Oracle (Book I)

Given the Choice

Thierry dared utter the words Caprice dreaded.

"Professor, we can't read."

Professor Earithean didn't bat a single eyelash.

"Here at Oracle, you will learn," she said. "All you must do for now is place your mark on the contract."

"This is a school of higher learning. Don't we have to know how?" Caprice asked. A memory flashed in her mind: Karrigan and her nanny working on her letters. Caprice, ever Karrigan's attendant, was on the floor, half-under the desk, ears desperately pricked up. Hearing but unable to see what the student and teacher were writing while the nanny explained the difference between check and catch. Caprice doused a cloth in Quickens All Purpose Remover Potion and scrubbed at the doodling of a malformed unicorn and bunny frolicking painfully in what appeared to be a rainbow and a mess of tangleberry briar. A hellish Karrigan original, which the girl drawn on the hardwood earlier that morning (with her new partially permanent coloring chalk) instead of practicing her lettering while waiting for the nanny.

The Whitehares started magic school knowing how to read, she thought anxiously. She thought of Nezzle, walking and reading as easy as breathing, and felt the sting of envy.

"Not at all," Earithean replied in all seriousness.

Caprice looked at the contracts set before them. Both papers bore the Oracle crest at the top. Three large symbols like bars centered beneath the crest followed by a lot of black inked lettering that, in Caprice's eyes, amounted to ants marching line to line. She recognized the spelling of her name within the first couple of words but that was all.

After a long, still eternity of a moment, Professor Earithean spoke again.

"Miss Bilberry, Master Bilberry...you do not have to decide now. Think it over. Your invitation to Oracle won't vanish."

"And for now?" They watched as she took the contracts and slid them back into her desk. They leaned forward slightly as if drowning and watching their only lifelines disappear into the oblivion of that desk drawer.

The drawer slowly, quietly closed with a sound click.

"Remain as students. Until you decide." Earithean stood, drawing a breath then letting it out. "Let us rejoin Miss Bossa, shall we."

Outside in the corridor, Bossa bounced off the floor and to her feet. She immediately rushed over and put her beaming face in Caprice's.

"You're staying, right?"

"Err...for now," Caprice mumbled uncertainly.

"You have to stay! And room with me and Nezzy."

"Cappy, Thatch, where are our bags?"

Bossa rolled eyes heavenward 'round. "I forgot. They're still here."

Caprice stiffened, seeing that Professor Skyla, Alastair, and Karrigan were there as well. There was a student with them; she was dressed in a frilled dress beneath silver and white robes bearing the Oracle emblem on the breast. As if only just noticing that they hadn't transported the luggage around on the tour, with magic or otherwise, Karrigan stood by glaring at them expectantly, tapping the proverbial foot.

"This school certainly makes you forget your priorities," Karrigan said in disgust.

Before either of them could respond or even muster a reply, Professor Earithean swept into the hall.

"Your bags will be brought up to your room, Miss Whitehare. Now, unless you expect your fellow students to sleep in your cupboard in the event that you ring for tea..." She turned to the Caprice, Thierry, and Bossa. "Miss Bilberry, Master Bilberry, Pupil Bossa and I will show you to the main dormitory. You may choose where you wish to stay."

"Good evening, Professor Earithean." Karrigan's new acquaintance greeted Caprice and Thierry as well with a little nod. "Alice Domier."

"There's no need, Alice," Karrigan interrupted. "They're only servants."

Leaving the corridor of offices, they found their way back to the Main Hall and mounted the grand staircase, coming to a stop in front of the giant portrait of Oracle where they had arrived. The Whitehares flinched as Earithean took out her wand and tapped the the portrait. It didn't swing open but it yawned on its hinges enough to admit a very large person behind it. The teachers led them around the edge of the elaborate frame and they stepped down into a dim, crystal-lit corridor. Three passages branched off in long rounded tunnels. Earithen and Skyla guided them down the passage to the left.

After a set of curving stone stairs, the passage opened into a large sitting room beneath a vaulted ceiling that was hung a rainbow's worth of billowing banners and ribbons; Caprice even spotted a saffron school banner waving there at the center. The room had three hearths and stucco-colored walls like the Grand Hall. The floor was flagged by a myriad of mismatched rugs, from Aubusson to plain and threadbare. Plush sofas and stuffed armchairs, tables and a few bookcases furnished the common area. From here, more passages led up, down, and straightaway to other places. A breathtaking view of Scryer's Mountain, the surrounding forest, and sky filled the big long rectangular windows in the western wall.

Caprice stepped on something and looking down. A short, mustard-colored cape was smushed beneath her beaten slipper. She quickly retrieved it, dusted it off, and charmed her footprint off of it with a quick spell before laying it on the nearest side table. She then realized that garments were everywhere. Cloaks, scarves, bags, hats, and robes littered the backs of sofas and the floor all over.

"Oracle has many dormitories. All connected one way or another." Earithean glanced around, obviously thinking the place was overly homey by her expression, which was rife with disapproval. "Tsk."

Skyla laughed lightly. "The older students are already returning for the new term. I see bad marks in the futures of a few of them who were a bit too anxious to get to their meal downstairs and forgot to mind their housekeeping." She added, "If I might make a suggestion, Miss Whitehare. The Ivory Tower is home to several more of our most elite students. I think you shall get along swimmingly with them." She touched Karrigan's arm and led her away.

Karrigan glared punishment and murder over her shoulder until she, Professor Skyla, Alastair, and Alice Domier departed.

"That can't be good," Caprice muttered as the group disappeared up the winding, pearly staircase on her right.

Earithean sighed, briefly smoothing her hands down the front of her robes. "Now: As not to alarm you, I didn't mention the examination."

Caprice felt Thierry freeze as well.

"Examination?" they said together.

"Yes. Actually, it's more of a placement test. Mandatory, for all new students. Please note this: There is nothing on the examination that isn't within your power to overcome. I shall leave you in Pupil Bossa's care and capable hands. I must take my leave to attend to other matters. Welcome to Oracle, Pupils Bilberry." With one of those gracious nods of her head, Professor Earithean snapped her fingers. The edges of her fine robes became sensuous chartreuse smoke, rapidly fading. The darker green velvet followed and she promptly vanished altogether.