Iron & Ice #ONC2024

Chapter VI

 Once the Draft ends, we are given the grand tour from Princess Jessamine herself. All twenty of us trail behind us as she shows us around the keep. It isn't as big as I expected, it turns out. All the towers and out-buildings belong to the Houses, one residence for each, so the actual school occupies only the main keep and the grounds.

The keep itself is easy to navigate. The Great Hall covers nearly all of the ground floor, along with the kitchen and the faculty offices. Classrooms are on the first floor, and teachers' quarters are on the second. The third floor is servants' quarters-though there don't seem to be that many servants-and attic storage.

It's strange, learning all this from an actual princess. It doesn't seem like the sort of thing a princess should do, giving a tour to just under two dozen teenagers. But when she speaks, we hang onto her every word.

Princess Jessamine ends the tour in the tallest tower of the keep-and, she tells us, the oldest. The Wolf Tower, our House and home while we are at the Academy, and, apparently, long after.

The tower's layout is simple. On the lowest floor, occupying the entire space, is a cozy common room decorated in a rustic style with Scottish tartan and mahogany paneling everywhere. A fire crackles in the hearth, behind an iron fire screen, and there are overstuffed armchairs and poufs and loveseats scattered everywhere.

Princess Jessamine tells us that we'll breakfast as a House-in family, as she calls it-here, in this cozy room. Our other meals will be served in the Great Hall, apparently.

There are three stories above the common room. On the first story above the common room isa classroom–Princess Jessamine's classroom, where we'll have our Classics and Strategy classes. Directly above it are the boys' quarters, and though Princess Jessamine doesn't tell us that they're off limits to us girls, it seems like it's implied. Above the boys' quarters are the girls' quarters.

Our dormitory is cavernous-the same size as the boys'-but there are only four beds inside. Four beds, four dressers with washbasins upon them, four desks and desk lamps. It's spartan in its simplicity, but there is a fire and a couple of coal-burning heaters that make it warm. It's so empty it's echoey, but it is, at least, comfortable. I see Victra Julianus wrinkle her nose as we walk in, but neither Indira Nereus or Octavia–Princess Octavia!–seems to care.

Our luggage has already been delivered, it seems. My trunk has been placed at the foot of the bed furthest from the door, and on top of the bed are several sets of folded uniforms. There is a pair of fleece-lined boots set on the floor next to the bed.

"You have until midday to get settled," Princess Jessamine tells us. "Make sure your quarters are tidy and ready for inspection. When you hear the midday bell, report to the Great Hall for lunch. And be ready. Classes begin this afternoon."

And with that, she vanishes back downstairs. The boys are already in their quarters, so now it's just me, Octavia, Indira and Victra.

For a long moment, we all stand, looking at each other, unsure of what to do next. Then, Victra lets out a scoff and gathers up a uniform and her boots from her bed. Then, she disappears into the small, plain bathroom off our dormitory to change.

I find myself longing for a bath, but I don't have time. I settle instead for washing my face at the wash basin on my dresser. The water is frigid–so cold there are chips of ice on the surface. It must just have been filled, since it's warm enough in here.

I take my hair out of its fashionable updo and brush it out. I don't have time to give it the proper one-hundred strokes like Alice says I should. Once it's smooth, I braid it quickly, like I used to, back when I was a girl in the mines. Then, I twist my braid up and pin it in a neat chignon. I catch Indira watching me, and I try not to care.