Chapter 9

Panting, Tristan didn't stop to enjoy the view; she found a cushion on the floor and plopped down. Cece soon emerged from a staircase huffing as well. Remy and Agatha had already found cushions to their liking and flopped onto them. Remy said gently to Tristan, "Catch your breath, then let the view take it away."

Tristan's focus edged away from her breathing to her surroundings. She was in a fairly large room, about forty by sixty feet all encased in glass. They were about eight stories up where the three arches joined together. This room was simply the large archway opened into a room.

It was oddly shaped, to accomodate the fusion of three archways. However, the scariest thing was that the floor was made of glass as well, which meant you could see straight down. Too scary, so Tristan focused instead on the mountain rising up covering up a third of the horizon. Opposite the mountain was a straight drop down to the ocean where waves crashed up in a swathe of white. Just beyond the cliffs was a small beachhead and she could spot two boats swaying with the current down there.

"You can get to the beach through the east end of the woods." Agatha had noticed where Tristan was looking.

Cece finally reached them and plopped down beside Agatha who gave her a handkerchief to wipe off the sweat. Remy spoke up. "Did you notice how many floors you walked past?"

Tristan nodded and said, "Yes, we walked past five floors, not counting the first."

Remy nodded. "Right. Each focus has two floors. Hand has the first two, then Heart, then Head. The dormitories are directly above the assembly hall. Because the arch becomes smaller at the top, the Hand dormitory only has one floor." Remy glanced at the other two and getting their approval, she continued. "You were a tough one to place. All of us saw potential in you for each discipline." Remy paused, "We all did agree though in the end, that you belonged primarily to Heart."

Tristan beamed at the prospect of learning from Agatha.

Cece took up the conversation. "However, due to what we all observed, it would be remiss of us if we did not fully explore your potential in all fields. There are already a few with what we call cross-over talents. I believe you've made the acquaintance of one such candidate - Donna. You shall join her and her companions in receiving education that transcends our normal training. It will be a harsh road, young Tristan. However, we can only see good resulting from this should you wish to try this path.

Agatha smiled, "What do you say to all this?"

Tristan grinned. "Three words - pile it on!" and she let out a whoop of delight.

The trio laughed with her and then sobered. Agatha spoke. "There are some rules and regulations."

Remy joined in, "First off, though we divide you up by Hand, Heart and Head, and though we will have some competition between the three groups, we expect coordination and support among the three." and Tristan nodded.

"I expect that Donna told you about the rules and regulations regarding dining?" Cece tilted her head in query and Tristan murmured a "Yes." "Good. As for duties, you've seen groups of three carrying out several tasks already, right?" And again Tristan nodded.

Agatha continued for Cece. "You've only seen a few tasks I believe, like the chandeliers and the gates. You'll find out your duties ... from Donna I dare say. I think since you two hit it off so well, we'll assign you two together, and wait to find your third."

Tristan looked down for a moment then asked, "Can Tiny be the third?"

Cece replied. "Unfortunately, apprenticeship to the smithy will devour much of his availability. To work out a schedule will take too many resources to coordinate and thus prove impedibility."

At Tristan's bewildered look, Remy explained. "Tiny will be too busy." "OH! Okay." and both Remy and Agatha chuckled. Remy dug an elbow into Cece's ribs. "Translator extraordinaire!" and Cece just muttered.

Agatha then turned serious. "Tristan, there will be some girls here who... might not appreciate your background."

Remy harrumphed at Agatha, "Hmmph! Seriously, you and Cece both need lessons in direct talk!" She turned to Tristan, "She means that some will not take kindly to sharing a classroom with a slave girl. We prefer that you resolve these issues yourself, but if you find that it affects someone else, or it affects your studies enough to be disruptive, then you may seek us for advise."

"So, there's fighting?" Tristan wondered briefly if she would need to protect Tiny. Cece spoke up with a little frown on her face. "Well, officially no. But the three of us are aware that sometimes, conflicts need to be resolved on a physical level and if we try and stop that, it may escalate beyond our abilities to help ease a resolution."

'Also," Agatha added with a twinkle in her eye. "We use a bartering system here. For example, you are on gate duty but you have extra homework. You may decide to barter services, goods, etc for someone to take your duties. Another example is," She shot a look at Cece who just muttered, "Working the lifts."

"Lifts? What are those?"

"In the other two arches, in the middle of a staircase, there is a square wooden plank with the four corners tied to a pulley system. We have three girls assigned to each 'lift' and while it's recommended that you walk up the stairs, some find - " Again, Agatha looked over at Cece "the climb somewhat harrowing. So, barters are set up between the lifters and the lifted. I find the most amazing barters at times."

A look of realization transformed Tristan's face. 'OH! Is that why Cece came out of a different stairwell?" Both Remy and Agatha rolled around in laughter and nodded at her.

Afraid to laugh, Tristan looked out at the vista and suddenly yawned. Agatha stood up and bustled Tristan up into the folds of her clothes. "C'mon you, let's find you a bed and look over those wounds. I see the one on your leg is still bleeding. If you don't watch it, you'll be confined to bed until it heals."

Tristan's eyes closed as soon as Agatha had scooped her up. The warmth from Agatha's body enveloped her in a cocoon of security that she hadn't experience since... since when? She murmured her gratitude and fell fast asleep.