Canticum {A song}

After dinner in the dining hall, Arya headed towards the library. As much as she loved to read, the library was far from her favourite place. It wasn't that the library was hideous. No, in fact, the library was one of the most gorgeous places in the Academy. It had been built as a circular structure with shelves hosting massive volumes. The librarian, Madame Haylee, was kind as well. The only issue Arya had with the library was that it usually had large amount of other girls in it, either finishing their work or simply chatting.

It was the chatting that got to her the most. Every time she heard someone giggling, Arya would have to clench her fist in order not to shout at them to keep their trap shut, or better yet hold them under the tip of her sword. The library was a sacred place and these girls didn't have the right amount of respect for such a powerful place.

As Arya had expected, when she entered the library she was met with all kinds of noises. She winced at the impact as it affected her more than any mere person. Her hearing was sharpened do to her intensive training. She would sit on the same rock for hours listening to the sound of nature. It had taken a while but Arya's hearing became sharper each time. At first she could only here the birds chirping and the crickets in the distance, but pretty soon she was able to hear the song of the wind, the rustling of the grass, and the speeches of the trees.

It was breathtaking but it had its downfall in moments where there was a big crowd, the noises simply got to her. She quickened her pace and approached Madame Haylee's desk. She had a quill in her hand and seemed to be scribbling words down on a parchment.

"Good evening Madame," Arya greeted her politely.

Madame Haylee looked up from her writing to pierce her gaze at the girl that stood before her. "Nice to see you again Arya, what may I do for you this fine evening?"

"It's an urgent matter. I am looking for a book or anything pertaining to the Heres Gladii."

I twinkling look made its way into Madame Haylee's eyes. "Ah, the Heres Gladii, let me guess. Madame Mina?"

Arya nodded surprised at her reaction. It seemed that Madame Haylee did have some knowledge about the matter. "Yes, she assigned me an essay due tomorrow."

"That crafty witch Mina, only she would dare to do something daunting as that." Madame Haylee muttered under her breathe.

She came out from behind the desk and started walking brusquely without saying a word. Arya assumed that she expected to follow, so she did. She climbed the stairs to a secluded section of the library. Here there were no giggling girls. The books were bound in thick leather and many of them even contained dust. Blowing the dust off, Madame Haylee presented Arya with three leather bound scriptures.

"You might find something in here that could be useful. But I highly doubt that. If you don't find any more information I would suggest making an appointment with Lady Zelie. There is nothing wrong with that, and she will have the most knowledge about the Heres Gladii." she said before turning on her heels and leaving Arya to her own thoughts.

Arya opened the first book and immediately coughed. Dust exploded into her face. It seemed that this book hadn't been opened in years. She wiped the dust from the page to come across the text. She read through it quickly. It was about the history of Kalvaria and about the heroics of Sir Lancelot. There were occasional mentions of King Edward but nothing about what she was looking for.

As the evening progressed Arya found that she was more anxious and restless. She had found no information she could actually use. Most of what was in the books she already knew. After she retrieved the information, she would still need to write her essay. She was certain that Madame Mina would not let her enter the class without the essay.

Lighting the candle Arya sleepily glanced at the last book. This was her last chance. Praying she would find what she was looking for, she opened the book. This book was certainly different from the rest. Firstly, the words were in another language. Arya traced her fingers over the letters. She was sure that it was Latin. Madame Mina's hint came back to her mind. She had said that Heres Gladii was a Latin term. If she wasn't going to find it in here, she might as well give up.

Getting up from her chair she walked towards the section which held dictionaries. She wasn't going to translate the whole book, only passages that seemed crucial. Setting the book and dictionary side by side, Arya slowly started translating the table of contents until to figured out a passage that seemed important. Flipping the book gently, she made her way to the chapter and started translating the words that she did so. After almost two hours she understood the gist of the page.

The passage was talking about a pact and a tournament in which people would fight to gain the honour of holding Sir Lancelot's sword and be named a knight for the evening. There would be dances, music and a big tournament. What Arya didn't understand was the correlation between this and the essay Madame Mina had told her to write. Making a mental promise to come back to it after her morning training, she put all the books back into place and made her way through the quiet, dimly light hallways. She didn't want to accidentally wake up any guards. With feathery footsteps she quietly walked to her dorm. The moon was shining through the window so Arya closed the curtains. She made sure everything was in order before she slipped under her covers and drifted off to a light slumber. She had a lot of work to do in the morning.

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When the strike of dawn was about to approach, Arya woke up from her slumber to look outside her window. It was almost time for her training but it seemed as though the weather had other ideas. Clouds hung over the sky blocking the sun. She could hear the slight pitter patter of the rain as it hit the ground with force. It was pointless to go outside in such rain so Arya grabbed her sword and made her way to the training room. To her surprise, there was already someone inside. And from the looks of it, Lady Zelie had been waiting for her.

"Arya, what a pleasant surprise," she uttered. Arya and her both knew that her visit was not a coincidence, nor a surprise. She had been expecting Arya and for quite some time now it seemed.

Arya gave her a low curtsy before she sat down across her placing Anaz on her lap.

Lady Zelie glanced at the sword wearily before she looked up at Arya. "You know you don't have to curtsy before me."

"You are the princess of Kalvaria, descendant from King Edwards's line. I have to curtsy before someone of your blood and stature." Arya simply said.

"Very well Arya. No matter the amount of days, it seems that I will not be able to erase that habit from within you." she said, almost sorrowfully.

Arya nodded and got straight down to business. "Is there something that you require of me?"

Lady Zelie took time before responding. "If you don't mind, let's take a walk."

Arya followed her lead and was pleasantly surprised to see her exit the gate and nod at the women who stood inside the academy because of the rain. They knew better than to question Lady Zelie and Arya so they simply curtsied. Lady Zelie began to walk alongside the path making sure that her gown wasn't getting wet.

"There is just something about rain, it has this soothing quality to erase the evil of the previous days. Have a clean slate. It's something so pure, yet so simple." She pointed out thoughtfully.

"Sometimes, the purest things are the simplest." Arya imputed.

"Your right, of course but there are people that take rain as bad omens. How can one consider something so pure evil?" she pondered awaiting Arya's answer.

Arya chose her next words carefully. "The world could be seen in many ways, it all depends on whom the one seeing it is."

Lady Zelie nodded, satisfied with her answer, "Insightful as always."

She sat down on a bench beckoning Arya to take a seat beside her. "Now, let's get to the real reason why you are here."

Arya kept her mouth shut even though she was curious as to what they would be discussing outside the academy.

"Heres Gladii," the Latin term rolled smoothly from the tip of her lips. "I believe Madame Mina introduced you to the term yesterday."

Arya wasn't surprised the Zelie knew. The headmistress had eyes everywhere. Besides, when Madame Haylee had found out the Arya was searching for Heres Gladii she had called her a crafty witch. It must have been serious enough for her to do so.

"Yes, I am supposed to be writing an essay about it right this moment."

"Well, the question then becomes how are you going to write than essay without the information?" Zelie's eyes twinkled with a knowing look.

Arya knew her well enough to know that Zelie was asking for her to repeat the information she had gathered. "After translating scrolls and books in the library, I know it has something to do with a tournament and a festival."

Zelie looked quite surprised as she admiring said, "I don't even know why I'm astounded. Of course you would find some way to get the information you needed."

Arya kept quite not knowing what to say. She might have been sharp and insightful but she sure wasn't social, Zelie knew that, and respected it.

"Well, for the most part, you got it right. Heres Gladii means heir of the sword in Latin. It was a tournament that took place decades ago ago. The young knights of different academies would face off to be the champion. People of different races and countries all over used to come to see it. The king would open the tournament with a masquerade ball alongside the Commander of the Kalvarian forces. Then, there would be duels for a fortnight in which one man would claim victory. After the winner was crowned, another ball was thrown in honor of his name. Only this time, he was presented with Sir. Lancelot's sword for the night and was treated as a true royal."

Arya processed the information before asking her next question. "Why is this not mentioned in any of the books or history of Kalvaria?"

Lady Zelie let out a breath of air. "I knew you would ask that. About fifty or so years ago, a horrible incident took place in which one of the knights lost his life. After that, the King forbade the tournament and so it hasn't taken place since then."

Suddenly, the information seemed to piece together in Arya's mind. It made so much sense now: Zelie's words at breakfast echoing about something approaching, and why Madam Mina had given her an essay about Heres Gladii. They wanted her to figure it out herself. "We're going to re-start the tournament again, aren't we?"

Lady Zelie smiled softly. Arya had been able to piece it together, after all. "Yes, my twin brother, Zander, and I made a pact seven years ago before we started the academy. We would bring the revival of this tournament but make the rules more appealing."

Arya asked, "How so?"

"Well, for starters, the tournament is going to be open to both males and females of the Narvian and Narvanian academies. Instead of only having duels; we are going to be opening it to more competitions. The duel will remain the main event but what is going to be more unique is the fact that the boys and girls of the two Kalvarian academies will be going head-to-head for the ultimate prize. Not to mention, King Rupert will be assessing the trainee's alongside the Military Leader of Kalvaria to find the next knights."

Arya's ear's perked in curiosity. It had been her dream to be part of the Kalvarian Army and it seemed as though this tournament would be the perfect chance to show off her skills. Submerged into the thoughts, Arya glanced at the courtyard ahead of them. The fog was still visible and was hiding many of the beautiful elements that made up the place but far in the distance Arya could hear the noise of the Nightingale humming its song.

"It's peacefully, isn't it?" Zelie asked breaking the silence.

Arya nodded but didn't reply as she was mesmerized by the sparrow's song.

Zelie brushed off her gown as she stood up gracefully. "Well, it seems that the peace will be broken soon enough. You might want to finish up your essay, and do tell me later on how Mina's face looks like after she is done reading." Lady Zelie said with a fleeting smile before leaving Arya at the bench.

Arya sat for a few more moments before she decided to get up and go back to the library to complete her essay. Most likely, there would be no one in there which is what she was hoping for. Arya rewrote the information she had figured out yesterday and added the information that Lady Zelie had told her about. When she was finished she packed her belongings and made her way to class. Earlier on, Arya had sneaked into the kitchen for a muffin so she wouldn't have to go later on. As Madame Mina had promised, she stood outside the door hand outstretched collecting everyone's essays and giving them a quick glance.

When Arya presented her parchment, Madame Mina took extra time reading it before looking up from her half-moon spectacles in surprise. "Well I'll be honest with you. I didn't expect you to get this information as so accurate."

Arya almost allowed the corners of her lips to crick upward. Lady Zelie had been spot on. Madame Mina's face was priceless. Before entering the class she uttered the words that would change everything, "Lady Zelie says good morning."

Sufficient enough to say, Madame Mina was not amused.

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