With Mistress Daevah

The rest of the ceremony passes quickly, at least from your perspective. Your interest in the talents of others was low beyond occasionally hearing your specialty mentioned a few times more, indicating others who would be joining you on the path towards Enchantment. You had always been the one to take orders, though instead of being compelled through magic you were compelled by way of the tavern keeper's fists. Now, however, you were the one expected to make others follow your whims. As much as you hated your former life, you could not imagine yourself lording over the people in it or abusing them as they had abused you if the situation had been reversed. You were not sad that your old home was now nothing but burnt ash and bones but doubted you could have given the order that turned it into that. You did not even know what you could possibly desire for yourself or bring to the Eternal Empire, which you felt little loyalty to, but knew Lady Morgana must have had some reason for believing you would find it here.

The closing portion of the ceremony drew some of your attention back as it was made up of words telling you and the other students that regardless of your talents or past experience, you would all be treated to the same trial and tests all students of the Academy would face. You would be forged through the fire of learning to become skilled magicians in the service of the Tyrant King and the Eternal Empire. After that, and the main reason your attention had snapped back into focus, a number of scholars who would be the ones teaching the students here were named by Lady Morgana. The only name you were really looking for was Mistress Daevah, curious to see who would be the one to be your first guide in this new life journey of yours.

Though the halter top dress she wore matched the dark, somber tones of those around her in color, being a mix of black and dark purple, Mistress Daevah stood out in other ways. Most notably how that dress seemed to cling to the upper part of her figure, showing off a generous amount of her tanned skin down to her exposed belly button and straining against the sizable swell of her breasts. From the waist down however, the dress itself went down completely to her feet, hiding her lower body from view completely. Even if she had dressed more conservatively, you feel that she would have stood out anyway with how her dark skin contrasted with the vibrantly red color of her hair and sharp grey-blue eyes. Her expression was one of someone who always seemed amused by something, which could be comforting or very worrying, depending on what the "something" was.

After the conclusion of the ceremony you and the other students began to divide up into your specializations, with your group being the second smallest with only Necromancy having a smaller pool of students. You also cannot help but notice that, as far as you can see, the female students for this specialty greatly outnumber the male ones by at least a ratio of five-to-one. The few men there, yourself included, are the subject of curious stares and whispered giggling from those around you.

This continues until Mistress Daevah approaches, clapping her hands over her head and calling out, "Hello and welcome, everyone! I see this year has brought another crop of lovely ladies, and a few handsome gentlemen, into my arms. I look forward to taking care of every last one of you."

Everyone quiets down and turns their full attention to Daevah once she begins talking. Even you feel some of your nerves fade into the background of your mind at the sound of her smooth, appealing voice but as your attention focuses on her more directly, some details about her strike you as... odd.

Her gait was slow, almost seductive, letting you and the others drink in the motions of her body as her hips softly swayed from side-to-side. Yet those hips, while appealing looking in a way you had never really gotten a chance to appreciate on a woman before, seemed slightly off somehow. They were a bit too full and wide, given the proportions of the rest of her body, making her figure almost a little too... perfectly hour-glass shaped. Granted, it may have been your lack of experience studying the female form leading you astray or the lines of her dress throwing you off but you still found it strange. On top of that you could almost swear, with every step she took towards you and the others, you could hear each of her footsteps and, instead of the clicking of heels against the stone floor, it sounded more like the clop of a horse's hooves.

If anyone else noticed as well, they gave no indication of it as Daevah said, "Now let us be off. We have a lot to prepare so it's best we get you settled in.. and I get a chance to get a good look at all of you."

She casts a glance over her shoulder and, while she is certainly looking over the group at large, she does seem to pause on you for a moment longer than the others. She quickly turns her face back around but it almost seemed like she was starting to lick her lips as she did so.

You walk in silence for a while, not really interested in being the first one to converse with your new classmates and everyone else either feeling likewise or speaking to people they already know. Eventually, your group reaches a building that almost looks like a very high-end inn. Though stepping inside, the smell of incense, the soft lighting, and the silken nature of your surroundings revises your opinion from "inn" to "brothel".

What an unusual learning environment this promises to be.

Adding to that unusual feeling is the line of people waiting for your group in the lobby. A group of males and females of all shapes and sizes, clad in little more than loincloths for the males and loincloths and chest bindings for the females stand in a row, each wearing a metal mask over their faces and standing stock still, arms at their sides. "Alright everyone," Daehva says, "there's enough rooms for each of you to have your own, so feel free to claim whichever one you can reach first... AFTER you pass a little pop quiz."

The muttering around you gives the impression this was unexpected and Daevah claps her hands again for attention as she continues, "These people you see before you are my personal servants I have cultivated over the years. And I am going to be loaning them out to you so that you'll always have someone to practice your lessons on at the end of the day... since we tend to save trying to chain your fellow classmates to your will until the second semester."

Her laughter at that statement almost makes you think that last part was a joke but, given the sudden twinkle in her eye and the serious looks on the others around you, it is probably not.

"But first," Daehva says, "I want to see what your natural inclinations are. Where your energies for Enchantment pull you. What I want you to do is walk past the line of my servants and think of nothing but control. Nothing specific. Just let the thought of what being in absolute control would feel like go where it may as you walk. My servants are trained to react to different kind of free flowing mana and, by the time you reach where the rooms are one of my servants, or two if you're REALLY lucky, will be pulled along by your mana, which will be influenced by your thoughts of control, to serve you."

Daehva instantly focuses on you, a smirk forming on her lips as she beckons you forward with a forefinger. "And you, lucky boy," she says, "Get to go first."

You bite your lower lip as every eye turns to you, the unremarkable, frail looking boy who now steps forward, trying to clear your thoughts and let whatever may come be.