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“Feelings come and go. And what can go wrong in the trial? Everyone’s doing it. So get moving, Barbie.”
Under the lady’s uncompromising supervision, I changed into my uniform swiftly, and then we merged into the flow of students and headed toward the ivory tower.
The tower was situated in the middle of a river up north under a brilliant moon that lit the entire area.
Academy sentinels with stony faces lined either side of the bridge as the bride candidates crossed it in groups.
A dark feeling deepened in me.
“Where are all the guys?” I asked Cami, who strode beside me, true to her word about not letting me out of her sight.
“This is the first trial of the Brides Selection,” she said. “It’s for the candidates, so no males are allowed to enter Skyward, expect for the prince heirs.”
“Then why do we have male students in this school?” I asked.
“They’re here to study magic, like everyone else,” Cami said. “Did you even pay attention to the orientation?”
“I didn’t attend the orientation. I came later,” I said. “But I heard Professor Longweed saying that the purpose of joining Shades Academy is for at least one of the princes to find his fated mate and produce the One to bring back the old magic, or whatever. And Pucker said all the princes have been under great pressure to perform in bed since then.”
Cami gave me a chiding look. “It’s not that. Magic is fading faster in the realm now, so the kings of the five kingdoms and the Council decided to move up the timetable for the Brides Selection to this year.” Her brow furrowed in worry. “But no one expected the first trial to happen now. It isn’t supposed—” She stopped herself. “My cousin is away. They should’ve waited for him to be present to start the bride trials. Even though he’s the only heir who isn’t going to select a bride from the pool of candidates, he’s still the heir of the House of Chaos and represents the king and chaos kingdom. Something doesn’t add up.” She snagged her gaze on me. “You’ll stick with me the entire time, Barbie. Don’t stray away from me. Got it?”
I smirked. “Got it, Lady Cami. Don’t worry, or you’ll go gray early.”
I was touched to realize that she was worried more about me than for herself.
I thought of Princess Medea. If I hadn’t burned her to nothingness, she’d be here. She’d have sneered at me and led her army to make sure that I wouldn’t pass the first trial.
We walked amid the nervous and excited candidates as everyone kept moving toward the radiant ivory tower at the end of the bridge.
No one was giving me a hard time for once, as everyone was worried about their own fate. Either they passed the first trial and moved on to the next, or they were out of the race.
And none of us knew what to expect.
Magic grew stronger as we approached the tower. It smelled like aged wine and cold autumn rain and bore the signature of all sorts of species in Mist of Cinder. It was quite different to the wild magic in Underhill.
The magic here sensed me right away.
As I felt it studying me, I reached out. Unlike the magic from all five houses on the academy grounds, it withdrew from me. It feared me and didn’t want me here, which was new. I’d taken it for granted that magic, dark or light, always welcomed me. As I probed the magic here further, I felt a deep wrongness lying beneath it.
Fury shot into me.
Someone had implanted black magic in it. The corruption hadn’t reached its very root yet. If it spread to its core, this magic should be destroyed instead of preserved. Maybe that was why the magic here withdrew from me in fear, as it sensed my power and intention.
Yet this magic was the power source for the entire academy. If it was destroyed, the ripple effect would be terrible.
No wonder Underhill had declared its independence and separated from the rest of the realm.
When Sy and I first came to Shades Academy, all we’d taken in was thriving blossoms, shining buildings, prosperous shops, a verdant forest that stretched far east, and a crystal lake glimmering in the west.
I’d never expected a worm beneath the wonder, creeping toward the center of the magic in the academy.
I filed a decision away and looked up at the spire of the ivory tower glinting in the moonlight, adding pureness and splendidness to Skyward. Yet I was the only one who could see it was tainted by black magic.
I halted my steps. Everything in me screamed for me to turn around, run to the other side of the bridge, and never look back.
Cami stopped with me as the rest of the students kept moving forward like drones, as if they couldn’t help it.
“Why are you stopping, Barbie?” Cami tugged my sleeve. “Get going.”
