtains spaced evenly around the upper most level and I could see open space beyond them. A paneled glass dome topped the room with a blanket of white snow covering all of its frames.

  Precept Seram stood on the lowest level, every part of her standing straight and proper next to a worn wooden chair. “Good morning Underwitch Ire! I was wondering where you were. Your place will be the one directly to your left.”

  The bubbly way she spoke and the bright smile on her face dispelled a fair amount of my nervousness immediately.

  Everything about her was light. Her pastel pink hair, her complexion, the clean white gloves on her hands, she looked perfectly happy to see me and I felt the same for her.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  There were two underwitches I did not know on the far side of the room. Along with the one who had passed the trial before Reese and I had, they watched me take my place in front of the white curtain that I had been directed towards.

  “Underwitch Tana?” Seram called out and I felt someone push past me in response.

  Her honey blonde hair tied up high on her head and her ever present blue stoned necklace shining atop the silk of her uniform dress, she went to the curtain on my right.

  Why was she in my place? I wondered as our eyes met and she looked like she would hit me if she had the chance.

  “Over the next month,” Precept Seram began, bringing my attention back down to the center of the room. “I will assist you in expanding the limits of your power and learning practical ways to apply it to whatever situations you may find yourselves in.”

  Something rubbed against my legs and I looked down to see Sam stepping out of the curtains behind me.

  I’m a tone that only I could hear, he spoke. “Your classmate attempted to persuade me to pledge my service to her.”

  “What?” I snapped, the ridiculousness of what the big blue cat had said leaving me shocked.

  “Underwitch Ire, is there something you would like to share with the rest of us?.” Seram called up to me. Everyone’s eyes returned to me and heat bloomed in my cheeks.

  Ask questions. The second agreement returned to me.

  “Why is it only a month?” I asked, thankful that I found something to say without panicking.

  “Right, forgive me. You were not in the dorm to hear my explanation yesterday. It is the first third of your first cycle. You will spend a month with me, a month with Precept Mon-Zetta, and a month with Precept Cherith. After the trials, I will see you again for another month.” Precept Seram answered happily with her white gloves held together in front of her waist.

  “Trials?” I asked a second question.

  Tana let out an annoyed sigh and rolled her eyes.

  Seram answered in turn. “You must earn your keep here at Lun Arcanicil. It is not like the primary schools all of you attended. If you fail to pass any of the trials, your place will be given to an Underwitch with more potential.”

  I had not gone to a primary school. It took me doing something that I understood to be nearly impossible to pass the first trial. The only potential I had was the potential to break down into tears, fall, or accidentally expose myself to someone.

  If I failed the trials, and my place was given to someone else, Azza would take me. There would be nothing I or Nami could do to stop her.

  Stay calm. Anna’s voice sounded in my mind. Against the stream of worried thoughts, I brought my hand to my vial necklace and let the tips of the crescent charm dig into my palm.

  “As a small demonstration, this is implementation,” Precept Seram continued. She took the worn wooden chair beside her and placed it on its side. Her aura came to light at her palm and with a measured touch, one its rickety legs split cleanly from the bottom of its seat. “As is this.”

  She picked the separated leg back up and pressed it to where it had fallen from. The pastel blue light in her palm flared before dissipating completely. With a pleasant smile on her face she turned it upright and sat down atop it to demonstrate what her working had done.

  Tana clapped first, and then the rest of us followed suit as Seram stood and gave a small bow.

  “Now, each of you enter your places, you will find your first assignment awaiting you.” Precept Seram instructed us.

  I did as I was told and Sam followed me back through the white curtains.

  “What did she say to you?” I asked my familiar as I took my place. It was a small room with nothing adorning the walls but two silver hooks. A wooden table filled the back of it and a small metal square rested on the edge closest to me.

  “Exactly what I said. She tried to convince me to pledge myself to her.” Sam answered, annoyance obvious in his low voice.

  “Is that even possible?” I said as I unclasped my cloak from around my neck and hung it on one of the hooks. Keeping the first agreement by being myself, I took off my jacket and used the sleeves to pull the wretched dress of my uniform over my head.

  I had worn the black tights that had once been The Lady in Purple’s underneath the blue silk dress after Anna had suggested it.

  Autumn Aubrey hated silk. I had not worn the tights with the intention of stripping down to the form fitting fabric, but being in my own little place gave me that opportunity.

  I had kept my word to Anna so far, and it had been much easier than I had thought it would be.

  If I continued to uphold the three agreements, we were going to go on a date. We were going to go to Hymneth, she would put me in something nice and wear something even nicer for herself, and we would have dinner.

  After the last night we had spent together, there was nothing in all of chaos that I looked forward to more.

  Sam answered me once I stepped to the table. “I do not believe so. If it was, I would have found someone much more powerful than you long ago.”

  I ignored his insult and looked around for some hint as to what I was supposed to do.

  A glowing blue line appeared on the smooth wood of the table just before the back edge of it and a voice spoke behind me.

  “Your first assignment is to push the weight from where it sits to the line I have made for you. I am sure that you have done similar things in your primary school, but this will be more difficult with the heavier weight." Precept Seram said.

  I turned around to look at her, but when I did, she was not there.

  "It is also important that you observe the rule about your uniform. Dressing down while you are in class is acceptable, but you must redress before you leave my room." She said again and I shook my head in confusion.

  I took a quick step to the curtain and pulled it open.

  Precept Seram floated in the center of the room. Her hands and feet were pressed against a massive bubble that surrounded her and held her aloft. Transparent except for the pastel blue tint that waved across its shiny surface when I moved, the sight of her brought a smile to my face.

  Her white gloves and laced boots had been placed neatly on the wooden chair she had broken and repaired not long before.

  "How do you do that? How can I hear you?" I asked aloud, wondering how fun it would be to be in a big blue bubble like hers.

  "Above you, Underwitch Ire," I saw her say and smile from where she floated in the center of the room. I looked up and found a miniature version of her bubble hanging just below the ceiling above my head. "I will help you find all of the wonderful secrets your soul possesses as long as you work hard and follow Lun's rules."

  Her voice came from the bubble, but would go silent the moment my head crossed the threshold of the curtain. Just like I had with the glamor at Lun's front gates I ducked my head in and out of the curtain and laughed as her voice disappeared and reappeared.

  If I had bubbles like the pink haired precept, I would leave one with Anna. That way, instead of having to constantly remind myself of our agreements, she could just whisper them to me when I needed to hear them.

  "Now, if you will return to the table, we may begin." Precept Seram said.

  I did as I was told, still caught in the fantasy of having Anna being able to speak to me whenever I needed her to.

  Ask questions. I heard her say.

  "Uhm, Precept Seram? What are the rules, exactly?" I said up to the bubble.

  From somewhere outside my place, I heard Tana yell. "Do you really not know anything?"

  She had been listening to what I said.

  I didn't. I just wish she hadn't known it.

  Stay calm.