Thea leaned back in her seat, her eyes closed, and failed to stifle a groan. Even just leaning back and feeling the plush seat that was much higher quality than her family could afford in a carriage brought her thoughts right back into the middle of her current predicament.

Why is everyone around me so stubborn and yet so kind that they make it impossible to stay angry at them? Though she thought that, she was more embarrassed and frustrated than actually angry.

At least she was alone in the carriage, so she let her frustrations bubble up to the surface instead of restraining them. The carriage ride was incredibly smooth, the seats soft and upholstered in suede leather, and the windows were decorated in dark blue silk curtains that were only open a small crack to let a little light in. The walls of the carriage were upholstered and quilted in a brocade that was dark blue on blue in swirling patterns and fairly well insulated from the street sounds, but Thea could still hear the occasional surprised chatter as their carriage passed people going about their day.

“That’s one of the general’s carriages isn’t it?”

“You don’t see that every day, now do ya?”

“The Marquess’s son must be out on business.”

“Which son though?”

“What do you mean? Surely the commander wouldn’t need guards. Ha ha.”

That’s right—she was stuck riding to her first day of work and Luin’s first day of classes at the academy in one of the Hollendale estate’s carriages. No amount of turning the commander down seemed to do any good. It was true that one of their family’s carriages was out of commission and the other was being used by her parents as they fulfilled the emperor’s command to repair the clock tower, but Thea’s original plan was to hire a carriage since it wasn’t that far.

“It’s only a short trip from the manor to the academy,” Thea had argued after the commander offered to let her use one of his family’s many carriages at dinner the night before. “A hired carriage should be fine.”

It had been Timetheo who’d shot down her idea. “Yes, and that short distance still put you in danger just two days ago. Between that incident and the damage to your old apartment, I can’t say I want you taking any old carriage when we have no way to verify the driver or whether the carriage itself has been well maintained.” Thea had been right that Timetheo was quite distressed when he learned from his own knights that his little sister had been in a carriage accident and then attacked by some deranged man all in one afternoon. Only Darcin’s prompt note arriving shortly after he found out kept him from trying to rush home instead of finishing his shift with the City Knights.

Thea had looked around the table only to see Darcin nodding along with Timetheo’s statements. She had no hope of support there. And though his opinion might not sway the final outcome, she had looked to Luin for someone to be on her side. Sure enough, Luin’s expression was sour as if he didn’t like the suggestion one bit, but Thea’s mouth nearly fell open when he curtly nodded.

“I would have to agree it’s probably best we use the commander’s carriage as well,” Luin had said, never looking up from his plate, and then he continued to eat and frown as if the fish filet and vegetables had offended him.

For the carriage ride, Luin had opted to sit up front next to the driver, claiming he wished to help keep a look out for any trouble. Thea had the suspicion that he was giving her some space rather than truly being concerned about keeping watch. She’d already learned the night after Luin, Lord Cyris, and herself had their confessional discussion that he had a giant, magical owl at his beck and call, one that was somehow an extension of himself rather than just a pet. He could use the owl’s eyes to monitor things from above without having to sit on the front of the carriage. But even without that ability, the two Royal Knights that Lord Cyris insisted on sending with them would surely spot any trouble.

Thea sighed. I only just prevented the comm—I mean Lord Cyris—from accompanying us himself. Only the fact that it would appear that someone of royal importance was riding in the carriage if he guarded it himself made him agree to just send two of his men instead. Still, it was attracting too much attention. Thea could only hope that the blossoming gossip would run its course quickly and be forgotten once her family’s carriage was repaired. But that could take several days, if not a full week. She’d seen her mother and father signing among themselves about supposed upgrades to the carriage being done as well.

Thea thought back over the past few days to take her mind off her current situation. Today was the third day since the day of the accident and since she found out about Luin’s secrets and Lord Cyris’s investigation. So much had happened that it didn’t quite feel real. In the span of a day and a weekend, she’d come to realize there were even more impossible things that existed besides mages and skills—and those were amazing enough.

Since she and Luin quite literally were housebound during those few days, all research into the creatures and Luin’s identity were put on hold. That left Thea’s miraculous new skill to focus on, and what she’d learned about it had shaken her nearly as much as learning that Luin wasn’t human.

Reading Comprehension was described as passive, meaning it was always active and could not be selectively turned on or off by the one possessing the skill. Lord Cyris had explained that to Thea as they’d sat in the family library one evening.

“So, do you mean that no matter if I want it to stop being active, it will always be affecting me?” Thea had asked.

“That’s right. And from what Luin has described, it seems it is just as straight forward and powerful as the name suggests. I would even say your skill is on par with my own in how it could be utilized to the benefit or the detriment of the empire as a whole. I’m afraid we can’t just register your skill at any municipal office like normal. You’ll have to register with the imperial palace itself, and likely with the emperor himself, as I did.” Cyris’s tone was deadly serious, causing Thea who’d wanted to laugh as if this was some awkward joke to swallow hard and realize this was no joke afterall.

It was just so hard to believe she had a skill and even harder to believe that it could be on par with the commander’s skill and deserve the emperor’s attention.

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Apparently, the reason Luin had been giving her books to read so often was because any process, ability, knowledge, or skill that she read about, she’d be able to execute to some degree. Thea knew how powerful just having the knowledge of so many books could be, but add onto that the ability to then apply all that knowledge, and she could quickly see how monstrous of a skill she truly had. Though it sounded simplistic, when applied in the right—or wrong—way, it could have an enormous effect.

But it did seem to have limitations.

“It seems your mastery of evasion techniques that the knights would use was successful,” Lord Cyris had explained as he thought over what she’d told him about the attack she fended off. “However, though you were able to execute the technique to block the man’s attack, your body lacked the strength to keep the man’s swing from hurting your hands. Had the man kept attacking instead of passing out, your ability to block and dodge would not have withstood more than a few blows.” This led to the second thing that Lord Cyris said that would leave Thea unable to sleep soundly. “I believe you’ll need to strengthen yourself if you wish to use the knowledge you gain from your skill fully. I think it would be a good idea to have you do some basic strength training with the knights at some point. You’ll be able to at least defend yourself properly if so. You may not get as good as a mid-rank knight, perhaps, but at least you should be able to best an entry level knight with your skill assisting you.”

Herself besting any knight seemed like the most preposterous thing in the world!

But the past few days have been full of preposterous things….

And the inevitable meeting with the emperor left her feeling queasy at just the thought of it. Her parents had met with the emperor a few times, especially when they had been commissioned to design and oversee the building of the clock tower before she was born and when her father had received his title for that work, but this was different. Only Darcin had debuted in court as the Chronwright family’s heir; Thea had never attended any events at the palace.

Lord Cyris and Luin had both told her she couldn’t share knowledge of her skill with anyone yet. The emperor would be the first outside of the three of them to know about it, and His Majesty may forbid her from even telling her own family. Only knowing that Lord Cyris had a skill that was treated in the same manner gave her a small bit of comfort. But it didn’t keep her wild imagination from putting together scenarios where the emperor and his advisors deemed her too dangerous and ordered her monitored and isolated for the rest of her life.

Thea rubbed her shoulders as a chill passed through her. Ugh…I really don’t need all this on my mind on top of starting my new position at the academy library today. Not to mention the worry over Luin’s first day attending the academy.

Surprisingly, Luin was still quite certain he wanted to attend the academy. Thea had voiced that it may be even more difficult for him given his nature and his lack of knowledge about himself and the world. But he only replied, “It’s where I’ll be able to find those answers hopefully.” And that was that.

Thea had managed to suggest one thing though: if anything were to happen, he was to send his owl, Ulla, to Thea right away. It was quite convenient that she would almost always be on campus when he had classes. He’d agreed quite readily to that condition, so Thea thought he’d be sure to do so.

Thea couldn’t help but chuckle a bit under her breath as she thought about the owl again. She tucked a piece of her lavender gray hair back behind her ear as it came loose when the carriage rocked a bit harder than usual.

The owl—Ulla, as Luin had named her—had been startling at first, but Thea found herself intrigued by her. The bird of prey was quite small at first and had come into the room with a brief flutter of silent wings to hop from the windowsill to the back of a chair in Luin’s room one night. Ulla’s head had turned nearly ninety degrees one way before straightening back up, and her wide, amber eyes seemed to glow warmly from within.

Thea had reached into her skirt pocket, removing a small tea cookie that she’d wrapped in a handkerchief earlier that day. She held it out to the owl, smiling when its pupils contracted and expanded just before it leaned slowly over and took the offered cookie in its sharp beak. Holding the cookie in one foot, it began munching happily. Only after half the cookie was eaten did Thea gasp and turn to Luin with concern.

“Is—is it okay that I gave her that? It isn’t going to hurt her, is it?” Thea had seriously debated whether she could try and snatch the rest of the cookie out of those talons, but the rest of the cookie was gone in three more bites.

Luin shook his head. “She isn’t a real owl. I’ve been feeding her some of whatever I eat for a while now, and it has never been an issue. In fact, this isn’t her real size either. She wanted to appear smaller so as not to frighten you.”

“Oh, well that’s a relief, but if she’s changing herself for me, she needn’t worry. I’m not frightened. She can be her normal self if she wants to.” Though Thea had said so with confidence, her eyes still widened and her breath caught in her throat when Luin nodded and the owl began to grow in size until it was quite impossible that the chair she sat on didn’t break or tip over. But it held somehow. Ulla had become nearly a meter tall, not counting the long tufted “horns” on either side of her head or her tail, and her eyes were as large as the baked red potatoes they’d had for lunch earlier that day. The already deadly looking beak and talons were now of such proportions that they were no longer only a danger to small animals and misplaced hands and fingers but to entire humans and livestock.

However, Thea got over her shock quickly, especially when the owl had leaned forward with its eyes closed and rubbed its cheek against her hand. It had been so soft!

Thea wondered where the owl was now, thinking about the many rooftops they were passing. She didn’t quite know how the owl hid itself during the day with so many eyes within the city, but it seemed to have no trouble doing so since Luin was not worried in the slightest.

The carriage slowed and made a final turn before coming smoothly to a stop. The Hollendale family’s driver really knew what they were doing, though the quality of the carriage certainly helped as well.

The door to the carriage opened. Thea squinted a bit as morning light poured in. One of the knights Lord Cyris had assigned to the carriage escort leaned in, his hand extended. He was a huge, mountain of a man. Even the hand he reached out to help Thea down from the carriage dwarfed her own and made it look like a child’s in comparison. While a bit intimidating, the man lowered his head and kept his eyes downcast. He seemed to be doing his best—though unsuccessful—to make himself appear smaller.

Thea took a deep breath, determined to leave her frustrations in the carriage. There would be enough to tackle now that she was heading back to work. She placed her hand within the knight’s hand and stepped out before letting go. Holding onto the knight’s hand was like grabbing hold of a firm railing and quite sturdy.

Lord Cyris certainly didn’t skimp on who he chose to send with us, did he? Thea felt warmth creeping up her neck into her cheeks. He really shouldn’t have….

Luin hopped down from the driver’s bench and landed near her. He looked less childish in his academy uniform though he was still quite small and thin. He had his long, midnight blue hair tied back at the nape of his neck with a silver band. The uniform itself mimicked a knight’s uniform but had the academy’s colors of light blue and gold.

Thea smiled as Luin brushed off a bit of road dust from his clothes. “I think it suits you. Are you sure you’re ready? I won’t be able to walk you to class, unfortunately. I’m sorry.”

Luin nodded. “You have to work. It’s alright. I memorized the map of the campus you gave me, so I should be fine.”

“Okay, then,” Thea acquiesced. “But don’t forget your promise. Be sure to keep it if something happens.” She would be sure to keep within sight of a window throughout the day just in case.

“I will.” Luin glanced up at the sky for a moment before he gave Thea a small smile. “Have a good first day.”

“You too, Luin.” Thea watched as he walked off towards the instruction building for students his age. Soon, he was swept up in a small crowd of students walking to classes. It was only when Luin was out of sight, that Thea realized that there was a small crowd forming around herself, the knights, and the carriage. A buzz of whispers was already building among the academy faculty and students who were staring.

Ah…I think I’d better send them away and get inside before this gets any worse.

“Thank you for escorting us, Sir Knight,” Thea said to the large knight beside her. She had to tilt her head up to look him in the face even while he hunched his shoulders a bit.

“Of course, my lady,” he said, his voice deep like rumbling rocks. “We will return when it is time to escort you home.”

Thea gave a nod of thanks to the driver and the other knight who had stayed on her horse, but then didn’t waste anymore time. The crowd parted as she walked up the steps to the library. It was only after she passed through the doors that she let herself breathe deeply. The smell of parchment, paper, ink, and leather greeted her like an old friend, and she closed her eyes in contentment for a moment.

I truly have missed being in a large library like this.

Thea tugged her sleeves down a bit and squared her shoulders under the curious gazes of the circulation desk staff. It was time to get to work.