Academy of The Holy Order

Chapter 3

Our first lesson today is History, and although it is only our fourth day at the school we have a test.  Adela had forgotten all about it and is now cramming,

“When was Henry VIII declared head of the English Church?”

“1534” I say.

Adela repeats ‘1534’ for a little while before she continues, “Quiz me.”

I smile, “What was Henry VIII declared head of the English Church?”

“1534.” She shouts, jumping up and down, “1534!”

I nod, “Correct.”

The teacher walks into the classroom, papers in the crook of her arm. She puts her bag onto her desk and begins to distribute the papers, “You have 45 minutes to complete the test. I’ll tell you when there are ten minutes till the end.”

She puts the paper in front of me and I begin without hesitating, it takes Adela a few minutes however to get started.

About 20 minutes in I feel her nudge me, she points down to question four, I slip my test over so she can see, but now far enough so that she’s got my paper. She nods when she’s finished.

When the teacher tells us we have ten minutes left there are some collected sighs through the room. I finish the last question and push it forward; noticing I’m done the teacher collects my paper. Adela rubs her eye with the palm of her hand, groaning in frustration, she hasn’t finished and probably won’t by the time the teacher calls time.

The minutes go by slowly for me, but I can see the panic in the body language of the students around me.

The teacher doesn’t realize that the time has gone over, so everyone gets a few more minutes to cram in everything they can.

“Finish the sentence you are on and then put down your pens. Test conditions until all the papers are collected.”

Adela lets out a deflated sigh, resting her head against the table, “I’ve failed it.”

I smile, “It’s our first test of the year, and it doesn’t count towards anything.”

She turns her head to the table, “But I need to beat Ciro straight off the bat, I’ve got to be better than him.”

“You are.” I say poking her shoulder, “It can’t be that difficult anyway, he had to repeat a year, you won’t need to.”

She moans, lifting herself up, “How can you be so optimistic?”

I shrug, “I’m not being optimistic, I know you can do it.”

She lifts her bag to the table, putting her books away, “You have too much faith in me.”

The next lesson is Science, and we have a double period of it. I don’t mind, Science is one of my strongest subjects, but the science they teach here is very different from back home.

Unlike being taught chemical formulas of a substance, we are taught how to create holy water, and the elements it contains. For the record the formula for holy water is H2OMg.

About an hour in, a girl with short red hair and a thick Irish accent puts her hand up,

“Sir, Are Atheists allergic to holy water?”

For a moment he stands still unable to respond, while the rest of the class laughs until they’re crying,

He steps forward, “Quieten down please children.” The class goes silent, but we’re all still wearing smiles on our faces, “Now here we don’t believe in stupid questions, only stupid answers. Now I thought it was common knowledge that human beings can’t really be affected by holy water, unless they are possessed by demons. But I do not think that there has ever been a formal experiment on the effect of holy water on Atheists, and if there has been, I don’t know about it.”