Chapter 107 The Driving Test
Early the next morning, Meira prodded the cocoon of white fur to awaken it. A groan sounded from inside the fluffy cocoon as it constricted on its poor prisoner. With her first attempt failed, Meira changed her approach. Meira gently tickled every inch of the cocoon with some air magic. The cocoon twitched then receded, revealing two sleeping girls, which she promptly shook awake.
“Wakey wakey!” Meira chirped in a too loud voice.
Aya sat up, rubbing her eyes, but her mate hid from the offending light with her covers. Not allowing escape, Meira yanked the covers away, revealing a curled up shifter. Realizing resistance was futile, she dragged herself to the bathroom followed by a wide-awake Kitsune who snuck through the door just before she slammed it.
Over thirty minutes later, they finally emerged from the steaming bathroom. Evernya walked out wearing a simple form fitting black tank top with black shorts.
On the insistence of Evernya, Aya chose her own outfit, comprising a red sundress and matching flip flops.
Once out of the bathroom, the impatient elf herded the girls toward her waiting truck parked in front of her garage. Meira made sure her cargo buckled in with Aya in the middle front with her tails resting on hers and Evernya’s laps in the right passenger seat. Meira turned her truck around and drove down her driveway.
They drove down the gravel road toward Druth, passing thick the evergreen forest for a half hour until it opened up into a grassy field as they approached Druth. Unlike the last few times, Meira drove to the gate without interruption. She scanned her ID, then rolled through the gate, taking a right on the next road toward the Mage’s Council Building.
After pulling into a parking spot in the mostly empty Mage’s Council parking lot, Meira inquired, “Are you two ready?”
Both girls nodded, but Aya’s extra puffed tails, low ears, and fidgeting hands gave away her nerves.
As soon as everyone exited the truck, Aya latched onto Evernya’s arm. Fortunately for the nervous kitsune, they only passed a few people on their way into the building, which was just unlocked as they arrived at the top of the stone steps. Being the first people, they walked right up to the counter skipping the whole taking a number waiting period.
“What can I do for you today ladies?” The man who looked to be in his thirties inquired.
“We are here for appointments for Evernya and Aya Draorxia,” Meira responded.
The man typed on his computer for a few seconds before requesting, “proof of identity please.”
Realizing that she forgot to take out their IDs, Evernya stuck her hand in her pocket to withdraw the IDs without drawing attention. She then handed their IDs to the man, who scanned them before handing them back.
After a minute of looking at his computer, the man stated, “I have an appointment for Aya Draorxia with Dr. Anderson at 7 AM and a Sespinian driver’s license test for Evernya Draorxia at 7:30 AM. Do you confirm these appointments?”
“Yes.” Meira and Evernya answered simultaneously.
“Then please sit down in the far right waiting area until we call your name.” The man directed.
They turned to leave when Evernya remembered something prompting her to turn back to the man. “Can I pay fines here?” Evernya inquired.
“Yes, ma’am.” The man replied.
Like her IDs, she faked pulling out her platinum card from her pocket. She handed with her ID and platinum card to the man to scan.
“Please use this card to pay off the full amount of my fine.” Evernya requested.
The man scanned both cards and handed them back. “Your outstanding Sespinian debt is zero. Anything else?”
“No, thank you,” Evernya responded as she stuffed her ID and card in her tiny pockets.
When they turn toward the seating area Aya trembled, clamping onto Evernya’s left arm even tighter as she noticed the growing crowd filtering into the room. To make it worse, many people stop and stare at the exotic-looking Kitsune. To escape the spotlight, they made it across the large room as quickly as possible and sat down in the mostly empty section the man indicated.
Mercifully, only a few minutes passed before a middle-aged woman appeared from the hallway on the right side of the room, calling Aya’s name. Evernya stood up and essentially dragged her mate toward the woman. Aya’s shaking and clamping only became worse the closer she got to the woman.
“Calm down, no one is going to hurt you!” Evernya assured through their bond.
The woman smiled down at the terrified kitsune as she greeted her. “Hello Aya, my name is Brenda.”
“It’s okay to go with her, I will be right here waiting.” Evernya directed.
“Why can’t Nya come with?” Aya questioned.
“Because this appointment is about you, they wouldn’t get accurate results if you use me as a crutch. Even if I’m not in the room with you, that doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me like this.” Evernya replied, giving her mate a comforting tail hug.
“Aya does not trust her,” Aya stated.
“I know it scares you, but please bear with it. If you don’t pass this test, they won’t remove the collar and you won’t be able to go to college with me. You don’t have to trust her, just answer her questions. If they wanted to harm you, they would have when they detained us in Minea.” Evernya reasoned.
After taking a few seconds to pull herself together Aya replied, “Okay, Aya will try.”
Aya hesitantly detached herself from her mate’s arm and timidly shuffled toward the waiting doctor. She followed the doctor through the hallway, trying to look brave. Unfortunately, her tails betrayed her by dragging on the floor. Evernya sat back down in the waiting area next to Meira. She closed her eyes to focus on sending calming feelings to her panicking mate.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
After five minutes Aya seemed to have calmed down. Still, Evernya continued to comfort her through their connection.
Thirty minutes later, just before Evernya’s driving test, Aya came trotting out, looking much more confident. The first thing Evernya noticed is the lack of a collar around Aya’s neck instead she was carrying it in her hand. Excited and proud, Evernya blurred into a tackle hug of her mate.
“Congratulations, I knew you could do it!” Evernya gushed out loud.
While looking up at her mate’s face with adoration, Aya proclaimed, “It’s all because of Nya. If she was not there for Aya, she would have broken down.”
“Do not push the credit to me, this was all you!” Evernya countered as she tightened her hug.
Unfortunately, a few seconds later, a stern looking older man interrupted them loudly, tapping his foot on the tiled floor. She peeled herself off of her mate and followed the man through the hallway. He led her to a room full of computers labeled testing room 3.
Evernya sat in front of the indicated computer displaying a timed, multiple-choice test. She clicked start on the computer, then rapidly burned through the hundred question test. She abused her perfect memory, allowing her to memorize the book Meira forced her to read as she answered each question without trouble. In less than five minutes, she completed the entire test with a perfect score.
She motioned over to the man to show him that she finished, but he refused to believe her. “No questions while taking the test!”
While trying to rein in the urge to punch the rude man, Evernya said, “I don’t have a question. If anything, the test was too easy. It said at the end to have your tester look over your test.”
“There is no way you finished already. Most humans take at least a half-hour to complete this test, so there is no way someone like you could finish faster.” The man scoffed.
“Well, take a look for yourself if you don’t believe me. Just because I’m not human, that doesn’t mean I can’t complete a test like this quickly.” Evernya insisted, with a blank face masking her anger.
The man grumbled, but pulled up her testing info on his tablet. His eyes widened for a second upon reading the results before coming to a conclusion. “You must have cheated. No one could have completed a test in under five minutes with a perfect score.”
“I’m a Psion and Shifter, so I suppose I am a perfect combination for speeding through a test,” Evernya revealed.
The man ignored her as he investigated her results to find any evidence of cheating.
After several minutes of silence, Evernya offered, “Look if you don’t believe me, I can take the test again but that is just wasting both of our time.”
The man looked up with a sneer as he said, “That will not be necessary. I will have your test investigated later. If we find evidence of cheating, the results will become invalid and we will bring charges against you.”
“It won’t be the first time you humans bring bogus charges against me,” Evernya commented.
Contrary to Evernya’s expectations, the man questioned, “So you have a criminal history then?”
Sick of dealing with this man, Evernya replied, “If you call charging me with something I had no control over, then yeah, but that has nothing to do with this. Let’s just move on, you can have my test investigated if you want, but I didn’t cheat.”
Without another word, the man walked out of the room, so Evernya followed him. He led her down the hall for a few minutes until he arrived at a door marked garage. They entered the garage, finding dozens of government vehicles lined up in three neat rows.
He approached up to a small white car labeled student driver on its side and back in easy to read yellow and black lettering. After backing it out of its parking spot, he got out of the driver’s seat, leaving the door open for Evernya, then sat on the passenger seat.
After Evernya sat in the car and adjusted the seat forward, the tester instructed in a no nonsense tone, “Exit the garage through the north exit and turn right on Starlight Boulevard.”
Evernya followed the directions smoothly, driving up the north ramp as the automatic doors opened for the car. She slowed to a complete stop on Starlight Boulevard, looking both ways before pulling out into the light traffic.
The tester noted something on his tablet before giving his next instructions, “At the traffic lights, turn left on Hawthorn Street.”
Evernya used her left turn signal while checking her mirrors and blind spots before changing to the left lane. A hundred meters later, she slowed to a stop at the red light for a minute before turning left as the green left turn arrow flashed. She drove down the quick residential street lined with apartment buildings in silence while the tester noted things on his tablet for several minutes.
“Pull to the side of the road and come to a complete stop.” The tester instructed.
Evernya used her right turn signal before pulling to the right side of the road while checking her mirrors, coming to a complete stop, awaiting her next instructions.
The tester poked his tablet a few times as if checking off a checklist before speaking, “Shift the car into reverse and back up straight until I say stop.”
Evernya shifted the center console shifter to R, then turned her head to look out the read window as she rolled backward.
“Stop.” The tester ordered after twenty meters.
After Evernya stopped, he noted something before ordering, “Perform a Y turn and return to the garage.”
While doing a Y turn, Evernya panicked but kept herself calm on the outside. I’m already done? Did I fail or is this guy cutting the test short on purpose?
The tester remained silent as she pulled onto Starlight Boulevard before returning to the garage a few minutes later.
“Park the car in the designated spot.” The tester ordered with a blank face, giving nothing away.
Evernya turned into the original parking spot before shifting the car into park, awaiting her next instructions with a nervously twitching tail.
The tester spent several minutes on his tablet leaving Evernya to stew before speaking, “Turn off the car and hand me the keys.”
Evernya followed his instructions, but as soon as she handed him the keys, he opened his door and exited the vehicle. Left with no other choice, Evernya scrambled out of the car and followed the tester through the door they entered through.
He led her back through the hallway to an empty room and sat down at the table with Evernya following suit.
He spent almost five minutes reviewing his tablet before he finally ordered. “Handover your ID card.”
After complying, the man updated her ID and handed it back without saying a word. He then left the room just as two men in black suits entered. They closed the door before approaching Evernya, looking quite menacing.
Despite growing nerves, Evernya read their mana grade, finding them both slightly stronger than Meira. Evernya’s tail puffed and her ears flattened as she stared at the two men. Her legs tensed, ready to make a run for it at a moment’s notice.
The slightly stronger man on the right spoke first, “Miss Draorxia, the Fleming family, has summoned you.”
Evernya’s clenched muscles relaxed, but she continued to follow their every movement with her eyes. “So that’s happening already? Let me tell my companions I am going with you first.” Evernya asked.
“We are under orders to take you immediately, willing or not. We will notify the elf and Kitsune of your departure.” The man on the left informed in a no-nonsense tone.
Annoyed by their attitude, Evernya commented, “Geez, what is the big deal about me telling my family members myself?”
“You are coming with us willingly, or not. That is your only choice.” The man on the left threatened as they took another step toward her.
“Fine, I’ll just call her.” Evernya decided, materializing her cell phone from her dimensional storage into her pocket.
Just as she pulled the phone out of her pocket, it suddenly disintegrated. “Really? What is the harm of calling them?” Evernya questioned, while inspecting the dust that used to be her phone.
“The Fleming family will notify the elf and Kitsune of your departure.” The man on the right repeated.
“How do I know you are from the Fleming family? You could just be kidnapping me.” Evernya questioned.
“If you refuse to come with us, your mana bound artifact will become public knowledge.” The man on left threatened, confirming their allegiance.
“Fine, I will go with you. It’s not like I have a choice either way with two arisen grade six plus fetchers.” Evernya relented.
The comment caused both men to shift into attack mode. Evernya felt a sudden spike in mana from both men, only having enough time for her eyes to widen before everything went black.