Soft, silver moonlight streams in from the large, gilded windows on the other side of an ornate desk. Despite the frigid, mountain air outside, one of them is slightly ajar. A cold breeze enters through it, causing the transparent white curtains to flutter. My eyes go to Kazine who stands half turned towards me, with one hand on the desk. Sitting in a large chair on the other side with his elbows propped up on it, fingers crossed, with his chin resting on top of them, is another man.


    Like Kazine, he has dark green eyes and auburn hair. It’s kept shorter than my father’s, but I can’t help but notice how unkempt it is. Did the man just get out of bed? He stares at me with a flat, vacant expression.


    “Sairya, meet your uncle, Taithon,” Kazine says as he stands up straight and motions towards the man.


    “Hello,” I say in greeting and tilt my head slightly down in a bow and acknowledgement.


    Though I had never seen him before, I… we all knew we had an uncle somewhere out there in the world. Kazine had said as much, many times over the years, as I was growing up. But here? I thought that uncle Taithon was a lot further away, not literally right on the border of our kingdom and as the headmaster of… a school which still remains unknown to most people in the magic world.


    Kazine frowns at me. “Were you raised by peasants girl? Stand up straight and eyes forward!”


    Senza rolls his eyes. I can’t actually see him do that, but I feel like he did so it must be true. “Damned straight it is,” he says. “Where does he get off on telling you to fix your own posture when he won’t even fix his?”


    Wanting to get this over as soon as possible, I choose not to say anything and instead, drop my satchel on the floor, straighten my back and look at the man who is apparently my uncle and the headmaster of this school. He doesn’t say anything and continues to give me that dead eye stare. I shift from one foot and then the other without breaking eye contact.


    “I know I shouldn’t have to ask,” he says after a long moment of very uncomfortable silence. Even his tone sounds bored. “But do you know why you are here?”


    That dreaded lump forms in my throat once again. I swallow it down and give him a curt nod. “It was… part of an agreement,” I say, keeping my own voice steady. “My mom, Ashe Treigha, went missing. They believe she’s… gone and I was to come here to replace her.”


    “Good,” he says. “You know that once you adorn this armband…” Taithon lifts a small circlet of fabric which appears to have symbols woven into it and sets it on the desk in front of me. “There will be no leaving here, right? Well… at least not until you graduate or…” he graciously left that last part unsaid.


    Kazine snaps his gaze back to my uncle. “You’re speaking to her as if she actually has a choice.”


    Taithon spares Kazine a mere glance, before eyeing me once again. “Because Sairya Treigha is the heir apparent to your throne. You should know that… brother,” he spat that last word out, like he was disgusted by the very thought of them being related. “You named her as such and that makes Sai here, special.”


    I raise an eyebrow. There were only a few select people who actually shortened my name like that. Three to be exact and they were all very close and near and dear to my heart, so why was he…?


    “I don’t see how that is relevant,” Kazine says. “A deal was made and therefore, must be kept.”


    “It is relevant because given the circumstance, this deal… oath… promise or whatever you want to call it, can in fact be broken,” Taithon says. “She is neither a shifter, nor a vampire… Sairya is not a gargoyle…”


    “A Vaerenne you mean?”


    Taithon turned to my father then and gave him the coldest look I have ever seen anyone give. “While under this roof, you will call them by what they actually are,” he says.


    “Wow… is he defending…?” Senza asks.


    “Looks that way,” I think back.


    Kazine raises a hand and relents the point. “Fair enough Taithon. But not taking Sairya in, would be a mistake.”


    “Oh?” Taithon asks. “What can she do?”


    Kazine nods at me. “Why don’t you go ahead and show him… daughter? Call Keiva”


    I try to ignore the way he paused before saying what I actually am to him. I nod. Unlike most of the other magics within our world, there were no special actions I needed to take in order to summon a creature. The only thing I had to do, was to call their name and they would appear before me, ready for whatever task I had ready for them.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    “Keiva!” I call out.


    In one corner of the room, leaning against a wall is a large mirror with a golden frame and more of those strange carvings. Inside the mirror, a large, grey cat appears. She paces the length of the room within the mirrored dimension and without warning, leaps through, into our reality. Keiva positions herself in front of me, hackles raised and snarls at the two men.


    This would be the first time I’ve actually seen Taithon interested. He lowers his arms and stares at the cat with wide eyes. “You’re a summoner?”


    “Yes,” I say. “I am.”


    Taithon returns his chin to his hands. “Just like your mother,” he says.


    “Well?” Kazine says. “You are going to take her?”


    “Only… if that is what she wants.”


    Both of them look towards me. I wasn’t sure. I didn’t think I would even have a choice in coming here… but… The rules stated that all soldiers, whether they be a part of the special groups, mages or foot soldiers, needed to be replaced. Family members, especially ones who possessed the same abilities, or similar abilities, or members who were extremely skilled in their own, unique thing, always made good candidates. My mother was a summoner… and so am I.


    “I don’t like the idea of you staying here, Sai,” Senza says. “But I like the idea of going back with that man, even less.”


    He has a point. The years after my mother had left us were extremely hard. I don’t remember a lot of things, but some of what I do remember, still gives me nightmares. I look at Kazine and then I turn my gaze to Taithon.


    “I don’t think this is what I want,” I say. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see my father’s face turning red. “But, I don’t want to go back there.”


    “Oh?” Taithon asks. “Did something happen at home to make you feel this way?”


    “A lot of things,” I say. “They are things I don’t care to talk about however.”


    I didn’t think Kazine’s face could become even redder than it was before, but somehow it did. This is probably wrong of me, but I gain a little satisfaction, knowing I could grate on his nerves this much.


    “You… you fucking bitch!” Kazine shouts and steps towards me. He never really was good at keeping his anger under control.


    Taithon stands up and two tendrils of light and shadow begin weaving up his legs, entwining his arms. They hold him in place. “While you are here brother, you will not lay a hand on any of my students. Gods knows they do enough of that one their own.”


    “I… I got it… let… me go!”


    The tendrils vanish suddenly and he can move once more.


    “I’m sorry about that Sairya,” Taithon says. “If you don’t want to go back with him,” he gives Kazine a side eyed glance. “Then staying here is probably your only option. I have to warn you however…”


    “I know,” I say, not caring whether or not I’ve interrupted him. “A lot of bad… situations occur at this school between students.”


    “I know that you know that,” he says. “I can see it on your face.”


    Am I that obvious?


    “Yes,” Senza says.


    “Shut up…”


    “But I’m not talking about the other students,” Taithon continues. “I’m talking about this circlet and you. Once you put it on, the runes will start their magic and it’s going to be literal hell for you until they finish. You’re going to wish this mountain would open and wide and swallow you whole.”


    I nod.


    Taithon sighs. “Alright then. We will need to do your assessment first, to see which house you will fit into best.”


    Keiva, the grey feline I had pretty much forgotten about, snarls once again and paces the length to the desk, before returning back to my side.


    Unfazed by that, Taithon just looks at me and points to the cat. “Sorry to ask this of you,” he says. “But… do you mind?”


    I do, but I nod my head anyway. “Release,” I say as I wave a hand over Keiva. She vanishes in a puff of white smoke.


    “I’ll explain what the assessment is, once we get down there,” Taithon says. He walks around the desk and for the first time, I notice his black shirt and pants. It’s rather plain and nothing like what I thought a headmaster would be wearing. He turns to Kazine as if in after thought. “Oh and brother, this assessment is not something you need to be around for.”


    “What are you saying?” Kazine asks dryly.


    “I am saying, get the hell out!” Taithon says. “It will not be good for you if you are still here by the time I return.”


    Kazine scowls and then pushes right passed me. I know I made him angry, but Taithon just took that to a whole nother level! The door slams when he exits. The two of us wait for a few moments in silence, listening to the breeze coming in through the window and the curtains flap gently against the glass.


    “I’m glad he’s gone,” Taithon says when we are both sure Kazine is far enough away. “C’mon, let’s go get this over with.”


    I pick up my satchel.


    “You can leave that here. Once your house is decided and your quarters retrieved, I’ll have either Shue or Remmy deliver it.”


    “O-Okay,” I say as I put it on the floor next to his desk.


    Taithon takes the circlet from his desk and leads me back into the hallway. So this is it then. I don’t want to be forced to join a school that is training us for the sole purpose of joining the war, but if I went back home… I close my eyes and allow a small tremor to travel through my body. Out of the two bad options, this one was probably the best one. I allow myself to take the first deep breath since entering this room and I step into the hallway.