Chapter One
* * *
When I’m in the woods, nothing is impossible.
Out here, where no one can find me, I finally understand freedom. I can do anything.
Before I discovered these woods, which allow me to be as wild as I’d like, I didn’t know such a thing existed. Stone walls and chained doors were my life. But now, I embrace the brisk adrenaline freedom provides me. I must absorb it while I can. One day, I know someone will snatch it from me.
Tall dark pine trees surround me. They create barriers of green I breach with every breath I take. Small bubbles of scarlet light float from my fingertips. When I release them, the orbs bounce between the trees, casting light on the shadowy ground. Whenever the sun hides behind the clouds, I make it my job to coat the forest in dazzling sparkles.
Cloudy days are normal here. While we get wonderful sunny days during spring and early summer, they don’t last long. I’ve grown used to my wet and cold climate, but sometimes it feels like the sky is always crying. I wish to go somewhere where the sun shines for months.
A scarlet orb forms in my palm. I toss it up into the gray sky, and it bursts. Sparks of scarlet shower down on me. I shrug the glittery red off my shoulders then grin.
I’m not really supposed to practice magic since I’ve never been properly trained to use it, but rules that can’t find me don’t apply to me.
There is one person around—the only person, actually—who doesn’t like it when I use magic. My mother. She tells me every day it’s not something I should dabble with and advises me to do other stuff, like cook and sew; things she did as a child.
Things that bore me.
A strong gale of wind blasts through the trees. My hair blows into my face. I struggle to yank it away. Another wind gust throws twigs into a funnel. It shoots directly at me. I brace my hands in front of me and the funnel explodes into bits of wood.
Scarlet particles float to the ground with the debris.
I glance at the dark sky and know my playtime is over. A storm is blowing in, and I certainly don’t want to be outside when it hits.
From not too far away, I hear a rumble.
My head jerks in its direction.
Another rumble…
I frown. It sounds like thunder; except it’s not coming from the sky.
One more rumble confirms it’s somewhere in the forest.
I run to see what’s causing the sound. The noise is familiar, but I can’t determine where I’ve heard it before.
I arrive at a worn trail that cuts through the forest and leads to an abandoned road half a mile away. From years of growth and little traffic, the path is nearly invisible, but fresh tire tracks are carved into the muddy ground.
Farther down the trail, I spot a light green automobile chugging through the grass.
My eyes widen.
No one ever comes out here. No one should be out here. Mama chose these woods because of their solitude.
There’s only one car though. Not a train of sleek black SUVs. That would alarm me. Still, why would a random person decide to drive along this specific path? It only leads one place… home.
Home. Where Mama is.
I summon a load of magic into my hands, then take the fastest route to my cottage. My arms swing side to side as I run, ordering my powers to remove obstacles from my path. Everything is a blur of green and red until I reach the edge of the woods. I stumble into the barnyard, hastening to dispose of the scarlet glow surrounding me.
The car hasn’t arrived yet. It’s only a minute out.
I rush inside the tiny stone house in the center of the yard. The door shuts behind me with a bang.
Mama jumps and whirls around. She relaxes when she sees it’s only me.
“Cassie,” she scolds. “There’s no need to slam the door.”
“Someone’s coming,” I gasp.
Mama’s face darkens. She drops her spoon in the pot she was stirring. She hurries over and grabs my wrist, then drags me after her.
I pry her fingers off as she stops in the yard. She looks around frantically. The rumble of the car grows closer. Mama takes off running.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“The barn.” She fumbles for my hand.
“We can’t hide in the barn—”
Between a parting in the trees, the green car bumps into view.
Mama yanks me behind her. Just to be safe, I clench my knuckles and summon magic to my fingertips. If Mama knew, she would admonish me for even considering it, but I will not hesitate using magic to protect her and my home.
We brace ourselves as the car halts. From this distance, I can’t see much.
The headlights dim. I raise my fists.
The driver’s door opens. I expect a tall, darkly dressed man, glaring at Mama and I like we’re rodents, to emerge. Instead, a woman does. And she appears to be alone.
Her hair is chalky brown, pulled into a high ponytail that swishes in the wind. She’s wearing a brown plaid pantsuit, and a small black purse hangs from one of her arms.
I unclench my hands and shake away my magic, feeling unthreatened by our visitor. Mama’s body relaxes. She loosens her arms at her sides and folds them in front of her.
As the lady comes closer, I try to hide my amazement. I thought up close she’d look like an average woman. I mean she has average features and looks a little younger than Mama, but there’s something completely unaverage about her. Her eyes.
Behind silver rimmed glasses, her eyes shine crystal clear, but a purple haze floats around her pupils.
“Miss Gennady?” she asks my mother formally.
Mama nods hesitantly.
The lady holds her hand out. “Okella Fallenorb. I’m here on behalf of Vandercoff Academy to arrange details pertaining to your daughter’s attendance at our school this year.”
Wait… Vandercoff Academy?
As in one of the best magic schools in the world? The one hidden somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Where it’s supposedly always warm and full of joy. The place I’ve been dreaming of going to since I first learned about it!
Whenever I can’t fall asleep at night—which is fairly often—I think of Vandercoff. Or what I know of it. I know what it looks like, due to the countless paintings my older brother created and from all the stories he told.
“There must be a mistake,” Mama says, forcing a polite smile. “I don’t intend for Cassie to attend Vandercoff.”
Fallenorb frowns. “Well, someone does. An anonymous benefactor has stepped forward and paid for her position.”
Mama tenses again. Someone paid for me to go to Vandercoff?
“There’s no way…” Mama begins.
Fallenorb sniffs. “Apparently there is. Your daughter’s education has been paid for in full for the next five years. I’m aware she was not present last year, so there will be a few complications with her catching up on her studies, but nothing we can’t take care of.”
Complications? I glance up at Mama. I hope those complications don’t interfere with me going. Personally, I’m not bothered by being a year behind. All I want is to learn everything there is to know about magic.
“Why don’t we discuss this inside,” Mama suggests kindly, even though I can tell she doesn’t want this lady in our home. But Mama has always taught me to use my manners and says it’s polite to invite people in, especially when it’s about to rain. “Cassie, will you collect the eggs, please?”
“But Mama—”
“Cassie,” she commands, keeping a calm face.
I nod begrudgingly and step aside so Mama can take Ms. Fallenorb inside. I watch them go. The moment the door closes, I sigh and circle around to the small barn by the overgrown garden to grab the egg basket.
When I return to the yard, I spy Mama and Fallenorb through one of the cottage windows, sitting at the table. Mama is paler than a ghost and hunched over the table, while Fallenorb sits with stick straight posture, a tiny scowl on her face.
I want to voice my thoughts, but I know my attempts would be useless. No one listens to a thirteen-year-old and respects what they have to say.
I stomp through the mud to the coop.
The chickens are enjoying the light drizzle while it lasts. They splash in the puddles forming and peck at the rain droplets as they fall. Daisy—my chicken—flaps her wings excitedly when she sees me.
I’ve raised her since the moment she hatched. The majority of our chickens strayed onto our farm from the woods, but Daisy was born in this coop with me right beside her.
Even though Daisy and I have a special bond, I love all of the chickens, and they adore me, since they know I always come bearing gifts.
I plaster on a smile and say, “Hello, babies.”
My animals—the chickens and the cow—are my friends, and I talk to them as if they’re real people. Sometimes, I even take them with me to one of the hills in the forest, and we all lay in the grass and watch the clouds roll by.
Daisy pecks at the basket, anxious to see what I have.
“Now calm down.” I laugh and dump the basket’s contents onto the soggy ground, attracting the rest of the chicken’s attention. They’re all very happy to see I’ve brought their favorite: dried corn.
I duck into the coop as they eat and move a couple of the rain-hating chickens out of the way to collect the eggs. There are only three, but that’s more than enough to get Mama and I through until tomorrow.
I step back outside and groan. The sprinkle has shifted into a downpour. The chickens who were eating retreat into their shelter. I bow my head and trudge to the back door of my cottage where I won’t track in as much mud.
As soon as I close the door, I glance up to find Mama and Fallenorb staring at me. Mama swallows. Fallenorb wrinkles her nose. I probably look like a drenched cat.
I set the egg basket down in the kitchen, then dash upstairs to my bedroom—which is also the attic—to change from my soaked clothes. I rifle through my dresser, trying to find something nice to wear. I really want to make a good impression on Fallenorb, so she doesn’t take me for a clueless child.
I hope if I get a chance to speak, I don’t stutter or say anything embarrassing. I haven’t uttered a word to anyone but Mama for… years.
To my dismay, I only dig up one stain free shirt and one pair of clean pants that are a bit too small. After I tug them on, I grab my hairbrush and rip it through my long dark brown locks. With them being damp, my natural curls don’t form. I’d tie my hair back in a braid to keep it from getting tangled again, but there isn’t time.
I race downstairs the second I’m presentable. I hope to catch some of the conversation except it’s basically over.
“Let me know what you decide,” Fallenorb sighs.
Mama nods and motions me over as she stands.
Fallenorb looks me over, then sips from a cup of tea and focuses on a spot on the wall directly ahead of her.
“We’ll be back in a moment,” Mama says and walks me to her bedroom. She closes the door.
I sit on the bed and frown. “Can I go?” is the first thing I ask.
Mama grimaces. “I don’t know, honey.”
“But Mama, I really, really want to go. It’s a school where I can learn how to use my magic, and make friends and get an education.” I haven’t had much of an education.
When I was younger, I attended an elementary school in Ceirin—the city I’m from—but the staff quickly realized how out of control I could be, and I didn’t mix well with the other students. So I was taken out, and my mother, who never received a proper education, taught me as best she could from home.
“And I want that for you,” Mama says, kneeling in front of me. “But it’s dangerous.”
I fold my arms over my chest defensively. “How?”
“There would be Bloodrens there, honey,” Mama tells me.
I swallow. I know that, and I don’t like the thought, but… it’s a small price to pay for being able to live out one of my oldest dreams.
“I don’t care,” I huff.
My brother was Bloodren when he attended the school. And he’s one of the best people I’ve ever known.
“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Mama whispers.
“I won’t,” I protest. Then I add, “It’s probably safer for me there.”
If I’m at Vandercoff, my father can’t storm in and take me back. They wouldn’t allow it. Would they?
My father… he’s the reason Mama and I are out here, hiding in the woods. Years ago, we ourselves were Bloodrens. We were at the mercy of a cruel man who only cared about power, wealth, and his reputation.
Escaping him was the first real taste of rebellion he got from us. And I hope it isn’t the last. This thought gives me an idea.
“I could learn to defend myself,” I insist. “From Father.”
Mama’s blue eyes flash. “You can’t protect yourself from him,” she says hoarsely. “Don’t get your hopes up.”
I don’t get it. I’m proving very good points, and she’s brushing them away.
“Is it because you don’t like magic?” I ask quietly.
“No, Cassie.” Mama sighs. “All I want is for you to be able to embrace everything you are, but I don’t want you to bond with something your father will only take from you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know how I don’t have any magic?” Mama moves some hair off my face.
I frown. I assumed she did but hated it because it reminded her of my father, therefore she didn’t use it or approve of me using it. But… she doesn’t have any?
“Your father took my magic,” Mama whispers. “And he’ll take yours, too.”
He did? He will?
I know my father is a monster. He threatens my mind every night; a nightmare I can never run from. I never knew he’d taken Mama’s magic. The thing that made her special. Even if everyone has magic, everyone is unique with it.
“Why?” I ask.
Mama swallows. “It’s one of the things they do to maidens.”
Maidens, otherwise known as seventeen-year-old girls sold to the highest bidder; a man she’s bound to by marriage until she dies. This is the fate awaiting me in Ceirin. One Mama is trying to protect me from.
She continues saying, “Maidens are stripped of their magic to ensure they can’t escape their lords. I don’t want you to have to endure the pain of losing something you love dearly. Remember how it felt when your father took your brother?”
Tears well in my eyes. That day haunts me.
“That’s what it would feel like,” Mama says. “Do you want to feel that kind of pain again?”
I shake my head.
“See?” Mama grips my hand. “It’s better to just stay out here and enjoy our freedom while we can.”
“This isn’t freedom,” I choke out. “This is just another prison until Father returns. I want to go. Please?”
Mama’s face falls, seeing I have not changed my mind. We both know this is a prison; we’ve been locked up before.
When my father decided he had no use for me until I turned seventeen, he threw me in a tower and forgot about me. That was how life was until Mama whisked my brother and I away to this forest, never to be heard from again. But not safe from my father’s reach. He’s walked among these trees, seen this house, and someday he will return for us.
I thought I was okay with that, but I’m not. I don’t want to live in the woods for the next four years of my life and never know what real friends are or experience the true warmth of the sun. Once I become a maiden, those things will be impossible to achieve. I’ll be locked in some lord’s manor in a place where it’s always dreary.
As for my magic, I wish to learn everything about it, in the hopes I can protect Mama and myself, than play around with it and fail at learning anything substantial.
“Please, Mama,” I beg.
Why doesn’t she understand? Perhaps because she refuses to dream of true freedom. This, our cottage in the middle of nowhere, must be the closest she’s ever come to being free.
“Your brother attended the academy for all six years,” Mama says. “And he still couldn’t stop your father from taking him back.”
I’ll only be attending five years, with little prior knowledge… my shoulders slump. When she puts it like that, maybe I don’t stand a chance. After my brother finished school, there wasn’t a moment when anything he learned proved useful. Maybe staying here isn’t such a bad idea.
But no. I square my shoulders. I have to go.
Everything within me is telling me to go, that this is my one shot at escaping my fate. I’ve always been told my future will hold nothing but becoming a maiden. I’d rather die than let that prove true.
“Did you ever have a dream, Mama?” I take a deep breath.
Her face clouds over.
“Please allow me to fulfill mine?”
The muscles in her hand tighten, then slowly relax. She lets go of me and steps toward the door. For a moment, her fingers rest on the doorknob while she rubs her forehead. She closes her eyes. I imagine she’s watching her dreams play out in front of her. By the pained expression forming, I think she regrets never chasing them. Even if she couldn’t.
“Alright, let’s talk with Fallenorb,” Mama murmurs. “I’m not saying yes, but maybe we could ask a few more questions.”
I exhale the breath I’ve been holding and climb off the bed.
Together, Mama and I go back into the main room.
Fallenorb is still sipping her tea, however she’s pulled a notebook out and has it open in front of her.
“Ladies.” She nods to us.
We take seats across from her, and I lead by asking, “What is the academy like?”
Fallenorb looks pleased with my interest and says, “It’s a beautiful school on a sunny island, surrounded by sparkling ocean. Vandercoff’s education is ranked one of the best in the world, and you’ll live among other magicaes just like yourself.”
I love the sound of that.
“You don’t happen to know who paid for her position, do you?” Mama asks.
“Like I said,” Fallenorb says, “the payment was anonymous. But do you have any family or friends, perhaps, who could afford it?”
Mama shakes her head.
The only person I can think of is my father, but that makes no sense. Me being able to harness my powers is the last thing he would want.
“Do you know…” Mama taps the table with her fingertips, “which side it came from?”
“No,” Fallenorb snips. “But I wouldn’t worry. We don’t normally get anonymous payments, but it does happen occasionally and never causes an issue.” She takes a pen from her purse. “So, have you decided to attend?”
“Oh, no…” Mama begins.
“Miss Gennady.” Fallenorb gives her a firm stare. “It is in your daughter’s best interest to attend Vandercoff. Our sole intention is to make sure young magicaes know how to control and utilize their powers to their fullest potential. There have been too many times when children were refused the opportunity to learn and have ended up hurting loved ones and themselves. Cassandrea,” she turns to me, “would you mind showing me what you can do?”
I glance at Mama. She looks worried but encourages me with a tiny nod. This will be the first time I’ve shown her what I can do now that I am not as reckless.
I focus on the window beside the door and raise one of my hands. I send a whoosh of sparkly red at it. A glittery haze falls over the glass, blurring the rainstorm beyond.
Fallenorb blinks, repeatedly. Mama’s eyes widen.
I don’t know what’s so stunning. All I did was make the window glittery.
I summon the magic back and the window returns to normal.
“Incredible…” Fallenorb murmurs.
“What?” I look from her—furiously scribbling in her notebook—to Mama, who’s pale.
“As you can see, Miss Gennady,” Fallenorb looks between Mama and I, “your daughter possesses rare talent for a magicae of her age.”
I do?
Mama purses her lips. “She is very special.” She gazes at me for a long moment, then finally, she sighs and says, “If you can assure me you will do everything to keep her safe, I might agree.”
I suck in a breath. Is she going to let me go?
“That is our only goal,” Fallenorb assures her.
Mama glances at me, then at Fallenorb. “Alright,” Mama whispers. “She can go.”