Ellen had told her that she would pick Rianna up and show her how to get to her class, so that made her feel a little better. Rianna had never seen the University building and was grateful for the help.
Jayis came and got Rianna from home and took her to Ellen�s residence, promising Ellen would be there soon, but he had pressing matters to attend too. Ellen arrived just after four o�clock, as she said she would but they did not leave for the university right away. Ellen had to tell Rianna about the University robes first.
�Like the Council the University has robes as well. They show what level you are in. There are five levels, Accepted, Junior Advanced, Superior, and Master. Each level has a different robe colour. An Accepted has a white robe, a Junior has a green one, Advanced�s are red, Superior�s are blue and Master�s are black. They all have the University emblem on the right shoulder as robes are popular and this is a way to distinguish them. They are also required wear, just as the Council�s are in certain areas of the Palace.�
Rianna had been told that she would have to be wearing her robe in many areas of the Palace or she wouldn�t be allowed in. Although the Residences were not one of those places, Rianna had taken to wearing her�s anyway, as she liked the way it looked and felt.
�I can�t remember if anyone told you but the Council robes are magic. They cannot be touched by anyone but Council members unless the owner specifies differently. As they were all made thousands of years ago they contain many ancient magics, most of which are no longer understood. It seems like some of the robes contain different spells, but no one has been able to prove that. The only reason for this belief is that over the years different Council members have tried get their robes to do the same things but either they were not doing something right, or the robes were each infused with different spells. Even among the same Councils, robes do different things. Some Council member a few Councils back did some research on the robes. He found that there have been some robes that have had the same properties through the ages although to his knowledge there has never been two the same. Anyway the point I was getting at was that as a Council member it is safer for you to wear the Council robe because it has all these spells. That way you never have to be without it and it can be used as a link to you.�
Rianna understood what Ellen was explaining, but it all seemed to wash over her. All these little details seemed to be too much to think about.
Ellen picked up on Rianna�s lack of attention and stopped for a moment. She once again thought of how hard it was going to be for this girl who still didn�t know most of what lay ahead of her.
Rianna noticed that Ellen had stopped speaking. She smiled reproachfully and Ellen continued, although she had little left to say on the subject.
�You should learn how to disguise your robe. Its rather convenient and this way you don�t need to get another one to get into the University. Lets try that now, it�s easiest to learn when you�re not wearing it so you can see what you are doing better.�
Rianna took off her robe than set it gingerly down on the table in front of her. She still felt like she would break it if she dropped it to hard.
Ellen was amused by this but she had long lost the notion that the robes were breakable. The robes had proven their durability long ago from walking through forests and many offensive spells. She also took of her own robe to better demonstrate to Rianna what she was doing, but simply dropped it across the table from Rianna�s. She smiled at Rianna.
�It�s not hard. The robes are willing to do anything they can for their rightful owners, but are can be almost if not deadly to their enemies if someone tries to steal them. It�s easiest to start by touching it, closing your eyes and simply willing it to appear different. If it doesn�t work form a picture of why you want it to change the way it looks. Like this.�
Rianna didn�t need Ellen�s except that it showed her what she University robes looked like. When Ellen was finished, maybe a second later, Rianna gave changing her robe a try. As Ellen had said, it was simple to change. The robe was willing to do as she wished. It almost seemed to have a life of its own. Rianna hadn�t even needed to close her eyes. The robe seemed to know what the University robes looked like. They were like satin, extremely smooth and flowing. It was bright white just as long as it was before and gold belt, that when tied was as long as the robe itself. On the left breast of the robe was a golden symbol of the University, a hand written u in front of an outline of a building which Rianna assumed was the University.
Ellen had changed her robe again. Now instead of being white like Rianna�s it was black showing her status as a Master.
�I could leave it its normal silver and gold, but this attracts less attention.� Rianna smiled at her friend and mentor�s dislike of personal attention.
�I suppose we should get going. I could just transport us there as it is far enough away for the magic to work, but since you can�t do that yet you should probably learn how to get there on your own. Once you lean how to ride we can go a little faster as they have some stables there.�
Ellen had mentioned the use of horses before. They were a common way to get around for people with not too much magic to get around, and were frequently used by most everyone anyway even if they could transport themselves. Rianna had not gotten used to them yet. She was a city girl and, though she loved them whenever she was traveling in the country, the number of times she had been on a horse numbered under five. She was willing to learn how to ride even if she was nervous. Rianna figured with everything else she was supposed to learn and do riding horses would be the least of her worries.
Rianna was entertaining these thoughts all the way to the palace gates. Most of the guards recognized Ellen, and nodded at her respectfully as she passed. Rianna got no such treatment, which was just what Jayis wanted.
It took at least half an hour to get to the University grounds and another few minutes to find the classroom. The University was a lot like the Palace. Extravagant was the best way to describe it. The halls were wide with high roofs, coming to a point at the top. The walls of the roof were decorated paintings dating from the ancient period. They were meticulously take care of and were in almost perfect conditions. Every second panel was a mirror, and the paintings on the other panels were of prominent ancient people, mostly Previous Kings or Queens and their councils. Other paintings were of famous historical events and others were of achievements that were accomplished at the University. Walking along the main hallways was like walking through time. Equally down the halls were great chandeliers hanging from the roof, which were powered magically and never ran out of light.
Rianna saw just a few of the main hallways as her classroom was in a very accessible area near the main door. Ellen left Rianna at her classroom, saying she would meet her there after her class.
They had arrived a few minutes early, so there were only two other people in the room when Rianna walked in. Neither paid her any attention to Rianna. The room itself had many desks and chairs, like any classroom at home. The furnishings of the classroom were generally new, compared to building. The desks were wooden along with the frame of the chairs. The seats of the chairs were padded and finished in a deep green material. The instructors� desk at the front of the room was much older than any of the other furnishings. It looked like it was as old as the University. Like all the furniture that Rianna had seen in the building so far, it was made of wood. It was a different type of wood than the other desks, much darker and more brightly polished. There was nothing on the desk and the chair behind it was pushed in. It looked like it had been cleaned out at the end of the last term.
The walls of the classroom were mostly covered by diagrams and pictures and paintings of strange animals. Most were completely unfamiliar. Some had features of animals Rianna had seen before, and there were a few posters that looked like a dragon. Rianna found herself examining these in great detail. Dragons had always been an interest of Rianna�s.
This took up Rianna�s time until their instructor arrived. He was actually a little late and the rest of the class had all found themselves seats and the room was actually getting loud. All the students were wearing their robes. Rianna overheard one student saying that they were stopped getting past the main gates because they were not wearing theirs. A student beside him told him that in the letter they got it told them there were only specific days that people without robes were allowed on the University grounds. Those were a few days before the start of term when new students could come and pick up their robes and there were a few other days that Rianna didn�t catch. From what Rianna could gather from other conversations, these people hadn�t applied to get into the University, they had received a letter that said their power level was high enough to enroll. Rianna wondered if she should have received one or if she was actually powerful enough to begin University yet. The instructor walked in at last, wearing a black University robe. He looked rather disheveled. His belt was untied and uneven, one side dragging far behind him while the other side barely reached past his knees. The instructors� hair was sticking up in some places. Rianna shifted her attention to the instructor and watched him progress to the desk. He dropped the large pile of papers and books he had been carrying on the desk and ran his fingers through his hair, which did absolutely nothing. The instructor took a stack of papers and began passing them out among the rows. Rianna began examining the paper as soon as she received hers. At the top was the name of the Instructor and the course. Following that was a list of various types of animals they would be covering. They would start with harmless magical animals native to the main worlds of Azaran then branch out to more important animals on some of the more outlying worlds, then moving on to the animals classified as dangerous and then on to the animals classified as deadly. Then, for the second half of the course, they would follow the same classifications in studying creatures of the Maslein Empire. After distributing the papers the Instructor called the class to attention.
�Good evening and welcome to Life forms in the Empires. I�m your Instructor, Master Sayasal. I must apologize for my appearance; I was just in my office doing some examining. So, I suppose I should find out if you are all here.�
Master Sayasal proceeded through a roll call and Rianna was relieved to find that she was indeed on the list. They spent at least half the class going over the outline of the course. Rianna spent the time simply listening to the Master�s explanation of the outline and any questions the other students had. It was soon apparent that their instructor was a very easy going person. After going over the outline Master Sayasal waved his hand and a heavy book appeared on each desk.
�This is the textbook we will be using for this course. You each have your own copy and at the end of term they have been spelled to return to my office. We will also be having some speakers and some examples in class that will be on exams. Coming to class is mandatory as are all other classes at this University. I am also going to assign readings because there is important information in there and there is material in there that will be on exams. Since our classes are very long, I won�t be letting you out early very often but I doubt that many of you will want to leave early most of the time.�
The rest of the class was spent as a lecture. Master Sayasal was enjoyable to listen too and he threw in many jokes and anecdotes into his talk. The three hour class past quickly and Rianna left the class looking forward to the next. As promised Ellen was waiting for her outside the classroom. They talked about her class all the way back to the Palace. Ellen knew Master Sayasal by reputation. According to her, he was the best in the field, but that included his at times strange teaching methods. He loved to bring in specimens, often sentient ones. Ellen was confident that Master Sayasal was the best person to teach this course, and she grinned, a deserving person to teach their Princess, even if he didn�t know who she was. She continued to say that when word got out who Rianna was, Master Sayasal�s somewhat damaged reputation would be greatly healed by having taught the Princess. Apparently even though he was a wonderful teacher, other members of his profession found him too eccentric and found many of his ideas to be more fantasy than fact. Ellen and Jayis had discussed which class to put Rianna in his class because they believed, even through his reputation was a little tarnished, that he was the best person to teach her about these creatures.
Rianna was slightly unnerved by Ellen referring to her as the Princess. It was very unfamiliar to her and was nothing she had ever been prepared for. Even though over the last few months Rianna had been addressed as such before, it was still an uncomfortable title. It seemed far too big for her and she felt as though she was swimming in it.