A week had passed since I began my lessons with Tompkins. My eyes hurt, my back hurt, my head hurt from the lessons. The characters or letters as Tompkins called them swam before my eyes even when I was sleeping. Mornings I spent my time bent over the table copying letters and saying sounds as I copied them. My fingers were covered with ink, and my hands had many little cuts on them from scraping sheets of parchment. I would finish a page of parchment and then scrape it with a small knife and start over again. I was lucky if one out of 50 characters met with the approval of Tompkins. In the afternoon I was bent over books that I was taking from the shelves and cleaning under the eagle eye of Tompkins. Only in the last day or so did he stop watching every move I made. Now he just checked on me about every quarter of an hour. My midday meal was taken in the library with Tompkins who after we ate read to me from the most ponderous volume about the history of the Kingdoms. My evening meals like my breakfasts were eaten in the kitchen with Mags, Pol and Jess. By the time we finished the evening meal, I headed to my bed, fell into it and slept soundly until the next morning. While today had started the same way, there was one difference. A message had arrived with the midday meal. The Archmage wanted to see me this evening. I was to join him in his tower room for the evening meal. Tompkins let me off early. Mags was fluttering around insisting that this was a very special occasion, and I should only wear my best. It was obvious that she wanted me to wear one of the dresses.