by John Corwin
Sideon stood and bowed to the room then sat down.
Polite clapping filled the room.
"He will also be the ward of House Tiberius this year," Galfandor continued. "Next, is the lovely Esma Emoora, our new Magical Defense teacher."
A woman who looked barely old enough to be a teacher rose from her chair next to Sideon and waved to the crowd, cheeks dimpled with a brilliant smile and curly blond hair bouncing as if it had a life of its own.
"She looks young," Ambria said softly.
Galfandor continued down the table. "Eleanor Beetle will be the new history teacher."
Professor Beetle stood up, but she was so squat and plump, it hardly looked as if she were standing at all. Thick spectacles hung on the tip of her nose, and her brown hair rose from her head in the shape of a beehive. She said something, but her voice didn't reach the back of the room.
"Lastly, please welcome Asha Fellini." The headmaster smiled toward the end of the table. I couldn't see the new teacher until she stood thanks to the tall man at the table in front of me.
A lovely woman with rich black hair and fair skin rose. Though her nose was a bit longer, and her cheeks not as high, I at first mistook her for Delectra. A squeak emerged from my mouth, and the urge to run nearly had me bolting from my seat.
Ambria gave me an alarmed look, and Max met my eyes.
"Is it just me, or does she look like, um, you-know-who?" Max said.
"She looks much like her," Ambria confirmed.
I swallowed hard and forced myself to look at the woman as she waved regally at the room. It's not her. It couldn't be. Galfandor wouldn't be stupid enough to hire a criminal.
With the introduction done, the headmaster rolled up the parchments on the podium and tucked them into his robes. "Now for keep assignments."
The tension in the room thickened. Parents looked hopefully at their children while they, in turn, looked worriedly up at Galfandor.
I hardly paid attention. All I could think about was Asha Fellini, the woman who looked like my mother.
Chapter 19
"Keep assignments?" Ambria squeaked, tearing me from my dark thoughts. She glared at Max. "I thought you said they stopped dividing people into houses."
Max chuckled. "Keeps are just the dormitories students live in."
Ambria visibly relaxed, her shoulders dropping lower. "Oh, well I suppose that's okay." She frowned. "I wish we could go home every night."
Max shook his head. "Not until your third year." His eyes went distant. "I always fantasized about living away from home, especially at university. I hope it's as fun as I imagined it." He elbowed me. "If we're in the same keep, we can be roommates. Won't that be great?"
Until recently, I'd never even considered university and since I'd never lived continuously in one place longer than a year, moving again felt natural.
Ambria watched Galfandor as he shuffled through parchments. "Are you certain there's nothing special about which keep we're placed in?"
"Not that I've ever heard." Max put a finger to his lips. "He's about to start."
Galfandor's eyes brightened, as if he'd found the parchment he wanted. "This year it's more important than ever that the students live on campus. Even if you are eligible to live elsewhere, I beseech you to reconsider." He made eye contact with some of the older students. "With that said, keep assignments will now begin."
"First up is Graeven Keep." He circled a wand over his head. A spark flew across the crowd. Gasps, oohs, and ahs rose from people as it floated overhead.
The spark hovered over a girl who looked a bit younger than me.
"Abigail Bainbridge, please come forward," Galfandor said.
The wide-eyed girl stood, looked at her parents. The mother smiled proudly, while the father looked a bit grumpy. The mother motioned the girl to move, and Abigail walked to the front of the room where Galfandor pointed to an area next to the podium.
The spark continued around the room, summoning people seemingly at random and the headmaster would call them forward. One moment it settled over someone on the far right corner, then zipped over to the opposite side. Not even the students' names were in alphabetical order. At one point, the spark zipped toward us. Max stiffened and held his breath, but it passed us by and chose another boy.
The next name Galfandor called caused my stomach to clench. "Blue Blackburn, please come to the front."
Blue popped up from the other side of the room and walked to the front. She glanced in my direction but quickly turned away when she saw me looking. I felt terrible about hurting her feelings and resolved to apologize the moment I had a chance.
After several more minutes of flying around the room, the spark faded away. The selection was apparently complete.
Rhona Trask rose from the front table next to Galfandor. "I am the advisor for Graeven Keep. If you need advice or support, you will come to me. Is that understood, children?"
Those gathered at the front nodded.
"Excellent." She motioned them to the right of the podium.
"Next is Moore Keep," Galfandor said.
Once again, the spark flitted around the room, gathering children for the keep. It streaked for us and hovered over Max's head.
His face fell when the spark danced back across the room without choosing me or Ambria. "I hope we all get in the same keep," Max whispered. "I don't want to be alone."
Ambria patted his hand. "We'll think about visiting you sometime."
His shoulders slumped. "Great, thanks."
"Maxwell Tiberius, please come to the front," Galfandor said.
Our friend pushed himself up and trudged to the waiting crowd of students bound for Moore.
"Well, it looks like we'll be in the same keep at least," Ambria said to me. As if it had heard her, the spark zipped across the room and selected her. Eyes wide, she covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh no. Please choose Conrad next, spark!"
But it faded away, signaling the end of the selection.
So much for being Max's roommate.
My heart drooped. I'd hoped to have at least one of my close friends in the dorm with me. Ambria's lip quivered as she stood and waved goodbye. I caught a horrified look from Max where he stood with the others bound for Moore Keep.
Gideon Grace rose from the table and walked to the group. "As the warden of Moore Keep, you will follow my every command, children." He strode up and down before them like a general leading them to war. "I expect nothing but the best behavior from each of you, or you will find yourselves living in the basement." He stiffened and shouted, "Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir!" the children shouted back, voices filled with fear and uncertainty.
Max and Ambria looked horrified.
Galfandor smiled. "Very good, then. I think you'll find Professor Grace to be strict, but fair." His words didn't seem to lessen the fear in the eyes of Grace's wards.
The headmaster summoned another spark. It seemed a bit strange to do so since there was only one keep left. Shouldn't everyone else know which building they'd live in by default? I suddenly realized that all of the older students were still seated. Only children my age and younger were in the groups at the front. The spark only chose the new students since the older ones were already assigned keeps.
"And now for Tiberius Keep," Galfandor said. The spark settled over someone I couldn't see. "Harris Ashmore, please come to the front."
The name was like a slap to the face. A few selections later, Baxter was directed to join those bound for Tiberius Keep, and Lily was chosen not long after. Two teens with white-blond hair slinked between the tables and slid into the empty chairs where Max and Ambria had been sitting.
The boys looked identical. Only a freckle told me who was who.
"Hello, Rhys," I said to the boy with a freckle on his right cheek. I remained calm and nodded at the other. "Devon."
Their eyes widened and delighted grins spread across their faces. They glanced at each other across me, and in
that moment I felt as though one of them had escaped from the reflected world and now haunted the other. Unfortunately, I knew Max's older brothers were up to no good.
"How did you tell us apart?" Rhys asked. He waved away the question before I could answer. "Never mind. I really don't care, but it's touching that you cared enough to make the effort."
"Always address someone by their name when greeting them." Devon tapped a finger to his chest. "It shows respect."
I couldn't decide if they were being serious or sarcastic, so I remained still and phrased my question carefully. "How may I help you?"
"It appears you'll be in our keep," Rhys said.
"Along with Harris Ashmore and his little play friends." Devon snickered. "Looks like the infamous Edison boy will need protection from his haters."
His brother snorted. "And we're here to help."
I didn't like the sound of that one little bit. "I think I can take care of myself." Judging from Max's horror stories about these two, I'd be in just as much danger from them as I would from Harris and the others.
Devon put a hand on one shoulder, and Rhys put a hand on the other. They leaned in and whispered at the same time, "You'd do well to let us help, little boy." It sounded like a nightmare in stereo.
Puny boy, Vic said derisively. Your weakness sickens me.
Rise up and destroy them, Della said. You have my blood in your veins and my magic in your blood.
Heat prickled down my scalp and flushed my face. I felt my fists clench tight enough to hurt. I was so angry, I wanted to punch Rhys and Devon until they bled. I also wanted to punch my parents' soul fragments until they burned away like black smoke. I was furious, but I wasn't stupid. There would be no rising up and destroying anyone from me. Physically and magically, I was no match for these two. I'd seen them throw an old man off a balcony and then wrap the railing around his leg with a spell.
A big man with a rainbow mohawk slams his bearded opponent onto the fighting ring tarp and the crowd roars with approval. Cora winces and looks away. Bill grabs her hair and forces her head up.
"Don't look away, you bleeding twit." He jerks her head sideways. "I paid good money to come here."
A tear trickles down Cora's face, but she says nothing. She puts an arm on my shoulder.
The mohawk man seems victorious. But another figure runs from outside the ring and kicks him in the face. The bearded man works his way free and flips to his feet. The mohawk man's partner rushes into the ring, but is no match for the other two fighters. They take turns punching him until he goes down in a pool of blood.
"Whoo!" Bill shouts. "That's what I like to see!" He finishes off his sixth or seventh beer and holds up a crumpled piece of paper. "You're looking at a winner, folks."
Cora smiles uneasily and rubs her fingers on the green pebble—a piece of the anchor stone—hanging from the chain around her neck. "That's wonderful. How much?"
Bill does some counting on his fingers. "Fifty quid at least."
Another greater roar rises from the crowd. I look back at the ring and watch the mohawk man beat the bearded man and his partner senseless with a metal chair. Staggering, but still upright, he holds up his fist in victory.
Bill screams and tears up the paper.
Cora's eyes darken and she looks at me while her fingers work furiously at the polished pebble. I know that look well. It means Bill will probably beat her tonight. But tonight will be different, my future self knows. Tonight, Cora will push Bill down the stairs. Tonight, he'll be the victim.
The present roared back into focus.
Devon snapped fingers in front of my face. "You awake, Edison?"
If I hoped to win a fight against these two, I'd have to follow the mohawk man's example and cheat. Even then it might not be enough. I'd soon be trapped in a dorm with people who hated me so much, they might even kill me. Harris saw himself as a son of prophecy. I wanted to kick myself for encouraging him to believe that, because now it meant he could justify doing anything to me simply because of my last name.
Thanks to my parents, the world was a more dangerous place for me.
"I'm awake." At that moment I wondered if it would be better to simply go to sleep forever. No more parents. No more threats. No more worries. But that would mean Max and Ambria would be left alone to face whatever terrible future my parents wanted. I would be leaving Cora's only other child torn between two worlds. She was now my family. I owed Mum that much.
The selection spark streaked in my direction and I knew it was coming for me.
"If you don't say yes before that spark reaches you, you're on your own." Rhys bared his teeth.
"Alone against the world." Devon waved his arm at the room to underscore the point.
The spark zipped over my head and selected a boy behind me. Its job done, the spark faded. The crowd burst into applause.
Rhys and Devon exchanged almost comically confused looks. "What?" they said simultaneously.
"It's even worse than we thought." Devon's face shone with delight.
Rhys shook with laughter. "The boy with no home. How sad."
"Sad, sad, sad!" Devon doubled over with glee.
I was at a loss. Did this mean I had no keep to live in, or had Galfandor suddenly decided to revoke my admission?
Professor Sideon pushed back his chair and rose from the table. He walked to the group chosen for Tiberius Keep. "I am Professor Sideon. It will be an honor to guide the children of Tiberius Keep through this school year."
"That concludes orientation," Galfandor said. "New students, please follow your advisors to your respective keeps for room assignments."
With a great rumbling of chairs being pushed back and the low murmur of conversations, everyone stood and began moving from the room.
Devon patted me on the back. "Poor Edison boy. It's a shame you rejected our offer of protection."
"I'm certain you'll come squirming to us in time." Rhys stood and the brothers wandered over to a group of boys their age.
Within a few minutes, the room was nearly empty except for Galfandor and some of the other teachers. I slumped as Max and Ambria's group left the room. Ambria gave me one last worried look before vanishing into the hallway.
Chapter 20
I wasn't sure what to do, so I gathered my backpack and broom and walked to the front of the room where Galfandor gathered his sheaf of parchments. He noticed me and gave me an apologetic smile.
"It appears there was a glitch in the selecting spell," he said. "I'm sorry you were left out."
"I don't have a keep?" My voice sounded sad.
"We can't have you sleeping in the park, now can we?" He patted my shoulder. "Perhaps you should just choose a keep."
My sadness vanished. "Really? But, why didn't the spark choose me?"
He tucked the parchments under an arm. "Let's not worry about that. Where would you like to stay?"
"With my friends," I said at once. "Moore Keep."
"Well, what do we have here?" said a bright voice.
I turned and saw Esma Emoora looking quizzically at me.
"One of our new students wasn't selected by the spark," Galfandor explained. "Would you be a dear and escort him to Moore Keep?"
Her eyes flashed. "I'd be delighted. What is your name, child?" She spoke with a proper accent that belied her young appearance.
"Conrad." I left it at that.
"Last name?"
I really didn't want to say it, but it wasn't like everyone didn't already know. "Edison, Miss."
She didn't even flinch at the evil name. "Come along." She nodded to Galfandor and walked toward the exit. She said nothing until we reached the hall where parents mingled and spoke in low tones. "Where is your family?"
Apparently she hadn't heard Harris's loud accusations earlier. "I'm an orphan," I lied.
She stopped in place and gave me a strange look. "An orphan?" A frown. "How awful for you."
I nearly told her it would be a relief to be an orphan
, considering who my parents were, but shrugged instead.
Esma sniffed. "Well, is it awful or not?"
"Being an orphan?" I didn't like the way she asked the question. It was as if she wanted me to feel terrible. "I think it's better for everyone else that I'm an orphan."
She raised an eyebrow. "Interesting." With that, she resumed walking.
I hurried to catch up. The silence between us felt uncomfortable, and I wished Galfandor had simply let me walk alone to the dormitory. I tried to bring up polite conversation. "Where did you teach before this?"
She gave me a sideways glance. "At a private Arcane school in America."
"Oh? Which city?"
"Atlanta." Her reply sounded bored, like someone who's already repeated the same story dozens of times. Esma's eyes brightened. "What do you plan to study, Conrad?"
"Elemental magic." Whatever makes me strong.
"Excellent choice." We left the main building and walked down the sidewalk to the imposing dormitories. Graeven Keep towered to the right, a rectangular building with a high-pitched roof and square towers each corner. Wide balconies with ornate black iron railing protruded from nearly every window.
I heard laughter from far above and saw a crowd of older students looking over the parapets of one of the towers. One of them pointed my way and fresh laughter rained down on me. The circular walkway curved in front of each of the keeps. In the middle was a large pool of clear water with brickwork around the edges. Coins of all shapes and sizes glittered beneath the surface.
Esma stopped and looked over the edge. "Do you have any wishes for the wishing pool, Conrad?"
I had plenty of wishes, but tossing a coin into water wouldn't grant any of them. "Not really."
"Hmm."
We walked around the wishing pool and came to Moore Keep. Though I'd passed by it before, I hadn't given much thought to how different it looked from the other dorms.
Two round towers flanked a short square building with a wide oak door. Turrets with spiked roofs protruded seemingly at random along the height of each tower, while a third round tower rose from the roof of the square building. It looked as if a child with miniature building blocks had simply thrown it together.
