On the eve of the long-awaited day, Master Turvon ordered the student to rip out the floor throughout the entire tower, from the basements to the guard area on the roof, and not to forget the stone-paved area between the stables and the vegetable garden.

– Why there? – Marius was amazed.

“When you finish, find the answer in the treatise “On the rituals of the annual Wheel,” answered the master and, without saying anything else, he was transported somewhere by a portal. And Marius, sighing and looking lustfully at the library window, trotted off to the well.

He would have preferred to start with a treatise rather than with the work of a scrubber, despised for a high-born person, but the master said – the student did, and nothing else. And be quicker, otherwise there won’t be any time left for reading!

He carried water, wrung out rags, scrubbed dirt from black stones – there wasn’t much of it, that dirt, but he still had to wash it often, the master really respected cleanliness. And, while my hands were busy and my head was free, I remembered that very treatise on rituals. After all, Marius read it, how could he not read it! But I can swear by anything that there was nothing there about the fact that some rituals must necessarily be carried out in the open air. Preferably – yes, and spring ones are right there, along with summer ones. But the correctly drawn ritual circles are more important than the ceiling above your head or the sky, and in the basement the circles are drawn, the signs are soldered into the stone with the necessary metals and imbued with power. Where is the uneven stone platform against them, which will have to be painted with chalk? No, he probably just doesn’t remember something or understood something wrong. So I was in a hurry to wash up and stick my nose into a book.

But I never managed to get to the book. He polished the uneven stones to a shine, appreciated the suddenly appearing pattern of sharp fractures and the depth of the glassy blackness, and wondered why he had not noticed before how difficult the stone was here? Why does it seem like I’ve already seen something like this somewhere? And then the master appeared. Dissatisfied – Marius had already become very good at guessing his mood behind his seemingly impassive expression. Threw:

– Hurry up. We start at sunset.

And there’s still time left before sunset to rinse off and change into clean clothes. And why with sunset? After all, Axis rites begin at dawn and end at midnight!

– What are we starting with, teacher? – he asked, unable to bear it.

– Rush order.

– Right now?! Or…

The master understood what was not said and explained:

– No, not one of those that are made only for the Axis. And it would be better not to take it, but sometimes it’s easier to charge triple the price and eventually agree than to explain to the customer why not. – Marius feigned extreme curiosity with his entire appearance, and the master relented: “Vitor del Bornio, do you know this one?” He wants urgently, absolutely immediately, to get a special bodyguard for his daughter.

– For what?! – Marius was amazed. – Virita deglia Bornio is a quiet, calm, well-mannered girl, the world would rather turn upside down than she would get into trouble.

Virita was indeed quiet, calm and well-behaved. And also boring. So boring that, despite the obvious beauty and sweet smile, already in the third minute of communication I wanted to run away anywhere, as long as it was far away. She's a bodyguard too?!

“So the world has turned upside down,” Master Turvon shrugged his shoulders and cast a short glance at the sun, which had almost disappeared behind the crowns of centuries-old oak trees. – Enough talking. Let's run.