Dark.
Damp.
Depressing as heck.
Honestly, it has the same vibes as high school.
“This is where you’ll be spending most of your days.” General Cleandro vibrated with barely constrained glee.
He could also benefit from a few whacks of a shovel.
He led us to the fourth door. “This is the library, the second place you’ll be spending all your time.”
My head tipped back, eyes widening.
It was palatial.
Towering stacks of books, velvet chairs, mahogany desks, and fireplaces with flickering flames filled the long, narrow space. Unlike the other rooms, the rock ceiling towered high above. Much larger red candles hung down the center of the stacks, and their wax dripped into a long, narrow pool.
The scent of old parchment filled the air, and the roaring fireplaces chased away the underground chill.
It was lovely.
A few women in white togas milled about, putting books on the shelves and translating texts at desks. I almost cried because I wasn’t the only female around.
“Here is our new batch of initiates,” General Cleandro announced, and a few women looked over, but most ignored us.
“You’ll show the muses respect,” he spat. “Or you’ll bekilled.”
It was potentiallynota good sign that he sounded hopeful.
Before I could devolve into a full-on panic attack, we followed him to the last door, which opened to a long dark tunnel.
“As I said before,” he said as his hawk (government surveillance drone) stared at us. “The animal menagerie is down this hall. But youwon’t be seeing the animals until September, so this door should have no use for you.”
He paused.
“Some of you won’t live that long, so you don’t need to worry about this hall at all.” He smiled meanly. “Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed your tour. There is no kitchen or bath house—because you willnoteat or clean yourselves while you’re studying here.”
The door shut with a thud.
I wanted to cry.
“Your studies start now.”
His expression was cruel. “You will attend the classes: Thagorean, Lost Classical Lore, and Defense and Power, in that order. The sessions will last for varying amounts of time determined by your two professors, and I will announce when you have breaks and for how long they will last... it’s all quite simple.”
Simply awful.
“Oh, one more thing.” He took a step closer. “You have three guest professors filling in this year—General Pine and General Augustus will be your classroom professors, and General Kharon will be working the circuit.”
Initiates whispered with horror around me.
Augustus and Kharon—boththe infamous Chthonic heirs are teaching us?
General Cleandro bared his teeth. “We use the Socratic method here. You’ll be called on at random, and if you answer a question wrong, your mentors will be notified and they’ll lead your entire class through the circuit—which is a run through the mountains and swim through the River Styx, where Kharon will be waiting there for you.”
There was a long awkward pause.
