A quiet, resolute voice in my head told me I had to do this. I couldn't be the weak link in this crazy group of students. School was always about hierarchy and if I failed at the first hurdle, I'd never earn my place here.
“Three!”
I took a breath, shut my eyes and placed every ounce of faith I had in myself.
I jumped.
My feet hit the floor. Someone ripped my hood off and raucous laughter filled my ears. It took me a painfully long second to realise I'd just jumped from a one foot step at the heart of a crowded room. All of the other freshmen had been pulled aside to watch me do it. Alone.
Heat scorched my cheeks, my neck, everywhere. I wanted to vanish, hide away from their mocking eyes and never come out again.
The cold wind I'd felt was coming from the outstretched hands of several seniors and now that their cruel prank was done, the wind died and they buckled over in hysterics. The freshmen were laughing just as loudly, their linen hoods now gripped in their fists.
Seth stepped into view, grinning a wolf's grin.
“That's not funny,” I blew out, trying to smile it off.
He caught my wrist, dragging me forward, his hands everywhere again. The sizzling look in his gaze made my smile drop away like a falling brick.
“What's really not funny is you and your sister showing up here to steal our throne. We've worked our asses off to earn that right. Our four families have ruled for nearly twenty years since the fall of King Vega and Solaria has been much better off for it. Our parents divide the power between themselves and as the sons of the Celestial Council, we will soon take that responsibility from them. So we don’t intend to just sit back and let you take the throne from us and return Solaria to the shitheap it was when your father ruled,” he snarled, his eyes two hollow pits of cruelty. There was no friendliness left, his touches weren't curious now, they were possessive and degrading.
His words sent my mind into a desperate spiral as I tried to understand them.
“I don't want your throne.” I tried to wrench my wrist free from his grip but he wouldn't let go.
He turned me to the room. “Who says we really throw her off the tower this time?”
“What?” I gasped as the whole of House Aer roared their ascent. “Get off of me!” I threw my shoulder at Seth but he barely noticed, tugging me through a grey stone lounge filled with woollen rugs and cream armchairs. Seth hauled me toward a huge set of glass doors that led onto a balcony and fear spread through me like a forest fire.
The older students crowded in behind us as Seth forced me to the edge where a stone wall parted us from a sea of nothingness.
“Are you crazy?!” I yelled desperately as I tried to get his hands off of me.
The group who had been all over him before lifted their heads to the sky and started howling. The piercing noise sent my heart skittering.
I clawed at Seth's hands as he lifted me, planting me up on the wall.
I stood there, refusing to look over the ledge, gazing back at the lounge through the glass windows where everyone in Aer was fighting to look out.
Seth glared up at me, the king of this group of madmen. I didn't want to beg, but death seemed one shove away and I didn't know how far he would take this.
“Please, just let me down,” I whispered, just to him, my voice betraying my fear as it quavered on the last word.
Seth tilted his head with a smirk and I spotted Kylie pushing through the crowd to reach him. I looked to her, wondering if she might tell him to back down but instead she linked her fingers with his and gazed at me with a vicious grin.
“Jump,” she said, her eyes sparkling.
My throat constricted as I searched for a single friendly face amongst the masses. But I couldn't find one. I was alone in this. And the only person I had to rely on was myself. They'd played me like a fool.
I clenched my fists. “Let me down.”
Seth released Kylie as he moved right up to the wall and gripped my ankles. Fear shot through me like a lightning bolt. My life was in his hands, he could uproot me at any second.
“Alright,” Seth said after a long pause. “But you can only get down when you've cut off all of your hair.”
On cue, Kylie produced a sharp pair of scissors from her pocket, her gaze venomous as she passed them to Seth.
“What?” I gasped.
“It's that or jump.” Seth shrugged and laughter rang out from every direction.
I wanted to curl up into a ball, but I refused to let them see me break. Seth held out the scissors, his face cast in shadow.
I clenched my jaw, furious that I was backed into a corner like this. It was clear this had been his plan all along. He wanted me wholly ridiculed. He wanted the entire House to laugh at me, to humiliate me beyond repair. It wasn’t just my hair he was trying to take, it was my dignity.
The wind pressed at my back and a trickle of energy met my fingertips. The air moved between my hands, dancing, floating, completely under my command.
My throat tightened and I threw a glance over my shoulder. My heart screamed at me not to do it, but this was the only way I wasn't going to be destroyed by Seth Capella on my first day at Zodiac Academy.
His brows pinched together as he realised what I was about to do.
I sucked in air and felt it moving through my body with a promise. And I simply had to have blind faith in that feeling. It was the only thing I had to hold onto as I threw myself over the edge.
Screams and gasps followed me as I cascaded through the air, my heart trying to break free of my chest. I tumbled and lost sight of everything, panic invading me and gripping onto every cell in my body.
I spread my hands desperately, knowing the seconds were ticking by. That I was only feet away from smashing into the hard ground below.
The well inside me spilled over and I felt a shift. A rush of energy like a hurricane unleashed itself in my body. The moment it met my fingertips, the power exploded from my skin in a gigantic gust. At the last second, I begged it to stop my fall and I came to a swooping halt.
I hung suspended, ungraceful but completely alive as I gazed down at the ground a few feet below me.
I'd been so close to failing. So close to dying. And as cheers called to me from above, a smile forced my lips wide. The cushion of air collapsed and I crashed to the ground in a heap.
Adrenaline surged. My entire body trembled. But I was alive. And for now, I'd damn well earned my place in Aer. And it sounded like the rest of the House knew it too.
I FOLLOWED THE crowd of Fire Elementals away from the Orb and down a curving path which led around to the south of the building before dropping down a steep hill.
Pillars of stone sat either side of the path every few meters with flames burning in plinths on top of them. As the older students began to pass them, the flames took the forms of various creatures and my lips parted as I stared at horses, wolves, birds and men built out of nothing but flame. My mind wanted to cast it off as some kind of illusion but I knew it wasn’t. The power roiling within me responded to the fire and each flare of magic which shaped it and I ached to unleash my own magic upon the blaze despite having no idea how to do such a thing.
Sofia slipped through the crowd until she was walking at my side, offering a friendly smile as I glanced her way. Nice to know I’m not a total pariah then. Most of the other students were giving me a wide berth and I’d gotten the distinct impression that offending the Celestial Heirs had put me firmly on the shit list. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about sending any Christmas cards as I wasn’t likely to be receiving any.