‘I’m Eric
Samuel then introduced himself and shook the new Eric’s hand.
‘Most people call me Eric and him Goodfellow, just to save from confusion, or else we get full names. You know, like Eric
‘I understand,’ Samuel said. ‘In my hometown we had two Toms. It was confusing, but sometimes you could tell who they were talking about by the way they said it. You know-Tom and
Just then, a middle-aged man came in and approached them, dressed in the black-robed attire that Samuel had grown accustomed to seeing at the Burning Oak. His face was warm and pleasant, seemingly moulded from years of smiling.
‘Hello?’ the man said, addressing Samuel with a raised eyebrow. ‘I am Master Glim. And you are?’
‘Samuel, Sir.’
Master Glim seemed amused. ‘I’m not a Sir or Lord or anything else, so you don’t have to call me that. My real name is Dannidin Glim, but only my mother still calls me by my first name. Given that you are obviously not my mother, I guess you will have to settle with calling me “Master Glim”. Have you made yourself at home?’
‘I have, Master Glim. I chose a cot up there. Eric says it’s free.’
‘Good. I’m sure the two Erics will set you straight. I’m glad to see you’ve already fallen in with the brightest of the bunch. The next class is with Master Sanctus tonight and then I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Just follow these two and I’m sure they will take good care of you. Oh, I nearly forgot.’ Master Glim went over and retrieved a set of black shirt and trousers from a chest in one corner. They were identical to those Samuel had seen on the other boys here, and he gave them to Samuel.
‘Wear these for now,’ Master Glim explained. ‘Some of the more cantankerous Masters have been known to cast horrific-smelling curses upon poor city folk who blundered into the school. You wouldn’t want that on your first day, I’m sure. Now, the boys can organise some more things for you tomorrow.’
Samuel looked at the clothes with interest. Despite their apparent simplicity, the material was thick and fine and the craftsmanship was detailed. With that, Master Glim bade them farewell and Samuel changed into his new clothes, putting his old ones into the small chest by his cot. Then he ran back downstairs and the two Erics set about showing Samuel the remainder of the school grounds.
Young and old men alike strolled around in their dark clothes, some with black shirt and trousers, others with flowing robes cascading almost to the ground and flowing behind. A long, dark cloak or cape decorated the occasional man and Samuel wondered how it was determined what each magician should wear.
‘Ah! It keeps getting under my feet!’ Samuel declared. His trousers were a little too baggy and the hem kept dragging along the ground.
Eric Pot and Eric Goodfellow laughed themselves hoarse.
‘Don’t worry, Samuel’ Eric Pot chuckled. ‘We’ll get you some better fitting clothes tomorrow.’
‘Is it true-we can’t go into the city?’ Samuel asked them.
‘Yes, it’s true,’ Eric Pot replied, ‘for the time being.’
‘I’ve been here nearly four months and I haven’t been outside yet,’ Goodfellow added.
‘We’re supposed to focus on our studies,’ the other Eric noted sourly. ‘Apparently, the teachers will allow all of the apprentices to leave the school only once we have proved ourselves responsible and diligent-or so Master Dividian says.’
‘Although occasionally, we may be taken out of the city to practise our spells, but it’s not very often,’ Goodfellow said.
Samuel nodded in understanding, secretly wishing that he had seen more of the city before coming to the school.
They showed him another bunkhouse where the older, more advanced students lived. It seemed that schooling depended on skill more than age, but in general, both were closely entwined. The Adept, as they were called, looked up from their studies as the boys peered in and returned contemptuous looks. They looked statelier and much more mature than the boys in Samuel’s dormitory.
‘The Adepts are pompous asses,’ Eric Pot whispered. ‘Some are actually not too bad, but it’s generally better if you just keep away from them.’
‘Avoid them whenever possible,’ Goodfellow agreed, ‘or they will give you their chores. You have to obey an Adept, and they are usually far too lazy to do their own work and they pick on all of us in the foreigners’ dormitory the most.’
They backed out of the dormitory doorway and the two Erics continued giving their tour of the school grounds. There were lodgings for teachers, researchers, administrators and visitors, and lodgings for those who just lived on the school grounds. There were, however, no lodgings for common folk. Everyone who lived in the School of Magic was either a magician or learning to be one. There were some cooks and other workers who came each day to serve the Masters, but if there was some generic menial task to be done, the apprentices were called upon to do it.
The Erics explained that some magicians lived in the palace and a few in the city itself, but most lived within the confines of the school.
They showed Samuel the common room that he had first seen, where the older Masters lingered to study and converse, heckling any apprentices who dared to enter. Another large building housed the Great Hall, with enough seating for several hundred students around the curved walls and where the Emperor of Turia would sometimes come to be entertained with displays of magic. Several bathhouses were found in the school, one for the apprentices, one for the Adept and one for the Masters. They had great boilers that the students lit each day to produce copious amounts of hot water for washing. There was a large stable, in which horses and carriages and all manner of conveyances were kept. There was the Great Library, which had shelves and shelves of ancient manuscripts and handwritten books, and Eric Pot said that a cellar underneath held all the most amazing books, books that were reserved for the Masters only. Some of the Adept were allowed to read them, but only once they had proved themselves responsible. Of course, all of the Adept claimed to have free access to the cellar and declared its contents to be most astounding and wondrous. Typically, they were never more detailed than that in their descriptions, so Eric Pot was sure they were making it up.
They had seen just about all the grounds before they noticed that the sun had dropped below the walls and they hurried back to their dormitory to prepare for the evening lesson.
The evening class consisted of all forty-eight apprentices from all three dormitories gathering in the Great Hall, barely even beginning to fill its many curved bench seats, and listening to a lecture by Master Sanctus. He was an old and balding man with a bulbous, red nose and drooping ears, and great white whiskers across his chin. He looked more like a vagrant who’d wandered in off the city streets and stolen into Order clothes, but Samuel supposed the old man must know all sorts of incredible things, despite his appearance.
If he noticed Samuel, however, Master Sanctus showed no sign of it, and spent several hours lecturing on the way of a magician’s life, on how it must be pure and good, helping the rich and poor, nobleman and common folk alike, but serving the Emperor and Empire above all.
There was not one mention of anything magical or mystical and, each time he mentioned some particular point, he would take great pain to explain the reasoning behind it and thus lose the actual purpose of his sentences. From the drowsy expressions of his fellow students, Samuel concluded this was not the first time they had heard such monotony from Master Sanctus and his lecture went long into the night until everyone was nearly asleep in their seats.
Samuel slept soundly that night and awoke at first light as the other students were also slowly rousing themselves. It was his first morning in the School of Magic and he excitedly pulled on his new clothes and hurried down the stairs. The two Erics demonstrated the rules of the kitchen and fried them all some eggs. There was a larder outside, beside the Great Hall, that was brimming with delicious foodstuffs of all manner and everyone could help themselves to it whenever they felt hungry. Samuel thought it was the best news he had ever heard.
Goodfellow explained how the roster of chores worked, with each student doing various tasks each day. No one actually enforced the roster, but it was considered the worst behaviour to deviate from it without a good
