As they entered the common room, Cassy was greeted by a cheerful Victoria saying, "Cassy, you're back! Did everything go alright?"

"Yes, Lord Burton wanted to speak to me about what will happen going forward for me,” responded Cassy.

“Oh, is everything going to be alright?”

“Yes, I’ll be staying with you and the other private servants for a while.

"Oh good, Richard could have been a bit more forthcoming earlier. Let me give you a little tour of this part of the house, we are still moving your belonging to your new room, so I will show you to it after dinner.”

Victoria led Cassy through a few rooms near the common room. The most notable was an extensive library. "This is our library. Physical books are not common anymore, and everyone reads on a tablet. One of the luxuries the Burtons afford their staff is access to a library. You can read anything in this room if it doesn't interfere with your duties, and you care for the books appropriately," said Victoria as they entered the room.

Cassy was awed by the collection and started looking through the books before finding one she liked and taking it off the shelf. Victoria led Cassy out of the room and back to the common room, saying, "That will conclude our tour. You are welcome to go to any of the rooms I've shown you, stay in the common room, or return to your room. Dinner will be at six tonight."

Cassy smiled, "Thank you, Ms. Turner," and went over to a couch in the corner of the room to read the book she had grabbed.

Just before dinner, Doctor Bennett entered Fletcher’s study. As he stepped through the door, he bowed to Fletcher, "My apologies for taking so long, my Lord. I decided to double-check my findings on Ms. Riley's scans."

Fletcher was sitting at his desk and looked up at Doctor Bennett. "Thank you for being so thorough, Doctor Bennett. Please take a seat," Fletcher said, pointing to a chair in front of his desk.

Doctor Bennett crossed the room, sat down, holding a tablet in his hand, and began to speak, "There were no adverse effects from the events of this morning; however, her second scan was more concerning. Her power levels are at the upper bounds of what the machine is capable of, and I would classify her as a four right now. With some training, she could easily reach class five or six. I also tested the calibration of the scanner to ensure I was getting accurate readings."

"Very good, that lines up with my assessment as well. Any idea why she hasn't manifested any abilities yet?"

"I think she will start soon, given what occurred this morning. I would need to see a detailed account of her past. I believe she never encountered a situation that would serve as a catalyst. Since the scryers never found her either, she never received any training that would cause the abilities to manifest."

"I would like you to keep an eye on her. I will have her begin training tomorrow, and I would like to have as much data as possible, as I think she will quickly surpass your assessment of her potential."

"Why do you believe that, my Lord?"

"During the mind probe, she saw my eyes shift and was able to look straight into them without any adverse effects. She also did not suffer any after-effects from the phantasm." Lord Burton paused, placing a small jar on the desk containing a light bouncing around like a firefly, "This is no ordinary phantasm. It was meant to kill her instantly once the altered mark was discovered, but it could not do so. She even survived my efforts to subdue and capture it while it was trying to kill her. Her mind became a war zone, and she survived."

Doctor Bennett's usual calm, collected demeanor shifted to shock, "That would make her at least around a class five with protective abilities."

"Yes indeed," responded Lord Burton.

Doctor Bennett shifted in his seat for a moment, “I have also completed the preliminary autopsy reports on Mr. Grayson, Ms. Grant, and Mrs. Hopkins. All three died from a powerful neurotoxin. I found a brain leach embedded at the base of each of their skulls. I am still trying to identify the species, and I am waiting for a full report on the chemical makeup of the neurotoxin. The toxin secreted into their systems had already begun to break down, but I was able to extract an intact sample from the leach in Ms. Grant."

"Very well. Please notify me as soon as you can trace the leach to its planet of origin. It may provide us with some clue as to who is behind all of this," said Fletcher. "Unless you have anything further, that is all I need from you, Doctor Bennett."

"Yes, my Lord," said Doctor Bennett as he rose, bowed, and exited the room.

"It's all a bit troubling to me. To have three spies appear at once," said Richard, sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. Richard stood and walked over, sitting in one of the chairs in front of Fletcher's desk.

"I suspect there are more than three. The presence of these leaches may help us determine who is behind this, or at least who is involved. How are the interrogations of the house staff doing so far?"

"We have questioned about half of them so far. The remaining are being kept in their common room under close supervision," responded Richard.

"Very well. See if the doctor can set up mobile scanners to detect the brain leaches and have all the staff scanned for them, including my private staff. I shudder to think that any of them could be involved."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Yes, my Lord," said Richard before departing the room.

Cassy spent the remainder of her afternoon reading in the corner reading her book. Just before dinner, the staff returned and began setting the dining tables. Cassy put her book down and joined them.

After everyone had settled at their tables, Cassy noticed that the groups were different from lunch. An older woman about Doctor Bennett's age with black hair and brown eyes watched Cassy as she looked around, "Is something the matter, dear?"

"I was just noticing that the groups around the room have changed since lunch."

"Oh yes, we tend to move around a bit since mealtime is usually the best time for us to socialize, so we change who we are sitting with. There are pairs or trios of good friends who always eat together," responded the lady. "I'm Sophia Bennett, by the way. You can call me Sophia."

"Cassandra Riley, it's a pleasure to meet you. Most people call me Cassy for short."

"Likewise," said Sophia. "I noticed the mark on your arm looks like you will be staying with us for a while, but won’t be with the housekeeping staff.”

Victoria stopped eating, "Can I see your arm, Cassy? I haven’t looked at your mark yet.”

Cassy held her right arm out to Victoria, who uttered "Richard" in an irritated tone.

A minute later, Richard entered the room, looked around, and walked towards Victoria, "You called?"

Victoria stood up, "What were you thinking, giving Ms. Riley that mark!"

"I wasn't the one who administered her mark," Richard coldly responded. "It was Lord Burton."

Victoria stared at Richard in silence for a moment before saying, "Then what did Doctor Bennett classify her as?"

Richard sighed and stroked his brow before saying, "Class four."

"That's impossible. You don't just find a class four wandering the streets at her age. They've either gone insane or blown themselves up."

The rest of the staff stopped eating, noticing Victoria’s frustration with Richard. Cassy listened to the exchange, detecting a hint of caring in Victoria’s tone.

"We are still working out the details of her upbringing, but that mark is also helping suppress any unintentional manifestations of her abilities. Ms. Riley will begin training in the morning to control her gifts,” said Richard.

Victoria had crossed her arms at this point and was tapping her finger against her arm, “And what will this training entail?”

“That is up to Captain Reed and Mr. Davis. I would also like you to begin giving her etiquette lessons in the afternoon, Ms. Turner.”

“They better not try to put her through some kind of torture training.” Victoria said. “I’ve heard how those guards are trained.”

“I can insure you it will be nothing of that nature.”

“Very well, I will be keeping an eye on them.”

Richard bowed to Victoria, “As you wish, Ms. Turner.”

"What of her other duties," asked Victoria.

"Lord Burton has not fully decided what her duties will be but would like her prepared to attend social gatherings if necessary," said Richard before turning and leaving the room.

Victoria sat back down and let out a long, heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, Cassy, we can be awfully secretive around here, for good reason. Let me start by explaining what Richard meant by gifts and you being a class four.”

Victoria paused for a moment watching Cassy as Cassy responded with, “Yes, please do.”

“You see, there are people who possess special gifts that allow them to perform actions beyond a normal human. Some can even control others or manifest energy into the world."

"Like how Lord Burton was able to look into my memories?"

"Yes, like that. People with abilities are given a classification, almost everyone you see here in this room is considered class one. We all have some minor gifts, like how I called Richard here telepathically. I am a class two, and Richard is a class two as well. Most of the guards are class twos, with some even being class three and a couple, like Captain Reed, being class fours." Victoria paused for a minute, watching Cassy's reaction.

"So what class is Lord Burton?"

"Well, he can't be classified. The scanners that we use to detect classification can really only read up to around class four or five, which are extremely rare. There are only a handful of known individuals of class five or above." Victoria paused for a moment before continuing, "You, though, are a class four, which is extremely rare to have not been found by the scryers at your age."

"What can the different classes do?"

"It really depends on the person, but class one has minor abilities like the capacity to communicate telepathically or increase their physical capabilities. Class two can do the same but stronger, and they can sometimes influence weak-willed people when they have a special type of telepathy and sometimes manifest abilities in the world like a flash of light or a pressure wave. Class three is considered a military class, and some can see a second or two into the future. Class four, like yourself, can sometimes, with focus and training, see a minute into the future if they have precognition and force their will into reality like being able to cause small explosions. Class five and above are tightly monitored. Most die at an early age from what's called a flare-out or their abilities manifesting uncontrollably. Abilities usually manifest under extreme emotional distress, like a life-threatening situation."

Casey thought for a minute before responding, "Okay, what upset you so much about my mark?"

"As you know, all of us are marked. Your mark is different from ours, though," Victoria held out her arm for Cassy to see. "You see the family crest in the middle like yours, but the surrounding ring is different, similar to how the guards have a different ring along with their rank insignia. The staff has a simple braided ring like mine, but I have an additional symbol that signifies me as a head maid."

"Your ring is what is called a ward ring, which means you are in the care of the family, almost like an adopted orphan. You also have an additional marking that signifies you as being Lord Burton's ward, which means that you are tied directly to him and respond only to his orders. The head of the family can overrule him, but they usually won't. So, unlike us, if another member of the family gives you an order, you can ignore them. More than likely, once you have been through some training and Lord Burton has decided your duties, he will change your mark again."

Cassy thought while processing everything before asking, "Who is the head of the Burton family?"

“That would be his father, Duke Burton. You might meet him someday, though. Lord Burton is the only family member present at the mansion, and we will most likely return to the family's main estate in another year or two when his business here has concluded."

Cassy paused, wondering what would happen to her sister Emily if she left town. "Is something bothering you," asked Victoria.

"My sister, she's going into 10th grade this year, and I'm afraid my parents will throw her out of the house when she graduates, as they did to me."

"I will speak with Richard about that in the morning. Let's finish eating and get some rest. You are going to have a busy day tomorrow."

Cassy finished eating and helped clean up the tables, deciding she was going to fit in as best as she could with the family staff.