Chapter 1:

A Canvas in the Sky

Tales of the Ram Magic Academy


The Ram Magic Academy was a building steeped in history. Founded in the Unification Era, it has stood the test of time as the greatest school of magic in all of Saekoria, if not the entire sky. Every room has a story, as does every hall, courtyard, and balcony, and even each and every tree.

Students could pass their time studying in the library or testing their magic on the practice fields, or even, with teacher permission of course, go for a walk in the wilderness beyond castle walls.

A certain young lady was enjoying that wilderness for herself, though she saw no need to bother with passing beyond the school’s gates.

Meghra Masters carried her easel out onto the balcony of the third floor’s east corridor, setting it down in the same place she had every day for the last two weeks. Sitting down upon a stool, the black-haired girl adjusted the angle so it was juuuuusst right, and got to work.

The balcony overlooked the courtyard, and just past that was a nice little stream that fed into a tiny lake on the grounds. A tall tree was the lakes’ sole companion, and at this time of day the sun cast its shadows just perfectly over the sparkling water.

Lifting her brush, she picked up where she’d left off yesterday. The light would only be right for the next hour. But it was still plenty of time to perfect her work, and enjoy the tranquility of the landscape before her.

“Wow!”

Meghra jerked her brush in response to the unexpected interruption. Shit! She’d just cut a blue smear across the left bank!

Enraged at her hard work being for naught, she leapt from her stool and rounded on the intruder.

It was… a familiar face. Elaindra, from her class.

“Oh, it’s you,” Meghra said, raising her eyebrow.

“I, um, didn’t mean to interrupt you,” Elly apologized quickly. “You’ve been coming this way after class for the last few weeks and I was just really curious so I wanted to see what was going on and then I saw your painting and I thought it looked really good and I couldn’t keep my mouth shut and it just slipped out and then I ruined it and then and then and then-“

“Okay, take a breath,” Meghra interrupted, cutting her off before the babbling girl suffocated. “You didn’t… ruin anything.”

“B-But…”

“It’s an easy fix, don’t worry about it. You’re fine.” She turned back to the canvas and wet her brush, preparing to correct the mistake.

Surprisingly, Elly didn’t leave. She hovered right behind Meghra, staring curiously at the painting.

“Wow, it’s so…”

“Simple?”

“Beautiful!” Elly gushed, looking from the painting to the lake itself. “It looks identical!”

“Well, it should!” Meghra said, holding her head up with pride. “I’ve been working on it for weeks after all! But don’t waste your impressed face just yet missy, it’s not even close to being done!”

She’d just about covered over the blue. It took some doing, but with the proper technique and the right blend of colors a surface mistake like that was easy to conceal.

While Meghra normally painted in silence, she was feeling rather whimsical. It wasn’t every day she had company.

“Are you a big patron of the arts, Elly?” She asked. “Seen many paintings before?”

“What? Oh, me? No, no, none,” Elly said, quickly shaking her head. “I, um… stuff like that’s for nobles and stuff, not… not maid’s daughters…”

“But you grew up in the royal palace, didn’t you? So certainly you must have seen your fair share of masterpieces.”

“W-Well… I guess there were a few…”

More than a few, Meghra should think! She’d only been to the royal gallery once when she was very little, but what an experience it had been.

“My, um… I-I mean, his majesty the king had one painting in the library that I remember liking… but then he took it down. I, I don’t remember it very well.”

“Ah, that is a pity,” Meghra sighed. It was easy to forget that some people weren’t as gifted as she was. “I can’t imagine what that’s like, forgetting a work of art. I imagine it must be maddening.”

“You… wait, you don’t forget… stuff? Huh?”

Meghra shook her head. “Not a one. My eyes are quite special, you see, anything I’ve seen before, I can remember it, perfectly. Down to the last detail.”

“Really?! That’s amazing!” Elly gasped. Then she got confused. “Wait, but then… why would you need to come out here every day to paint, then? Couldn’t you just… I mean…”

She tapped her head.

“Oh, certainly, I could have painted this from the corner of my room, and done it flawlessly! But then I would miss out on the opportunity to… haaah-hmm,” she exhaled, “really get the feeling of my art. Experiencing the subject directly is always preferable, do you understand?”

“Um… no.”

“That’s fine. It’s a ‘painter’ sort of thing. And you’ve never painted a thing, have you?”

“Nope, never.”

“Well, would you like to sometime? It’s very relaxing.”

“Really?! Can I?” Elly exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with hope.

Meghra glanced at her. “Uh… no. I’m not letting your amateur hands anywhere near my art. …Some other time, though, maybe.”

“O-Oh.”

It was rather surprising. In class, Elly was the shyest, quietest person you could imagine. Before today, Meghra had barely heard her string together a sentence. But now she was so… animated. Downright chatty, even. Maybe it was the magic of the balcony, or maybe something in her artwork spoke to the half-elf.

“Can I ask you something?”

Meghra raised her eyebrow, lifting her brush from the canvas. “…What is it?”

“Why, um… why did you start painting? Or, I guess, I mean ‘how’. You’re… you’re a Masters, right? So being a painter yourself is a little… oh! Please don’t think I’m being rude, I just-“

A reassuring laugh set Elly’s mind at ease. Meghra shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I understand completely. You’re right, my family is far more concerned with the collection of fine art than they are with creating it. Especially my father.”

“I’m… not a noble myself, obviously, but… I always thought that the perception of painters was kind of…”

“Oh, it’s not that bad, painting is a perfectly acceptable hobby for a young lady to take up in her spare time. So long as it remains a hobby, of course.” It was quite a feat, balancing conversation with getting the shade of green on the leaves perfectly, but Meghra was no amateur.

“Then your parents…”

“Let’s just say I have my own circumstances, shall we?” She chuckled, shaking her head. “Indeed, my father wasn’t exactly thrilled when I told him I wanted to follow my passions, blathering on about his reputation and the family’s dignity, but… he eventually understood.”

It had taken a long time though. And a lot of hard work.

“So… why?”

Meghra sighed, and set down her brush. She finally turned away from the painting completely, looking at Elly directly.

“I told you about my eyes, right? How they record everything I see perfectly?”

Elly nodded.

“Well… what’s that saying? ‘Given with one hand, taken with the other?’ It’s not at all as desirable as it might sound, I assure you. You see, while I may be able to remember the things I see, there are… other disadvantages.”

“…Like what?”

“Do you like reading, Elly?” She’d always seen the girl with a book or two.

“I love it!” Elly nodded excitedly.

“Well, I don’t. In fact, I’m barely even capable of it.”

Elly made that confused look again. “Huh?”

“Words… letters and things like that, I’m rubbish at them,” Meghra confessed. “Ever since I was a little girl, they’d all look jumbled and confusing. No matter how much my tutors would try, I just couldn’t seem to be able to figure them out. I don’t think I’ve ever even finished an entire book.”

“That… that sounds horrible!” Elly gasped. “Even studying didn’t help?”

“Ugh, not even,” she rolled her eyes. “No, as hard as I tried… no. In fact, I have to get special aid just to do my schoolwork.”

“It must be really difficult, living like that,” Elly murmured sympathetically. “I can’t even imagine what I’d do without my books. Reading is like… I can just go to a whole other sky, far away from here, it’s… oh, I’m so sorry, you can’t even, and yet I…”

Meghra found Elly’s shamefully red face rather amusing. “It’s fine, I’ve gotten used to it. And you of all people must know what it’s like, to have… issues.”

Elly glanced down and nodded.

“Besides,” Meghra said, stretching and looking back out over the balcony, “it’s not as hard as it sounds. There’s still my art, after all, and that’s far more important than some words on a page.”

“And that’s why you started painting?”

“Exactly. Whenever I wanted to get away from my studies, I would go to father’s gallery. Looking at all those works my family amassed over the centuries… it was soothing. It made me realize that even though I couldn’t read or write, I could still express myself, you know? So I got started. Drawings, first, but eventually I needed that feel of a brush in my fingers, the smell of a fresh canvas touched with paint… it’s a feeling of freedom.”

She turned back to Elly and cracked a smile. “I can make a thousand different skies with my own hands, so who needs books anyway?”

Elly looked awestruck. “That… that’s so cool! I… um…”

“Of course, it’s not like it means anything right now,” Meghra scoffed, returning to work on her painting. “I’m still just an amateur.”

“What?! But your painting is so good!”

“That it is. And so are a lot of other peoples’,” she sighed. “When it comes to art, it’s not enough to just be good, Elly, you need to be great. And even then, you might have talent and skill, but it doesn’t matter if no one’s willing to buy your work. Even if I did paint a thousand paintings, if nobody appreciates them, it’s just a waste.”

“No! It’s not!” Elly exclaimed, startling Meghra so badly she nearly made another mistake. It seemed that the shy little half-elf from class was a little more strong-willed than she’d given her credit for.

And she wasn’t stopping there.

“Your paintings are really, really good! I-I mean, this one is, at least! I know I haven’t seen anything else you’ve painted… and, um… this one’s not done yet, but…”

“This is kinda getting away from you, huh?”

“I’ll buy it then!” Elly said, her eyes electric with confidence. “When you’re finished, I’m gonna buy it, okay?”

Meghra took a second to process what she was hearing, and then burst out laughing. “Well, that’s certainly not what I expected! You want to buy my work, then? It’s not even done yet!”

“Still!”

Well… the girl looked serious, at least. Meghra started considering her offer seriously, then. “Well… I’ve never sold one before… I’m not sure how much to charge you. How much do you have, anyway?”

Elly flinched, glancing away from her inquisitive gaze.

“W-Well… that’s…”

“…Tell you what,” she decided. “If you want to buy one of my works so badly, I’ll be happy to sell. Just not this one.”

“What? Why not?”

“I painted this one for me. Sorry, but I’m not interested in parting with it. But… I am willing to paint you a different painting. If you’d be interested, of course. And it doesn’t need to be that lake over there. Anything you like, how’s that sound?”

“Really?!” Elly looked elated. “That… I would love it!”

“We’ll work out the price later, then, once you’ve decided,” Meghra said, turning back to her canvas. “In the meantime, I have to finish my work here. You can stay if you like.”

Meghra got back to her painting, throwing herself into the scenery before her eyes. Elly watched from the side, bubbling with excitement and admiration.

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