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THE CASTLE

The Castle was a magical sanctuary, a place that seemed to exist outside of time and space. As I passed through its gates, I experienced a powerful, thrilling rush of energy. It felt like walking through a waterfall—without the whole getting-wet part. The moment I stepped through the invisible magic barrier, the dust and sweat caking my clothes and hair evaporated into tiny butterflies.

Outside the gate, the world was an inferno. The air sweltered and sweat. The trees were as dry as kindling, and the grass was burnt to a hard yellow crisp.

But beyond the gates lay a paradise beyond anything I had ever imagined. Summer was in full bloom, but it was a kinder, gentler summer. The sun was warm but not scorching. The breeze was cool but not biting. And the grass was so vibrant, so verdant, so velvety. It looked like someone had used magic to paint every single blade to perfection.

I wasn’t alone. The other Apprentices were already here. I scanned the crowd, looking for my brother.

But there was too much going on. The path was narrow, and the crowd was woven as thick as the overgrown forest outside my cottage. And there were so many marvelous sights to drink in that I wasn’t sure what to look at. The butterflies that sparkled like they were made of jewels. The leaping fish in the streams. The trees full of flower blossoms that sang like silver chimes in the wind.

“Savannah!”

I whipped around at the sound of my brother’s voice. He wasn’t on the path after all. He was running across the grass toward me. I hurried to meet him, launching a hug-attack on him as soon as he was within range.

“Ow!” he laughed as I disengaged. “When did you get to be so strong?”

“I’ve always been strong, Dante.” I met his eyes and smirked at him. I had to look up to do it. “Whoa, you’re so tall. Did you grow overnight?”

“Na, you just shrank.” He winked a blue eye at me. The right eye. His left eye was amber-colored, just like my eyes.

“Wow, a joke about my height?” I rolled my eyes at him. “How original.”

He shrugged, grinning even more.

I couldn’t hide my smile. I couldn’t believe we were here. At the Castle. Being here reminded me of how very close we both were to becoming Knights. Everything was just perfect.

So of course it couldn’t last.

“Yo, Winters!”

I turned around, taking up position at my brother’s side. Two boys were moving toward us fast, like a hurricane ripping across the ocean. One of the boys had extremely short and spiky blond hair; the other had extremely short and spiky black hair. Other than their hair color, they might have been twins. Big and bulky, they looked like human tanks. They were certainly buffer than any sixteen-year-olds that I’d ever seen.

“Did you really think you could get away from us?” said the boy with the spiky black hair.

“Ididget away from you. You just didn’t take the hint,” Dante countered, pretending to look bored.

But I knew my brother. He wasn’t bored; he was angry. His tension crackled in the air. It was making me nervous too.

The spiky blond kid glanced at me. “Who’s your friend?”

“She’s not my friend,” Dante told him. “She’s my sister.”

The boys took a closer look at me. They had to bend down a little to do it.

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that wounded my ego a little. I couldn’t stand it when people looked down on me. No matter how many times I’d experienced it, I just couldn’t get used to it—and I didn’t want to.

“She’s little.”

“And you’re stupid,” Dante told him. “Seriously, dude, don’t mess with my sister.”

“Or what?”

“Trust me. Youreallydon’t want to find out.” Dante’s eyes burned with menace.

The black-haired boy met his gaze for a few seconds, then hastily looked away. “Whatever, man.”

I smiled at Dante. “Brother dear, aren’t you going to introduce me to your new friends?”