Introducing Mira
Arminius sat in
his newly claimed office, eyes shut allowing the warm sunbeams to enter through
the window and soothe his tense shoulders. A morning’s worth of completed forms
were stacked neatly on the corner of his grand desk, while a much larger stack
waited at his right hand. He exhaled slowly, psyching himself up for a renewed
start at his paperwork. Years of study and practice in nearly every form of
wizardry had done little to brace him for the copious amounts of writing he was
now required to do. The one comfort his training afforded him was that his hand
was free of cramping, as he had enchanted his pen to take diction.
Opening his
eyes, he placed an unfinished form in front of him, and drew his wand from a
pocket of his jacket. With a small gesture to his newly bought, but already
worn, pen it stood at attention, hovering near the top of the fourteenth
section of the Academy Recompense Form.
“Number of
students, not available. Primary residence, Calcibar Manor, Strouton Cornell
province. Not available, not applicable, no, no preferred method . . . .“ Such
did the day progress for Principal Arminius Traffurd. In fact, nothing changed,
save for the name of the legal form, until the sun had hid itself behind the
west wing of the manor, behind Arminius. It was at that point that there was
the slight jingling of bells, announcing the arrival of a much anticipated
person.
The person in
question, had arrived in Strouton only that afternoon, coming in by the most
direct train from the Royal City, which still made three stops along the route.
Her name is Mira Valithiano, daughter of Jordan and Miranda Valithiano, silver
class duelist and dabbling painter. As she stood at the entryway, one of many
summer breezes blew past, forcing her billowy clothes against her frame and
nearly undoing her loose bun. At a glance, one would not take her to be a wizard
rather the opposite would come to mind, most wizards being fond of plain
appearances and calm demeanors, Mira seems rather contrary to the mold. It is a
comment her dower, wizardly mother never fails to tease on.
The door opened,
seemingly of its own will, and Mira took her entry into the foyer.
“Welcome to
Ithalreal, Professor Valithiano!” Arminius called down to her from the balcony
which ran across were the second story would be.
“It’s a pleasure
to be here, Principal Traffurd!.” Mira replied, “Or at least it will be when cob
webs aren’t framing each and every corner “
“I thought with
your artistic sense you would see past that to what this place could be,”
retorted Arminius.
Mira raised her
eyebrow, “ahuh, in other words you want me to do the cleaning?”
“I’m drowning in
papers, and forms, and reports and job applications, I’ve done nothing else all
day,” explained Arminius. “In fact, I’ve not even eaten. I know you just
arrived, but how do you feel about going back into town and catching up over
dinner?”
“I feel like if
I smell coal smoke from one more train I’ll swear off anything but horses.
Still, if that’s the option for dinner, let’s be off before I get comfortable.”
Excellent! I feel a good dynamic between Arminius and Mira.
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful. It feels so real. I can tell you're just ready to keep moving the story forward. I love the little relatable details such as Arminius' hand cramping while writing. Nice touch.
ReplyDelete