The pounding rain beat down on my already soaked robes, and I heaved a sigh as I uselessly wrapped them tighter around me. My boots traipsed up the hill to the manor, the sticky mud grasping at them with each step I took. Vapors trailed from my mouth as I let out heavy breaths, the chill autumn air leaving my body shivering, desperate for warmth.

In truth, I hardly felt any of it. What did it matter in the end?

My thoughts drifted back to earlier in the day, as I recalled my conversation with the tavern keeper. He and others in the village at the base of the hill had told of strange events in recent months, tales of travelers vanishing in the night, an increase in attacks by roaming beasts, and odd lights coming from the mansion up on the hill.

This far from the center of Imperial power, it wasn’t a surprise to encounter any of these things. While the heartland of the Empire was well renowned for its security due to the proximity of the legions, out here on the frontier was a different matter entirely. No one of note lived around these parts, and the military would only send a patrol out this far every few months.

If only I was a stronger magician.

I wasn’t the strongest of mages in the Court, even back in the academy I was a downright mediocre student. My own magic was piddling compared to the bombastic displays of raging fire, dazzling lightning and flashing light that the other students produced. The only type of spells I had any success in pronouncing were frost magic, which only felt more insulting to me. I was frozen down to my core, did the magic I wielded have to remind me of that as well?

My teeth sunk into my lower lip as I grimaced. This was an exile assignment, I just knew it. The students and instructors had never liked me, mocking my inability to move past Basic pronunciation of spells, and being weirded out by my quiet and reclusive nature. Even after I graduated and made it to the court, my peers wouldn’t say a word to me.  It was only by the grace of my Lord Uncle that I had made it to the court,  and with his passing a month prior, my sole protection at the Imperial Court was gone. Doubtless they had sent me on some trivial detail to keep me away from them, perhaps they even hoped I would die out here. A part of me hoped for the same thing.

Once upon a time, I might have been thrilled at the prospect of being sent on a mission to faraway lands, to investigate strange events, and uncover mystery. Now? I was just tired. Tired of the Court and their machinations. Tired of the Empire. And most of all, I was tired of being Me.

My rumination was interrupted as I very nearly bumped into a set of large metal gates. I had finally reached the manor. Spying a bell hanging from one of the nearby posts, I gave the heavy brass object a loud ring. And then I waited.

And waited.

The pouring rain around me did not slow down as I continued to wait, drenching the surrounding hillside with a deluge of water. It might have been wiser to wait in the village until the stormclouds passed over, but who really cared if I got a bit soaked? Not the headmasters, not any of the teachers or students, or Kendrick.

You failed Kendrick. This is your punishment.

As I stewed in my dark thoughts, the manor’s front door opened. The figure who exited was wearing a heavy black cloak, their face obscured by a hood. The umbrella they held up was the same black color, in their other hand was a lantern, shedding dim light that only just revealed the path forward. I blinked, and idly wondered if Lady Azalea had sent one of her bodyguards to deal with me.

The figure stopped on the outside of the gate, taking a moment to get stock of me. The clear, melodious voice that echoed forth asked me a question that I was not prepared for.

“Who are you?”

The innocuous three words gave me pause. Who was I really? A failed mage? A court reject? An exile? When the woman blinked, my thoughts slowed down as I realized I was standing there in the rain, unable to answer a simple question. My cheeks turned a bit pink with embarrassment.

I cleared my throat. “My name is Lukas, I’m a court mage sent from the Capital to investigate the disappearance of travelers in this region.”

Even as I said it, the name, my title, none of it felt like me. The woman on the other side of the gate didn’t respond, but I did hear her cluck her tongue. And then she nodded her head and gave a warm smile, something that I hadn’t been expecting. Her toothy smile sent a flutter through my body, and I wondered what she looked like beneath her cloak.

“Oh! A powerful mage from the court, sent out all this way to investigate our little village? That is truly an honor.”

Was she mocking me?

I wouldn’t get an answer as she unlocked the gate and opened it for me. “Well don’t stand there, you’ll catch your death! Come inside, and we’ll get you warmed up.”

I highly doubted that they could warm Me up, but I nodded my head and stepped past the gate and into the courtyard. The pathway was paved with cobblestones, boxwood hedges gave clear borders, and everything looked well maintained. Whoever kept this garden did it with tender and loving care.

The woman opened one of the large double doors just a hair and stepped inside. Warm air rushed out of the small crack, promising comfort and safety within its walls. Recalling the stories from the innkeep about the strange events surrounding this manor in particular, I steeled myself as I entered the mansion.

Violet_Velvet

For my longtime readers: This was the first thing I wrote in many years, and over the course of writing this story I felt a strong urge to go back and make some changes to the first two chapters to help things flow and connect a little better.

If you're new here, thank you for reading the first chapter of Getting Comfortable, a personal writing project. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.