Beginnings
Aicendor had no idea why he had been called to the director’s office. This time, at least, he had not recently flunked an exam or failed an assessment. His current performance had seemingly been passable and, as far as he was aware, he shouldn’t have any more trouble progressing to the next stage of his training. That did not stop the butterflies accumulating in the pit of his stomach as he stood before the office’s grand oak door, however.
Gulping down his fears as best he could, he reached up and knocked on the door. For a long moment there was silence. Aicendor panicked somewhat. Did he have the wrong time? Surely not - he had checked it at least ten, if not fifteen, times. He had been so desperate in his attempt to commit it to memory and not forget it like he was so prone to doing.
“Enter”, finally came the unmistakable voice of Rilcion and Aicendor breathed a sigh of relief. Very carefully, he placed his hand on the gilded door handle and pushed.
The director’s office always had a very stern aura to it. It was as if the hundreds of neatly shelved books, the large portrait of Rilcion himself that hung above the fireplace and the strange crow statue that sat upon the desk were all staring at Aicendor, sizing him up for another lecture. And gods, had he been summoned here to be lectured more times than he liked to think about.
But for once Aicendor wasn’t feeling all that intimidated. Instead, he was mostly surprised to see a girl, possibly only a little younger than himself, already sitting in one of the seats across from Rilcion. She looked at him with nervous amber eyes as he walked in. Evidently, she had more or less just arrived herself from her rain-speckled cloak and the large leather knapsack by her feet. Catching Aicendor staring at her, she appeared uncomfortable and quickly looked down at her lap as if trying to ignore him.
“Sit”.
Aicendor jumped. He had been so busy studying the new girl that he’d forgotten where he was. Looking to the other side of the impressive wooden desk, a much older mer with meticulously combed grey hair was watching him with a look of blatant irritability. Without any further hesitation, he gingerly sat himself in the chair beside the girl and in front of the Director of Recruitment.
“Vaneth, this is Elenwen Laemihre. She will be joining our training programme from today and you will be the one in charge of making sure she settles in and gets caught up on everything she has missed.”
Aicendor blinked at Rilcion in surprise. Surely there was some mistake. Out of all the first-year recruits why would anyone put him in charge of a latecomer?
Seemingly sensing the mer’s confusion he added, “You managed to injure yourself last year and had to take temporary medical leave, correct? And consequently, you are retaking your first year, are you not?”
Aicendor nodded. It was true. Last year he had fallen down a flight of stairs and badly broken his right leg only six months into his first year of training. To his parents’ perpetual disappointment, he had been forced to return home whilst he recovered, only returning once the next cohort of recruits had arrived.
“So,” Rilcion continued in his usual, matter-of-fact tone. “You might not be at the top of your class, but you do have a little more experience of how things work around here than those who are. Miss Laemihre will need your experience if she has any hope of catching up with the first two months’ workload.”
The explanation elicited a slow nod from Aicendor. It was making some sense now. His gaze flicked from the director’s rather stern appearance to that of Elenwen. She had not said a word yet, but her brows were furrowed in seeming concentration as she continued to look down at her lap. It was hard to judge how she felt about this arrangement. Aicendor only hoped that she was not resentful of being assigned to him at least.
“I promise I will catch up with my peers, sir!” Sitting up a little in her seat, Elenwen seemed to have finally found her voice. “I am exceedingly grateful for you allowing me to enter the programme so late. I will do my utmost to ensure your faith in me is not misplaced.”
“You best had, Miss Laemihre. This is an intentionally very intensive programme. Not everyone will see it through to its completion.” The old mer’s beady eyes lingered on Aicendor just long enough for him to get the feeling that he believed he was one such person who would fail to make the cut. Aicendor felt his cheeks flush. He would prove Rilcion wrong. He would prove everyone wrong. Eventually…
To his right, Elenwen nodded confidently. “Thank you, sir.” In one swift and almost elegant motion, she picked up her knapsack and stood up. She gave Rilcion a small smile before bowing. “I shall take my leave now. Good night.” And with that she slipped quietly out of the door. That was Aicendor’s cue to do the same.
After a mumbled “good night” and a much less grateful move to exit, Aicendor had a hand on the door handle when Rilcion spoke once more.
“Don’t fuck this up, Vaneth.”
Aicendor grimaced but gave one last nod of acknowledgment before hastily leaving, lest the director see the awkward blush appearing on his cheeks.
***
“A-ahh?!”
The heavy door was barely shut behind him when Aicendor collided with something, someone, smaller than himself. Elenwen.
“Gods! I’m s-sorry!”
For a moment he was confused. Hadn’t she left already? But quickly it dawned on him. She was new. Clearly she did not yet know where the dormitories were. But Auri-El, he was not making a particularly good first impression!
“It’s fine.” The younger Altmer said as she adjusted herself, however, her voice denoted a definite hint of annoyance.
Aicendor was not unaccustomed to people being annoyed with him, but he had hoped not to irritate his new peer quite so soon. Attempting to lighten the mood he gave something that resembled a friendly, welcoming smile as he offered in a half-joking voice, “I promise I don’t always walk into new recruits.”
There was an uncomfortable silence between them. Elenwen seemed to pull her cloak in a little closer and tighten her grip on her knapsack. Aicendor could feel the heat rising to his cheeks.
“Err...” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “So… I guess I should show you where you’ll sleep...?”
Avoiding his eyes, she gave him a very small nod. “...Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.” He laughed a little nervously which only made him feel all the more foolish.
Clearly this wasn’t going to be easy. His charge already seemed irritated by his very presence and Director Rilcion appeared to have little to no faith in him. Perhaps it was deserved, he thought as he resisted the urge to sigh.
“It’s just this way.” Gesturing for the younger mer to follow his lead, he headed down the deserted hallway and towards a door that led back out into the courtyard. He paused once he got about halfway and turned to Elenwen. “Here,” He motioned to take her bag for her with another attempted smile.
“I’ve got it.” A slight scowl formed along her brow.
“Oh…”
He turned back and kept walking, ignoring the overwhelming sense of embarrassment that weighed against him. Perhaps it wasn’t him specifically that she didn’t like. Maybe she just wasn’t much of a people-person. Aicendor hoped so, at least. He knew he wasn’t perfect, but surely, he didn’t give off that terrible a first impression?
As they made there way out into the courtyard, ensuring to stay firmly under shelter as the evening downpour continued to thunder against the buildings’ rooves and the trees, the silence between them was deafening. Aicendor had always hated uncomfortable silences, but how could he break this one without causing more irritation to the new girl?
“…Have you come far?”
Elenwen looked up at him and appeared to study his face for a long moment before answering curtly. “No. My family live in Alinor.”
“Oh,” He tried to smile again. “That’s nice. You’ll be able to see them a fair bit.”
She didn’t say anything.
Aicendor’s gaze dropped to his shoes and the ground beneath them as they walked. Family didn’t seem like a viable conversation topic then.
“Are you hungry at all?” He asked softly after another stretch of silence.
Elenwen remained silent again, but Aicendor persisted. “After you’ve had some time to settle in, I can take you to the canteen? You’ve come on a good day; Fredas is beef stew with sweetrolls for afters.”
“...Sweetrolls?”
Hearing her speak actually made him jump. He’d been so sure that she wouldn’t answer him again. And perhaps he imagined it, but Aicendor swore that when he glanced at her, he saw her slender ears perk up ever so slightly.
“Yeah! They’re freshly made too.” He smiled, already feeling more relaxed. “Nobody ever skips dinner on Fredas.”
“Hmm…”
At last, they had reached the large building on the south side of the courtyard. Above the double doored entrance hung a wooden sign with a single word carved into it. “Dormitory”. Opening the door for her, Aicendor brought the now somewhat soggy new recruit inside.
“Here we are. This is where everyone sleeps.”
Beyond another set of double doors, they could see a large room filled with rows and rows of bunkbeds. To their immediate left was another door, labelled ‘Bathroom’ and on its right was a worn wooden staircase that led up to more rooms with more bunkbeds.
“The girls usually keep to the upper floors.” Aicendor continued, nodding towards the stairs. “You might want to ask around to find a free bunk.”
Elenwen nodded whilst absent-mindedly combing her fingers through her hair.
“I’m on this floor, so if you need me at all, just come find me. In maybe an hour-ish we could head to the canteen together if you like?”
Looking up at Aicendor, Elenwen nodded again. Maybe he was imagining it, but he thought he saw her smile very briefly. “Thank you. I’ll see you later.” And with that she walked off towards the stairs.
Aicendor stood in the entranceway for a while, feeling a little dumbstruck. Perhaps this wasn’t going to be so bad after all. This Elenwen may have seemed aloof and a little irritable at first, but now she almost seemed to have warmed to him – even if it was only by a miniscule amount.
Eventually he found his feet again and he walked off to his bunk and sat down. He wasn’t sure what to do for the hour, but, at the very least, he was no longer completely dreading what this new responsibility would bring.
