Arrival
The moment Lila regained some consciousness she knew something was wrong. One because she never allowed herself to fully fall asleep, lest someone attacked her in her sleep. Two, she definitely didn’t have a fluffy pillow on the cot she was sleeping on. Lila instinctively tightened her hold on her knife, which luckily was still in her hand.
As soon as Lila fully awoke she jumped out of the best, the cold air hitting her, although that was nothing strange to her after living at sea. She patted herself down, seeing what she had on her. All of her knives were accounted for, as well as Caster. It was a good thing that she always slept with her weapons on her.
She then looked around, taking in her surroundings. The bed she had been laying on was in the middle of a path on the very top of a hill. What a stupid place for a bed. From the hill she could see a village down below, and a castle in the distance. If it wasn’t for the obviously missing equivalent of the Thames River, Lila would’ve thought that this was maybe just a long lost London that she hadn’t known about. It would’ve been Blue London, but it didn’t have the same feeling of magic that the other Londons had. No, the magic here felt different.
A shiver ran through, the body, the cold from the obvious winter around her getting to her. At least it was nighttime, which would make it easier for Lila to sneak away from whoever had brought her here. But there was another person already there, a young man with the stupidest smile Lila had ever seen. Lila got another knife out, ready to slash his throat should he try to attack. But all he did was point to a carriage that had either appeared from nowhere or Lila had completely missed it, which she highly doubted.
Lila glanced towards the carriage then back at him. He was still grinning like an idiot. Although the guy didn’t outwardly pose a threat, Lila didn’t know where she was. She walked towards the carriage and entered it, eyes on the guy the whole time. He followed her in, sitting cozily beside her. In such a small space it wouldn’t be hard to put a knife in his stomach.
The guy knocked on the ceiling of the carriage thrice, and it started to move. Lila still kept her attention on the guy, watching for any attack he might make. She tried to use the movements of the carriage to keep track where she was going, but then it started to fly.
Then the guy started to speak. "We’re headed to Hiraeth Academy now, where I’m the secretary. We’re very pleased to say that you’ve been accepted in to the school, Miss Delilah Bard.”
She had never heard of this school, let alone applied for it. And she had never told him her name.
They arrived at the castle Lila had seen earlier, which she now realized was the school the secretary had talked about, and not a king’s castle. It looked like it was made of ice, but nowhere was there any indication of it melting or any cracks. Surprisingly, it was warm. Not just inside the castle, but just on the grounds, even though Lila was standing in the snow outside of the carriage.
Lila entered the castle, not sure where else to go. On her left was a door labelled ‘Main Office’. She went into it, seeing the secretary sitting there, still smiling. She frowned, sure that she left the guy behind in the carriage. Beside him was another figure, this time a more serious-looking woman. It was only later that Lila would find out that she’s the headmistress of the school.
The woman welcomed her, “Hello, hello! Welcome to Hiraeth Academy~. I do believe this is the first student I’ll be welcoming personally… how exciting.
“Delilah Bard, I believe you will find suitable lodgings in Dorm #101. Eventually, you will have a roommate. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to make your education here, easier. Stay out of trouble, now!”
When Lila blinked, the woman was gone, the air that was around her not even disturbed. She put her hands in her pocket, finding an item that wasn’t there before: a key labelled ‘101′. The secretary piped up, “Now you’re going to want to leave the way you came from and go to the end of the Grand Hall over there and go up the staircase. The dormitories are there.”
Lila did as she was told, quickly finding room 101. It clearly was her room, as there was a nameplate with her name on it right on the door. She didn’t like that. She didn’t like having everyone being able to know exactly where she resided, or even knowing her full name. ‘Lila’ was just fine with her.
The key fit into the lock and Lila was inside. There were two beds, two nightstands, two wardrobes, and two desks. Great, she thought, I might get a roommate. Hung up on the wall was the cypher she had stolen in Grey London when she was 15. On her desk was the small element set she was given. On the nightstand was her white rook and her glass Antari eye. Then laying in the middle of the bed, her prized possession: the devil mask she had worn during the Essen Taisch. At least she had some of her most valued possessions.
It didn’t seem like these people meant her any immediate harm. If anything, it seemed like she was stuck here at least for the time being, until she found a way back to Arnes. But maybe a new adventure here wouldn’t be so bad.
A sharp smile came onto her face. "I think it's about time I get to have some fun around here."