Tiny drops of rain hit the train’s windows as it slowed into the gilded bronze station at Center City. Kay had opened his own window, leaning out as far as he could, the rain splattering him on the cheeks and nose as he looked up at the twisting architecture of the city with the wide-eyed enthusiasm of a child. Thick, black smoke from the smoke stack billowed into his face, making him cough and curl back into the seat, closing the window. He pulled a linen handkerchief out of his sleeve, coughing into it to expel more of the smoke.

“I told you not to look outside in such a manner, but no, you must do whatever you wish – isn’t leaning out of a window what got you into trouble to begin with?” His manservant, Raven, teased quietly without looking up from his newspaper. The man with thin dreaded locks down to his shoulders looked like an oddity in his dark suit and bowler hat. He glanced up, his eyes perfectly black, watching his charge with a look of curiosity.

Kay frowned, shrugging.

“I simply wished to see the City.” He whispered, feeling childish. He tucked his handkerchief away in his sleeve as he straightened his dress. Glancing to the seat next to him, he took in his softly warn brown leather bag. Reaching over, he opened it, pulling out a small bundle of papers. Sitting on the very top, on yellow crumpling paper, was his writ of passage, written in his own hand and signed by the Queen’s; as her ward he could not simply leave and go to a school in neutral territory without her knowing. He sighed, not truly comfortable thinking about the fact that, even at seventeen, he was at the beck and call of someone, especially not his Queen when he knew full well of the trouble s facing the entire country of Fenn.

Placing that piece of paper on the bottom of the pile, he glanced at the other, smiling softly. According to the summons, he had been offered admission in to the hardest university in the entirety of Fenn, Mystra College for the Gifted. He sighed, wondering why he had been chosen. He was not gifted in any way, aside, perhaps, in getting into unneeded trouble.

“Don’t get into trouble, Kay, and perhaps your troubles will be lessened.” Those had been his Queen’s parting words when he had left for the train station three days before. Putting the papers away, he wondered how he could keep out of trouble, especially given his condition. He could not very well keep his magical misfortune to himself, especially when it came on suddenly; even if any form of magic hadn’t been banned in the country, he would still be labeled an unwanted; Devil Glass was a problem that was looked down upon even by demons themselves, and they were the ones to make the glass.

“Center City’s Center, last stop. Change here for all trains to Dyrne, Gemaetan, and Onlicres.” The conductor called as he walked through the cabin.

“I believe, Master Kay, that this is our stop.” Raven smiled at the auburn haired boy as he stood, grabbing their things. Kay nodded, picking up his brown bag and holding it rather protectively. He stood tall as he walked outside, hoping he did not stand out in the crowd.

“Do you remember who we are to meet with?” he asked Raven as they walked on to the platform. The moment they were near the open air, a large rave n swooped down, landing easily on Raven’s shoulder. The giant of a man seemed not to mind. He instead smiled happily, touching the bird’s beak fondly.

“Hello, Lenore. I knew you would find us.” He whispered to the bird. He glanced over at Kay, who was waiting expectantly. He shrugged carefully, in order to not upset the bird. “We’re to meet a man named Tom, that’s all I remember.” He admitted.

“Tom…how extraordinarily generic.” Kay whispered, mostly to himself. He glanced around the platform. There was a man of diminutive height standing next to a pillar, looking exceedingly uncomfortable with the crowd. Kay cocked his head to the side, watching the man curiously. He stood out not for his height or his skittish nature, but for his waist coat; it was a peacock’s green, with garish pink buttons. He looked almost comical, if it had not been for how ragged the coat was. Deciding that the man looked eccentric enough to work at such an unconventional university, Kay walked up to him.

“Excuse me?” He whispered, trying to not scare the man. His intentions seemed unsuccessful, however, as the man jumped, eyes widening as if he had just been caught committing a heinous crime.

“Whas’t?” He slurred out, looking manic. Kay was regretting his decision to approach the man. He glanced behind him, making sure that Raven had not left him. When the tall man was spotted, he relaxed somewhat.

“Are you sent from Mystra University? Tom?” He asked, resisting the urge to bite his lip.

The man’s ruddy face broke horribly into a bright smile. He nodded enthusiastically, clasping his thick fingers together over his sick-inducing waistcoat. He looked around nervously, before clapping once. As his hands came together to stop the sound, a deep blue envelope appeared in his hands. Kay’s eyes widened and he looked around himself as well, scared that this display of magic would be caught. The man winked a pale blue eye at the boy, smirking.

“The Head’s protection, it’s very strong indeed.” He mumbled, nodding sagely. The man opened the envelope and pulled out a long form that did not seem as if it would fit into the envelope at all. This vagrant display of magic shocked Kay to his core; he did not understand how the guard, who were standing not twelve feet away, had not taken notice to it.

The man cleared his throat, looking up at Kay, before looking back at his piece of paper. “Let’s see ‘ere….Lord Kay of Leasung, born in Gemaetan…curly light brown hair, check…ice blue eyes, check…and you must be James Alfred.” He looked up at Raven.

The manservant scowled darkly. “My name’s Raven now; that name was taken from me many years ago.” He whispered. The raven on his shoulder squawked at him, nipping his ear as if to reprimand him. Kay held up a hand, laughing softly.

“That was his name once, yes.” He whispered softly; he did not want an argument to break out on his first day in Center City. The short man nodded happily, stuffing the long parchment away in the envelope. The envelope ate it greedily.

“Well now, there’s only one test left then – Lord Kay, can you please create a duplicate of this envelope for me.” Kay coughed slightly; replication was a very minor magical ability he had, the only one that had not been created by the Devil Glass in his body. He barely ever used it, and he did not know why the university would need him to do such a task, unless it was a trick. He bit his lip, glancing at Raven. The tall man shrugged, just as confused as he was. Tentatively, he reached out, hand hovering over the obnoxiously blue envelope. Swallowing in concentration, he closed his eyes, imagining its duplicate, one with information on the man in front of him on it. He felt existence shiver around him, and when he opened his eyes they flashed silver for a moment. His hand twitched, grabbing the envelope that suddenly fell in front of him. He smiled somewhat at the man in front of him, though he was blushing with embarrassment. He opened the letter, reading it over.

“Hm….A Mr. Thomas Thumb, I presume?” He asked, looking down at the short man. “In your final years at Mystra, known as a failure of a sorcerer.” He read. He stopped, staring at the last words. He looked up at Raven, before down at Tom. “Failure of a sorcerer? But shouldn’t you be jailed for even trying?” He demanded.

Tom looked uncomfortable. He shook his head.

“That’s not important, not yet. We need to get you to the school, Master Kay; it’s getting late.” He explained nervously. He turned and started away, before turning back. “Are those all the bags you have?” He asked, indicating the meager belongings Raven was holding, and the bag in Kay’s hand.

“The rest has been sent to the school already by special courier.” He explained, trying to sound regal. He knew that he sounded like a child, and he wished he did not.

Tom nodded and turned once more. He started out of the station much quicker than anyone of his stature had any right to move. The fact that he was also incredibly slim did not help matters. Kay had to run in order to keep up with the man. He watched as Lenore flew past him, keeping within eyesight. He turned to Raven, who smiled somewhat.

“Well, she wanted to help.” He said, shrugging, his dark dreadlocks falling over his shoulders. He sighed though he laughed, wondering if his manservant would ever remember to tie back the natural braids. He turned back to watch the raven in the sky. She had alighted onto a black carriage and did not look entirely pleased. As he reached the carriage, he understood why.

Sitting in the back was a young woman. She was a few years older than Kay, though she still looked like a child in many ways. Her short blonde hair fell gracefully around a round, pale face, with shockingly grey eyes watching him, full of mistrust. That was not her most surprising feature, however. What shocked him to the core was her dress. She wore a tight black dress, almost a mockery of a mourning dress, with lacey black gloves clinging to her fingers. Around her neck was a long gold chain, and hanging from that chain was a circular pocket watch. She picked it up, opening it to study the time. She put it back down again as she turned to Kay, almost curious.

“Lord Kay, this is another new student at the university.” Tom said as he helped Raven with his bags. “Estella, this is Lord Kay.”

The blonde held out her hand, nodding to him. “A pleasure, I suppose, Lord Kay.” She whispered. Her voice was surprisingly low, making her seem all the more morose.

He took her hand, leaning down to kiss the back of it, as was proper. “The pleasure would be all mine, Miss.”

“Well yes, it would be.” She smirked, startling him. He stared at her. She shook her head, sighing. “I’m sorry; it’s this type of prattle that my late husband hated.”

“Late husband?” He murmured. Tom coughed, and he turned. The short man was tapping his own pocket watch impatiently, looking up at the darkening sky. Blushing, Kay slipped into the seat next to Estella, hugging his bag for dear life. With a grunt of discomfort, Raven folded himself into the seat across from them. Just before the doors close, Lenore flittered into the carriage as well. She hopped along before coming to a stop in the seat next to Raven, squawking happily to him. He smiled and reached down, whispering to her.

The coach lurched to moving, carrying them slowly down the countryside. Kay pushed the curtain on the window back for a moment to see where they were going. The city was glowing a vibrant gold, shivering like water as they drove past. He sighed as he closed the curtain, a nervous, almost exhilarated feeling filling him. He smiled softly, glancing over at Estella. She was pensive, looking down at her hands. There was a question that seemed so obscure yet needed to be asked. It hung on his lips for long moments, before tumbling out before he could stop himself.

“D-did you kill your husband?” He asked her. She turned to look at him, eyes wide at the assumption, before she laughed.

“No sadly; he was killed in a barroom brawl over my dowry which he was losing in poker.” She explained. She smiled at him, catching his nerves.

“That’s really….I’m…” He stumbled, not sure what to say.

“Don’t be sorry.” She told him quickly. She fixed a glove as she looked at Raven for a long moment. “He doesn’t deserve anyone’s pity. He was a callous man; I should have married another when I had the chance. Now one’s dead and the other has left Fenn.” Kay gasped sharply; if someone left Fenn, the magic protecting the small island country would not allow them back in. She nodded, hearing the gasp.

The carriage turned sharply, pulling them towards Mystra University. He had to secure himself at the sharp turn. Estella and Raven both seemed to not be bothered by the turn, but Lenore ruffled her feathers, annoyed.

“Do you ever go anywhere without your bird, sir?” Estella asked Raven. Kay bit his lip, watching them.

“I did once.” He told her, easily. Kay was surprised; it took a lot to make Raven talk to someone who was not from the Queen’s kingdom. Estella smiled softly, nodding. “I will never go anywhere without her again.” He said firmly. Lenore let out a soft coo to him. She nipped his finger softly, in a nearly loving manner. Kay smiled at them, wishing for something as intrinsically real as what they had.

The carriage came to a sudden halt. Tom opened a small window behind Kay’s head, leaning in to look at his passengers best he could.

“Lady and gentlemen, I welcome you to Mystra University.” He called to them, before closing the window once more.