Lura Syllana
A knock on the door pulls me out of the book. The door opens as Damaris enters with a girl behind her with black hair and warm honey skin. She has some pretty, bright blue eyes. I’m not sure if they’re brighter than mine or not, but she must have a lot of potential. She’s clearly uncomfortable because she keeps shifting her weight from one foot to the other, fidgeting with her hands while her eyes keep shifting up from the floor.
“Hello girls, I hope I am not intruding, but Chalia, since you’re already showing Lura around, I was hoping you’d be willing to help, Melyis. I just brought her here, and I hope you three can become friends and help her.” Damaris’s eyes seem to say something else to Chalia, but it goes over my head. I wonder how Chalia became a stray? How did she meet Damaris? How did this new girl, Melyis, meet her? Was she too arrested for using magic without a permit?
“Yeah, that’s fine. I don’t mind. Do you, Lura?” Chalia asks.
“No, not at all,” I say.
“Good, I was really hoping that would be the case. That way, Lura, you have someone you can work with on earning level 1 and so on,” Lura says.
“That is a great idea, the more the merrier,” I say with a smile.
“Good,” she then turns to the other girl and gestures to me before Chalia. “This is Lura. She’s new here as well and will help you out with the class work. And that’s Chalia. She’s also a Novice but has a little experience under her belt, so you can go to her with any questions you have.”
She gets a nod from the girl and then turns back to us. “Lura, I’d like to sit and talk to you about how you’re doing with everything, you as well, Chalia. Lura, can you meet with me later today after, say, lunch?”
I nod and receive a smile with a nod in return. “Good, and Chalia, will you be able to meet me after supper?”
Chalia nods, and Damaris gives one in return with a subtle smile. Then she turns to the other girl. “We’ll set up a time to talk and check up on things after you get situated. For now, there’s a lot I need to take care of, so I’ll leave you in the hands of Lura and Chalia. Do not be afraid to come to me for anything. Now, I apologize for being so abrupt, but I must go.”
The girl gives a nod before Damaris takes off, leaving the girl standing there in the doorway, still nervously shifting from one foot to the other while she avoids making any eye contact. Chalia clears her throat. “Well, come on in then, and shut the door.”
The girl reluctantly walks in and shuts the door behind her, as she fidgets. She’s a beautiful girl, but she’s so timid. “Well, don’t just stand there. Take a seat and make yourself comfortable.”
The girl looks around before she takes one of our desk chairs.
“Welcome to the strays. Glad to have ya, so what’s your story?” Chalia asks.
“Me? I… I guess there’s not much to say. I’m nobody,” she says, avoiding making eye contact.
Chalia lets out a sigh. “I see we have our work cut out with you. Clearly, you’re not nobody. Damaris wouldn’t put so much time and effort into you if she didn’t think you were worth it. Now, stop with that attitude and get some confidence. You clearly have a lot of potential; I can see it in your eyes. Now, tell me what led you to the church,” Chalia demands.
“I… I have nowhere else to go. My mother and father passed away because of that awful glimmer. I didn’t know what to do. I had no home, but Damaris found me and offered me a place here, so I took it,” she says, her eyes shifting uncomfortably.
“I’m sorry about what you went through. We’ll take care of you. You’re one of us now,” Chalia says as she gets up to comfort the girl, rubbing her back. But then she opens up the back of the girl’s dress, revealing scars down her back. “In the name of the Light, what happened to you?”
Melyis recoils and pulls away from Chalia, quickly trying to cover up. “It’s nothing.”
“It didn’t look like nothing. You were abused. Weren’t you?” Chalia asks.
“No… I… I… He didn’t mean to. It’s not as bad as it looks,” Melyis says, holding herself while turning away from us. “It’s not what you think.”
“Melyis, who did this to you?” Chalia asks.
“Chalia, maybe we shouldn’t push the matter. She’s clearly uncomfortable,” I say.
“No, she needs to talk about this. She has to work through this,” Chalia says.
“It was my fault… I… My father, he always got mad when I spoke out or didn’t do as I was told. I was bad, and I deserved it,” she says, tears forming in her eyes.
“No. None of it was your fault. You didn’t deserve to be abused like this. Your father had no right to leave these scars. He is the one to blame. Not you,” Chalia says, pulling Melyis into her embrace as the poor girl weeps in her arms. “Don’t worry, you’re safe with us. I promise you; no one will hurt you here. At least none of us will. We’ll look after you.”
After she calms down a bit, Chalia tells her all that goes on here and everything she needs to know. At least the gist of it. The same stuff she told me when I first came here.
“So, what dorm are you in?” Chalia asks.
“I’m down the hall with a girl named Silanlina Morrowforce,” she says.
“Oooh… That’s… I can see why Damaris brought you to us. Silanlina can be a bit of a… Stuck up crown bird,” Chalia says with an apologetic look. “Sorry, you have to stay with her. Hopefully, it’s not for long and you can move in with one of the strays. I know Charinva isn’t far from achieving level ten so she’ll eventually move into the Accepted quarters and you can move in with Ochilysse. She’s not the easiest to deal with, but she’s a lot better than Silanlina, that stuck up…”
“Nobles…’ I say with a sigh.
“For now, you’ll just have to hang out with us and the other strays. We’ll introduce you to them at lunch. There’s quite a few, so don’t feel like you need to remember their names all at once,” Chalia says.
“On that note, we should probably get going to class. You’ll meet Biremeril and Ralodan there. Fellow strays,” I say with a smile. “Just try not to let Olizara drive you crazy. She’s the teacher, if you can call her that. She’s an Accepted who is of no help and leaves us to work on our own. So don’t really let her bother you.”
She nods as I grab my book and say goodbye to Chalia before leading Melyis to class. I manage to snag us seats in the back row next to Biremeril and Ralodan. Biremeril doesn’t look at me, but Ralodan gives me a smile before his attention is drawn to Melyis. “Who’s she?”
“She’s the new stray Damaris just delivered. She brought her to our room and we’ve been helping her. Her name is Melyis,” I say.
Ralodan gives her that smile of his that makes me a tad bit jealous. “It’s nice to meet you, Melyis. I’m Ralodan, and this is Biremeril. We’re strays too.”
Olizara walks in with her usual icy contempt. She notices Melyis right away. “Ooh, look, another fresh face. Oh, joy. What’s your name, girl?”
“M… Me…”
“Speak up, girl. I don’t want to have to walk back there just to hear you!” Olizara snaps. My fist clenches as Melyis flinches.
“I’m… Melyis,” she says, with her eyes down to the floor.
“For Light’s grace, girl. You surely must be a low-born for how pitiful you are. Now get yourself a book in the cupboard over there, although I’m sure it’s a waste of time. You won’t last long,” she says with eyes as cold as ice. I glare at her, fighting the overwhelming urge to yell at her for being such a cunt.
Ralodan gives me a warning look and I take a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. Olizara continues. “Well, you all know what to do. If you have any questions, then you’re not very resourceful and won’t make it very far. Read the book, and if you still don’t understand, read it again. Read it until it makes sense. If it still doesn’t after you’ve read it ten times, then you probably won’t have a place here. Incompetence is not a trait we embrace.”
She is such a bitch. What is her problem? I can’t stand her. She’s just like every other noble. So entitled and arrogant. I hate her and the rest of them. They all need to be put in their place.
The rest of the class is unbearable. Olizara is constantly on a power trip, wielding it to hurl insults hidden in sophistication. I hate people like her. Nobles… I despise all of them. If it weren’t for their hypocrisy, this city wouldn’t be in such a miserable state. Greed, pride, and entitlement make for awful leaders. It’s because of them most of the people live in tents and have to beg for water. It’s because of them that only the rich can afford to wield magic. I hate them all. I know I shouldn’t, and I am trying to work on the hate and anger that resides inside me, but it is so hard. I truly want to follow this path. Damaris makes me feel like I can be redeemed. She makes me feel that I am worth redeeming. And the fellow strays make me feel at home. Like a sister. I like it here, for the most part. Of course, there are always people like Olizara and Chaetris, but I will not let that bother me. Not this time. I won’t screw this up. I’m going to become a Sister Priestess and from there, I’ll find a way to free my family.
As we are finally let out, I notice Melyis going up to the cupboard with her book. I walk up to her. “Hey, are you coming to lunch?”
“Yes, I just wanted to get a different book. This one has a bunch of writing in it,” she says.
“Keep it, trust me. I’ll explain later,” I say. She looks at me with a curious yet weary gaze, but she nods and keeps the book.
She joins us on our way to lunch, and I slow the pace of the group so everyone else in class is out of earshot. “She can see the writing, too.”
Melyis looks up at me as Ralodan, Biremeril, and I exchange looks of our own. “You mean, your books have the writing too?”
“It is a little more complicated than that,” Biremeril says.
“What do you mean?” Melyis asks.
“Someone put a charm on the books so that the writing presents itself to certain people. I’m beginning to think Damaris recruits us based on whether we can read the texts,” Biremeril says.
“How would she know, unless…” I say as a thought occurs to me.
“I don’t think she’s the one who put the spell,” Biremeril says, connecting the dots of my thoughts.
“Then how would she know?” I ask.
“I don’t know, but I find it more than a coincidence that so far, from what I can tell, the four of us can all see the writing, and we were all recruited by Damaris. I have an assumption that most of the rest of the strays can see them. Also, I have been thinking about the other books. I think we were looking in the wrong place. Those confession booths were not there when Terel was alive,” he says.
“You’re right. I already know where the books are at. They were originally hidden in the basement.” I spit out.
“Right… How did you… and what do you mean originally hidden in the basement? Are they not there?” he asks.
“Well, I also know that Chalia and Charinva can see the writing in the books. And no, they’re not there at the moment. Charinva has them, and according to Chalia, she has been hogging them,” I say.
“That makes sense. She always has a book with her. I never really took the time to notice what she is reading, though,” Biremeril says as he scratches his chin.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I don’t understand what you are all talking about,” Melyis says.
I turn to her and meet her weary gaze. “There is writing in Terel’s book that you just got that only certain people can see it for whatever reason. The writing talks about a secret within the church, and we’re trying to figure out what it is.”
Her eyes go wide. “Really? What is the secret?”
We all shrug. Ralodan speaks up. “None of us know yet. We still haven’t got a hold of the books mentioned in this one.”
“But at least we know where they are. We just have to convince Charinva to share,” I say.
“I have a confession to make,” Melyis says and we all look at her. Her eyes drop to the floor as she mumbles something I can’t hear under her breath.
“That’s okay,” Ralodan says. He heard her? How? She looks up at him, showing clear relief. “It’s easy to learn to read. I can teach you. It won’t take long.”
“Really? You are so kind. Damaris was teaching me when she had free time, but she is so busy, and I don’t want to disturb her,” she says.
“It’s okay. She does a lot to look out for us and the people, but lucky for you, I’ve got plenty of time,” Ralodan says with his perfect smile and even winks at her. Seriously? I feel my gut wrench. Am I jealous? Why am I jealous? I will not jeopardize all I have here for a man. Even if he has a really amazing smile and such soft hair. He seems like he has a good heart on top of that. What am I thinking?
I swear, there is something about him that makes my mind all hot and hazy. Is it just me? I look over at Melyis and she seems to be awestruck by him with those puppy eyes. Give me a break… Oh, that’s not fair. Especially knowing what the poor girl has been through.
We enter the lunch hall and join the other strays once we get our food. Ralodan introduces Melyis to the rest as Chalia joins us. Throughout lunch, I cannot keep my thoughts off this mystery within this book.
What could it mean? Could it really have been written by the author? What could the secret be? So many questions and so few answers. We need to get those books. I need to read them.
“Looks like they’re calling for a congregation within the cathedral,” Haemyish says, an Accepted stray with dark amberish-coco skin and curly black hair that fluffs up. “The High Father will give us a sermon.”
“When?” Chalia asks.
“One hour before supper,” she replies.
“Oh great… Another sermon by the High Father…” Ochilysse says with a long-exaggerated sigh.
“What’s so bad about a sermon from the High Father? Shouldn’t we pay attention to what he says?” Melyis asks.
“You’ll see soon enough,” Chalia says while devouring her food.
“They’re not exactly boring or anything. He has a rather flare about the way he speaks. A quite enigmatic man. He’s just…” Haemyish says but is interrupted.
“He’s a hypocrite,” Voborrie says, not mincing her words.
“Allegedly,” Haemyish says.
“Allegedly, he is a pervert,” Voborrie says before scooping up a fork full of veggies.
“There have been allegations against him of sexual misconduct,” Haemyish says, picking at her food. “Several women have reported that he has coerced them into sexual activities that are not suitable for the church.”
“He raped them,” Voborrie says rather bluntly.
“He hasn’t been proven guilty of it and until he does…”
“He is the High Father. He has the power to silence them. There’s not much any of us can do to stop him from doing whatever he wants,” Voborrie says.
“Well, regardless, he hasn’t been found guilty, and until he is, he will remain as the High Father,” Haemyish says.
“The only reason he was not found guilty is because he went after women who were whores. They worked in brothels before they became servants of the Light. He convinced the people in power that they were lying and that they were the ones who came onto him, but he’s a holy servant of the Light and would not give in to such temptations,” Voborrie says.
“Reminds me of that Paladin,” says Illianaro, a man who has dark cocoa skin and is one of the Accepted.
My eyes lock on him. “What Paladin?” “Oh, there was a Paladin a while back… I think his name was Orym? He got caught sneaking into brothels and was punished for it. They sent him up north to the human savage lands, poor bastard. Those pagans will surely mean his death. They might be weaker than us elves, but they are ruthless savages.” My gut clenches in pain, and I feel sick as the heat drains from my face. I get up from the lunch table, taking my tray and dumping what’s left of my lunch before I place it down and head back to the dorm.
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