XI. Leo von Frisch studied the incredibly pale-complexioned female standing before him closely. The hem of her white nightgown was torn and muddied; and she was even wearing a veil. All in all, she looked like a faceless ghost.
He was clutching the note she handed to him. Crossing his arms, he leaned his back against the damp stone walls of the Academy’s main hall.
“Lady, you come in charging in here in the dead of night and demanding entrance to the Academy in the middle of a term? What’s Rune-Midgard coming to? He sighed, and massaged his temples. “Normally, I would refuse of course. Midgard Academy is not a charity case.”
“You’ll be properly compensated when the time comes,” Venris said, in clear tones. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“You’re probably one of them runaway brides,” Leo von Frisch remarked drily. “Properly compensated. You probably have big caches of money stacked somewhere.”
“What an astute observation.” Venris said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Except for the part about ‘big caches of money.'”
“Ohoh!” Leo von Frisch exclaimed, head thrown back with laughter. “Ladies. I like ‘em with bite.” He then composed himself and then walked over to a nearby desk and rummaged in one of its drawers, from which he produced a thick book and a pen. He put it on the desk and beckoned Venris to follow.
“Sign your name here,” the Academy Instructor said, as he pointed at the page where the book opened, to the first blank next to the last name. “That’s all you have to do to get in. You should be grateful that Blitz was the one who made the recommendation, or else I wouldn’t even consider.”
Venris took the pen from him and was about to sign her name, but before she was about to write V something struck her.
She paused for a long time.
Leo von Frisch raised an eyebrow. “Well? Don’t tell me you forgot your name.”
I need a new name. With a resolute shake of her head Venris bent over the desk and wrote her name on the Book of Lists:
