Chapter 2
There were audible gasps of surprise from the crowd.
I was the first outsider called ducai. My muscles locked up.
I was supposed to meet my father at the wagon.
I was supposed to dance with Kace tonight.
My mother was waiting for me to come home.
I hadn’t even said goodbye to my siblings or Grandma Esha.
My father stood up amongst the seated crowd. “Dad,” I whispered, aching to reach toward him, but I wouldn’t embarrass myself or my family in front of everyone.
The robed assistant took the goblet from me, and an old man with white hair gestured for me to go right. The old crone called up another, moving on like she hadn’t just upheaved my life.
I stood frozen. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Get in the line,” the old man said in a low voice.
My father waved at me to go. The man took hold of my arm and pulled me toward the line of ducai initiates. My pulse thrummed in my ears. I was ducai, not... fully human. Ducai were as different from humans as vampires were. I’d spent my life hiding those differences, burying them.
“Wait, I think she made a mistake,” I breathed.
“She doesn’t make mistakes. This is a great honor, woman. Don’t cause a scene and bring shame to your family.” Shame... or the wrath of the guilds for refusal.
Honor? It was an honor to be taken away from everything I’d known to fight in a war against vampires that wanted to rip out my throat?
Inside I screamed, but I kept a straight face.
I was good at hiding my emotions. Kace pushed through the crowd at the base of the platform.
I’d never seen him desperate before. I’d heard it in his voice last night when I was being chased by the vampire, but seeing his face now scared me.
“Kace, it’s alright,” I reassured, but my voice sounded strange. I think I was in shock.
He walked alongside us with his hands sliding near my boots as if he wanted to reach out and grab me. His chest moved rapidly up and down. “Where are you taking her?”
“With the other initiates,” the white-haired man answered impatiently, squeezing my arm harder.
“She’s not ducai. She belongs in Neverglade. My father is the chieftain. We have to have some say in this.”
“The Avakki said otherwise. This woman is not one of you. She was born to kill vampires, and no clan chieftain or his son has a say over the guilds.”
I couldn’t breathe. My chest felt too tight.
I didn’t want to kill vampires. I stared at Kace, wondering when or if I’d ever see him again.
Marry me, Aesira. It hit me that maybe he’d been afraid to kiss me because he always knew I was different, he always wondered if he’d lose me to the guilds and the wall that separated our worlds.
“Kace, it’s alright,” I said again. “I’ll be fine. Tell my family I love them.”
“Aesira,” his voice was a plea, his brown eyes full of sorrow.
One of the mages whispered, “Interesting eyes. A sign of magic?” A middle-aged scholar woman with silver spectacles raised her brows in surprise as I passed.
“Sira.” Kace’s expression hardened, and he was the chieftain’s son at this moment, not my friend. “I’ll talk to my father. We’ll get you home soon.”
All I could manage was a nod. With Kace backing away, the white-haired man finally released me, and I focused on putting one foot in front of the other.
Focused on blocking out all the new sounds, and the fear of the unknown.
I felt like I was wading through water, my body heavy and strange.
Was it the drink or the fact that this didn’t feel real?
“Forget about him,” murmured one of the male assassins. “You won’t be seeing him anymore.”
I turned my head, gaze flicking between each of them, trying to figure out who spoke.
None of them gave any signs. Forget about him?
He was my best friend. He was... home. But they didn’t know that.
They wouldn’t care either. Even as a chieftain’s son, they would see him as a peasant, someone to be forgotten and discarded. .. the feed.
It disgusted me to even look at everyone here and how they cheered to be chosen. I no longer found Nighthaven fascinating, I no longer wanted to be inside these high walls. I’d rather live in my tiny village and hide in the dark than become like them.
I bumped into the back of the freckled boy. He turned and grinned. His eyes were now almost luminescent, like crushed diamonds were scattered inside the green irises. They hadn’t been that way before. “So, you are ducai after all. Welcome. Now we see what guild we belong to.”
“We don’t get to choose?” On the opposite side of the platform and down the steps to the massive tapestry, initiates funneled through an archway.
I looked for my father once again but could no longer find him in the crowd.
If I knew him, he was going to talk to Kace and our chieftain. They would make a plan to get me home.
“No, you will be selected for a guild.”
My mind whirled at what that could mean. “I have no say at all? I want to be a scholar.”
He grimaced but I didn’t understand why. “You will see in a moment. Now that you get to stay, tell me your name?”
“No, tell me why you looked at me like that first.”
“Well, from what I know, most ducai from outside are put into the warriors’ guild. They have the highest recruitment numbers.”
“So I can go die?” I rasped. Because they still didn’t see us as anything but expendable. My father warned me women had to fight, but we didn’t even take night watch in my village. There was no expectation for us to do so. I was woefully ill-prepared for this.
He held up his palms like he was trying to stave off a wild animal.
“Calm down, you’ll be trained. They aren’t going to just send you out to battle with a weapon you don’t know how to use.
Maybe you could be an archer or the like.
They don’t want you to die.” He dropped his hands and cleared his throat. “I’m Taewyn.”
“Aesira,” I muttered, dazed. My father specifically said not to become a warrior. I was going to be sick.
“Single file line for magic testing!” A bald, purple-robed mage called, walking past us. His long, black beard was forked into two braids.
“Hey, maybe you’ll get to be a mage,” Taewyn said cheerfully, stepping behind me rather than beside me. “I wish I had magic. It’s rare, though.”
One could only hope, but I’d never felt the spark of magic in me. I would know by now, wouldn’t I?
“Do my eyes sparkle like yours? Is it forever?”
“That won’t last. It’s from the drink. It interacts with your blood and shows in the eyes if you’re ducai. It fades after an hour or so.”
My hearing still felt much too sensitive, almost chaotic. It took me a moment to realize that the steady thumping sound I heard was Taewyn’s heart beating. The chatter of the girls ahead of me, the birds chirping from the top of the tapestry, and the old crone yelling out “ducai!”
A deafening cheer erupted from the crowd.
I twisted around to see who was worthy of such applause.
It was a strong-looking man with chestnut hair.
He was slender but had an athletic build.
He threw a fist into the air, and the crowd cheered again.
I almost put my hands over my ears to block the loudness. “And the other intense senses?”
“Will go back to normal. Mine is already fading.”
The two other boys behind Taewyn and me greeted the newest ducai to join with fist-bumping and roughly patted him on the back. “Do you know him?” I asked quietly.
Taewyn rolled his eyes and let out an irritated groan. “Unfortunately. That’s Morrow. Thinks he’s a gift from the gods. I’d do your best not to draw his attention.”
I almost asked why, but I didn’t need to.
Morrow slipped past his friends and bumped into the back of Taewyn. “Well, well, if it isn’t Roach. Surprised you made it through, skinny man.”
Raising his chin, Taewyn stared ahead and pressed his lips together. I got the feeling this harassment had been going on for years.
Morrow dropped his gaze to mine and wrinkled his nose. “What’s wrong with your eyes? You blind in one eye or something?”
I clenched my teeth. This was going to be a recurring question, wasn’t it? “No.” I wished my voice came out stronger. “I see just fine.”
“It’s creepy. Too bad too. You’re pretty otherwise, for a peasant from outside the wall. With some new clothes and boots, you might even pass as one of us.” His flashing grin made my skin itch. Talk about a backhanded compliment.
I rolled my eyes. As if I cared to pass as one of them.
“Leave her alone, Morrow,” Taewyn said.
“Oh, Roach has himself a little girlfriend now.” He bumped his broad chest into him again, this time sending Taewyn slamming into me. I grabbed his shoulders, steadying him, and scowled at Morrow. What made him so cruel?
“She’s out of your league, Roach, even if she is one of the dirty loths.”
Loths? ... Lothleton? The forgotten. I clenched my fists at my sides and focused on the moving line. I had bigger things to worry about than a bully. I had to find a way to become a scholar and not a warrior.
“I bet Roach here is a scholar like his hunchbacked little father. He’s a disgrace to ducai, really. They should have tossed him into Lothleton to be eaten.”
“Don’t talk about my father that way.” Taewyn turned and puffed out his chest. Next to Morrow, he appeared small, but he was at least the same height. Taewyn had longer arms, which might help in a fight, though I was nervous for him.
“Or what? You think those skinny arms can break me?” Morrow challenged.