Page 12

There was the small sound of a scoffing snort behind me.

I glanced back to see that the farm girl had followed me into the war room and was standing behind me, just out of sight of my peripheral vision.

“Sire, who is this?” Solarion asked.

I felt a brief moment of shame that I hadn’t learned her name yet, but I let that pass through me, letting it go just as quickly as it came. I didn’t have time for shame. “Introduce yourself,” I commanded.

“Honored Aetheriani,” the farm girl said, bowing deeply from the waist. “I am Nora, an Agronomist trained in Sustainable Agriculture with practical work experience at the Order Academy in Operations and Implementation.”

My lips twitched at her sudden title. They didn't give mundanes titles like that. She was again displaying her intelligence, labeling herself as something more than what others would call her, trying to make an impression of importance when faced with a new social situation.

“A mundane,” Solarion said. He lifted an eyebrow as he inspected her. “Rather sturdy, aren’t you?”

He saw what I saw in her square jaw and broad shoulders, but had the good manners not to say it.

“Yes, honored Aetheriani,” Nora said, bowing again. “I am a humble mundane with very useful skills; I look forward to utilizing them in the service of Rí Túath Crystallo.”

“She is to be portaled back to the mundane at a location of her choosing as soon as we are done with this meeting,” I told Solarion, not a little bit of regret flickering through me. The heat that rose in me every time I looked at her urged that I keep her by my side, but that wasn’t right. Nora deserved to be able to go back to her home.

She deserved her freedom.

“No!” Nora gasped.

Chapter

Five

NORA

Rí Túath Crystallo was sending me away!

The school would take note of my disappearance. I hadn’t just survived because I was cautious, I’d also survived because I was skilled. I wasn’t lying when I laid out all those titles for myself in an attempt to sound more impressive. Sure, I’d never actually been hired under any of those position names, but that didn’t stop me from assigning value to my own skills. I had the knowledge of an Agronomist, a person who knew a lot about soil and crop science. I wouldn’t consider the type of farming we did at the school to be fully sustainable, as there was a magical element that couldn’t be replaced, but I still knew how to design a sustainable garden. I had started a small one near my dorm to supplement myself when I couldn't get to the commons in time.

If he sent me away, I would end up right back at the school.

I should have just gone with the Orcs.

The school had spells they could use to track people down in the Mundane realm; it was how they knew where to send the school pamphlets to recruit promising young victims. All ittook was one person deciding to hunt me down, and I would be dragged back and interrogated so that they could find out how I escaped.

“No!” I gasped. “You granted me your boon! You said I could stay by your side!”

This was a Rí Túath. None of the people in this room supports me against their Rí Túath. If he cemented his decision to send me away, away I would go.

I slammed my fist down on the table, forgetting everything I'd been forced to learn over the last few years. The sound of my fist hitting wood startled me, as did the cracks in the surface under my fist.

I stared down at where my olive skin met the wooden surface.

Embarrassment at the damage rushed through me.

I didn't need to be strong; I needed to be gentle.

I dropped down to my knees.

“I will be of service to you!” I said, bowing my head..

“Don’t do that,” Rí Túath Crystallo said, his voice gentle. “Stand up.”

He didn't want me to kneel.