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Austermeer to Room 207, Sunday Afternoon
Sep. 1st, 2019 03:30 pmThe carriage ride from Summershall had been...long. Very long. Well over a day and through the night, though they had stopped at an inn for a few hours around luncheon, so she could wash up, change, and have a meal in a chair that didn't move. After the first few hours, she hadn't paid much attention to the landscape out the window, preferring to lose herself in one of her favorite books instead, but the rumble of the carriage wheels over an unfamiliar surface had her glancing up.
And that was how she'd gotten her first glimpse of the sea, through the small square of window. It was more gray than blue and vast and the salt smell reached her even up over this bridge they were crossing (which felt longer than even the fabled Bridge of Saints in Bassbridge, Austermeer's capital city). Her face was pressed into the small gap for the entirety of the crossing, amazed that something could be so big and all-encompassing. She was so taken up with the sea that she nearly toppled out when the carriage door opened.
The driver blinked down at her as she scrambled for balance. "We're here, Apprentice," he said, offering her a hand to help her step out of the carriage. Her chest was being loaded onto a funny vehicle by a woman in clothing unlike she'd ever seen. "This conveyance will bring you the rest of the way," the driver explained. She looked at him in mute dismay; although they'd barely exchanged ten words on the trip, he was from the village of Summershall and at least familiar. Nothing else that she could spot from her vantage point was. "It's too steep and narrow for the horses to get up," he explained gruffly. "Gots t'turn around here unless I plan to get stuck."
Elisabeth nodded and offered her hand. The new driver finished securing her coach and gestured to her. "Into the rickshaw," she said, "And we'll get you up to the dorms quick as you like."
"Oh!" Elisabeth said, eyes wide. "This is a rickshaw then?" She'd run across the word in books, but had no idea what they'd looked like. Already she was learning so many new things!
Unlike the coach, Elisabeth spent the entirely of the rickshaw trip gaping at everything she could see. The town looked like any village in Austermeer, right down to the cobblestones, but nobody she spotted did. And then the town was left behind and they were on a long road going ever upwards, and suddenly there was a castle. "Is that where the king lives?" she called.
The rickshaw driver laughed. "Naw, that's the school!"
Elisabeth pointed at the next huge building. "Is that a palace?"
"Nope!" She was still laughing. "That's where you're gonna live. That's the dorms!"
Elisabeth was still calculating how many grimoires a Great Library the size of the dorms could hold when she was dropped off in front of the doors. There was someone waiting there with a key and her room assignment, sent by the moose, they said, which Elisabeth assumed was some kind of slang because how could a moose send anybody anywhere?
And then she was carrying her carpet bag and her trunk up to her floor - thank goodness only the second because her trunk was heavy, thunking up each step - and into room 207, her home however long until the Director could be convinced to let her return.
[Door and post both open!]
And that was how she'd gotten her first glimpse of the sea, through the small square of window. It was more gray than blue and vast and the salt smell reached her even up over this bridge they were crossing (which felt longer than even the fabled Bridge of Saints in Bassbridge, Austermeer's capital city). Her face was pressed into the small gap for the entirety of the crossing, amazed that something could be so big and all-encompassing. She was so taken up with the sea that she nearly toppled out when the carriage door opened.
The driver blinked down at her as she scrambled for balance. "We're here, Apprentice," he said, offering her a hand to help her step out of the carriage. Her chest was being loaded onto a funny vehicle by a woman in clothing unlike she'd ever seen. "This conveyance will bring you the rest of the way," the driver explained. She looked at him in mute dismay; although they'd barely exchanged ten words on the trip, he was from the village of Summershall and at least familiar. Nothing else that she could spot from her vantage point was. "It's too steep and narrow for the horses to get up," he explained gruffly. "Gots t'turn around here unless I plan to get stuck."
Elisabeth nodded and offered her hand. The new driver finished securing her coach and gestured to her. "Into the rickshaw," she said, "And we'll get you up to the dorms quick as you like."
"Oh!" Elisabeth said, eyes wide. "This is a rickshaw then?" She'd run across the word in books, but had no idea what they'd looked like. Already she was learning so many new things!
Unlike the coach, Elisabeth spent the entirely of the rickshaw trip gaping at everything she could see. The town looked like any village in Austermeer, right down to the cobblestones, but nobody she spotted did. And then the town was left behind and they were on a long road going ever upwards, and suddenly there was a castle. "Is that where the king lives?" she called.
The rickshaw driver laughed. "Naw, that's the school!"
Elisabeth pointed at the next huge building. "Is that a palace?"
"Nope!" She was still laughing. "That's where you're gonna live. That's the dorms!"
Elisabeth was still calculating how many grimoires a Great Library the size of the dorms could hold when she was dropped off in front of the doors. There was someone waiting there with a key and her room assignment, sent by the moose, they said, which Elisabeth assumed was some kind of slang because how could a moose send anybody anywhere?
And then she was carrying her carpet bag and her trunk up to her floor - thank goodness only the second because her trunk was heavy, thunking up each step - and into room 207, her home however long until the Director could be convinced to let her return.
[Door and post both open!]
