Yet Glynn, intrigued by her potential, designed her a custom curriculum, intending to train her for a year before she caught up to her peers.
She finished three months later.
Ellery cared for Glynn deeply—she owed everything to him. But he expected more from her than anyone.
“Thank you,” she said anxiously, setting down theGazette. “But I didn’t fight that monster alone. Barrow and I did it together.”
“Right, right, Seong said as much, and of course we’re all happy he rose to the occasion. But given your history, I imagine you took the lead.”
An unexpected defensiveness flared in her. “Barrow struck the killing blow. He’s not who I thought he was.”
Ellery had seen plenty of girls indulge in Barrow as a distraction, but he hadn’t drowned the world out—instead, for a few hours, he’d made her feel less alone in it.
He’d also seen her bolt after they slayed the winterghast. Ellery tried not to dwell on it.
“Perhaps I’ve misjudged his capabilities. Regardless, you and Barrow prevented a terrible tragedy at the heart of the country. And yet…” Glynn leaned forward intently. The Gallamere Philharmonic Orchestra played on, its steady beat pounding into Ellery’s skull. “I still haven’t received your application for Valmordion’s candidacy.”
On some level, Ellery had expected this. Of course she had. The deadline was tomorrow. Everyone else at the academy wasall too eager to vie for the grandest of destinies, even Julian, who’d scoffed at the would-be NDC members just days ago. She’d hoped her own lack of an application would be eclipsed by the glare of her peers’ ambitions.
How silly that hope had been.
“No, you haven’t,” she said. “Because I’m not applying.”
“What? Why?”
“It’s not the right wand for me. I know it. And I’m not going to change my mind.”
Glynn’s glasses magnified the concern in his eyes. “I hope you don’t mean that. Because in light of the unseasonal winterghast attack, the Council’s made a decision. It’ll be announced later this morning, but I wanted you to hear it from me first: Valmordion’s vigil will be held on the final day of Summer, in one week. And it is now mandatory.”
Ellery’s heartbeat stuttered out of time with the music’s rising, swelling strings. “But I-I can’t, Glynn. I can’t.”
“Why not?” He rose from his seat, his gaze a spotlight that seemed to sear her skin. “The country needs you to step up. You could be our Chosen One. The hero we—”
“It happened again.”
Glynn blanched, then flicked Aetherium. The music cut off with an abrupt scratch.
“What, exactly, are you saying?” he asked carefully.
Her parents’ voices echoed through her mind, their words overlapping through a hundred anguished memories.
Monster,they snarled.
“The things I told you when you first started training me. From before I was at the Order. When I fought that winterghast, its magic felt…”like mine.She sniffled. “I-I can’t go near Valmordion. I can’t risk it. Maybe I shouldn’t even be at the academy at all.”
She stared fixedly at her lap. Silence stretched on, until she felt Glynn’s hand on her shoulder. He’d rounded his desk andcrouched beside her. He held out a tissue. She took it with a trembling hand.
“Oh, Ellery. I apologize. I should’ve foreseen this potential complication. It makes sense that being confronted with a winterghast would reopen your old wounds.” He regarded her gently. “However, it would be a terrible waste if you let fear break you after you’ve come so far.”
Yet despite what Glynn thought he knew of her fear, no one had ever seen the heart of it. Ellery might’ve no longer borne external marks of her childhood. But her feelings, her thoughts, even her dreams were threaded with scar tissue.
“May I show you something?” Glynn continued.
Ellery nodded numbly. Glynn rose and pointed Aetherium at the papers on his desk.
Glynn’s relationship with Aetherium was proof that when it came to Living Wands, power wasn’t everything. Aetherium was a relatively minor enchantment wand, but Glynn had climbed higher in the Order’s ranks than anyone had anticipated. Since Aetherium was connected to the enchantments woven within the Citadel, he used it primarily as an administrative assistant, keeping track of student files, wand histories, and recruitment efforts.
A map fluttered to the giant window, then plastered across it. The Gallamere skyline disappeared, replaced by a bird’s-eye view of Alderland. The island nation was largely isolated from the rest of the world, a world Ellery would likely never see. For an Order magician, there was simply no point. Living Wands didn’t function past the Aldrish border; although other nations had magicians of their own, they relied on other methods for their spellwork.
