Chapter 2 Called to Greatness
Entering the West Wing Library, we were thrown into a cacophony of sound and movement.
The domed, painted ceiling was a masterpiece depicting legends of old: the gods in all their glory, and mortal men and women who had fought valiantly in the Void Wars and died honorably.
I had a feeling it was supposed to inspire.
Shelves stood against almost every wall, stretching from floor to ceiling and packed with books and more books.
I had never been in a library of this magnitude, and I felt my jaw drop to my chest as my eyes tried to drink every detail in all at once.
Powder-blue marble pillars held the balconies in place, and the floor was tiled in an array of lighter and darker shades of blue and white.
I looked down at the floor tiles and saw specks of gold mixed in with the blue and white swirls.
It had a dizzying effect, almost mesmerizing, and I pulled my eyes away to take in the people already filling the library.
Several men and women were milling about or flitting from desk to desk like flower-tasting butterflies bouncing from one group to the next to sample bits of conversation. They spoke in hushed tones as was required in a library.
As people noticed our presence, a strange silence descended over all of them, and they looked up at Amber and me.
Under the eaves to the side of the library stood older, more experienced summoners and a few of the Academy's instructors, some of whom I've seen around shortly before the Summoning Ceremony.
They looked like they were in this vast library doing research for important lessons.
Now they stood frozen in place by the shock of seeing me among them.
Unlike the students who gave me frightful looks before bending to whisper furtively behind their hands, the instructors and staff, in most cases, watched me quietly, their expressions inscrutable.
"Um, did I do something weird?" I whispered to Amber, "Why is everyone looking at me like that?"
She cleared her throat. "You bonded with a Vampire Monarch, an Abyssal Dragon, and a Fae Prince. What did you expect?"
Amber and I walked over to a smaller group we recognized.
They did their best to ignore our presence and pretended they were too deeply involved in their own conversations to notice us.
In a way, I realized they were being kind, trying to act normal in a very abnormal situation.
Around us, normal activity within the library resumed as everyone continued with what they had been doing before Amber and I had entered the room.
The whole experience had given me a strange sense of unreality, though, as if I was having one of those dreams where you're in the middle of a regular school day and suddenly realize you've been naked all this time.
Luckily, I was fully dressed, but I looked down at myself to make sure. Yup, just average, everyday clothes. Nothing strange about me at all.
Here and there, a few students returned my smile now, just as uncertainly and tentatively as I was giving it to them. Having barely met during the Summoning Ceremony, most of us were strangers to each other.
A tall, freckly man with a mane of vivid, red hair that fell across his forehead in a swoop came walking up to us.
He looked young enough to be a second- or third-year, but I couldn't be sure.
He stopped in front of me and looked at us.
"Miss Amber Cole? Miss Leah Wood?" We nodded, and then his face broke into a sunny smile that changed his whole demeanor.
"Excellent. My name is Caleb Stone. I'll be one of your instructors this year.
" I regarded him dubiously. No way was he old enough to be an instructor!
Thankfully, Amber was less of an idiot than I was and didn't make her surprise as obvious. She shook Caleb's hand. "It's good to meet you, Mister Stone."
"Please, call me Caleb." He said as I finally shook his hand, too. "I just came to deliver a message. Principal Lucius is requesting Miss Wood's presence in his office."
"Um, thanks, but please call me Leah."
Caleb nodded but was looking at me strangely, expectantly, just like Amber.
"He's waiting for you in his office. He wants to see you now."
"Oh, right! Yes, thank you." I felt my face heat up all the way to the roots of my hair as I turned around and left the library. Jeez, I must look like such an idiot. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at myself and instead tore open the heavy wooden door and rushed into the hallway.
My lips had suddenly gone very dry.
In the same twisty corridors I had taken more than a week before, I passed many students hurrying along, undoubtedly on their way to class. Only the first-years were starting later this week.
Now that they were preoccupied with their own schedules and responsibilities, the other students seemed to pay me no mind. I felt grateful for the respite from the staring and hushed conversations.
Finally, at the top of the tower, I stood once more in front of the heavy wooden door leading to the Principal's office. I stuck my hand out to knock uncertainly, and saw it stood slightly ajar, as if someone had hurried inside and had forgotten to close it all the way.
On the other side of the door, I could hear voices speaking.
One belonged to Lord Principal Lucius. The other was a woman's voice, high-pitched in her distress.
It didn't sound like Crystalline, the beautiful, enchanting frost Phoenix who was the Principal's mate.
Having only met her a few times now, I probably could have been mistaken, but she had such a distinctive voice that it would have been very difficult to mistake her for someone else.
I didn't want to snoop. I was about to turn away and wait further down the corridor to give the people in the room some privacy when I was rooted in place, hearing my own name spoken.
"I demand that you give me another chance to choose a proper mate!
This is unbelievable! That commoner, Leah Wood, got an Abyssal Dragon mate for Pete's sake!
" I suddenly knew who that voice belonged to.
Seraphina Ashworth. The Baron's daughter.
We had practically grown up together since my father was the head gardener on her father's land.
Until we both turned out to be Manaborn and came to Lucent Academy, I would've said Seraphina had no idea who I was.
We'd been orbiting each other since birth, moving in very different circles, visible to each other but unknown.
After all her bragging about not settling for anything less than a Phoenix, she had ended up being bonded to an Imp.
I had a moment of guilty satisfaction, hearing the undertone of envy in her voice.
She'd been nothing but unpleasant to me and Amber both since the moment we had set foot on the airship that had brought us here.
"I'm the daughter of a Baron! Whatever the magical responsibilities that come with bonding with a powerful mate, I can assure you, Leah Wood isn't up for the task."
Why was Seraphina speaking as if I had only one mate? Was she jealous of Vaerath only?
"Amber Cole, a blacksmith's daughter, has a Phoenix mate! Why did everyone get a powerful mate, but me? Is it some sort of conspiracy?"
"Miss Ashworth, please! I told you that the Summoning Ceremony is binding. It cannot be undone. It cannot be redone. You have cast your die, made your gamble when you didn't heed my warning."
Principle Lucius sounded angry. I could imagine him towering over Seraphina, looking down at her coldly.
I certainly wouldn't have wanted to change places with her in that moment.
Come to think of it, I hadn't wanted to change places with her even a week ago.
Thinking of the groveling Imp dressed in the attire of a butler who had been summoned to be her lifelong companion, I suddenly felt a wave of pity for her.
"I warned you that the creatures from the Pacted Realms will not take kindly to anyone treating the Summoning Ceremony like a shopping expedition. Did you or did you not hear me make that warning, loud and clear?"
"Yes, but..." Seraphina squeaked. Gone was her usual self-confidence. She sounded like a wreck, all composure shattered.
"It is not up to you to decide what another student is capable of.
That depends largely on the student herself.
My job is to help the Manaborn left in my care hone their skills, push their boundaries, and find what they're capable of.
I am the Principal of this school. Now, you will stop your sniveling, your petulant whining, and accept your mate for what he is.
I suggest you see the good in the mate who has answered your call.
He may not be a Diamond-Tier being, a platinum like you had obviously been hoping for, a gold or even a silver rank mate, but he has magical capabilities.
He still has much to teach you. About the world. About yourself."
I heard Seraphina give one single, soon-stifled sob, and this time I didn't only pity her. My heart broke for her. She sounded so lost and hopeless. Despite everything, I wouldn't have wished that on anyone.
I heard movement inside the office, and then Principal Lucius spoke again.
"You must accept it and find a way to make the most of it.
It cannot be undone." His voice had gone softer, kinder.
I thought he must have stepped away from behind his desk.
Now I could imagine him placing his hand on Seraphina's shoulder.
Not scolding her anymore, but trying to give a measure of comfort.
"To continue fighting against this is a waste of time you can spend better becoming stronger. We have enough enemies out there, in the Void, without fighting amongst ourselves."