by Cora May
That was her morning. She had lunch at one in the afternoon daily, and then from two o’clock to five o’clock, her schedule said only one thing; training. There was a room number listed and the words Headmistress Vissula Prisanni, Head of the Celestite House, written directly under that.
That seemed to bother Brin. The delicate, fairy-like face she had faltered for a moment into a frown. Her dainty chin trembled ever so slightly. The reaction lasted just a moment, but it was enough for Chanta to catch it. Then the upbeat smile returned. The dimples on her brown cheeks seemed to dramatically jump out at Chanta, as if to make up for the faltering moment. Brin told her that she shared that training time with her, so she would take her there after lunch. They usually ate together, her and Addy, along with their friends. She told Chanta she’d introduce her to everyone, and then she could show her the Celestite training room.
Everything was set up, it seemed. Avery Swan was going to take her to her first class in the morning, and from there, she was told, she would find her way from class to class fairly easily. All that was left to do was enjoy her weekend and wait until class.
Oh. And to sign the oath.
That decision still hadn’t been made, so for now, she let the girls tell her about everything. Brin showed her to the bathrooms while Addy was at training for the morning. Around two thirty, Brin took her to the kitchen for lunch. Someone else had already made soup and bread, which had been left out in a steaming hot pot on a wooden table. Bowls and utensils had been stacked up on the side. Brin poured some for Chanta and some for herself, and they ate quietly at the tables.
Addy joined them shortly after they began. She looked distracted, Chanta noted. She barely ate any soup at all, though it was made of delicious, herby potatoes and vegetables, and she didn’t say anything at all. Even when Brin asked her why she was so late, Addy had no response. It seemed like Brin was going to have to lead a couple of very somber girls on her tour.
They took her down to the second and third floors. Apparently, that was where most of the classes were held. It was darker in ambiance than the first floor or her floor, but it still looked grand and expensive. There was no one else around because it was after hours on a Friday, but usually, Addelai had said, the study rooms were filled at least. Chanta wondered what kinds of things were being studied. They took her to a great big window in one of the study rooms to show her the fields. They had a soccer field and a track that ran around it. Next to that, they had a much fiercer looking field. There were spears and cannonballs scattered throughout, among other things. Addelai told her that that was where the Jasper Warriors trained, and where she would be in the morning. She told her that she might be there, too, if her earth stone was Jasper, and warned her of the strict training schedule.
After a few hours of walking up and down the stairs and visiting various classrooms, the girls claimed that it was time for dinner. Dinner was eaten together on the third-floor dining hall. When Chanta asked how many other students would be there, her appetite vanished. Apparently, the entire school ate together, faculty included. She insisted, then, that she was not hungry and was instead weary from her day. She told the girls to go on ahead of her, that she could find her way back to the room just fine, and that she really just wanted to sleep.
She found her way back with no trouble at all, though this time, there were more people in the halls heading down for dinner. No one seemed to notice her, luckily. There were too many faces for a new one to be recognized so easily.
When she got to her room, she found that her basket of clothing had made it back as well. It was sitting atop a wooden dresser with a small piece of paper placed inside. Chanta went to it and snatched the paper, opening it in one swift move.
I’ve had your clothes cleaned and a chest assigned to you. Everything inside is yours.
-Headmistress Vissula Prisanni
Chanta tossed the note onto the dresser and pulled open a few of the drawers. There was plenty of clothing inside. Pajamas, what looked like school uniforms, sweatshirts, dresses and skirts, and even some cute tops. For some reason, Chanta was immediately put out by the kind gesture. She slammed the drawers shut and dug through her basket to find a pair of her own pajamas. Gray sweatpants with holes in the knees and an elastic band that had seen better days and a faded pink tank top. She dressed and climbed into her bed, ready to be done with the day already.
CHAPTER TEN: ADDELAI
T he faculty wing of the school was not a place that Addelai enjoyed, yet she found herself having gone often over the last quarter. She didn’t expect to be back so soon, but she already found herself walking down the green-colored halls again. Fear and anxiety mixed together in her mind.
Rather than numbers, like the dorms, the faculty offices had the names of the respective professors engraved on a nameplate hanging from them. Addy didn’t need to bother reading the nameplate, though. She knew exactly where Nessi’s office was.
She reached out and knocked on the door with one sweaty hand.
“Come in, Addelai,” Nessi called from within.
Addy swallowed the lump in her throat and turned the knob.
“Have a seat,” Nessi commanded from behind her desk.
Addy obeyed. She looked around the office. Nessi had been a collector of the Jasper stone. She had gone to many places in the world in search of the purest Jasper. Her office reflected that. The red Jasper stone was incorporated in most of the furniture to some extent. On the chair in which Nessi sat, there were three of the stones encrusted above the professor’s head. On her desk sat a vase filled with smoothed Jasper stones. On the bookshelf were many books written on the topic of the excavation, care, and use of the stone. Addy had seen all of these things many times before.
In that moment, she suddenly held the Jasper-filled office in so much more respect, admiration, and melancholy. It was as if she was looking at the stone truly for the first time.
“I’m so sorry,” Addelai quickly blurted the words. “I can get rid of it. Please don’t send me away. I need this. Don’t expel me. I can do better—I will do better. I was foolish. Oh, Professor, please let me stay.”
“Addelai,” Professor Nessi said as she cleared her throat. “I’m afraid you misunderstood me. Let me assure you, expulsion was nowhere in my mind. Disregard that thought entirely. Nor do I want you to remove the stone in your wrist.”
Professor Nessi trailed off as she walked to the great window behind her desk. She found something outside and fixated on it, studying it as Addy sat there waiting. Addy blanked. She wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was at that point.
The professor remained at the window for some time. Her form had gone perfectly still, as if she had turned to stone by the rays of the sun. As the time ticked by, Addy wondered if she could just slip out unnoticed. Perhaps the professor had forgotten she was there entirely.
But something told her she would come to regret that action.
“Then what do you want me to do?” she asked instead, trying to call the professor back to the conversation.
“I want you,” Nessi said, turning back to face the student, “to take part in something bigger than yourself or your studies. I want you to sacrifice your time and skill and, regrettably but quite possibly, your life. I want you to join my cause.”
Those were the words she stopped at. Addy couldn’t make herself understand them, no matter how many times she repeated them in her head. She couldn’t force the words to mean anything, but she also couldn’t deny the weight of them. She thought perhaps her favorite professor was mad. That seemed to be the only sound explanation she could come up with for the situation.
“Professor, forgive me,” Addy said, “but I truly don’t understand what you’re asking of me. I don’t understand any of this at all.”
Nessi sighed.
“I’m afraid it is I that must ask your forgiveness. I am not being terribly clear. However, this is a very delicate matter, you must understand that. I cannot simp
ly tell you of the operation before you give me your allegiance.”
Once again, Addy blanked.
“You just asked me to surrender my life,” she pointed out. “You can’t ask that of someone without telling them the cause.”
“You’re very right,” Nessi agreed. “And yet, that is what I am doing. You have to trust me.”
“And if I say no?” Addy asked.
Nessi pondered.
“Well, then we’re in a real conundrum, I suppose. You are, after all, in direct violation of the school’s ethics policy. You’ve broken the worst rule you could have. What a shame, too, because you were one of the best students I’ve had. I would have to get Headmistress Prisanni involved, of course.”
Nessi began to drift, as if in a dream state. Addy didn’t miss the past tense usage of Nessi’s words. Neither did she misunderstand the implication behind it. Nessi was giving her a choice; join her blindly in this unknown cause, but continue on at the school, or face the headmistress and a greater possibility of expulsion.
“Then I guess I can’t say no,” she said begrudgingly. Her entire opinion of her favorite professor was beginning to morph into something new.
“I guess you can’t, can you?” There was a twinkle in Nessi’s eyes.
“Okay, so you have my allegiance. Now can you tell me what this is all about?”
“But of course, my star pupil,” Nessi said. “I am sure you’ve heard Vissula talk about her mission in this school?” Nessi paused, expecting an answer.
“She means to help those with Blessings learn to control and respect the gifts given to us by the Anam,” Addy answered.
“What if I told you that it goes so much deeper than that?” Nessi began. “Vissula has known for decades now that a war is raging in the Province of the Dead. She could have left us out of it, but instead she chooses to raise an army of the living to fight for her. She chooses to drag the human world into the war of the dead.”
“She has never asked me to fight a war,” Addy interjected.
“Nor would she, unless she thought the time was right. Vissula is very particular about the students she invites into this war. As am I.
“You see, there are several sides that you could choose to fight on. It seems like an easy choice, but it is a complex matter. You could fight on the side of the Anam Solas, the spirits of goodness and light, the ones who gave us our Blessings. You could cross them and fight on the side of the Anam Dorcha, and their god Dimonis. Or perhaps you choose to fight with the humans who do not believe the Province should exist. Perhaps you’d enjoy the life of an Anam Hunter,” Nessi said with a pointed glare at Addy. Addy started to sweat. “Taking the power of the Reaper and becoming a god in your own right, bringing death to the souls that have already suffered it once; robbing the Province of their eternities. A great crime in Vissula’s eyes, one she would have you killed for if she ever found out.”
Does she know? Addy thought panicked.
“You could fight for Vissula, but she fights only for her mother,” Nessi continued. “A valiant effort, but without triumph if it is without order.”
“Who do you suggest I fight for?”
“I suggest you fight for yourself,” Nessi said calmly. “I suggest that you take the time to consider what is right and what is wrong in your own eyes and use those reasons to fuel your fight.”
“So I get to choose, then?” Addy asked. “You just forced me into giving you my allegiance, but I get to choose?”
“Oh, certainly not,” Nessi said. “You are fighting on my side now; I simply ask you to find reason to agree with me.”
Of course, Addy thought.
“Then tell me what your part is in this war. Are you not fighting on the same side as the headmistress?”
“I fight for my own reasons. Vissula and I happen to agree on many things in this war, and thus it appears as though we are fighting on the same side. I fight for the Reaper.”
“What does that mean?”
“You will find out as time goes. You are to report to the Jasper common room tonight after dinner, where one of my Warriors will find you and bring you to the briefing.”
Addy understood what that meant; she was dismissed. She left the room without another word.
The anxiety was already setting in, though. She had the rest of the day to ponder the professor’s words, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. It seemed like every minute of the day so far was only getting more and more confusing than the last. Addy sighed and made her way to the dining hall for lunch.
She had hoped to be able to eat alone and in peace to think about what was going on, but she quickly located her group of friends. She did what she knew she should do and took her food to the table, sitting in the empty seat between Brin and Ashby where she always sat.
She ate without tasting her food, though. Her mind was on the words of her professor. She was stuck on one phrase in particular: I fight for the Reaper. The Reaper of the Dead seemed like a terrifying reason to fight. But Addy hadn’t seen any terror in the eyes of Professor Nessi. Instead, she had seen a twinkle of reverence. Perhaps even more than that, she could swear she had seen something of admiration and love. But the Reaper was a terrifying creature. He was not an Anam and may never have even been a man. No one knew exactly what he was or when he began. He predated Dimonis himself, and he has always been in control of death. But beyond that, no one knew anything about him. So why would someone be fighting for him?
That was a conversation that Addy would surely be having with her professor.
“Earth to Addy?” Brin was waving a hand in front of her face, suddenly calling her attention to the table and her friends.
“I’m sorry, what?” Addy asked.
“We were planning to hang out,” Brin said with a mixture of annoyance, worry, and curiosity in her voice. “Tonight, in our room. To welcome Chanta. Anyway, I was thinking we could invite Milena and Maleko so that we could make our own food. I’ll talk to Headmistress Prisanni to get us all excused from the dining hall. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind at all—she’d love that we’re planning a welcoming party.”
Milena and Maleko were Burners of the Pyrite stone. A fairly destructive Blessing, but with their heritage, most of their family believed it was the god of the volcano that had gifted the twins with the gift. The headmistress had agreed, which made it easy to convince the family to allow her to train the twins even though they were only twelve when she had taken them. The community had been at the end of their patience with the children, which Milena had told Addy was part of the reason her parents gave them up so easily and so wholly. Now at fifteen years old, the twins had full control of their Blessings and were able to visit their island without instilling fear in the community.
“That sounds like a great idea,” Addy offered, “but I can’t be there. I’m sorry.”
“What? Why not?”
“Brin, love,” Jace said from the other side of her. “I’m afraid I can’t be there, either. I have another meeting.”
Immediately, Brin was sobered by that news. Her voice dropped when she responded to him, and Addy’s ears perked up.
“Because of the Hunters again?” she asked.
Jace responded only by putting a finger to his lips and looking down at his food. Addy watched Brin’s face fall as she turned her attention back to her food. Addy tried to get a read from Jace’s face, but he expertly kept his eyes trained on his fork.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Chanta finally spoke up. Addy looked at her and immediately saw from her face that she wasn’t entirely convinced of the idea. She was showing pity to Brin. “I’d love to make more friends, really. And maybe learn more of these stones. Maybe Milena and Maleko could help figure out my deal.”
Brin raised her eyes skeptically to Chanta—a look that most of the table missed. Addy had known her too well to miss it, though. Why was she suspicious of the new girl? But the look cleared away quickly, and her warm smile returned.
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“Great! Ashby, please tell me you’ll be there?”
Ashby looked to Addy first, but Addy only shrugged as she chewed her corn.
“Of course I’ll be there, Brin.”
Brin continued to plan her little party, but Addy drifted off again. She was barely aware of the time passing until she found herself walking by Ashby’s side as they left the dining hall. Actually, she wasn’t truly aware until he pulled her away from a pillar before she walked straight into it.
“Okay, Addy, what’s up?” he demanded, forcing her to look at him.
Addy grimaced.
“I’m just tired,” she lied.
“Is this more about the voice this morning?” he asked, dismissing her lie completely. “Or is this about where you’ve been all day? I know you weren’t in your room after practice, so where were you?”
“I had to meet with Professor Nessi,” she confessed. “I’m just tired. It’s been a long day, and the new roommate and everything… I just need some time to adjust.”
Ashby laughed.
“I’m not Brin,” he told her. “I’m not going to accept whatever you say just because you don’t want to tell me what’s going on. You’re going to have to talk to me eventually.”
“Eventually,” she agreed and began to walk away again.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: BRINZIEL
A s she had predicted, Headmistress Prisanni was more than happy to give Brin and her friends permission to skip dinner in the dining hall in order to give Chanta a sort of welcoming party. She had given her the list of her intended guests, and all were excused. When the time for the party came, she tried not to look as displeased as she felt, but it was hard when she knew that Jace was with his friend Kameron instead of with her. It seemed like whenever she got ditched, Kameron was the one who won her boyfriend’s time.