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

lock to students after eight at night. You have to be inside before then, or have an Initiate escort you back.”
    Vedaris rolled his eyes and said, “Blimey, how’m I supposed to dice with those rules?”
    Allorna said, a little snippily, “You’re not, genius,” as she reached forward and touched the age-roughened wood.
    Grinning, Lous activated the door ward. Their hands all glowed for a second, then the door swung open. As they entered, they found themselves in a kitchen equipped with a rough table, a bench, four chairs, and not much else. “You’re not required to cook your own meals,” Lous assured them quickly, “but there’s a small fire pit and oven if you want to.” He gestured to the stairs on the right-hand wall. “Shall we go up?”
    With a frown, Maride and Sidimo turned to look at Sitara in her rolling chair; and Sidimo insisted on helping her up the stairs.
    “I can manage,” she said quickly. She didn’t want anyone to touch her.
    Allorna stepped forward and said, “It’ll be easier on all of us if you don’t fall down the steps. At least tonight. Maybe in the morning you’ll feel better. I can help you walk.” She held out her hand.
    Biting her lip, Sitara muttered, “Sure, thanks.” With that, she stood up unsteadily, and Allorna slipped her left arm about Sitara’s waist. She was careful to avoid the heavily bandaged area. They started up the steps at a slow pace, everyone else following behind.
    When they arrived on the upper landing, they saw four rooms with what looked like a small gate leading to more stairs off to the side. There were two rooms straight ahead, and two to the right. “There’s one smaller room in the left tower,” Lous explained.
    They took a look at the rooms. They all held the same furniture: a bed, a small armoire, and a little mirror. Vedaris glanced around, looking a little miffed, and said, “What’s so bad about this? We all get our own rooms, don’t we?”
    “Yes,” admitted Lous, “But all the other students are in the dormitories. It’s so lonely out here. You won’t get to have hall teas, either.”
    “Hall teas?” asked Sitara.
    “It’s a Citadel tradition,” Lous said. “All the kids in a hall get together with their Hall Probate at the end of the week to chat about classes, eat sweets, and drink mint tea.”
    “Oh,” Sitara said with a sigh. “So we don’t get tea and cookies and bonding time?”
    “Not without a Probate,” Lous said.
    “Again, what’s so bad about this?” Vedaris asked, arching an eyebrow.
    Sitara and Maride shot him annoyed looks. “Well,” said Sidimo, “I for one would have enjoyed conversing with other students, particularly those in my School.”
    Lous said brightly, “But you still get to interact with the other students! Most of the intro classes are specific to the different Schools, and there’s always the Citadel green, where everyone hangs out.”
    “Hoorah,” grumped Vedaris. By then, they had realized that the rooms were essentially identical; there was really no difference in choice, aside from personal preference or need.
    “I’ll take the room straight ahead; I can watch the forest at night,” Sitara mused aloud. Sidimo chose the one next to that, because it faced west, which meant he could get more sleep away from the rising sun. Allorna pointed silently at the door closest to the stairs. Vedaris shrugged and tossed his stuff into the room next to that, and across from the bridge. The only room left was in the round tower off the main room. A moment later, Maride took a peek into his new room. It was small and had built-in shelves, but no armoire.
    As they followed Maride over the bridge, they walked into a nice-sized circular room filled with furniture: four desks and four chairs. In the middle of the room was a large throw rug, and to the right a fireplace. Allorna asked “And what is this?”
    “The arms room,” Maride and Lous responded at the same time. When they turned to