Frostbite

Chapter Six

Beyond was a rather plain room; stark white walls, smooth granite floor, one window adjacent to the door. There were none of the telltale school desks and chairs Eira was expecting. In fact, there was no furniture in sight, apart from a small rectangular table with an achingly familiar briefcase sitting on it. She could recognise that leather briefcase anywhere—the one the Testers had carried the day before.

Was it really only yesterday? Between all the events that had occurred since then and the night before being almost devoid of sleep, it felt like weeks. So much could happen in so little time. She hadn't felt this way in years. Not since that day.

The room was also quite lacking in people. There were some, but she only counted five. She'd expected more. All of them looked her age, and all of them looked as nervous as she felt. There was't any sign—except maybe for that briefcase—of their so called "tutor". Although, perhaps Eira had just arrived early. It must have been somewhere around eight-thirty, but if it was before or after or right on the dot, she had no idea.

Taking another deep breath, she passed through the doorway —having concluded she ought to go inside and not stand around blocking the entrance. She walked hastily over to the corner that was the furthest from everyone else. None of them gave her more than a quick glance, before returning to bite their nails or stare at the floor. She felt the same way they did and she as well was beginning to bite at her already chewed-down nails.

Minutes passed. Nothing happened. Eira continued chewing on her nails until her nail-beds were stinging. It was a bad habit, but she could do nothing about it. Her heart pounded and butterflies danced inside her stomach. She hadn't even felt like this before the test; she'd been overly optimistic. She'd since learned the hard way that she had been mistaken to think that way. Now, she attempted to be as cynical as possible, even though the outcome of this "training" probably couldn't be that bad. After all, what could be worse than being ripped away from her family, adoptive or not? She knew, but she didn't dare think it.

Even still, she was a young child. And children were known to be foolish. She was well aware of that. Despite her being so old for her age—something induced by the worst sort of circumstances—she remained an ignorant twelve-year-old. The society she had grown up in drilled the fact that children were completely incapable and useless until they were of age into her from a very young age. It wasn't necessarily her parents or foster parents that had done it; the blame fell mostly onto the tutors at her class. She was sure nobody else her age — except perhaps Cerin— noticed. She, however, was relatively perceptive. She wondered what these Permafrost tutors would drill into her. The same old drivel or something new? She wouldn't know until she met them. Would the tutor be kind or harsh? In a place like this, the latter was probably more likely.

Having been so deeply lost in a train of thought, Eira didn't notice the door opening and the tutor coming in until she heard the louder than excepted click of the briefcase opening. Her head snapped up and she looked directly at the newcomer.

Her first impression of the tutor was that they weren't as she excepted. Her second was that they were.

The Tutor was a woman dressed in the similar grey clothing to what the Testers wore — except hers was of finer material and design. Her hair was a snowy white—showing she was indeed of the Frost—and she bore a stern expression on her almost wrinkle free face. She was quite young, much younger than Eira had expected. Perhaps in her late twenties or early thirties.

"I am your Tutor. You shall address me by "Madam Fairburn". I shall teach you the basics of learning to use your abilities over the span of exactly one year. You shall come to classes here with me on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The remaining three days you shall spend doing your ordinary classes and combat training with ordinary weapons, with Sunday being your day off. If you do not adhere to these rules, then consequences shall happen and will lead to your punishment. That is all. Now— line up and introduce yourselves one by one."