The fresh faced students stare blankly at the thickly bound copies that I pass back to each row.

“If you damage the Codex, you will owe me a new copy. I have a typewriter in my office, and you can type all 600 pages, print them, and bind them. Alright?”

The thing about being a professor is you are the only one in the room that gets old. Every year they stay the same. Rarely do squires come back to this place after they graduate as knights. Surrounded by glory, work, and death, they have no reason to relive the limbo of adulthood that exists behind the black metal gates and ivy-stone walls.

I clear my throat. Not to speak but to garner attention. My hands flick upwards and the chalk resting on the ledge of the board begins to write:

Please turn to page 30. Chapter One. Light is singularity. It exists in different facets that we perceive, but is all the same regardless. Factions in Aureate Knighthood compliment each other, and color each aspect of The Light. There are six main factions.

I pause, the chalk hovering as I consider my next sentence.

I myself graduated twenty six years ago as a Crimson Knight.

A hand shoots up in the upper left row. I nod in permission, white dust falling to the velvet carpet as I drop the chalk.

“Yes?”

I realize it’s the same kid from yesterday, who could see the spirit patterns. The same ones that protectively wrap around each window, mahogany table, and the entire West Wing. The euphoria on his face was nostalgic, glowing brighter than the golden patterns.

“-and what is your name again?”

The kid nods and stands up clumsily, “Of course Professor Larsa. My name is Shai.”

Some of the kids in the front row turn back in their seats to look at Shai, who stands over his desk, a lock of black hair falling over the rest tucked behind his ears.

“The Crimson Knights, did you live through-“

“Yes.”

I nod. I hear whispers from the back of the classroom. They think I cannot hear them.

They must be new.

“I am aware of the stigma around certain factions. There is some truth to it, but it’s not the full truth. Balance is key as a knight, because if your honor code is based on humility you have to shed both insecurity and pride. If it is based on self sacrifice you must let go of cowardice and recklessness.”

Shai sits back down, scribbling some notes on his journal while maintaining eye contact as if he is trying to convince himself to be satisfied with my answer.

“We have a reputation for shed blood. But know my hands are not stained red, they are stained blue.”

Blue.

The color of sapphires.

The color of fae blood.