Page 73 of Under Restless Skies

I sit and wait, my feet tapping anxiously on the wooden floor, my stomach feeling light and odd, as I wonder what’s going to happen. Frankly, I think I did a pretty amazing job stopping that rider and should get a medal or something, but one thing I’ve learned in this academy is never to expect fairness.

With a deep breath, I tell myself to calm down. I can make up a story as to why I was by the dungeons, and nobody needs to know I touched the staff, let alone block the rider’s magic.

After a long time, someone enters: Commander Mallor.

It’s not starting well. He sits in one of the chairs in the semicircle surrounding me, his expression neutral, his clothes his usual academy uniform. It doesn’t look like he was at the ball.

After a few minutes, a woman and a man come in. She wears a red uniform like the castle guards, but with gold rims on the sleeves, and seems to be some kind of commander. The man wears a blue Sky Guard uniform, and I’ve never seen him before. One of the guards who found me downstairs also enters the room and stands near the back, while another guard brings the staff, holding it with thick layers of cloth, as if it was indeed a hot pan. He leaves it on a table at the front.

Mallor looks around. “Everyone’s here, I suppose. Recruit Mayara, would you like to explain what happened?” His tone is not accusatory but not gentle either, and gives me no inkling of what he plans to do.

“I was feeling bad for Silvia,” I say. “Thinking how sad she must be that she couldn’t come to the ball, so I decided to try to find her and went to the dungeons. Then I heard a noise, saw a hole in a door, and a rider.”

“How did you know it was a rider?” the woman from the castle guard asks.

“His clothes were different, and he had that staff. I figured that even if I couldn’t defeat him, I could slow him down until more guards appeared, and I yelled for help. He tried to attack me, and threw me on the floor, but then I think he heard the guards coming and ran away.”

The woman’s mouth tightens at the corners. “Did you see where he ran?”

“I didn’t. But the guards came soon, aware that there was an intruder.”

The man from the Sky Guard gets up and approaches the staff. “How was he holding this?”

“His bare hands.”

“Does it do anything?” he asks.

For some reason, I decide to feign ignorance. “Maybe it’s how he blew the doors? I’m not sure.”

“The girl speaks the truth,” Commander Mallor says.

At that moment, the door opens, and Alayel steps in, his breathing heavy, still dressed in the fine suit from the ball.

His eyes find mine the moment he steps through the door, his gaze dropping to take in the rest of me, unguarded worry in his expression.

“She should not be expelled.” His voice is low, composed, and yet there’s electricity cracking beneath it, a hint of fury that his polite manners can’t disguise.

Mallor sighs. “Your Highness, may I remind you that this matter is not under your jurisdiction?”

“Is that so?” Alayel glares at the commander. “Would you like to debate it with my father?”

“I have more pressing matters.” Mallor turns to the other people in the room. “Anyway, the girl has shown great bravery stalling the intruder and calling for help.”

His words stun me, even if they make sense. A thrill of joy threatens to take me, but I’m afraid he’s about to squash my hopes. Alayel, standing at a corner, looks more relaxed, so maybe this is good news indeed.

The commander continues, “She has secured an interesting artifact that will help us gain insight on our enemy. Foros obviously guided her to be at the right place at the right time. As someone with the Foros gift, she shall be accepted into the Sky Academy under the planning and leadership track. Any objection?”

Accepted? I’ll be joining the Sky Academy? I can barely believe these words, can barely believe I’ve made it, after everything.

Nobody utters any word, and Commander Mallor turns to me. “Recruit Mayara, you’re therefore dismissed. You’ll receive new instructions tomorrow.”

I want to jump up and down and thank him, but I only get up and bow. “Understood.”

My heart is light as I step out of that room, when I feel someone’s arm around mine, but it brings me comfort instead of fear.

Alayel’s beside me.

“What happened?” The urgency in his voice and the intensity in his stare awaken the shard of attraction for him that I’ve been trying to bury.