The Demons of Rome

VI - The Mage's Academy

The entrance was big enough to fit an elephant through easily. The great oak reinforced doors took two men each to open up. Iatus felt a little uncomfortable making these men go to all the trouble just for him so early in the morning and he slipped through as soon as possible. Aelith also seemed impressed and nodded approvingly as he looked about.

A man in a simple outfit came running out to greet him. He was quite small, only a head bigger than Iatus. He had dark red hair, a short cropped beard, warm brown eyes and a smiling face. Though he was obviously tired his athletic figure and ease of movement made him seem full of energy.

"Greetings. Welcome to the Mage's Academy young sir. You look like you have travelled far, the bathing house is just over there if you wish to freshen up and the servants can get you some clothes. I am Philip by the way; I am the head servant of the palace and am at your service. To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Umm, I don't really know, the man in the mage's testing house sent me here."

"Oh, so you will be joining our academy then? Very good, if I could just get your letter of recommendation..."

Iatus fumbled through his pockets, a worried look on his face.

"Umm, hold on," he said.

Aelith rolled his eyes and gave a little flap, then gestured with his wing to Iatus' inside pocket. Iatus looked a little confused then pulled the scroll out and handed it to the man.

The man gave a little chuckle, "Interesting owl you've got there, almost as if he knew where it was. Cute little thing as well. Has he got a name?"

"Aelith," Iatus said and the owl scowled at him.

"Yes very good sir, these seem to be in order."

A young girl suddenly burst out of a building on the far wall and came running up to Philip. She inclined her head to him and started talking as fast as she could "I'm very sorry sir, Lydia kept me back and wouldn't let me go until I finished preparing the meats."

Philip frowned at her, but waved his hand in dismissal, "This is master Iatus; he has just arrived from Rome and will need you to show him around. Master Iatus, this is Ava, she will be looking after you while you are here," Ava nodded her head at Iatus respectfully.

"I apologise for her uncleanliness, when we saw a guest arriving I borrowed her from the kitchens, students aren't supposed to arrive for another month but if you like her I can talk with Lydia and get her reassigned to housekeeping. Now, Ava, take him to his room, put him in the east wing."

Ava nodded again and turned to Iatus with the faintest hopeful smile on her face, "You don't seem to have any bags sir, are they coming later?"

"Umm, no, I don't actually have any."

Ava frowned, "Well, that's okay; we have a tailor on site that will provide you with all your clothing, if you need anything else you can always just ask me."

She then beckoned him to follow and led Iatus into the main palace. They went through a smaller set of oak doors, smaller, but no less impressive because of the fine adornments engraved in them. They entered into a long and spacious lobby with painted walls and busts on little tables along the sides. Now that he had the chance he examined Ava, she was roughly the same age as Iatus but she was a head taller, Iatus was small for his age, probably because of the hardships on the street. He could remember there being at least 8 different consuls so he presumed he was maybe 13 or 14 years old but he couldn't be sure. Ava was almost as skinny as he was and had dark blonde hair. She had pretty features and a light in her eyes that told of an inner joy despite the layer of grime across her skin and clothing from the kitchens.