The steam from my coffee glided across my face as I took another sip. I leaned against the side of the stone steps leading up to the main building, waiting for Troy. Someone came to stand next to me, I tilted my head to the side to find Lucian casually sipping away at his own coffee.

  “Morning, Mr. Evillian.”

  “Good morning. How was your weekend?”

  “There were so many socials and tours, house meetings, floor meetings, club introductions. And then the weekend was over.”

  “Fuck, you actually went to all of those?”

  “You didn’t?”

  “Fuck no.”

  “I thought we had to go?”

  “And you always do what you’re told?”

  “Yes,” I said with an innocent smile.

  “I highly doubt that.” He gave one of his seductive smiles back.

  Someone cleared their throat and I turned to find Alya and Ziya standing in front of us. What Troy had said the other night came back to me and my heart felt heavy; I didn’t want to cause any trouble for Ziya.

  I smiled at them. “Hi Alya, Ziya, I better get going, you three have a good day.” I turned to walk when Lucian grabbed my arm.

  “Hey, meet me here after the ceremony,” he said, winked, and then darted away before I could say anything, leaving me standing in front of two predators ready to pounce.

  Just then Troy showed up out of breath. “Hey Ors, let’s get going.”

  “Yes, let’s,” I said with a sigh of relief, avoiding eye contact with Ziya and Alya. I felt guilty and I hadn’t even done anything. The story of my life. “See you around,” I said to the two girls and joined Troy’s side.

  We walked through the main building to find a pathway to the Great Hall. It was a big domed building, floating a few feet above the ground. Moss covered the base of the building, and vines hung down its sides like little vine waterfalls plummeting to the ground. The dome itself was in a spiral shape and almost looked like a snail shell turned on its side, the bottom a light brown, turning darker as the spiral wound up to the top. The stairs leading up to the entrance were floating, and I was a little nervous stepping onto them, but was surprised by how solid they felt.

  Inside we found ourselves in an elegant lobby. Dark red lush carpets matched heavy curtains draping the sides. The hall itself looked like a classic concert hall with balcony seats strategically placed on the sides and at the back of the room, with a stage in front. More heavy red curtains were draped on the stage and sides of the balconies giving the hall a very expensive and sophisticated look.

  In the center, seats were divided into four groups, one for each house with a semitransparent house flag magically floating above it. A few minutes before the assembly had to start, a student came down the aisle to take the seat next to me. He had dark eyes, a scar from his eyebrow into his hair, and his hair was in a short mohawk. He fell into the chair without even looking in my direction. The first Tartarean that, I’ll admit, scared me.

  I quickly looked away. My eyes darted over the crowd, admiring the diversity of the students and how well everyone looked in their uniforms, when I felt a tingle in my head. I had a sudden urge to bump my head against the chair in front of me. I pulled back trying to fight whoever’s magic was trying to take control of my body. After a good struggle, I lost the fight and my head shot forward, my eyes widening as I saw the chair coming closer. At the very last second, before my head was supposed to hit the chair, a soft warm palm cushioned the impact. Relieved I touched my forehead and gaped at the owner of the hand. My scary neighbor.

  “Thank you!” I said still holding my head.

  He growled in a deep voice. “I didn’t want any blood on my clothes. What the Caedes were you doing anyway?”

  “It wasn’t me; it was Psionic magic,” I said through gritted teeth, my head spun around, knowing exactly who I was looking for. I found Ziya in the same row but the Aestas house block, glaring at me. I smiled at her and flipped her off.

  The guy next to me was watching my interaction with interest, and I added, “She doesn’t like me much.”

  “I don’t fucken care,” he said, pausing for a moment before I heard his low voice again. “But I am a little surprised, I heard you Fae from Leukós were all love not war, fun in the sun and all that shit.”

  “We are still fae, so we fight. Being Lumini means we just do it with a smile,” I said, chuckling darkly.

  He glared at me, and then looked away, done with the conversation. These Tartarean did not care about being polite, but I kind of liked that about them, and it immediately reminded me of Aries. I looked through the crowd to see if I could find her, but there were just too many students.

  The faculty arrived and walked up the stairs, taking their seats on the stage.

  “Good morning students. I am Chancellor Altrus and behind me are the other eight members of the Council of Realms. We are pleased for you to join us, some of the most powerful fae from the three realms, coming together for the first time in history so that we can ensure a better future for all fae. This day will be remembered for generations to come, and I hope you are as proud as I am to be part of this joyous occasion. Let me start by introducing the council members. Your new professors, from left to right; Professor Vixra Orette, wind element and she will be teaching Alchemy.”

  Professor Vixra stood up. She was a tall lady with shoulder-length blond hair and had a scar over one eye. She sat down and the next professor stood up while the Chancellor introduced him.

  “Professor Hodus Jesi, energy element and he will be teaching Cryptozoology.”

  He was also tall, dark-skinned, head cleanly shaved, and sported a neatly styled black beard. He gave a little bow and returned to his seat. The next professor stood up, she was short and petite, with copper hair.

  “Professor Rhiannon Yuni, fire element and will be teaching Crafting. Next is Professor Feron Colborn, ice element and he will be teaching Ethics of the Arcane.”

  Professor Colborn had perfectly styled dark brown hair and wore a formal suit. So handsome and totally my type, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be doing that great in ethics this year. There certainly wouldn’t be anything ethical about my thoughts in that class. Professor Colborn went back to his seat, and I tried hard to keep my eyes on him. But he was completely blocked by the Chancellor.

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  “Professor Paskel Graff, light element and he will be teaching Magical Combat & Defense.”

  Professor Paskel was an older man with white hair and held a cane in one hand, he looked scary.

  “Professor Violet Navitas, life-death element and she will be teaching Divination & Arithmancy.”

  She was all boobs with a pretty face, long blond hair, and the attitude to fit.

  “Professor Pearse Duskdore, psionic, and will be teaching Rituals & Evocation.”

  Professor Pearse had copper hair and a matching beard, with a sharp nose. He looked nice though.

  “And last, but not least, Professor Gaduna Rartia, water element and she will be teaching Herbology.”

  She was petite, with chocolate brown skin, and short shoulder-length hair. The sullen look on her face gave everyone the strong inclination that she was not happy to be here.

  “The professors are experts in their respective fields and are also passionate about the elemental subject they will be teaching this year.” He paused and took a drink of water before he continued. “School rules. Each of you received a letter with the school rules and I expect that everyone will know those rules by heart. A few highlights though; no students are allowed to leave the school grounds or contact anyone outside the school grounds without a member of the council’s approval, or without them being present. You are not allowed to use magic on or against another student outside combat class.” And with that, I glared at Ziya, who in return gave me a snarky smile.

  “As you can see,” the Chancellor continued, “there are four houses, House Aestas, Autumnus, Hiems, and Ver. The four houses will compete in house sports, the winning house will receive the honor of being Trigon’s house of the year and will receive additional house luxuries.”

  “Next, I would like to discuss the student council. We will select nine student council members, one from each element. The roles of the student council will be as follows. They will represent student interests on campus, they will ensure academy rules are adhered to, they will arrange and coordinate social, sports, and house events, they will monitor clubs, ensuring that all students are treated fairly and that club practices are safe and ethical.”

  “Oh, my word Troy, that would be awesome. Don’t you think being on the student council will be so much fun!”

  Troy frowned at me. “No, it sounds like a lot of work, besides Ors, we are first years. No chance of getting on the student council.”

  My mouth pouted and I made a little whining sound.

  The Chancellor continued, “To pick these students, we will make use of mana spirits that will select a Fae from each element, a Fae that is strong in power, body, mind, and spirit. If you're selected, please make your way to the stage to receive your new student council blazer. Everyone, please stand.”

  The professors stood up. The Chancellor closed his eyes and stretched out his hands, “Dartheam Bachun Dhara.”

  A brown and green sparkle appeared above his hands, and it swiveled and swirled, disappearing. The other professors did the same, one after the other, saying the same enchantment but replacing the last word with the name of the god of their element. The lights, which I assume were the spirits, appeared and disappeared in flashes all over the hall. It was a beautiful sight, and each time a light appeared or disappeared a soft popping sound could be heard. A flash of green and brown sparked above a student, and I could see glowing green vines creeping around him. After a few seconds, it shriveled away. It was Eros. He strode to the stage with confidence.

  A white sparkle appeared above another student and energy waves pulsed from the light. A bolt of electricity trickled down and surrounded him. Lucian. He strolled up the stage in his laid-back way with his cheeky smile, looking way too smug. It made me giggle.

  A cloud of black dust rose from the floor across the hall and enveloped a girl. When the dust settled back, the girl stepped forward, she was pale with ash-colored hair, her face was serious, and she walked towards the stage not looking around. A ball of shadow with light sparkling rays appeared above the guy standing next to me, my grumpy hero, it pulsed down and made him glow. He didn’t even look surprised, just shrugged when the light disappeared and stepped past me and Troy.

  Across the hall, a whirlwind formed and directly next to it, a pink and purple beam pulsed, and when the magic disappeared my heart sank. Alya and Ziya. They squealed in excitement and hugged one another before making their way up to the stage. I looked over at Troy, “You know what this means.”

  He frowned, “Yeah, death just descended onto Trigon.”

  A flutter of snow from the house next to us, house Hiems, caught our attention and a tall guy with jet-black hair stepped out of the rows and made his way to the stage.

  Then a bright orange light filled the space around me, the familiar smell of sulfur filled the air and a blaze of fire started raging around me. From the fire a small fairy-like creature appeared, she was petite, her hair was flames, she had red eyes and pale porcelain skin. Her wings were rapidly beating behind her, and she giggled. She leaned over and kissed my nose and just as quickly as she appeared she was gone. The fire dissipated leaving me standing in a daze, which I was only released from when Troy touched my arm.

  “Congrats, Ors!”

  I smiled at him, and my eyes widened as I realized what had happened. My heart started beating like a drum. I stepped forward, and the years of training my mom forced into me took over. I squared my shoulders, plastered on my ecstatic smile and walked with a steady pace towards the stage. My eyes caught Lucian’s and he gave me a wink. As I stepped on stage the final blue light shimmered and a swirling stream of water surrounded a girl, also from Hiems. At first, I thought it was Aries, but as she stepped forward, I realized it wasn’t, it was Mara. They did look very similar. When she came to stand next to me, the Chancellor finally spoke again.

  “Congratulations to our new student council members. Professor Navitas, will you help me hand out the blazers?” he looked towards the other students and encouraged them with a hand gesture to take their seats.

  Professor Navitas stood up and took the first blazer laid out on a table to my right. And she walked over to Eros.

  The Chancellor shook his hand “Eros Altrus, congratulations.” Then Navitas helped Eros put on his new blazer. The blazer was white with a red SC embroidered on the chest pocket. They followed the same procedure down the row.

  “Congratulations, Lucian Evillian, congratulations, Azriel Aura, congratulations, Khai Sephiran.”

  Now I knew grumpy's name, Khai. I wasn’t a short girl, but I looked short against the ice guy with black hair who was standing next to me, and even he looked short against Khai. Not to mention that he was built like a warrior too.

  “Congratulation, Alya Alvatore.” I rolled my eyes at the fakeness that oozed out of her.

  “Thank ya, Chancellor, it is a great honor.” I heard her squeak.

  “Congratulations, Ziya Darkmore, congratulations, Rafe Soren.”

  I could see the Chancellor up close now, he looked nice and friendly, and he smiled sincerely as he congratulated Rafe. He stepped in front of me and smiled.

  “Congratulations, Oriel Donahue,” he said using the spell to make his voice loud, taking my hand in a light shake, but then switched to a quiet voice. “You’re only a first year, Miss Donahue?”

  “Yes sir, I am”

  “Well, well, quite an honor, and very unexpected. You must possess exceptional elemental abilities or maybe a rare skill. I’ll be keeping my eyes on you.” He smiled again, squeezing my hand before moving to the student next to me. Switching to the loud voice again.

  “Congratulations, Mara Nyx.”

  The Chancellor’s words echoed in my mind. A rare skill. Could what happened at the ascension, and this be related?

  “Congratulations, Oriel.” Professor Navitas held out my new blazer, and I quickly changed into it. I felt proud. I looked up and smiled, a real smile, a smile that said, I got this on my own. Regardless of what my family thought of me, I was good enough to be more than just a pretty face.

  The new student council stayed behind to be congratulated by the professors. That is, except for Professor Duskdore, who sprinted off immediately after assembly with a deep frown etched on his forehead. As I got ready to leave, Lucian made his way to my side again.

  “Congrats, Oriel.”

  “Thank you, Lucian, to you too.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You wanted me to meet you after assembly, right?”

  He looked smug. “Yes, I wanted to ask you to have dinner with me, and now you can’t say no.”

  I laughed. “And why not?”

  “We have to celebrate.”

  “We don’t have to.”

  “We do, I’ll see you around 7 at The Zone. Alone.” He grinned and sprinted away.

  I stared at his back, speechless, what was I going to do with him?