The inside of the library was a complete marvel. Xiren stepped inside in absolute astonishment. He hadn’t realized that there were this many books in the world. Everywhere he looked were shelves and shelves of books. The shelves themselves along the walls rose four heads taller than him, with ladders spanning the length. After winding through the maze of books and shelves, they arrived at a spiral staircase, at the top of which was three rooms. Two of the rooms had beds inside for Arkham and Xiren, meanwhile, the third room was a classroom of sorts, similar to the schoolroom in Lilan.

“So Xiren, can you read and write?” Arkham asked, nodding at the classroom and then the books back behind him in the library.

"No, sir." Xiren shook his head. "Is it really that important?"

"Indeed, it is. In fact, it is most likely the most important two skills you will learn from me. You had school in the village, did you not?" Arkham inquired, watching as Xiren nodded in reply. "If you cannot read, but had classes, I assume you were taught by word of mouth. The reason that reading and writing are so important is that if all knowledge were passed down by word of mouth, there is no way that everyone could remember it all. It would change and warp with each retelling, losing some of the truth, each and every time. With books, we are able to find information from the original source. Books can be copied and rewritten, word for word without a single mistake, and each and every story is important. Your first assignment will be to learn your letters, learn to read and write, and begin writing your story. It can be a journal, it can be fiction, it can be the story of what happened to your village, but I want you writing every day."

“Very well, Sir. When do I get started?” Xiren stepped into the classroom, assuming they would start learning immediately. 

Arkham grabbed his arm, stopping him from progressing any further into the room. “That will wait until tomorrow. We still have much to discuss regarding our situation together.” He led Xiren away from the classroom and pointed towards one of the bedrooms. “This is my room, and this one is yours.” He pointed to the other. “Every morning you will be expected to wake before the sun so that we can get started. Morning exercise training starts at sunrise, and any tardiness will not be tolerated. Breakfast will begin after morning training, and then we will begin your reading lessons. We will spend two hours every morning on lessons and then I will teach you how to manage the library and help any royals or couriers find the books they need. In the afternoon, we will have a short lunch, and then we will have magic and combat lessons. After that, we will return to the library. At that time, I must focus on the library, but you may use any time before dinner for leisure activities.” He walked into Xiren’s room and gestured for him to sit on the bed. “Now, any questions about your daily schedule?”

“No Sir.” Xiren shook his head, then studied his new room. Although it was small for Arkham, or any other city people, the room was much bigger than his Loakskin tent, and much too big for him.

“Xiren,” Arkham got down on one knee in front of the boy and looked him directly in the eye. “We will need to discuss a few rules, as well as your status.” Xiren’s attention snapped back to Arkham immediately. “You are never to let anyone in your room, other than me unless you have my direct permission. Also, you must never mention your powers to anyone. No one must know that you have the ability to use all four elements, or that you are a Liever. If anyone presses you, you are to tell them that you are a water mage, understand?” Xiren nodded his assent, and the old man continued. “If you had been sold to anyone else in the capital, you would have been listed as a slave. As it is, I’ve gotten you away from that. You have neither a slave’s collar around your neck, nor a slave’s tattoo on your right forearm. Right now, you are considered a commoner and my apprentice. Nearly everyone you meet in this library and palace will be of a higher rank than you, and you will need to treat them as such. Whenever anyone greets you, even a servant, you must remember to bow to them. That will suffice, no matter what rank they are.”

Xiren nodded again, but then a question occurred to him. “Sir, what is my purpose here? Why did you make me your apprentice?”

Arkham smiled warmly at him and placed his hand on his shoulder companionably. “Obviously, I believe that you are a talent that must be nourished, but I must confess, that is not the only reason I brought you here. I am an old man, Xiren, an old man with many enemies. Eventually, I would like to mold you into my bodyguard, to protect me from those who would do me harm. Now, of course, I am destined to die eventually, but there is much I have to do before then. After I train you and you grow into a proper mage, I intend to send you to the magic school at which I used to teach.  Would you be interested in any of what I just mentioned?”

Xiren thought seriously for a moment. He had never expected that he would become a bodyguard, or that he wouldn’t be a slave. “All of that sounds wonderful, Sir. You saved my life. It would be my pleasure to protect yours.”

“Excellent!” Arkham clapped his hands and stood. “Now, we both best get some sleep tonight. Training starts in the morning. Is there anything you would like me to procure for you? Decorations for the room, and such? I assume you don’t have much luggage from your village, so I commissioned an apprentice’s uniform for the palace for you. It should arrive in the morning.”

Xiren looked down at his hands thoughtfully, then once again at the room. The room was bare except for his bed, a chamber pot, and a window that looked down the palace grounds. “Sir, if I could trouble you, would you be able to find a desk for me, and perhaps a garden box for plants? I have some in my cache that I would love to plant in front of my window.” He looked down at his hands, dirty and still slightly bloodstained, his clothes still the light linens he had been given as soon as he had arrived in Barthain. “Perhaps a basin of water to wash in, as well, if it’s not too much trouble.”

Arkham smiled kindly down at the boy as he left. “As you wish, my boy.”

The next morning, Xiren was up before the crack of dawn, as requested by Arkham. He found a new uniform laid out for him at the foot of his bed when he awoke, and quickly changed into it. He opened his door and found the hallway to be pitch black. Curious to see if he could control his magic, he focused on his fire magic source and sought a keyword to make it work. “Ignite.” As he whispered the word, a small ball of orange fire appeared above his palm. He silently congratulated himself, then decided to find Arkham.

 When he left his room, Arkham’s bedroom door was open and the room was empty. He made his way down the staircase and into the maze of shelves. For a moment, he wondered if he was lost, but he finally found the library entrance before him. He hadn’t noticed the front desk the day before, as it was nearly hidden in an alcove to the left of the door, but today, it was easy to spot, as Arkham stood behind it. He was organizing different stacks of books, writing notes, and placing them on top. “I see that you are able to use the fire element at will now,” Arkham said quietly without looking up. “That’s great news, however, I have a lantern here at the desk, and no one needs to know that you’re a fire mage. Extinguish it, please.”

“Of course, Sir,” Xiren replied, immediately releasing his hold on his fire magic source.

“These books are tomes that some of the courtiers and royal family have requested to borrow today. I’m organizing them now so that if they come to pick them up before breakfast, they can.” Arkham explained to Xiren without being prompted. He finished shuffling around the books into their precise stacks, then he sighed in relief and picked up his lantern. “Finished! Off to the training ground then! Follow me, Xiren, if you please.”

Together, they exited the library. Arkham took the lead, turning down the right corridor, instead of turning left towards the staircase they had used the day before with the painting above it. They wound their way through a maze of corridors and finally reached a large balcony that rose above the palace grounds. Xiren followed Arkham down the staircase attached to the balcony and soon reached the grassy field below.

After removing his new shirt, Xiren got to work. The morning training consisted of stretches, push-ups, sit-ups, toe touches, splits, and seven laps around the track. Soaking in sweat, Xiren was touched when Arkham presented him with a bucket of water and a cloth to wash himself with. He patted down his arms and upper torso, wiping the sweat before replacing his shirt. “Well done,” Arkham complimented him before leading him off of the field and into the breakfast room.

They sat down to a breakfast of dried fresh bread baked by one of the palace cooks and fried eggs. Before eating, Xiren stared down at the eggs on his plate, unsure of how to eat them. He had never eaten an egg before. Most of his diet in Lilan had consisted of fish and Loak meat. Arkham noticed his predicament and began to slowly eat his eggs with a fork and knife. Xiren picked up the silverware before him and tried in vain to stab the egg and lift it to his lips. They didn’t have kitchenware in his village either, they simply ate with their hands. Arkham chuckled and helped him to cut his egg whites and shovel them onto his fork. 

The first bite of egg was pretty much tasteless, but Arkham had cut into the yolk and submerged the egg whites before handing the fork back to Xiren for the second bite. As he placed the second bite in his mouth, his eyes widened as the exquisite flavor permeated his tongue. He’d never had anything like it. Suddenly very excited to eat, he tried to copy Arkham’s knife and fork prowess with renewed vigor. He had almost finished his meal when Arkham spoke. His voice was quiet, but his words came with an urgent tone. “Xiren, do you remember what we discussed last night?” Xiren nodded. They had spoken plenty the night before. He wondered which part Arkham was referring to. “Are you prepared to be my bodyguard?” The boy nodded again, chewing his food and studying Arkham suspiciously.

“Yes, why?” Xiren asked him, unsure of where this conversation was going.

Arkham looked pointedly towards the entrance to the kitchen. “Because your first test is coming on your left. Do your best! Only ice magic, understand?”

Before Xiren could fully comprehend what he had said, he heard a faint whistling coming towards his left ear. Forgetting completely about breakfast, he dropped his utensils, grabbed his plate, and deflected the knife that would have gouged his temple. The last piece of egg fell off of his plate and splattered against the floor. For a moment, he stared down at the ruined breakfast at his feet. Then, an animal-like growl escaped his lips and he turned to face the assailant. The man was dressed in all black and was rushing toward him holding a knife in his right hand and a rapier in the other. Xiren didn’t even think. An ice dagger appeared in his hand as the man approached, and more ice blossomed at the man’s feet, instantly gluing him to the floor. The man shrieked as a loud crack echoed from one of his legs. He dropped both of his weapons and clutched his right leg. Unable to stop his momentum, the ice held his leg in place as the rest of his body had been propelled forward and snapped one of the bones. Blood was now leaking across the floor, a glint of his white bone a shining point protruding from his leg. 

Xiren sauntered over to the man and stomped mercilessly on his broken leg. The man screamed in agony, tears pouring out of his eyes. “Stop!” He screamed, begging Xiren to get off of his shattered leg.

Xiren ignored his pleas, instead looking blankly over at Arkham. “Well, Master, what are your orders?”

Arkham, still eating, flicked his hand in a wave of dismissal. “Remove his cloak and check his neck and his right arm.” Xiren did so, revealing a gleaming white collar around the man’s neck. Arkham glanced over and scowled. “When they have a bare neck and no tattoo on their arm, then you can interrogate them for information. If they have either a collar or a tattoo on their right arm, it means that they’re a slave. They are being controlled. When that’s the case, we have no way to get information from them, and there’s no way to free them from their master’s grip. See, slaves have charms that control them. To free a slave, you must steal their charm from their master, and it could be anything. They’re not worth the work to save. If you are ever attacked by one, the only answer is death.”

Xiren blanched at this explanation. Sure, he had broken the man’s leg and hurt him for good measure, but he had never purposefully killed a man. It had been an accident before. He stared down at the man, the slave, now begging him for his life. He couldn’t do this. Sure, this man had attacked him and tried to kill him, but if he was being controlled, then he most likely hadn’t wanted to kill Xiren in the first place. Arkham noticed his struggling resolve and sighed. Leaving his breakfast on the table, he rose to his feet and approached Xiren, held out his hand, and brought it down swiftly over the man’s neck. A whoosh of air and wind flew through the air above them, chopping the man’s head clean off of his body.