After we left the parlour and the mass of very expensive tables that Helena would arrange the sale of, I told her the good news that Hope and I had completed all of the standard entrance and aptitude tests. Before she could congratulate me on that achievement, I told her that I had passed them all, too.

“Oh, David! That's wonderful!” Helena gushed and kissed me. “I was so worried that you wouldn't be prepared properly, considering how rushed everything has been the last week.”

“Hope was worried about that, too.” I said.

“Of course she was. Her second priority job is to teach you what you need to know.” Helena said and led me to the sitting room where we could relax for a short time before supper was served. “I have to say, she's performed much better than I expected, especially with the academy preparations.”

We sat down and cuddled on the couch, relatively alone, because an occasional maid would pass through to check if we needed anything, then she would look to see if everything was clean and leave again.

When it was time, we went to the dining room and had supper. It was another boisterous meal with the staff there and the food was excellent. In fact, it tasted even better than the food served at the main Henrietta Family's mansion. I commented on it and Helena had to agree, so she told the maids serving us to inform the cooks that they were doing an excellent job.

The meal ended and Helena and I retreated to the bedroom for some personal time, then we each took a bath before going to bed. I would be reporting to the academy in the morning and she would be handling the sales and distribution of the tables and potions, so we both needed to look our best. We slept soundly and the night passed by in mere moments.

I stood up and my two maids dressed me in one of my casual suits and tucked my bandoleer underneath. It added a bit of bulk to my shoulders and they told me in looked fine. My uniform was in the bag that Hope carried, because I would need to change into it when the exams were over and I reported to the academy's main office for the results an hour later and to select my classes.

“You're not allowed to bring servants until you are officially registered, so I can't show up until this afternoon.” Hope said and wiped at my lapel. “I'll bring your uniform and you'll have plenty of time to change and report to the office.”

“Good luck.” Helena said and kissed me goodbye. “I'll see you in two weeks when the school goes on break for the King's birthday.”

“I can't believe you're only allowed one servant for the first year.” Sara said, clearly upset.

“He can have two or more in the second year when he's allowed to upgrade to the larger rooms.” Helena said. “Until then, Hope is the senior maid.”

“My lady, that makes me sound old.” Hope said and Helena smiled.

“I need to go.” I kissed Helena on the lips and left the three of them in the master bedroom. I went down the hallway and down the large grand staircase in the main lobby and the front doors opened for me. The two guards there saluted and I nodded back, then I was surprised when a carriage with Henrietta colors was waiting for me.

“What do you think of it?” Frank asked as he stepped around it. “It's the first melded carriage ever built.”

“I'm glad you're utilizing the potion for important things.” I said and walked over to him.

Frank laughed. “This was important.” He said and the coachman opened the door for me. “If you showed up walking, you'd stand out like a slug on a glass surface.”

I gave him raised eyebrows and he laughed again.

“You don't want any more attention than what you're already going to get.” Frank said as the coachman shut the door. “I assume you've got your knife on you?”

I pat my chest with my right hand and he nodded.

“Don't maim or kill anyone. They might not be able to kick you out; but, that doesn't mean they can't charge you with crimes and send you to jail.” Frank warned. “You won't get back to the Lady of the House quickly if they detain you and delay your graduation by making you miss time.”

“They can't.” I said and he looked surprised. “They have to pass me, even if I'm in jail.”

Frank closed his mouth on his response.

“The problem is, most of them will know that the only way they can get rid of me, is if I quit.”

Frank cursed and looked like he wanted to punch something. “I'm sorry, my lord. They will be...”

“...very mean. I know.” I said. “Driver.”

“Good luck!” Frank said and waved as we drove away.

The drive was quite long and also seemed to pass by in only a few moments. The academy was clear across the large capital city and when the carriage came to a stop, quite a few people stopped what they were doing to look. I stepped out when the door opened and nodded to the man.

“I don't envy you, my lord.” The coachman said and climbed on, then the coach was gone.

I hadn't brought anything with me, except writing things that were required for the tests. Everything would be delivered after Hope came with my uniform and I was assigned a living space. The curious onlookers lost interest quickly and I walked up to the main gate and stopped at the guard building there.

“David Drake or David Henrietta.” I said, in case the Grand Mage wanted to make fun of me and gave me the latter name before I officially took it.

“Well? Which is it?” The irritated man asked. “Don't you know your own name?”

“Not until I was around eleven.” I said and he looked surprised for a second, then he frowned. “Try Drake first.”

He glared at me for several seconds, then he looked down at his list for a few more seconds. “Here it is. David Drake. Applying first year student... and you're 20?” He asked, once again surprised. “Are you daft? You should have graduated by now!”

“I didn't even know there was an academy until last year.” I said and he looked even more surprised.

“You...” The man paused and looked at what I was wearing. “That's not an approved outfit for taking exams.”

“My good suit was ruined when I was ambushed and attacked.” I said, truthfully. “I can't wear the ornate one unless I'm meeting a high ranking mage or official.”

The man gave me another once over look, sighed, and waved at the gate. A small doorway opened in the side instead of the whole thing opening up, and I stepped through. It quickly shut behind me as several other students approached the guard building. Apparently, seeing me enter first bugged them for some reason.

I walked on and followed the directions that Helena had given me and went right up to the large assembly hall that the admittance tests were being held. There were a lot of people standing around in academy uniforms and talking with each other in small groups. Helena had warned me that a lot of them were going to be like her brother, so I had decided that I wasn't going to talk to them at all. I didn't need the trouble today.

As I walked by them, at least two people from each group stared at me. I started to feel little tingles and I quickly cast Dispel. The tingling cut off and a girl close by gasped while a guy two groups over cursed loudly. That got everyone's attention and they all turned to look at me.

I ignored them and went inside. I was the first one to enter and the place was huge. When I reached the end of the long hallway, I saw that it was a giant amphitheatre and a woman sat at a desk in the middle of the open area. It was just like the large one that Hope and I had seen in the city and Helena explained that they performed plays and stories in it.

When she explained people acting out the story for others to watch, and actually pay money for the privilege, it seemed like a waste of time to me. It was so much easier to just read the story, wasn't it?

“Name.” The stern woman asked as I approached the desk.

“David Drake.” I said.

The woman's eyes hardened and she made a sour face as she checked her list and put a mark by my name. “Your seat is in the third row from the top, ten seats in on the left hand side.”

“Thank you.” I said and she huffed. I climbed up the stairs to the right row and counted ten seats in, and went to sit down. I could feel a slight tingle as my butt approached the seat and I cast Dispel on it. I felt something snap and the seat collapsed in on itself with a loud clatter. “Miss?” I said and stood up straight. “There's something wrong with this seat.”

The woman huffed and got up from behind her desk, then tromped up the steps to the row below mine and went to the tenth seat. Her eyes beheld the wood pieces on the floor under the table and she took in a sharp breath.

“You will be paying for damaging that seat!”

“I didn't even sit it in, as you clearly saw.” I said. “It fell apart before I could.”

The woman glared at me and seemed even angrier for some reason. “You'll just have to sit on the floor and take the test. There's no other seats for you.”

I looked around at the hundreds of seats around us.

“You heard what I said.” The woman said and walked away.

I only had a few seconds to use my knife to cut the broken wood pieces into appropriate shapes, then put the knife away and used some number ten potion to fuse them into the right shapes to make a nice curved bench seat that matched the table's shape. I didn't need a back on the chair, because I wouldn't be relaxing in it. It was for work and I would make both Helena and Hope proud.

I sat down and the woman looked surprised that I wasn't sitting on the floor behind the long curved table. I could see her face as she warred between her curiosity and her not caring, then her decision was made for her. A group of students came out of the hall and into the amphitheatre to be directed to their proper seats.

I sat there and waited as the place seemed to quickly fill up. A lot of the students taking their seats gave me furtive looks. Although, some were curious and two of the girls gave me the same look that lady of the night had back in the city past Ester's Village.

I wonder if they do it for money, too? I asked myself.

“Who's the old guy?” A young man asked as he sat next to one of the interested girls.

“I don't know.” She said and kept her eyes on me. “By the looks of the suit, he's not quite upper class.”

I didn't volunteer that my good suit was damaged, since I was sure that someone was going to clue her in on who I was.

“Brenda, give up on him. He's not worth your time.” Another young man said.

“Why not?”

“Haven't you heard the rumors? He's the ex-slave from the marsh battlefield.” The young man said without looking at me. “He was dishonorably discharged from the army, too.”

“What for?” She asked, genuinely curious.

“Dereliction of duty and cowardice in the face of the enemy.” The young man said.

“No!” She gasped.

“My brother was one of the guards stationed there, so I heard it all first hand when he arrived home with a medical discharge.”

“What's your brother's name?” I asked.

The young man huffed. “Yeah, like I'm going to tell a conscripted convict that.”

A few of the people sitting down let out gasps at his words.

“If you know so much, tell them what I was convicted of.” I urged him and he didn't say anything. “No? You don't know?” I asked and he stayed quiet.

“What did you do?” The interested girl asked.

“I shouldn't say things like that with such delicate ears listening.” I said.

“I want to know.” She said. “I've heard a lot about...”

“I killed a man in self-defense.” I said and she took in a sharp breath. “He attacked me with an axe and I beheaded him.”

She and a bunch of others stared at me with open mouths.

“That's enough chatter!” The stern woman said loudly and her voice carried throughout the amphitheatre. “Now that you're all here, we can get started.”

I glanced around and saw that barely half of the seats were taken. The two seats on either side of me were vacant as well.

“You have three hours to write the general knowledge section and three hours to write the academy entrance exam.” She said and slapped a small stack of papers onto her desk. The papers disappeared briefly as exact copies appeared in front of everyone sitting down and not at every place. Her papers reappeared and she sat down. “Begin.”

The sound of pencils writing on paper filled the place as they all wrote frantically. I didn't, though. I knew these answers, even though the questions were worded differently and some were changed from the practice tests Hope had given me. It didn't matter as I calmly and quickly wrote out all of the answers.