Three flights of stairs. Every morning when he came down for breakfast and every evening when he came up after dinner: three flights of stairs.

Nerluce figured he should be happier about it.

He wasn't.

What he was happy about was that he had managed to come as far as he had in such a short time. One year ago on this very day, Nerluce had moved into the dorms. He had carried nothing with him and as he walked up the stairs, his palms were still empty. All he had to his name were two changes of clothes and a pair of boots. He didn't count Eden because he didn't think Eden really belonged to him. Eden was his sister's horse and would eventually be returned to her.

But for now, Eden stayed in the stables and Nerluce carried his two sets of clothes and boots up the stairs into another dorm room, this one slightly less overcrowded than the prior. There had initially been almost fifty students in the fire dorms and now only twenty-four of them remained. And among them was Nerluce.

Nerluce, who wasn't smart and didn't have any natural talent when it came to magic. Nerluce, who had to work harder than anyone else to keep up. Nerluce, who was worthless, was moving to the third floor.

The sleeping arrangements had pretty much stayed the same for Nerluce's dorm. Boys and girls sharing the same space was untraditional but what else was the temple meant to do? The next batch of disciples was coming in and they were almost double the number they'd been the prior year. Word of the Chosen Light's birth had spread to people all across the continent and many had come, all wanting different things from a child who couldn't even talk properly.

It was stupid.

But Nerluce supposed he ought to be grateful to little Kierli. If it hadn't been for her birth, Lord Father never would have sent him and if Nerluce had never been sent, he never would have been able to do magic as he did now. It still wasn't particularly good or powerful but it was actual magic. Nerluce was an actual magician. And yet... Nerluce's eyes still remained darkened, refusing to go crimson, the mark of a true Hebikoti magician.

"Nerluce," Lyana said, draping her body over his shoulders. "You'd think you were the daughter of the King with how often you're looking in that mirror."

"Sorry," Nerluce muttered.

His eyes weren't going to turn red overnight. Or... maybe they would? Nerluce wasn't sure. Sometimes it happened slowly and other times it was in the blink of an eye. Lyana's hair had been changing colors, going from a natural red to something that looked more akin to the product of dyes.

Nerluce had noticed it happening in his other classmates too. Eko had the most noticeable change happen to them. Whenever they spoke, breaths of smoke would escape their lungs. Jurine always smelled like a campfire - though maybe it was just all the time she spent with Eko. Hamelin had started to go red at his fingertips and Corbett's yellow hair seemed just a bit too much like candlelight sometimes.

Even Aristide's gold-rimmed eyes seemed to fill in, bit by bit with every class. Not that Nerluce spent any significant amount of time staring into Aristide's eyes. Not... intentionally at least.

"You're still staring," Lyana said in a sing-song voice as she threw open the windows.

They had kept the windows open most of the summer and Lyana had gotten used to opening them. Nerluce wondered if she would open them all the way until winter. It was already getting cold again and nobody else bothered to open their windows. Someone would probably complain. Either Corbett or Eko if Nerluce were to place a bet.

"It's a nice day," Jurine said, stretching. She'd spent her morning reading a book. For fun.

Nerluce would never understand people who were smart enough to read for fun. Who had that kind of time and mental energy? He shook his head and went to stretch his own muscles. He supposed he shouldn't spend all morning looking into a mirror. It would drive him crazy. It was already driving him crazy.

"I'm going to go for a run," Nerluce announced. "Anyone want to come?"

"Sure," Lyana said. "I just did a bit of maintenance on these girls," She patted her metal legs that Nerluce honestly forgot were metal most days, "and I need to make sure they're working okay. If they give out, you're going to have to carry me back, Nerluce."

"No way," Nerluce said. "I'll leave you for the wolves."

Lyana made an offended noise.

"I can't believe you're doing that on our day off," Jurine said, shaking her head as she returned her nose to her book. "No thank you. Eko you can't go either. I need to use you as a pillow."

Eko - whose chest was currently in use as Jurine's pillow now that she'd settled back down from Lyana opening a window - simply rolled their eyes and went back to their own book. Eko liked reading textbooks, making them - in Nerluce's opinion - even weirder than Jurine who liked sappy romances.

One night they'd taken her book and read it aloud. Lyana had been the pining male love interest and Corbett had - unwillingly - taken the role of his unrequited love. They stopped when the scene became obscene, worried that someone would hear.

"Sorry," Eko said.

"Corbett," Nerluce said, toeing the yellow-haired boy. He had been writing something and Nerluce had startled him with his touch making him mess up. "You want to go for a run?"

Corbett wrinkled his nose. "No."

"And Hamelin won't go without you," Nerluce summed up, gesturing to the largest boy in the room who offered Nerluce an apologetic smile because Nerluce was right. "Great. Lyana and I will enjoy getting strong without you."

"Have fun," Jurine said.

"Don't fall off a cliff," Eko called.

"And watch out for mountain lions," Corbett said.

"There are no mountain lions!"

Corbett snickered as Nerluce and Lyana left the room. Nerluce was pretty sure that there weren't any mountain lions. He'd never seen a mountain lion up here - granted he'd never seen a mountain lion in general - but that was because they didn't come this far east. At least he didn't think they came this far east...

"Race you down the stairs!" Lyana cried.

And then... it was three flights of stairs again.

Lyana beat Nerluce down the stairs but Nerluce beat Lyana to the start of the running path, so he figured that counted as a tie. They ran together - Lyana was faster than Nerluce but Nerluce had more stamina than Lyana. They were trying to find a pace so that both of them would get tired at around the same time and also help Nerluce get faster and Lyana build up her stamina.

They went around once before it was lunch and Nerluce had dish duty while Lyana got to go to the stables. They ate lunch together, even though Lyana didn't need to wait that long and then they went running again. This time it was to see who'd get cramps first.

Nerluce won.

By the time they made it back to their dorm, the others had gotten up and prepared themselves for the day. Or, rather, the evening.

"Is this thing really such a big deal?" Nerluce asked, tugging his sweat-dampened top off.

"I guess," Lyana said as she shrugged on a new robe. Actually, they had all gotten new robes - someone had delivered them while Lyana and Nerluce had been out - upping Nerluce's worldly affairs to two and a half outfits. "But formal wear? It's dinner, it's not that important."

"It is too, that important," Corbett said.

"Keep your eyes on your side of the room!" Jurine shouted.

Corbett had barely turned his head when addressing Lyana but Jurine had eyes like a falcon. One of the first rules they'd put into play was the imaginary curtain - in other words, the boys were not allowed to turn around while the girls were changing. The girls and Eko. Not that Nerluce had ever even needed to turn around for Eko, they woke up much earlier than anyone else in the room.

Corbett sneered, though Jurine had no way of seeing it. Nerluce saw it though and realized they were about to have this argument again.

"It's not fair that we have to turn around but you don't," Corbett said, tilting his chin towards the ceiling. "We should all do it... or none of us."

"No one's looking at you Corbett," Eko deadpanned.

Corbett's face went red. Nerluce grinned, despite wanting to stay out of this argument. "It's the principle of it!" Corbett snapped. "Hamelin, Nerluce, back me up here."

"Why?" Nerluce cocked his head. "I don't want to look at you either."

Lyana and Jurine burst into howls of laughter and even Eko cracked a smile which was as much as anyone could ever get out of them. Corbett stuttered through a response, his face still flushed. Hamelin just shook his head. He was so much more mature than the rest of them, it was like he was their older brother.

Or nanny.

"Just for that," Jurine said, standing up, her eyes on Nerluce. "I'll look at you instead of Hamelin when you boys change from now on."

"Young mistress, I would never deprive you in such a way," Nerluce said.

Lyana jumped up behind Jurine, just wearing her under robes. She looked him up and down, smiling. "I didn't notice it until now but you're... bigger. I guess Taayir's workout schedule has really been paying off."

"You're right," Jurine said. "He used to look more like Corbett..."

"No need to insult me," Nerluce said, turning around and putting on his under robe. He wasn't particularly bothered by being looked at by two - very attractive, he might add - girls. What bothered him was... the fact they had noticed. Nerluce's body was the single sliver of proof that he'd been improving.

He'd lost the last of his baby fat and started to build muscle. He still had a long way - and more than a couple of inches - before he was half as well built as Hamelin, who was by far the most attractive member of their room.

Nerluce pulled on the formal robes and tied the sash around his waist. The robes were nice but nothing close to what he wore back home. If anything, these robes just felt like a silly imitation of noble life. Yet... in a lot of ways, this was better than anything that nobility had ever offered Nerluce. Friends, laughter, happiness.

"I think these formal clothes are nice," Lyana said, waving her sleeves around.

Corbett scoffed and Jurine rolled her eyes. "Well, we should look nice for the banquet. It is in the honor of those who passed this stage."

"Yes," Eko said.

Lyana jumped between them, looping her arms around each of their shoulders. "We should all dance together afterward!"

"That sounds fun! You'll dance with us, right Eko?" Jurine asked, though to Nerluce it looked more like she wanted to dance with Eko alone.

"Sure," Eko said.

"And-" Jurine cleared her throat turning to the boys, "you guys will dance too?"

"Obviously!" Nerluce said, grinning.

Corbett scoffed. "Well maybe. If you insist."

"Shut up, Corbett, no one wants to dance with you," Jurine snapped before turning to Hamelin. "Do you want to dance with us, Hamelin?"

Hamelin glanced at Corbett so swiftly that anyone who blinked would have missed it. It was a subtle movement but Nerluce caught it. Nerluce furrowed his brows before looking at Corbett. His face gave nothing away and had Nerluce not spent so much time watching Aristide summon that pretty ice sword of his, he would've missed the flexing of Corbett's fingers, a gesture that Nerluce knew well.

A gesture that nobility made to their servants - meaning yes.

"I would be honored," Hamelin said.

Nerluce's lips twitched downwards. He knew that Corbett and Hamelin were from the same place and he knew they were close. But he had mistaken their closeness for friendship? Just who were these two Dumorians?

"Well," Nerluce said, pushing it from his mind with a smile, "we shouldn't be late, then, now should we?"

And with that Nerluce went down three flights of stairs.