Free Red Madrassa: Algardis #1 by Terah Edun Page A

for you. As it is, you will be housed together in the old Marsea Gatehouse. While it is not up to our usual standards, it will have to do.”
    Vedaris raised a sarcastic eyebrow; clearly, he couldn’t wait to see what this gatehouse was like.
    Wilhemina beckoned to a young boy waiting in the shadows. “This is my nephew Lous. He’ll take you to Marsea. Linens, student handbooks, and tunics have already been sent over. You’ll be living apart from the other students, but you’ll still have to live by the rules of the dorms.” She fluttered her hands in their general direction. “Now, get on with you lot! Off to your beds.”

Chapter 8

    V edaris, Sidimo, Allorna, and Maride all turned to file out; Lous moved to help Sitara with her rolling chair. But he was almost as short as she was sitting down, so Sidimo waved him away and said, “Here, let me.”
    He might have been an arrogant lout when such was called for, Sitara decided, but he still believed in courtesy towards the weak and infirm.
    As they walked along the path outside, passing through the deep russet shade cast by the crimson leaves, Lous said cheerfully, “Welcome to the Madrassa! You’ll love it here. I mean, I do. There are so many people here; some good, some bad, of course. The rich kids are okay, but the merchant students are the best. They always have stuff to barter…”
    Maride said, “I’ve read up on the Madrassa and the Marsea Gatehouse. It has an interesting history. It used to be the only entrance from the school grounds into the Ameles Forest.”
    “And what is the Ameles Forest, pretty boy?” Vedaris asked.
    “It’s the boundary between Sandrin and the Nardes Kingdom, where the UnHumans live,” said the gardis girl.
    Maride said, “Yes, Allorna, but it’s also known for ghosts and zombies and dreck like that!”
    Vedaris retorted drily, “Ghosts and zombies and dreck? Oh my!”
    “Yes! But more importantly, Marsea was the only entrance from the school grounds into the Ameles behind it for decades! That is, until they destroyed the containing wall that ran parallel to it fifty years ago.”
    “Containing wall?” said Allorna. “For containing whom, the students?”
    “I dunno,” Maride said. “The books didn’t say.” He turned to Lous and said, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t the Gatehouse been abandoned since the containing wall was brought down?”
    “Yes, by the living ,” said Lous, with a wicked grin. “But my aunt sent down cleaning staff to give it a good scrubbing this morning. I was one of them,” he said, rubbing his elbow.
    Sitara asked, “How did she know we would need it?”
    “She’s real thorough like that, Auntie is,” Lous answered. “Even if she did whine a bit, if there was a chance you might pass your tests, she wanted to be ready.”
    At that moment they rounded a bend, and there was the Marsea Gatehouse.
    It stood on the very edge of the facilities: two small towers connected by an enclosed bridge. The left tower was round, like a lighthouse. Gravel extended from the path below the bridge towards the right tower, which was squarish. There were windows piercing the towers, and what looked like an attempt at a small garden around the edges of the property. The remnants of a stone wall stretched about ten meters to either side of the gatehouse. The Ameles Forest, a dense grouping of shadowy trees, loomed twenty meters past the gatehouse. Unlike the trees on campus, these were all a healthy natural green, though not without a few bluish and yellowish highlights.
    Lous produced a set of unwieldy-looking keys from a pocket. One thick steel key allowed entrance to the right tower. In a slightly nervous voice he said, “If you will all step forward and put your hands to the door, I’ll activate the wards so you can enter and leave without the key.” He cleared his throat. “Now, remember‌—‌and this is all in your handbooks‌—‌all doors and wards except the healing facility