Rime stood in a library like book store just a block away from the academy, he held up his subject list and the list of books he would need for each subject. They were a lot of them, he even had to get note books writing utensils and other things that made the list so long it almost touched the floor. Rime sighed as he looked at the list and then pulled out a sack of silver coins, with about two gold coins thrown in. This was all that remained after his mother had paid for his schooling and exam fees.

Thankfully the school had given him a scholarship so he didn't have to worry about his tuition, boarding and eating fees. Everything he needed would be provided, the school had even set aside a monthly allowance for him and that would only go so far. He planned to use that for Cyra and he would work out whatever he needed when the time came. Rime looked down at his sister who was busy snaking on plums to even notice he was looking at her.

He walked down the aisle calling out book names and they would magically float off of the shelves and into the large basket he was carrying around. It took him multiple tries to get some of the books because they were set out through the book store in a random fashion that would have driven his mother crazy; she liked everything to be in perfect order and kept clean.

When he was finished he made his way to other shelves that held different types of note books and even journals. Rime got three packets of notebooks which held about fourteen each, he then moved on to get two boxes pens and a large container of ink; he grabbed a packet of magical erasers, rulers and pencils. When he was finished he moved to the shelves that held the storage equipment for different types of storage jars, he took as many as he could; he also took measuring equipment and then made his way to the counter. Rime sighed when the woman called out fifteen silver, so he just handed her a gold coin so he would be able to get some bronze coins in change.

When he was finished he requested everything be delivered to his school and the woman nodded and began unloading everything into boxes. Rime wrote down his name and the school and then collected Cyra who was finishing off the last of her plums. Before moving on to her pickled berries, the good thing is that she never lost her appetite. It took him a bit of time to find a store that sold a large variety of clothing and not just certain types.

The first thing he went for was his uniforms; the tailor took his measurements and then went in the back to fetch his five uniforms and the PE clothing. The man came out back shortly and Rime looked over his clothes, it was an all-black suit with a black shirt and a green tie that said which course he was in. Blue for water, red for fire, green for Herbalism and so forth, the man gave him a black box that held a pin that would say which year he was in.

The P.E clothes was a simple black tights and a dark green fitted t with long sleeves and a high collar and he was given a pair of black running shoes and black ankle leather boots. When he was reaching for the sack of money he was told that the school had already paid for it, so he sighed happily and went on his way after asking for his things to be sent to the school. Rime turned and went over to a different section where he bought three shirts, a black and two whites and two pants one black and the other brown and also got himself a new pair of boots it all came up to one silver.

It was Cyra's turn and two women happily collected her and dressed her up each time putting her out in a new outfit for him to decide whether or not he wanted it for her. Most times he nodded and by the time they left she had three times as much clothes as he did and once again he requested for everything to be sent to his school. When they were finished they stopped at a small candy store and bought a few sweets for Cyra and a sugar bun for himself.

He knew he was spoiling her but he didn't care, she was all he had left and he would do anything to see her smile. Rime took her hand as she used the other to play with a blue rock candy that she took out of her mouth every few suckles. It took them some time to reach back to the school and when he did the school was livelier than he had left it. Carriages were going in and out of the school all varying in style and apparent cost, he figured since this was the royal academy a lot of high class children would be coming here but it had nothing to do with him. He was here for his studies not to suck up to the rich.

Rime could see men and women dressed in black and white moving around behind some children some even fetching their luggage. Next to several of them guards stood in different colored armor, he could even see about four female guards surrounding a short dark haired girl that was looking down her nose at everyone. Rime shook his head and watched as people dressed in brown went to the different carriages collecting luggage and labeling each one of them before sending them off god knows where.

He reached the gate and tried to get in but was stopped by a woman in a golden dress who had a small tiara on her head, she looked him up and down with a scowl and he gave her a dry look. "Sorry but the worker have a separate entrance to the west, I'm sure you can manage to get there without disturbing our students." The woman spoke with a haughty tone as if she was above everyone else.

Rime scoffed and the woman's eyes widened in surprise. "Get out of my way wench, I don't have time for you childish rich person games, apparently unlike you I have important things to attend to." The woman's mouth dropped open as he shoved past her and Cyra let out a little giggle.

The woman fumed and sputtered before yelling to her guards who ran after the boy and surrounded him. She arched her brow with a smirk on her face and walked up to her guards. "Kindly escort the help to the west entrance and let his boss know what happened here and ensure he gets extra chores." She gave the boy one glance over and turned to walk away but yelped when she felt a small foot hit the back of her knee.

She raised her hand up to strike the insolent child but before she could her hand was grabbed by a woman wearing a silver dress that had fire in her dull brown eyes. "I am sorry but no one is allowed to hit any of our students or their family under any circumstances, royalty or not." The woman in gold looked at the other woman who squeezed her wrist tight getting a whimper from her before she dropped it. "Under code four of the Royal Academy I will have our guards escort you outside the premises and you will not return without written permission from the Grand Head Master."

Rime shoved one of the woman's guard’s aside who was shocked by what the woman said and made his way over to Cyra who had promptly stuck her tongue out at the woman. The woman in gold stared at him before looking back at the Woman in silver who he learned was named Sana. Rime picked up Cyra and turned and headed to the mailing building to pick up his things as the woman in gold was escorted off the Academy grounds.

He was a bit ticked off because of the woman's behavior but angrier by the fact that she almost hit Cyra and there was nothing he could do, next time he saw her he would dispatch her into an early grave. It took him a bit of time to find the mailing building but thankfully it was close to the boarding house. Rime had to sign for his things and then load them onto a trolley which he took to his room refusing help from a nearby porter man.

When reached he unpacked all of their clothes and changed his and Cyra's boots throwing away the old ones. By the time he was finished the wardrobe was mostly taken over by Cyra's things and the small space that remained was more than enough for his things, even his school uniforms fit comfortably. The book shelf was filled in a matter of minutes with the text books, writing materials, measuring equipment and the storage jugs, while his draws were filled with anything extra.

He redid Cyra's hair and loosed out his own allowing it to hang down the side of his face hooking a few wayward strands in place with the clip. Rime put on his fresh black shirt and then took Cyra’s hand and leads her out the room closing the door behind him. He could see new students being guided to their rooms and then being lead out to the Grand Assembly Hall where the Head Master would start the opening ceremony. They were all seated according to their grades and he found himself sitting in the front row and the second seat to the right. Rime hadn’t really expected it because the school liked to keep the grades a secret until the ceremony.

He sat down and placed Cyra on his lap who was happily eating red syrup with a spoon not caring that the smell flowed through the room and earned her some curious stares; the other students promptly looking away when he stared at them. He rolled his eyes and looked to his left when a young man in an odd gold shirt sat next to him, his eyes were a bright golden brown and his hair was the same color as the shirt. Rime narrowed his eyes when he realized who the boy looked like.

He huffed and looked away glancing to his right at the girl that sat next to him; it was the same girl he had seen earlier. So a priss like her came first, that's probably why she was carrying herself the way she was, it was kind of pathetic if you asked him. It simply meant she was the smartest child in the academy not the entire kingdom or even the world, when she got that title she could behave that way or it would be better if she didn't.

The booming voice of the Grand Head Master drew his attention to the raised platform which the man was standing on. The man was huge, he was really tall and had a very large gut, his grey hair flowed down his back and shoulders in wave, and his beard was braided. His dark eyes scanned the room as he once again opened his mouth so wide he looked like he wanted to swallow the front row; even Cyra who was now draining the syrup jar jumped nearly dropping her treat.

The old man begun the ceremony that lasted nearly three hours and by the time they were able to leave Cyra was falling asleep. Rime lifted her up resting her head on his shoulder as he held her close, they made their way through the crowd and broke out into the grounds. Most of the children were heading to the boarding house; he noticed that the hall he was staying in had a mix of girls and boys. The room across from his was taken by the girl while the one next to him the boy he guessed the hall was reserved for the top students.

He got into his room and undressed Cyra pulling on her night dress and then tucking her in, when he was finished he went to his desk and began to pack his bag for the next day when his classes would begin.