dismissal from the Scholasticate and the Guild.
Section 1-Comportment and Bearing
Subsection 1-Conduct
Rule 1.1.1: A Student shall, at all times, maintain a deferent and respectful manner towards all Mages, Neophytes, Adepts and Scholars.
Grimm thought that seemed easy enough. He had been brought up to be respectful to his elders. He could only guess at what the word 'deferent' might mean, but he guessed it meant 'polite'.
Rule 1.1.2: A Student shall obey diligently all orders and instructions given him by all Mages, Neophytes, Acolytes, Adepts and Scholars, excepting where such orders conflict with prior or subsequent countermanding orders given by the Prelate or the Student's class Magemaster, or except where such orders conflict with any other Guild Rule, or a Guild-approved House Rule. It shall at all times be considered that any orders given by the Prelate or Magemaster may be considered as licit, without reference to other rules and strictures.
Grimm could barely understand the ramifications of this Rule. He read through it carefully three times and it made little more sense to him. Deciding to return to this complicated rule later, he read on.
Rule 1.1.3: Except where explicitly permitted by the Student's Magemaster, or other licit authority, a Student shall at all times maintain a high standard of decorum and comportment…
The list went on and on in the same dry, impenetrable, prolix style. Grimm's eyes grew larger as the pages began to detail former freedoms now denied him. He would not be allowed to leave the Scholasticate for as long as his training lasted, a period of many years, or until he was dismissed to serve in the bowels of the House.
Although three meals were provided each day, woe betide the Student who was not in the Refectory by the time the tolling of the bell ended, for he would lose this meal and the next, in penance for the waste of food.
The requirements for cleanliness and neatness were rigorous. Rules were detailed for the laying out of dirty clothes for washing and for taking a bath. Each of these rituals was to be performed once a week at a specified time, and missing the narrow period allowed for these would result in the Student going dirty for the next week, and a 'Schedule D, paragraph 1 punishment' for poor hygiene if the Student could not otherwise keep himself clean. Grimm had no idea what a 'Schedule D punishment' was, but he guessed it would be severe.
The only alternative Grimm could see was to wash himself and his clothes with plain cold water in the small washbasin, an unappealing prospect, although the hygiene facilities, in truth, were little worse than those in his home smithy.
Hair was to be no longer than would fall to the bottom of the shoulder-blades, and it was to be kept clean and tied back.
Rules for the wearing of beards and whiskers were also specified, which gave Grimm a new reminder of how long he might need to stay in the Scholasticate.
Poor Students were expected to keep their robes in good condition and a needle and thread was provided for the repair of minor damage, but he who entered the Refectory or a schoolroom with torn or shoddily repaired robes would again be punished. Fortunately, Grimm had been used to darning and sewing for almost as long as he could walk. The smithy produced enough wealth for food and shelter but little else, and Gramma Drima's arthritic fingers rarely had been equal to the task.
Grimm read on for an hour, rule after rule and restriction after restriction. It seemed that the House consisted of nothing but constraints and strictures, and he began to despair of ever keeping track of the rules, let alone being able to quote them on demand. Even the sole movable objects in his cell, the chair, the table and the bed, had to be kept in precise, fixed locations and orientations.
He did not even understand many of the rules; whatever 'unnatural practices' were, he had no idea, and Grimm wondered if they involved play-acting. He was extremely well read for a boy of his age, but words like 'narcotics', 'impropriety' and 'insubordination' were beyond him. How could he obey the rules if he didn't know what they meant? He was in trouble before he had even begun as a Student.
An unbearable weight of despair began once more to descend onto the boy's narrow shoulders, and another sob escaped his lips. Why had Granfer sent him to this place, so heavy with pomp, ceremony and regulations, where most of the boys came from families rich beyond Grimm's wildest dreams?
At least, if he had been sent to the local school, he could have mixed with other boys like himself, boys from working families like his own. He knew how his grandfather loved him, but the idea that the kindly, grizzled old smith could willingly send his grandson to be immured in such a stark, lonely prison for many years was beyond Grimm, and tears of self-pity began to well unbidden from his eyes.
Lost in misery, with endless unanswerable questions flying endlessly around his mind like balls in a frenetic billiards game, Grimm started at the sound of a knock at the cell door. He did not expect Doorkeeper back for some time yet. He composed himself, managing to utter a faint and tremulous 'Come in'.
The door opened with a weary-sounding creak, to reveal a tall man of maybe twenty-five years. Long, dark hair tumbled down over the visitor's shoulders, and his calm face was framed with a neatly-trimmed, brown beard.
He wore simple, brown, homespun robes like Grimm's, but he bore an ornate, blue metal ring on his marriage finger and a six-foot, brass-shod staff, which the boy now recognised as the outward marks of a mage. Grimm expected a thundering bass voice to issue from the man's lips, but he was pleasantly surprised by the gentle tones he heard.
'Doorkeeper told me there was a new charity boy; we're few and far between in this august establishment, so I thought I would take the opportunity to introduce myself: I am Questor Dalquist Rufior.'
Chapter 6: Two New Friends
Grimm gave a deep, stiff bow.
'Lord Mage, I am Grimm Afelnor. I am pleased to meet you, sir.'
The words were stiff and grave, betokening the formality of a rote-learned phrase. Dalquist noted the telltale, grubby spoor of tears extending from the lower margins of the boy's eyes. It was plain to the Questor that Grimm was still struggling to control hot, roiling emotions.
Dalquist smiled warmly. 'There's no need to call me either 'Lord Mage' or 'sir', Grimm Afelnor. In truth, I have been a Mage Questor only a month and, since I have no Quests to my name yet, I am still a Questor only in name. Please call me Dalquist, and only that.
'Doorkeeper asked me to visit you because I was once a charity boy like you, and I know just how you feel. You feel betrayed and impossibly alone, don't you, Grimm? All those rules and regulations that apply only to you seem too much to bear-am I right?'
Grimm nodded, and the ghost of a faint smile began to creep across the boy's face before being suppressed.
'It's all right, Grimm,' Dalquist said. 'I don't remember any rule in the book about charity Students either smiling or enjoying themselves. I know everything seems horribly unfamiliar and forbidding to you now, but I promise you that this will change.'
Dalquist pulled himself to his full height, cleared his throat and opened an imaginary scroll. 'Rule 17.4.3, paragraph C,' he boomed. 'Charity Students will smile and enjoy themselves whenever the mood takes them, even if they think it looks better if they wallow in misery instead.'
A genuine smile began to emerge on Grimm's face. 'It doesn't say that in the book, Dalquist. You're teasing me!'
'That's one of my rules, Grimm, not the Scholasticate's. You can be miserable if you really want to; there will be plenty of time for that later on. Even the Prelate and the Presidium have no power to stop you from going around looking like a dying duck in a thunderstorm if you're determined to suffer. Feel free to mope and grizzle if you wish, and then you will find that nobody wants to be your friend.
'I can't pretend you'll be happy all the time here, but you must make the effort not to take depression as your only companion. Believe me, I know that fellow of old. After a while, depression becomes almost a comfort; when that day comes, you'll find he soon becomes a stricter and more domineering master than anyone in the Scholasticate.
