I happily tested out the many refreshments until an elegant man with glasses stepped into the waiting room.

“I am sure you are all wondering about your results. Congratulations. Each of you have passed on to the next stage. Your grades and magic have basically qualified you, however, a leader must have more than academics and tricks. They must have personality and cunning. During this next test only one of you in this room will pass.”

I listened carefully as I ate another cookie. Ah, butterscotch. Delicious. Around me was chaos.

“What do you mean only one!”

“This is ridiculous!”

“Why?!”

“Only four will be chosen from this area,” the man continued, ignoring the cries, “and everyone must be of extreme excellence to pass. Since I stepped into this room, three of you have been eliminated, and four more are barely hanging on. Can you tell me why? Girl with the cookie.”

I looked around. No one else had a cookie. “Personality?” I guessed, “Shouting at the Headmaster of Nobility shows that they either don’t recognize you or would shout at anyone. If they don’t recognize you it would mean they might mistreat people they consider inferior?”

The man smiled, but only for a second, making it seem like an illusion. “Correct. So, miss, does that mean you would boldly eat a cookie in front of anyone?”

“I would,” I replied, “Cookies are delicious and no one else would eat them. All that precious food going to waste…”

“Ah, a shame. The ticket to win this challenge is hidden inside a refreshment.” the headmaster stated.

The table was instantly swarmed as children fought over sweets. I backed away before my dress got dirty. “No its not,” I said, “Or at least you don’t mean it that way,” I said, “One of them is poisoned, right?”

The phantom smile flashed by again, and I watched with fascination. “Just a mild laxative.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“A what?” one of the kids asked.

I had to hold in my laughter. A laxative? I was expecting a fake poison that tasted bitter. Or was the laxative just really bitter?

“It will give you an upset stomach, among other things,” the headmaster explained, “but do not worry. We will take care of you if you should eat it. So, miss cookie, if you know about the poison why were you eating so freely?”

“Because there is a meat-pie on a table of sweets,” I replied, “It seemed weird so I avoided it. Also, it smells bitter.”

“It smells bitter?” the headmaster repeated, “Interesting.”

The kid who had been about to take a bite of the meat-pie immediately dropped it. “So… I guess this means I lost.”

“Unfortunately for you, yes,” the headmaster said, “Miss Cookie and Mister Book have both passed to the next stage. The rest of you should head home for now.”

Mister book? I looked back and saw a black haired boy with a book in his hands. He sighed and closed the book before standing, and then he met my eyes. It was just for a moment, but I think he hates me?

The headmaster led Mister Book and me into some sort of living room where we saw six other children. Three boys, and three girls. So two girls and two boys would pass? It was unlikely that this was accidental.

Other than the headmaster, the Head Magician, King, and Queen were all there. This… was an insane amount of stress for a ten-year-old. Even myself, who has the maturity of someone older. I still can’t quite recall how much older, though.

“Welcome to the final stage of the test,” the king announced, “Should you pass you will be apprenticed to a household that can teach you about your desired profession and prepare you for your teenage years in Nobility. Each of you were chosen so far by four main criteria. A unique ability of some sort, intelligence beyond your age, the ability to remain calm in the face of danger, and your determination to fulfill your dream.”

“Now, we will test your personality,” the queen continued, “Reginald, our head mage has a special gift to be able to tell if a person is trustworthy or not.”

“Most of you are likely trustworthy, but we are looking for more than that,” the king explained, “Reginald will pick the two best based on our criteria and after a private discussion with him the queen and I will choose one favorite from among you each.”

“Are you ready?” the queen asked.

Everyone, myself included, nodded eagerly.

The head mage proceeded to look us over one by one, but there was no change in his expression, and he did not utter a word. Mister Book shuddered beside me at the intensity, but I could not help but admire him.

What a professional! To keep his face so blank takes incredible effort. I have tried training in front of a mirror to do just that for hours but I could never manage anything that didn’t end up looking depressed.

His eyebrow twitched when he met my glittering eyes, but other than that he was as expressionless as ever. Was he surprised? Disgusted? Did he fall for my adorableness? I will never know. Such perfect mystery!

After looking over each one of us he led all of the adults into another room off to the side.

“Scary,” someone whispered.

“I thought I was going to die.”

“So cool,” I slipped out by accident.

Seven pairs of eyes turned directly at me.

“Um, I mean, isn’t he amazing? And did you see the perfect sapphire color of his eyes?”

“They looked like an endless sea of ice…”

“What? No, it was a beautiful ocean,” I countered, “I wonder if I will get to talk to him again sometime.”

I could tell they were all thinking that he hadn’t spoken at all, but they were naive. A whole story was told in that one eyebrow twitch. I just didn’t know what it was.