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I screamed myself and everyone around me into oblivion.
Twenty
Avalon
Conscription Day - The First Day of Spring
There was blood pooling on the cobblestone entrance of the Boellium War College. I shouldn’t be surprised, given the baying of the crowd jammed into the front courtyard, and the man suspended in the air, bleeding steadily from his nose. The ruby liquid fell in huge drops, splashing on the ground beneath him with a gruesome dripping sound. Once the puddle of blood became too much, someone with water abilities seemed to wash it away.
That would definitely explain the pink stones.
The guy in the air, bound with invisible ropes, looked at me imploringly. “Help me,” he gasped weakly.
I met his eyes, keeping my face shuttered and neutral, then timed my steps to walk under his blood droplets so they didn’t splatter on me.
Someone huffed a laugh, and someone else muttered, “That’s cold,” but I ignored them all. I wasn’t here to be someone’s savior. I wasn’t here to change the status quo.
I was here because I wasthe useless daughter.
Every one of the Twelve Lines had to enrol a child into the Boellium War College every year, and once a decade, it had to send a young person from the leading family of that Line. If I had to guess at their reasoning, I’d say it was so they didn’t all send simple farmers’ sons and create an army of uneducated cannon fodder.
Some Lines sent their most gifted children, either physically or mentally, in the hopes they could make advantageous connections or better still, marriages.
But that was for the Upper Six Lines. I was the youngest daughter of the current Baron of the Ninth Line. I was barely better than pond scum to these people. The only thing worse would be if I was from the Twelfth.
So I didn’t care who was hanging up there dripping blood for the cause; I couldn’t help them. I didn’t want to help them. I wanted to learn to fight and go home to where there were fewer people and smaller egos.
I’d spent hours reading journal accounts of prestigious Ninth Line warriors, who talked about coming to Boellium War College like it was the best and worst time of their life, so I knew what to expect. I knew this was part of the hazing, helping to sift the weak of stomach and will from the strong contenders.
I knew that a little blood was going to become an everyday occurrence for me. That was why I kept walking. It’s why I avoided the eyes of the milling crowd, and closed my ears to their muttered commentary.
I wasn’t cold. I wasrealistic.A tender heart in Boellium would soon bleed out, and then it would be their blood painting the courtyard’s cobblestones red. That wouldn’t be me.
I'd walked here all the way from my home in Rewill, and I was exhausted. As the conscript for the Ninth Line, I wasn’t given any aid; even the clothes on my back had been stolen from my brothers. This hazing was the final hurdle before I couldsign myself into the college’s ledgers, then collapse on a bed somewhere and sleep for a week.
Eyes on my face had me looking across the courtyard, and when I met some glacial blue irises, I quickly turned my sights back to Boellium War College’s fabled atrium.
I knew who it was. I might have lived in the mountains, far away from the glittering courts, but I knew Vox Vylan. The second son of the current Baron of the First Line. I’d heard he was powerful, but the way he held that person suspended in the air effortlessly was definitely a telling example. I didn’t want to meet the Heir. I didn’t want to be in his sights at all. I wanted to do my time and leave again.
Walking through the atrium quickly, I knew this was the part where the Third Line hazed the incoming conscripts. It was a madhouse of screams and animal sounds so loud that it hurt my ears. Known for their beast magic, the Third Line were as scary as the First. Their hazing wouldn’t be as easy to ignore as the First Line.
As if to prove my point, two giant hounds leaped in front of me, their eyes intent on my face, like they were contemplating what I tasted like.
I stared them down, my heart hammering. You weren’t supposed to run from predators; that’s what I told myself over and over as I held my ground. Finally, someone whistled, and the hounds retreated.
Unable to stop myself, I turned toward the sound, meeting a pair of golden orbs so transfixing that they stole the air from my lungs. I knew enough about current affairs to know this was Hayle Taeme, third son of the Taeme family, leaders of the Third Line.
Staring into those eyes made my heart beat so hard, it felt like it was seizing in my chest. Pain spread down through my limbs, and I urged myself to move. Whatever he was doing to me wasdangerous. I knew they had beast powers, but what if he could literally reach into my chest and crush my heart as well?
We all had powers we had to keep a secret. Something tickled in the back of my brain, a secret that I denied even to myself, but I shut it down. I wasn’t here to uncover any secrets, about myself or anyone else.
I vowed to myself I would stay far, far away from Hayle Taeme. I would also stay away from Vox Vylan.
I was going to do my time and get the hell out of Boellium War College, safe and whole, and I would never look back.
Twenty
Avalon
Conscription Day - The First Day of Spring
There was blood pooling on the cobblestone entrance of the Boellium War College. I shouldn’t be surprised, given the baying of the crowd jammed into the front courtyard, and the man suspended in the air, bleeding steadily from his nose. The ruby liquid fell in huge drops, splashing on the ground beneath him with a gruesome dripping sound. Once the puddle of blood became too much, someone with water abilities seemed to wash it away.
That would definitely explain the pink stones.
The guy in the air, bound with invisible ropes, looked at me imploringly. “Help me,” he gasped weakly.
I met his eyes, keeping my face shuttered and neutral, then timed my steps to walk under his blood droplets so they didn’t splatter on me.
Someone huffed a laugh, and someone else muttered, “That’s cold,” but I ignored them all. I wasn’t here to be someone’s savior. I wasn’t here to change the status quo.
I was here because I wasthe useless daughter.
Every one of the Twelve Lines had to enrol a child into the Boellium War College every year, and once a decade, it had to send a young person from the leading family of that Line. If I had to guess at their reasoning, I’d say it was so they didn’t all send simple farmers’ sons and create an army of uneducated cannon fodder.
Some Lines sent their most gifted children, either physically or mentally, in the hopes they could make advantageous connections or better still, marriages.
But that was for the Upper Six Lines. I was the youngest daughter of the current Baron of the Ninth Line. I was barely better than pond scum to these people. The only thing worse would be if I was from the Twelfth.
So I didn’t care who was hanging up there dripping blood for the cause; I couldn’t help them. I didn’t want to help them. I wanted to learn to fight and go home to where there were fewer people and smaller egos.
I’d spent hours reading journal accounts of prestigious Ninth Line warriors, who talked about coming to Boellium War College like it was the best and worst time of their life, so I knew what to expect. I knew this was part of the hazing, helping to sift the weak of stomach and will from the strong contenders.
I knew that a little blood was going to become an everyday occurrence for me. That was why I kept walking. It’s why I avoided the eyes of the milling crowd, and closed my ears to their muttered commentary.
I wasn’t cold. I wasrealistic.A tender heart in Boellium would soon bleed out, and then it would be their blood painting the courtyard’s cobblestones red. That wouldn’t be me.
I'd walked here all the way from my home in Rewill, and I was exhausted. As the conscript for the Ninth Line, I wasn’t given any aid; even the clothes on my back had been stolen from my brothers. This hazing was the final hurdle before I couldsign myself into the college’s ledgers, then collapse on a bed somewhere and sleep for a week.
Eyes on my face had me looking across the courtyard, and when I met some glacial blue irises, I quickly turned my sights back to Boellium War College’s fabled atrium.
I knew who it was. I might have lived in the mountains, far away from the glittering courts, but I knew Vox Vylan. The second son of the current Baron of the First Line. I’d heard he was powerful, but the way he held that person suspended in the air effortlessly was definitely a telling example. I didn’t want to meet the Heir. I didn’t want to be in his sights at all. I wanted to do my time and leave again.
Walking through the atrium quickly, I knew this was the part where the Third Line hazed the incoming conscripts. It was a madhouse of screams and animal sounds so loud that it hurt my ears. Known for their beast magic, the Third Line were as scary as the First. Their hazing wouldn’t be as easy to ignore as the First Line.
As if to prove my point, two giant hounds leaped in front of me, their eyes intent on my face, like they were contemplating what I tasted like.
I stared them down, my heart hammering. You weren’t supposed to run from predators; that’s what I told myself over and over as I held my ground. Finally, someone whistled, and the hounds retreated.
Unable to stop myself, I turned toward the sound, meeting a pair of golden orbs so transfixing that they stole the air from my lungs. I knew enough about current affairs to know this was Hayle Taeme, third son of the Taeme family, leaders of the Third Line.
Staring into those eyes made my heart beat so hard, it felt like it was seizing in my chest. Pain spread down through my limbs, and I urged myself to move. Whatever he was doing to me wasdangerous. I knew they had beast powers, but what if he could literally reach into my chest and crush my heart as well?
We all had powers we had to keep a secret. Something tickled in the back of my brain, a secret that I denied even to myself, but I shut it down. I wasn’t here to uncover any secrets, about myself or anyone else.
I vowed to myself I would stay far, far away from Hayle Taeme. I would also stay away from Vox Vylan.
I was going to do my time and get the hell out of Boellium War College, safe and whole, and I would never look back.