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“Now, now. Let’s not use such harsh language,” Professor Gibs responded, forcing me out of my thoughts. “You’re all aware that the use of the term ‘nix’ is forbidden at our school. Even though rank zeroes have no power, there is no connection between them and mortals. They are still Advenian. They still possess our long lifespan and, as such, will be treated fairly in our society.”
Calling someone a nix was the worst kind of insult, except perhaps to be called a mortal.
“Then how do you explain why rank zeroes only existed after our kind came to this planet?” someone mumbled under their breath.
“It’s because our ancestors were disgusting and actually fornicated with the mortals. They tainted and weakened our blood.”
Someone else responded, “Rank zeroes shouldn’t exist.”
“Do not speak out of turn,” Professor Gibs yelled as she jabbed her cane against the brick wall.
Vallie leaned in to whisper softly, “Don’t listen to them.”
Once Professor Gibs wasn’t looking, I turned to smile toward her. “Thanks,” I mouthed.
It didn’t really bother me, not anymore. At least, I didn’t take it personally, but I felt for all the naturally born rank zeroes. It wasn’t right to treat someone poorly just because they didn’t have an ability. Their life shouldn’t be viewed as worthless because they couldn’t teleport or manipulate dreams. Unfortunately, I was one of the few Advenians who thought that way. Tennebris thrived off the ranking system, and from what I learned through our studies, it seemed like the Luxians were even worse. I liked to believe that even if I grew up in Lux and wasn’t considered a nix, I would feel the same about rank zeroes. That I would still hate the ranking system even though I wouldn’t know firsthand what it felt like to live at the bottom of it.
Most rank zeroes were selected as servants after their Trials, even if they chose a different career path to test in. It was another reason why I trained so hard. If I was going to spend my life serving the Dark, it would be on my own terms. Not mopping floors and cleaning up after the high ranks. I wanted to prove that the ranking system was flawed and that a number didn’t define your worth to society. I wanted to prove that a zero could still fight.
A boy with slick hair and chestnut eyes raised his hand. “Yes, Bradley. What is it?” Professor Gibs grumbled, looking annoyed with the turn of conversation during her lecture.
“Why don’t we just work with Lux and overthrow the human population? Mortals are weak, and we’re much stronger, and Lux is far more advanced. Why can’t we overtake Earth instead of being confined to our hidden Kingdoms?” His voice sounded as if it was laced with disgust.
Professor Gibs flashed him a stern look. “My boy, what a direct question. Perhaps I should assign the class to read the Treaty? It’s apparent you do not understand why our ancestors signed the document that ended the Cold Time and the Ability War.”
The whole class groaned as she continued. “It would violate the Treaty if we attacked the human race and made ourselves known to them. We must learn from our ancestors’ mistakes. Yes, we have abilities far greater than the creatures inhabiting this planet. However, they outnumber us twenty-fold with their bountiful reproduction systems. When our kind first came here, it had been decided that it would be too devastating to completely invade the planet. Too many lives had already been lost—our planet had been lost. We couldn’t risk that again.
“Another war could cause the destruction of this planet, just like it had on Allium. We do not want to risk a repeat of our time stranded in space. It took our ancestors many centuries to find Earth. And that was centuries of not being able to use their powers due to the confined walls of a space-craft. It’s a blessing to be able to breathe in air, to be able to wield the powers that were gifted to you at birth by Pylemo. Furthermore, this is not our planet. As you are aware, becoming an astronomer after the Trials, if that is what one desires, is a highly praised career path. Second only to the High Council and the King himself. Tennebris has the best space program and has been working diligently on searching for a habitable planet for our kind. One that is barren of inhabitants, so we may claim it as our own. We must be patient. Once on a new planet, it will be wise to keep the peace between our two Kingdoms. We do not want to start another magical war.”
A girl in the back raised her hand. Professor Gibs sighed. “Yes, Krancy. What is it?”
The girl’s voice came out shaky and small. “If our intention here is only to hide to bid time until our kind finds another planet, why have we adapted one of the many mortal languages?”
Professor Gibs was speechless for a long moment as if she wasn’t sure of the answer herself. The language of Allium was still taught and mandated for all to take, but the fluency of it had been lost. No one spoke it anymore. Only ancient documents like our Treaty were written in Allium, which was probably the only reason we were still required to learn it. Vallie was an expert at it, but I could never grasp the written language and was thankful that the humans found a simpler way of communicating.
“That is a question perhaps that might be better suited for your Mortal Relations teacher. I’m sure Professor Madick can shed some more light on the subject,” Professor Gibs finally stated. “It’s unclear why our ancestors switched our language all those years ago, but we have been speaking one of the mortal tongues for almost seven centuries. We have now adapted it and claim it as our own.”
Professor Gibs rambled on for another twenty minutes before she assigned our homework and study materials for our examination.
The rest of the day dragged on. Class after class after class. I hated the days I didn’t have guard practice. It made me antsy to be forced to sit through boring lectures all afternoon, and today, my training had been canceled because of the King’s Tournament. But I was so excited that they were going to broadcast the competition for the first time that I almost didn’t care.
Almost.
THREE
SCOTLIND
I jumpedin my chair from the commotion around me as the final chime rang, signaling the end of our school day. The entire class started buzzing around, acting giddy because the tournament for the new King was tonight.
Vallie skipped over to me right away. “I’m so excited. Do you think the Hall will be crowded? Of course it will, Sie’s fighting,” she rambled, answering her own question. “Let’s hurry so we can get good seats.”
I groaned. “I’m not looking forward to that.”
Vallie halted her skip in her step as she turned to look at me. Her arched eyebrows rose even higher. “I thought you were excited to watch the tournament. It’s the first time they’re airing it live, so you don’t have to read about it like you normally do.”
“I am excited to watch the fighting. I want to see who will be crowned the new King. I just meant I’m not excited for all the squealing girls and how packed it’s going to be.”
“Scotlind Rumor, I will be among those squealing girls, so I demand you take that statement back right now!”
