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Chapter One
Just close your eyes, breathe, and shut out their hearts.
My hands trembled as I stood in the mass of prodigies walking toward the Servantsā Lodge entryway. The daystar rose above the orange forest surrounding me and Javinās new home, exposing the happy, excited demeanors of my peers, but not their innermost feelingsāfear, awe, uncertainty. Every heartās true emotions scratched against my skin like an old rope.
I reached for the umbrella clipped to my back by my waist-belt while Javin gave me an understanding nod, a few pink feathers falling from his matted tresses. Besides his leather Servantās tunic and pants, he appeared more like a lost nomad rather than a fellow prodigy at Knightsā Elect Academy. I smiled as I opened my umbrella. Maybe next to him I wonāt look so odd.Ā
An elegant red-head and her identical twin sized me up before whispering to one another and laughing. Well, at least they notice me.
āElisena!ā
Oh no. Even though my umbrellaās invisible force-field blocked out all the feelings and thoughts streaming from the surrounding prodigies, it couldnāt stop my own heart from jolting, stopping, and then racing seemingly all at once.
Eldin walked toward me, a smile on his perfect lips. Nearly every girl he passed trailed him with their eyes. He stopped in front of me and then glanced at Javin. āHi.ā
Javin growled like a graether and then wrapped his arm around me.
I shrugged it off. āHi.ā
āWhat are you doing here?ā
āWhat are we doing here.ā Javin hugged me again.
I glared at him. āIf you donāt take your arm off me, Iāll tell that pretty blonde you were staring at a few minutes ago exactly what you were thinking about her.ā
Now Javin glowered as he released me.
Eldinās purple eyes widened slightly. āSo thatās your prodigious gift? You can…read minds?ā
I slowly twirled my umbrella. āNot mindsā¦ā
His olive skin paled. āWell, uh, I have to get going, you know, eat, figure out where my first lesson is and all of that. Fair day.ā He turned around and strode toward the lodgeās crumbling steps.
My cheeks burned. I wish I didnāt have my umbrella open.Ā As Eldin walked through the open door and disappeared, I bowed my head. Or maybe I do.
āI donāt know what you see in him.ā Javin extended his arm, a mossy scent emanating from him. As a twirlwing swirled down like a green cyclone and landed atop his hand, its big eyes incongruent with its tiny beak, Javin looked at me. āActually, what do you see in him?ā
āThat is none of your concern.ā I marched forward, gripping my umbrella while more of my peers whispered and laughedāmostly at me, but some at Javin. I came to the academy to discover my purpose, but instead, I find my past.
āIt is my concern.ā Javin strode beside me. āEspecially without Father around. But, Iāll let it goā¦for now.ā He set the fluffy-feathered twirlwing atop his head, adding more colorful feathers to his messy hair, and then opened his satchel and removed a scroll. After unraveling it he said, āI have Wisdom for first lesson. Third floor, Hall of Sage. What do you have?ā
āI donāt know.ā I walked up the dilapidated steps to the porch and then onward through the open doorway. Prodigies stepped aside to make room for me and my umbrella. An auburn haired boy tried to poke it. Javin hissed at him, and the twirlwing spun off Javin’s head and in front of the boyās face. He recoiled and ran off.
The wide Main Hall opened up to a commons crowded with barrels of pink water and roughly patched couches. A wall-high cobblestone and wood fireplace stood against the center wall, three gray stone platforms on either side of it. I veered to the right where all the other prodigies traversed into a circular entryway leading into a banquet hall.
As Javin followed me inside, the aroma of fresh-baked bread greeted me. Prodigies/Servants sat at multiple darkwood tables beneath the blue light of a massive chandelier. To the left, more prodigies stood in a line before floating platforms with apron-wearing women behind them, serving loaves of bread and stew. My stomach rumbled.
āI hope that stew is meatless,ā Javin said. āI can eat like a vegetarian graether right now.ā
āYou do that.ā I scurried to one of the only empty tables remaining, near a large risen platform in the back, and hurried into a chair. Mugs of water sat on the table. I grabbed one and guzzled, hoping itād somewhat fill the void in my gut. Hopefully Javin wouldnāt hound me for skipping morning meal.
A green-haired girl carrying a tray with a bread loaf and steaming stew sat beside me. Her yellow eyes shined and she held her chest high. āWaiting on anyone?ā
I shook my head, though Javin would probably pop up soon, and looked away.
āNice umbrella. Not exactly a good choice if youāre trying to be invisible. Though I donāt think you really want to be, do you?ā
My grip tightened on my umbrellaās bronze stick. Did she have a similar gift to mine, or was it just a discerning guess?
āCome on.ā She smiled. āNo one really wants to be alone. But I get it. Youāre picky about the company you keep. That makes two of us.ā She reached her hand out. āMy name is Thrine.ā
I shook it. āIāmāā
āElisena.ā
āSo you can read minds or just know people when you see them?ā
āNo. Eldin Lightsmith told me about you.ā
My stomach lurched. Thank Sovereignty she didnāt have a prophetic gift. āOh. How do you know Eldin?ā
āWe met at the annual Royal Garden Gala two years ago. Weāve kept in touch ever since.ā
āThatās a beautiful celebration.ā I feigned casualty. āWhat did he say about me?ā
āThat he worked for your father.ā She spooned a mouthful of stew, its savory scent making my hollow stomach ache. āAnd that you were the oddest person heād ever known.ā
I lifted my mug to my mouth and chugged. The oddest person heād ever known? That explained the bewilderment ever-flowing from his heart whenever he was around me. But the last time he peered at me in Fatherās barn it had changed to curiosity. Maybe he meant āoddā in a good way. Unlike most people, he never avoided me. Well, not until today.
āEmmer.ā Eldin neared our table, carrying a tray of food. My heart hammered as he stood between me and the girl.
Thrine rose. āYou meanāā
āThrine, right. I apologize. Iām still getting used to it.ā
āYou will soon enough.ā She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
I set my mug down with a trembling hand, my empty stomach twisting. Eldin glanced at me. He grasped Thrineās wrists and removed them, breaking away from her kiss. She watched him as he set his tray down on the other side of her chair and sat. āSo I see you met Elisena.ā
Thrine eased into her seat. āShe just so happened to sit at the table I told you to meet me at.ā
āSmall academy.ā He bit into his bread.
Thrine scratched his back. āIāve missed you. Can you believe itās been eleven months since we last saw each other?ā
He nodded. āIt seems a lot has changed since then.ā
She stopped scratching his back. Her narrowing eyes landed on me. āI hate to ask, but can you excuse us?ā
āUh, certainly.ā I rushed to my feet.
āWelcome, Servants!ā A silver-haired man with a protruding chin, wearing a cotton robe, stood on the risen platform beside a giant woman with black braids.
She wore a tunic dress with two calve-splits. āMay everyone please take their seats.ā
I looked around. Javin stood by a table near the entryway, brown liquid oozing down either side of his mouth as he waved me over. The pretty blonde occupied a seat next to him, while prodigies filled the others. Not a single seat remained. Torn between thankfulness and growing discomfort, I slowly sat beside Thrine again. She crossed her arms as the man continued. āMy name is Overseer Enri, and this is the Assistant Overseer, Lady Bridie.ā
The woman raised a large hand. āFair day, prodigies.ā
āFirstly, we would like to thank all of you for choosing to be apprentices here at King Nifalās Knightsā Elect Academy. Each of you has been invited because of the prodigious gift youāve been given by our Supreme King through your lineage.ā He removed a small, silver tube from his robe pocket and spoke into it, his voice now amplified. āThe foundation of knighthood is service. Throughout your first year, you will learn the principles of servanthood, along with basic combat and preservation. If you succeed, next year, you will move on to become Squires, and in your final year, you will be trained as Warriors and leave the academy as knights of the kingdom youāve selected to serve and protect.ā He handed Lady Bridie the tube.
āNow onto Ground Rules. The only time you are permitted to leave the grounds is for your end of the year three-month visit. Curfew is at the twenty-second hour. Common respect to your preceptors and peers is expected of you, and there is a guide of those expectations and the punishments for disobedience in your General Knightās Guide found in your designated dormitory.ā
I snuck a glance at Eldin. He quietly ate his meal, his stare fixed ahead on Lady Bridie. She handed the tube back to Overseer Enri.
āIf you need assistance, my office is on the first floor in the Hall of Enri, and Lady Bridieās is in the adjacent corridor, the Hall of Bridie. Again, welcome to Knightsā Elect Academy. We look forward to seeing you grow.ā He slipped the tube back into his robe pocket and sped off of the platform, Lady Bridie running to keep up with him.
Thrine uncrossed her arms. āYou can excuse yourself again.ā
Eldin put his bread down. āYou can be more respectful, EmāThrine.ā
āI apologize.ā She spoke slowly and high-pitched. āElisena, can you be so kind as to once again remove yourself from our table so that I may hold a private conversation with my suitor?ā
Tears blurring my sight, I stood with my open umbrella and scurried to the circular entryway, ignoring the stares and laughs from my fellow prodigies. Eldin Lightsmith, the young man Iāve known since infancy, the one I grew to love and often prayed to someday have the honor of marrying is courting another girl.
Can this day get any more heart shattering?
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