The Awakening

by H. D. Gordon

  “Thank you,” I said, the words sticking in my throat a little.

  “Why now?” Roo asked. “If everything you’ve told us is true, why wait until now to tell us? Why leave us unprepared? None of this makes sense.”

  Headmistress Talia nodded. “It was not my place to tell you, Roonie. When you were born, Myra made the decision to keep you from our world, and after her death, your father certainly was inclined to agree.”

  “Why?” Roo pressed. “Why was he inclined to agree?”

  “Your position, though enviable to some, is a precarious one,” said the headmistress. “There are those who would seek to turn you toward the Darkness, and even those who would seek to see you eliminated.”

  “Eliminated?” I scoffed. “We’re not even old enough to vote!”

  “Powerful magic flows through your blood, princess. Through both of yours. And wherever there is power, there are inevitably those who would like to claim that power for themselves, or to snuff it out if it represents too big a threat.”

  “This is absurd,” I said. “Doesn’t everyone in this place have magic in their blood?”

  One side of Headmistress Talia’s thin mouth pulled up in a smirk. “Like most things in life, magic runs on a spectrum. Yes, everyone at the Academy is of magical descent, but most have barely a flicker of power. Others have a moderate amount. Less than a handful have considerable power, and that includes the both of you.”

  “Why are you so sure we have this kind of power?” Roo asked.

  “I can sense it in you for one thing,” said the Headmistress. “But on top of that, your mother was one of the most Blessed witches I ever met, and so was her sister, your Aunt Meera—Goddess Bless their souls.” She made a sign in the air with her fingers that I didn’t recognize, closing her eyes briefly before regarding us once more.

  “If she was so powerful, why was Evelyn able to defeat her so easily?” Roo said. “We were there. We saw the two of them fight. The white haired witch’s power dwarfed our aunt’s.”

  “There are three royal bloodlines. One of which leads back to the Goddess—that one is yours, the Aldainaire line. Another can be traced back to the Mother Angel—the Talisworth line. And a third, which boasts the descendants of the Mother Demon.”

  “Let me guess,” Roo said, “this Evelyn chick has the blood of the Mother Demon.”

  “Indeed,” Head Mistress Talia confirmed. She sighed and smoothed a hand down her skirts as she stood. “And, that, I believe is quite enough for this evening. Come, I’ll show you to your room. You’ll need your rest. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

  Though I was still bursting with questions, I really was exhausted, so I didn’t argue when the Headmistress insisted on seeing us to our room.

  As we passed through the halls, I was too tired to take note of the various wonders that abounded, but tried to note which turns we took, where the exits were. One never knew when a quick escape might be necessary.

  Even our room was interesting. With a high, beamed ceiling and arched windows of stained glass, it had an almost sacred feel to it. There were two empty twin beds with two trunks at the ends of them, and atop those trunks, the green and black uniforms of the Academy lie folded neatly. It came complete with a full bathroom as well.

  And a third person, already asleep in a third bed pushed against the far wall. Roo and I raised an eyebrow at this last fact, but decided to hold off on any comment until later.

  After we both washed up and put on the comfortable green sweatpants and t-shirts that were folded within the trunks, we crawled into bed and lay in silence for a while.

  I was just beginning to fall asleep when Roo whispered in the darkness.

  “We’ll trust no one but one another,” my little sister said, and fell into a slumber before I could think of a way to respond.

  9

  As I peeled my eyes open, I was greeted with the grinning face of a stranger.

  The sight jolted me, and I shot upright, swiping at my eyes to clear my sleepy vision.

  “Hi!” said the stranger, a girl who was probably a little younger than Roo.

  “Um, hello,” I said.

  “Rey likes personal space, Genie,” Roo said gently from the other side of the room.

  “Oh!” said the girl. “I’m sorry!” She moved back from my bed a few paces. “I’m just excited to get new roommates. My last ones were…not very nice.”

  I pushed the covers back, seeing that both Roo and Genie were already dressed. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

  “You looked exhausted,” Roo said. “And you still have twenty minutes before breakfast starts. Genie is going to show us how to get to our classes after.”

  Genie balanced on the balls of her feet, and I got the impression that she was the type of person who was always brimming with energy. “I have your schedules, too,” Genie said. “I’m supposed to help you with your studies if you need it, so we’ll be spending a lot of time together.”

  I offered her a smile before shuffling into the bathroom and taking care of business. When I emerged, they were ready to go.

  Genie nodded toward a stack of books and a canvas bag. “Those are for you, too. Unfortunately, you’ll need all of them.”

  “Awesome,” I said, shoving the books into the bag and hefting it onto my shoulder. Apparently, even being a princess witch couldn’t get a girl out of schoolwork.

  I studied my schedule as I followed Genie, comparing it to Roo’s. “Physical Defense,” I read. “Histories of the Magical Realms, Brews and Boils, Lunch, Spell-casting, and Currency/Reading.” I blinked at the schedule and looked up at Genie. “What’s Currency slash Reading?”

  Genie laughed. “It’s funny that that’s the one you ask about, since that’s the closest to a Normie subject on that list.”

  “Normie?” Roo asked.

  Genie pushed her glasses up her nose. “Normal people. Non-magic users. And Currency and Reading are just what they sound like. Currency handles useful mathematics and how to handle money, and reading is just—well, reading. They put them both into one course, making it quantitative and reading and writing intensive. A lot of people struggle with that one, but I’m here to help if you need me.”

  “Thanks,” I mumbled. “Looking over Roo’s schedule. “We have Physical Defense at the same time, but that’s it. Lunch, I guess. We’ll see each other at lunch and dinner.”

  “Well, you’re on different levels. Roonie is a silver level, and you are gold, because of your ages.” She pointed at our shirts, and I saw that the insignia over my right breast—a raven in flight backed by a triangle—had gold stitching, whereas Roo’s was silver.

  “Silver and gold?”

  “I believe in Normie school it’s called sophomore and junior?”

  We were entering the dining hall now, and even though I’d just been there the night before, I almost paused in my tracks. The hall was packed with students, all wearing the green shirts and black slacks, raven insignias over their chests. A few turned and looked at us as we entered, and I felt my cheeks heating as the gawkers leaned together and began whispering.

  There had to be several hundred students in here, and with each group we passed, more and more would lower their voices, eyes following our movements. If Roo and Genie noticed, neither of them let on. I lifted my chin a fraction and tried to look as chill as I could, but I got the feeling we were the talk of the Academy.

  In the buffet line, as we grabbed our plates and awaited our turns to fill them, Genie confirmed this. “Everyone is talking about the two princesses who’ve joined the Academy,” she said. “It’s not often we get new students. Most of us have spent the majority of our lives here; we’ve grown up together. And it’s even less frequent that we get royalty.”

  At this last word, the people in line glanced at us, and my cheeks heated again. “Let’s, uh, let’s not speak that word too loudly, please,” I said.

  “My bad,” Genie said, piling fresh fruit and warm waf
fles onto her plate as Roo and I opted for the pancakes and bacon. “It’s just so exciting. If I were a p—,” she paused and lowered her voice. “Princess,” she continued in a whisper, “I’d wear a dang crown every where I went.”

  We finished gathering our food and followed Genie over to one of the long tables, claiming a seat across from her. Several faces turned our way as we did so. Genie commenced introductions.

  “This is Hilda Heckleburg,” Genie said, gesturing to a girl with a mousy face, wide shoulders, and a mouth that seemed permanently set in a shy sort of grimace. “She is the best brewer you’ll ever meet. And this is Candice Potts. We call her Candy for short. Candy knows the histories of the magical realms like the back of her hand.”

  Candy, much like Hilda, was quiet and unassuming. Candy had a head of wildly curly hair and eyes that were a little too big in proportion to the rest of her features.

  Next was Indi Bruce, who was very pretty, with dark, almond-shaped eyes and long black hair, but who seemed wholly unaware of her beauty. She sat with her shoulders drawn inward, as if trying to make herself smaller, less noticeable. According to Genie, Indi was the resident expert on spell casting. All of them were gold levels, like me.

  In short, Genie’s little friend group were not the cool kids—they were the nerds. I felt right at home beside them. Well, as “at home” as a girl could feel when dropped into an Academy of Witchcraft she’d never known existed.

  “Ladies,” Genie said, “I present to you Reini and Roonie.”

  “It’s just Rey,” I said.

  “And Roo,” Roo added.

  “Are you the Heiresses of the Goddess we keep hearing so much about?” Indi asked.

  Roo and I glanced at each other.

  “They are,” Genie answered. “The Aldainaire princesses. And they’re my roommates!”

  I shoved some food in my mouth and attempted a smile around it. Word spread fast around here, as if rumor had been flying while we’d slept. From the glances we kept receiving, I deduced that this wasn’t too far from the truth.

  “If you need help with anything,” Candy said shyly, “you can come to any of us. We’re happy to help.”

  “We appreciate that,” Roo said around a mouthful of bacon.

  “And don’t worry,” added Hilda. “I’m sure you’ll catch on really quickly.”

  I panted, my throat burning, lungs aching.

  This wasn’t Physical Defense. This was physical torture.

  In typical fashion, Roo raced right by me on the track, lapping me and barely out of breath. I scowled at her as she tossed me a smile and continued on.

  “Pick up the pace, Reini!” commanded a deep voice that I was already starting to hate, despite having heard it for the first time less than half a day ago. “Your little sister just lapped you!”

  “Really?” I said, between panting breaths, slowing my pace a little more just to spite him. “Because I wasn’t sure when she went running right past me that that’s what happened.”

  “Less talking, more running,” he growled.

  “He” was Erasmus Edair, the dark-haired, blue eyed male who’d first approached us at the Academy’s gate the previous night. Though he could not have been more than two or three years older than me, he was one of the Physical Defense trainers at the school, and to catch me up in training, he’d been assigned to me solely for morning trainings.

  Apparently, running was somehow an essential part of that training.

  Of course, Roo had gotten her own trainer as well, but while Erasmus—Raz for short—was dreadfully serious and broody, Abran Daan was soft-spoken and zen. With deep brown eyes and sandy blond hair cut close to his head, he was about as opposite as one could get to Raz.

  Finally, by the grace of the Goddess, I finished my final lap and joined Roo, Raz, and Abe where they were stretching at the far end of the track.

  “Took you long enough,” Roo joked, and trotted off for some strength training with Abe while Raz strolled over to me with obvious disappointment on his features.

  “What?” I snapped when he just kept looking at me.

  “You’re slow,” he responded.

  I swiped some sweat from my forehead with my sleeve. “And you’re rude.”

  “You need to be able to run,” he said, sapphire eyes taking me in from head-to-toe and returning to my gaze, clearly not impressed.

  “I just did run. Two whole miles.”

  Raz turned on his heels and began striding away. “Let’s go,” he said. “You took longer than I expected, so now we’ll need to hurry with the rest of the training.”

  My mouth twisted into a sneer at his stupidly muscular back, but I followed after, mainly because I didn’t know what else to do.

  Spring was heading toward a close, and the sun was out in full force this morning. If I’d thought the Academy grounds were impressive at night, they were downright awe-inspiring during the day. The spires, turrets, and gray stone of the massive main building pierced at the cornflower blue sky, a few wispy clouds drifting among them. There were six dormitories—all brick buildings that were divided by both gender and age, and an infirmary, with paved paths winding between them. The smell of pine owned the place, smaller conifers on the inside of the massive wall surrounding the grounds, their larger brethren standing sentry beyond.

  I tipped my face back to absorb some vitamin D, thinking I might not die after all as my breathing leveled out.

  “Hurry up,” Raz snapped. And then literally snapped his fingers.

  Uncharacteristically, I found myself marching up to him, putting us chest-to-chest. “I will respond much better if you stop being so damn rude,” I told him. “I don’t know who skinned your cat, buddy, but it wasn’t me, so lay off.”

  I imagined I looked pretty ridiculous considering our difference in size, having to tilt my head all the way back to look at him. But I folded my arms over my chest and set my jaw. Normally, I let things slide, unless they were directed at my sister, but I was a little on edge after everything that had happened.

  Roo glanced over from where she was doing squats and lunges with Abe, but if Raz was affected at all by my stance, he didn’t show it.

  “Thirty burpees,” he said. “Thirty squats. Thirty mountain climbers. Thirty push-ups, and another lap. Ten sets of those and you can be done this morning, princess.”

  It was all I could do to keep my jaw from dropping. Was this guy serious? What the heck was I training for, the bloody Olympics?

  I was an instant from protesting it when I caught the smug gleam in his blue eyes, the challenging tilt to his stupid head. He didn’t think I could do it, didn’t think I was capable.

  To be honest, I wasn’t sure I was capable my dang self.

  But by the Goddess everyone kept mentioning, I was going to try.

  If only to prove Erasmus Edair wrong.

  10

  I did it.

  But I did almost die, too.

  After finishing the last and final set, I straightened my back and tried to act like I wasn’t dizzy and regretting that extra helping of pancakes and bacon, and strode over to Raz with a smug look of my own.

  “Same time tomorrow,” he said, and turned away before I could catch my breath.

  I watched the long, dark braids that swayed over his massive shoulders, the bow and arrows ever perched between them, and got the urge to blow a raspberry at him, but refrained.

  “Good job, Roo,” Abe was saying. “You’re a natural athlete.”

  Roo thanked her trainer and joined me a moment later. “Not so bad,” she said, then took a look at me and burst into laughter.

  “It’s not funny,” I said. “I could’ve died. That was more physical exercise than I do in a year! In ten years!”

  “You sure you’re a princess and not a drama queen?” Roo joked, and though I was still pissed at Mr. Righteous, it was good to see her really smile. She’d been off since our father’s passing, and though she wouldn’t admit it, I knew it wa
s all affecting her as much as it was me. Maybe more.

  The good thing, though, was that our schedules for the day were full, and that meant we had little time to stew over the dramatic turns our lives had taken as of late. We had time for five-minute showers in the locker rooms near the track before we had to go to the next class.

  My next class was Histories of the Magical Realms, and it was much more interesting than I’d expected, along with the fact that it gave me a chance to rest after the morning’s grueling workout. Our teacher, Professor Hinkle, was a large man with a handlebar mustache and a penchant for storytelling. He acted out the events he was recalling, dropping names and dates and other facts as though he had an inexhaustible store of them.

  Professor Hinkle hopped onto one foot, his large arms wind-milling dramatically. “That was when Broodus Bramie lost his leg to the beast!” he exclaimed. “But Broodus’s Firedrake was there to keep him from losing his life, and the two Drakes locked into a battle that would destroy half of the Silver City before all was said and done. The entire castle was reduced to charred rubble. Thousands of people were killed, burned to ashes that filled the air like a fresh snow. The first Great War followed on the heels of this event, an inevitable outcome after the carnage.”

  After the Histories of the Magical Realms, I found my way to Brews and Boils with the help of a couple students who were kind enough to point me in the right direction. As I was walking into the classroom, someone bumped my shoulder, making me spill the books out of my arms.

  “Watch it,” snapped a girl who probably doubled me in size. She slipped into the classroom I was entering with a sneer and claimed a seat at the back.

  I stooped to pick up the books, swallowing back curses. Most of the students had already arrived, and now sat watching the new girl as I scrambled to gather the books and find a seat of my own.

  The room was a sight in itself. Black tables that sat two were aligned facing a chalkboard and a larger black table, where all manner of item dwelled. Shelves and shelves of ingredients I couldn’t identify lined the walls, jars and vials marked with labels that ranged from harmless-looking to assumedly deadly. From the low ceiling, various herbs and plants were strung, dried out and waiting to be used in Goddess knew what kind of brew or boil.