{One Week Later}
As the spectral carriage rolled up to Syux's gates, lisa couldn't help but press her face against the window, her eyes wide with wonder.
[Wow, this place is incredible!]
Towering buildings that challenged the skies, painted with warm shades of gold and fla. The streets up ahead were alive with activity, people hurrying about their business. lisa spotted several kitsunes, their fluffy tails and ears standing out in the crowd.
[Just like Isabella and her mom.]
But as she continued to scan the crowd, lisa noticed sothing odd.
[Huh, that's weird. I don't see any darians around here. Plenty of humans and kitsunes, and even so nim, but no dragon-folk. Unless their dragon features aren't as, uh, as prominent as the kitsunes' fox features.] She frowned, puzzling over this peculiarity. [Haven't seen any of them yet. I wonder why that is?
Maybe they don't like cities?]
Her train of thought was interrupted as the carriage rolled to a stop at the city gates.
Javir hopped out, striding confidently up to the guards and presenting them with an official-looking ID card.
"Javir of House Folden, plus three," she announced, gesturing to the Blackfla family. "Here on business with the Academy."
"With nims?" One guard asked, looking at the three in the back.
"Yes, with nims." Javir left it at that, leaving a very clear feeling of "and?" in the air.
The guards nodded, waving them through without a second glance.
As Javir climbed back into the carriage, listair leaned forward, curiosity etched on his face.
"They let you through without much fuss. Are you, uh, soone important?"
Javir laughed, shaking her head.
"Gods forbid. No, they probably just assud I was a slaver and let go."
[Oh.]
"That'll be our story until you three are officially freed, by the way. Better safe than sorry."
"Safe? Won't saying that we're slaves basically encourage people to mistreat us?" lisa asked.
"Not at all. In doing so, I am saying you three are my property," she explained, the rumbling of the magical carriage's wheels and the loud chattering around her almost drowning out her voice. "To harm you without my permission would be nothing less than vandalism."
As the carriage wound its way deeper into the city, lisa found herself staring at so of the nim they passed on the streets.
Many of them wore collars or shackles, their eyes downcast as they went about their work.
[Slaves,] lisa realized, a knot forming in her stomach. [You know, I was really disappointed with the life the gods or whatever chose for . But, I guess it could have been a lot worse.]
She leaned out of the window, trying to catch the eye of a particularly sad-looking nim man, wanting to offer him a smile or a wave.
But before she could, Margaret gently pulled her back, a worried frown on her face.
"lisa, honey, it's not polite to stare," she admonished, keeping her voice low. "I know it's hard to see, but we can't draw attention to ourselves, not here."
lisa nodded, biting her lip.
[She's right. Gotta keep a low profile. At least until we're free. Don't want to cause any trouble for Javir.]
She settled back in her seat.
[Heh, after spending a few days in a quiet village, this seems so loud and big and... Honestly, kind of intimidating.]
lisa glanced at Javir, taking comfort in the mage's confident posture and easy smile.
"So, what's the plan, boss?" she asked.
"First things first, we need to get your parents' freedom sorted out. I want you guys to be able to walk around and see the sights on your own as soon as possible, though I'll obviously be around while you guys get used to everything. Once we're done with your parents we'll handle your situation, kid."
"And how exactly do we do that?" listair asked.
"Your part's simple, really. Just a quick trip to the Emancipation Office, a few signatures, and yeah, that's all."
"Really?" listair asked, his skepticism dripping over that one word intensely.
"Yep. Money is the best oil when it cos to making gears turn faster."
"Noted."
Soon, the carriage pulled up to a grand, marble-fronted building.
Javir hopped out, gesturing for the others to follow.
"Alright, folks, let's get this show on the road!"
Exactly as Javir had promised, inside the process was surprisingly straightforward.
Javir presented her identification, signed a few forms, and handed over a pouch of coins.
The clerk, a bored-looking human with an impressive mustache, stamped the papers with a flourish.
"listair Blackfla and... Margaret Blackfla, you are hereby granted your freedom, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails. Congratulations," he said, as he took so newly-made ID cards from a machine and handed them over to the couple.
It was done.
As they exited the office, Margaret turned to Javir, a grateful smile on her face.
"Javir, I don't know how we can ever thank you enough. What you've done for us, for our family..."
Javir waved her off, a warm grin on her face.
"No thanks needed, Margaret. You guys are my friends, and, like I said," she looked down at lisa, "I'm doing the world a favor more so than you guys. That said," she continued, placing her hands on Margaret's and listair's shoulders. "DO. NOT. LOSE.
THOSE. CARDS."
She paused, to let those words sink in.
"Within these walls, all of your life up until now has no aning. The people around you do not care that you're foreigners, that you were never slaves, that you were already free, etc. All they see are your tails, your horns, and your skin. You lose those cards and, suddenly, the distinction between you two and literally any other nim in this city is lost.
You can tell people, 'hey, I'm actually a free nim, soone paid for my freedom', but they won't care because they have no way of knowing that. At least, until you actually start purchasing properties and such. But, for now, those ID cards are your lifelines. So," she inhaled. "Keep. That.
In. Mind. Please."
listair and Margaret looked at each other.
"We'll... We'll hold onto them as if our lives depend on it," listair said.
"They pretty much do," Javir replied. Then, she turned to lisa, a questioning look in her eye. "Now," she smiled, easing the tension just now, "I believe there's just one more piece of business to attend to. lisa, you ready to beco a free nim too?"
lisa nodded.
"But... Couldn't we just...?" She gestured at the Emancipation Office.
Javir laughed, ruffling lisa's hair affectionately.
"Buy your freedom? Nah, kid. You've got bigger fish to fry. Rember our deal? You're going to earn your freedom the hard way. By landing a scholarship to Syux Academy!"
lisa nodded.
[Oh god, that's right. The Academy. I'm really going to do this, aren't I?]
Javir chuckled at the face lisa was making, slinging an arm around lisa's shoulders as they walked back to the carriage.
"Now, let's go introduce you to your new ho away from ho. You're not gonna get to the *good* stuff till you're older, but you'll at least get to see what the place is like."
"That sounds good."
As they set off towards the Academy, lisa could feel herself shaking with hype.
A hype that quickly beca utter astonishnt as the carriage rolled through the grand, wrought-iron gates of Syux Academy.
lisa felt her jaw drop.
[Holy cow, this place is HUGE!]
The campus stretched out before her like a scene from a fairy tale, all lush green lawns, sparkling fountains, and buildings that looked like they'd been plucked straight from the pages of a history book.
[It's like Yale and Harvard had a baby, and then that baby ate a bunch of magical steroids! (Though, I've never actually seen Yale or Harvard, but whatever!)]
But as they made their way deeper into the grounds, lisa couldn't help but notice the looks they were getting from the other students and faculty.
Dirty looks. Suspicious looks. Looks that seed to say "you don't belong here."
[Shouldn't be surprised. Javir said this would happen. I can expect a lot more of it.]
She glanced at Javir, hoping to take comfort in her teacher's unshakeable confidence. But even Javir wasn't immune to the stares and whispers.
Especially since a lot of them were aid at her.
Still, Javir held her head high, determined as she led them toward a grand, imposing building at the heart of the campus.
"Alright, folks, this is where the magic happens. Literally," she said with a wink. "lisa, you're with . Margaret, listair, if you could just wait here for a bit, that'd be great."
lisa's parents exchanged a worried look but nodded, giving lisa an encouraging smile as she followed Javir inside.
The interior was just as impressive as the outside, all high ceilings and gleaming marble, just like that office they'd been to.
But lisa barely had ti to take it in before Javir was ushering her into a large, circular room.
"Okay, kid, here's the deal," Javir said, her voice low and urgent. "We're about to et with so of the biggest players in Syux's magic world. They're going to want to see what you can do, and we need to knock their socks off."
"How do I do that?"
"Show them what you showed ," Javir replied. "That's all. Can you do that?"
lisa swallowed hard, her heart pounding in her chest.
"I-I think so."
"Good. Calm down and do your best."
Reviews
All reviews (0)