Gruteth Knight Academy

   When the carriage stopped, I looked out the window the building in front of me. It was three stories tall in a square shape. There were four towers at each corner, and a courtyard in the center. A large tower was placed in the center of the courtyard, taller than the corner towers and housed a gigantic clock facing the front. The seven rectangular buildings around the main building had signs above the front doors, but I was too far away to read any of them.

   The carriage door opened, and I stepped out of the carriage, noticing all the other students with their families.

   “Your bag, Sir Rico,” the guard said holding my bag for me.

   “Thank you,” I said.

   I walked towards the front of the building, keeping my head down and avoiding bumping into anyone. As soon as I walked through the large double doors, yelling voices overwhelmed my ears.

   “First-years this way please!”

   “All fifth-years should report to your homeroom!”

   “Please find a seat in the dining room!”

   “Oh my gosh, how are you?”

   “How was your summer?”

   “What dorm are you in this year?”

   “Yeah my youngest brother is a first-year.”

   Older students and faculty were guiding students along as I tugged my hood lower. I followed the signs and voices calling for first-year students and found myself in a large room with round tables folded up along the walls. Two large flangs hung above me, one with the academy symbol and the other one with the kingdom’s crest.

   “First-year registration line up over here!”

   I glanced over and saw a line forming in front of a long table, four older students sitting there handing the students documents and the bracelet Harald mentioned.

   Standing at the back of the line, I kept my head down as the students around me were chatting among themselves.

   My head hurt from all the voices, but I somehow made it to the table.

   “What’s your name?” a young man asked, flipping through a stack of pages with student information.

   “Rico,” I responded.

   “Sorry, I meant what’s your full name?” he asked.

   “Rico,” I repeated.

   The young man looked at me. “Do you think you’re funny?”

   “Okay! I’m going to stop you there,” a young woman said, patting the young man’s shoulder. “Switch with me.”

   “What? But—”

   “Come over here, first-year,” the young woman said, motioning to the end of the table where she sat down. “What’s your name?”

   I hesitated.

   “It’s alright,” she said. “Just tell me.”

   “It’s Rico,” I answered.

   “What’s your family name?” she asked.

   “I don’t have one,” I muttered.

   The young woman hummed to herself, looking through the papers. She went down the list, stopping when she found what she was looking for.

   “I found you,” she said. “It’s rare that commoners enter Gruteth since most of them can’t afford it unless they have support from the academy or from a noble.” She glanced at me. “Which are you?”

   I didn’t answer, and she waved her hand.

   “Never mind. You don’t have to tell me. It seems like you’re in the room 58 which is in Wolf building.”

   The young woman stood and went over to the table behind where she sat, walking along the boxes until she found the one she was looking for. She walked back over, sitting back down and placing an envelope in front of me.

   “Here are your keys and bracelet,” she explained. “Your bracelet is your identification at this academy. The metal piece has numbers on it which is your student identification number.”

   I opened the envelope and found two a silver key and a red rope bracelet. Just as she said, I looked at the metal piece and saw it had ‘6558’ written on it. I slipped it onto my right wrist, and it tightened itself.

   “The magic on the bracelets don’t allow you to take them off,” the young woman explained. “Now, here’s your class schedule and maps of the academy. You must attend the first-year assembly before dinner. Please ask any of the upperclassmen if you have questions.”

   I nodded, walking away from the table. I looked at the map and saw there were three floors and a basement. There were a few classrooms in the basement, but it was mostly the kitchen and facility areas. The first floor had the dinning hall where I was standing as well as the courtyard, arena, and training rooms. The second and third floors had offices and some more classrooms. Each tower was a staircase going through all four levels of the school.

   The other seven maps were of the three buildings around the main building. There were six floors, the first floor having a lounge and kitchenette with some tables. The second through sixth floors had six rooms and two bathrooms. The buildings were labeled ‘Wolf’, ‘Rat’, ‘Snake’, ‘Horse’, ‘Crow’, ‘Frog’, and ‘Bird’ and had the room numbers over each room.

   I walked out of the main building towards one of the dorm buildings on the left side of campus, making sure I didn’t bump into anyone. I stopped in front of the dorm building with a sign above the doors that read ‘WOLF DORMITORY’ and saw some other students walking out. They held one of the two doors open for me, and I thanked them before walking in. I opened the second set of doors and looked to the right where the kitchenette and tables were. To the left was a lounge area with chairs and couches. There were staircases on both ends of the building, and I walked through the lounge and up the stairs.

   The stairs went all the way up to the sixth floor, stopping at each floor. There was a plaque with the room numbers at each landing, the second floor having rooms 31-36. I climbed the stairs all the way to the sixth floor where I saw the plaque had room numbers 55-60. Across from the staircase was one of the bathrooms, the other being across from the other staircase. Six doors lined the hallway, three on either side.

   Room 58 was the first room on the right, next to the staircase. I fished my key out of my pocket, putting it into the keyhole in the door and pushing the door open.

   There was a window across from the door that made me blink a few times to adjust to the light. There were two beds on either side of the room with a desk facing the wall at the foot of the bed. On either side of the door, small closets were provided for the students, as well as drawers under the beds for clothing.

   “Excuse me,” a voice said from behind me. “You’re in the way.”

   I turned around, coming face to face with a male with stunning brown eyes. His auburn hair was silky and fell exactly right to frame his face. He wore his robe loose around his shoulders, his collared shirt untucked and tie hanging around his neck. Still, even with his shirt untucked, I saw his sword attached by an extra loop in his belt. He was leaning against the doorframe, and I couldn’t help but be at a loss for words.

   “Beautiful,” I breathed.

   The male scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I know I am. Now would you move?”

   I stepped to the right, and the male walked right by me, dropping his trunk next to the bed on the left side of the room. He slid his robe off, throwing it on the back of the desk chair before placing his sword on the desk. Along with his first-year bracelet, I saw a number of red, white and black bracelets on his wrists. I watched him climb onto the mattress, collapsing on his stomach only to sigh heavily.

   “You,” he said, turning his head to look at me. “What’s your name?”

   “Rico,” I said, refusing to remove my hood.

   He wrinkled his nose at me. “I am Nic Crawford. Wake me up when it’s time for the first-year assembly.”

   And then he turned his head in the other direction.