Janie had spent the journey to the Royal Military Academy in the capital in a daze, staring longingly back the way they had come during the day and crying herself to sleep at night. She wanted to go home more than anything else in the world, but she knew that she couldn’t. It had been explained to her several times by the exasperated census tester that as a ward of the Temple who had reached the age of sixteen the Kingdom was well in its right to conscript her for a service of no greater than seven years. The repeated explanations on how she was basically a slave for what she assumed would be the full seven years did not make Janie feel better.

Around midday on the sixth day since leaving her home she was ushered away from the caravan that had, in her mind anyway, kidnapped her and into an ornate coach to finish the last leg of her journey to the Royal Military Academy, or RMA as the other members of the caravan called it. Staring out at the rolling farmland that surrounded the capital Janie found that she was finally letting herself enjoy the scenery. Just as she began to quietly enjoy the idyllic vista that was outside her window she caught her first glimpse of the RMA, and her jaw dropped at the sight.

Janie had always thought of herself as much worldlier than a lot of the other kids that she had grown up with, having travelled to find her father as she did, but that did little to prepare her from gaping at the soaring golden towers of the RMA. She counted six towers in all, with an octagonal building in the center. Janie boggled at how such large buildings could even exist, with each of the towers having at least twenty floors that she could make out from her approach. Even the center building was far bigger than Janie was comfortable with. She just knew that she would spend of the upcoming days getting lost in such large buildings, especially without Rose to help compensate for her own incredibly poor sense of direction. Colorful banners flew from high positions of each tower, while a large Kingdom flag flew proudly from the roof of the center structure. Calling the campus the most impressive thing that she had ever seen did not do it justice in her own mind.

Still reeling from how small the campus made her feel Janie did not notice when the carriage stopped and the exit door opened. “Ahem, miss. We have arrived” Jumping with fright Janie looked out and saw the coachman holding the door open. He had a wry grin on his face and was making a “well come on” gesture with his free hand. Blushing furiously, Janie grabbed the small handmade bag Mother Cham had given her that held all of her meager belongings and took her first step onto the campus that would be her home.

Waiting for Janie was a woman with dusky skin and white hair pulled up in a severe bun. She was dressed in a loose fitting robe adorned with stars that seemed to shift and move to Janie’s eyes. Janie couldn’t help but stare in wonder. There was something magical about this woman. Janie noted that she had pointed ears almost as an afterthought.

“Greetings child, I am Headmistress Tor. You will refer to me and all faculty by our full titles at all times while you are a student. Come. We have much to do and a strict timetable to do it in.” Spinning on one heel, Headmistress Tor marched towards the center building without a single glance behind to see if she was being followed. Seeing that she was rapidly being left behind Janie jogged to catch up.

“You caught up? Good. No one likes a dawdler. Now, you are in the fast-track program, so you will be very busy over the next two years. First, we are going to test you for the educational basics. That will happen tomorrow.” Producing a clipboard from somewhere that Janie couldn’t see, Headmistress Tor slowed ever so slightly as she read over it before speeding back up to her previous pace. “I see that you have a Temple education. Good. They have very high standards. I am sure that there will be little we have to fill in the blanks for. Our second step is to test your competencies with mana so that we can place you in the care of an appropriate mentor.”

Looking at her clipboard once more the Headmistress abruptly stops in front of a large pair of double doors. Janie out of breath from the brisk power-walk across the campus looks at her expectantly and a little afraid. “Before we go any further,” Her tone surprisingly gentle, “Let us talk about your conscription. You are on the hook for the full seven years, the maximum currently allowed under Kingdom law. It is rare for them to use up the entire deployment of a citizen in one go like that. They have high hopes for you, and if you play your cards right you can probably snag a position as an officer during your conscription. If you stay with the army, which I am sure is their end goal with the way they are handling this, I imagine you will be offered even more opportunities for advancement.” Glancing down at her clipboard once more she begins leafing through the pages before freezing and looking at Janie with wide eyes. “Your caretaker was Justicar Cham.” Janie could tell it wasn’t a question, but she nodded anyway.

The next several minutes were an unintelligible blur of squee-ing noises and inane questions about Mother Cham that shattered her initial impression of the Headmistress into a thousand tiny pieces. Janie did her best to answer the questions, and did manage to catch a few rapid-fire references to Mother Cham fighting in a war, but really she was just confused by this whole situation. Raising her hands in front of herself in a warding gesture, Janie asked “Why are you so interested in Mother Cham? To me she is just Mother Cham, and that while she did teach all of us the basics of defending ourselves she never seemed like a famous warrior.”

The Headmistress laughed and replied “In my experience, most famous warriors tend to be pretty low key, and Justicar Cham is no exception. The Justicar fell off the face of the planet after the Dead War even though she was one of the biggest heroes to those fighting on the front lines.” Looking around the quad area and seeing no one the Headmistress motioned Janie over to a bench where they took a seat. “I suppose since I brought it up I should tell you the story. I am pretty sure that in an academic sense you know what the Dead War was, but I was actually there during the last push. I was part of the Justicar’s unit at that time. Needless to say, she saved my life several times and I never got to thank her for that. She is well I hope?” Janie and the Headmistress spoke for a few more minutes, with Janie politely answering her questions and the Headmistress musing on reaching out to her old battle buddy to maybe schedule some tea.

Looking up to the sky, the Headmistress let out a long sigh before standing and gone was the woman who was interested in Mother Cham. Motioning for Janie to follow her they marched into the building and into a long hall down a side corridor. Janie was already lost and was very grateful for the guide. After a few seconds at their brisk pace the arrived at a supply room. Rapping on the door the Headmistress lead Janie inside and thrust a lightly made wooden crate into her hand. Bewildered at first, Janie began to understand as she was loaded down with all the sundries one would need to live alone in a dorm. Before she could ask questions they were out of the supply room and into a clothing supply room. Before she could say anything the Headmistress had taken her bag and box and she found herself being measured by an elderly woman for her new uniforms. She was quickly ushered through a trial fitting of the uniform, which consisted of a white blouse with a dark blue ascot embroidered with the coat of arms of the Kingdom, a black ankle length skirt, and some brown flats. Nodding her head the seamstress pulled three garment bags off of a shelf behind her and laid them on top of the bundle currently being held by the Headmistress. She grunted and then promptly handed the mess back to Janie before leading her to yet another storage room, this one manned by an elderly man. Flipping to the last page on her clipboard she pulled it free and hands it over to the man. He stares at it for a moment and then produces three textbooks that promptly go onto Janie’s burden.

Their next, and thankfully final, stop turned out to be the dorm Janie would be staying in. It was located in one of the towers flanking the main building. The Headmistress took her to a room on the second floor and opened it with a small silver key. Motioning inside, she took the burden from Janie and laid it all on the bed. “We are a tad late, but not too bad considering the detour. Come to my office an hour after dawn for your aptitude tests. You can find it in the main building, if you get lost just ask one of the guards. Do you have any questions or comments before I leave you to retire for the evening?”

Janie, still stunned by the whirlwind of activity that had been thrust upon her, numbly nodded her head before speaking, “Yes ma’am. Do you escort everyone around like you did me?” The Headmistress smiled ruefully at Janie before shaking her head in the negative. “No, normally a teacher would sponsor a new student, however I just happened to be the only one free today. My original plan was to give the tour, get you your supplies and then hand you over to your actual sponsor. It was a coincidence, but a happy one, that I learned that Justicar Cham was doing well and as a small gesture to pay her back I have decided to sponsor you personally.”

Giving a creepy smile that made Janie very uncomfortable, she continued “To repay my debt from the war I will make you a shining example of this institute and forge you into someone that the Justicar will be proud to have raised.” Janie let out an involuntary gulp at the look in her new mentor's eyes.

“You had better be prepared. Your education starts tomorrow my dear.” With that last threat the Headmistress spun on her heels one last time and marched out of the room. Janie who had been holding her breath let out a shriek when the Headmistress popped her head back into the room and pointed at the desk in the corner. “If you want to child, you can write home anytime you want. I will make sure your letters arrive.” With that she was gone again, leaving Janie to inspect her new living space.

Janie worked for the next couple of hours, exploring her new room and arranging the new equipment for her school life. Settling down on her bed, Janie started to shuffle through her small canvas bag, a gift from Mother Cham that she treasured dearly, and pulled out another of her personal treasures. It was a misshapen stuffed animal that Rose had insisted was supposed to be a dragon. It was the first such toy that she had sewn after learning how to from an elderly widow in the nearby village. Even if she had been dubious about its accuracy at the time, she still had slept with it every night since it was gifted to her. Looking at it longingly, Janie made a decision. She would make the best of this situation and would not lose track of her loved ones. Sitting down at the small, but well-built desk she began to write a letter to her family detailing her first day at RMA.