“We are almost there.” Sylna announced without looking back at me and Ellana.

As we both continued to follow close behind, it wouldn't take long for us to see the recognizable double glass panel doors at the end of the corridor, indicating that was Elinos' private study. I had only ever been here once before, almost a year ago, when me and Ellana were playing hide and seek. I happened to stumble across the room when it was my turn to hide from Ellana in our game. At the time, I had no idea what the room was used for, it was only after Elinos had caught me hiding under his desk that I came to realize its purpose.

This time, two guards stood on either of the entrances to Elinos' private study, the same ones that I and Ellana had grown accustomed to seeing for the last few years of our lives. As we moved closer towards the room, both of the guards stood aside, their metal armour rattling as they moved, leaving enough room for us to get by them. Sylna immediately reached for the handle of the glass panel door, swiftly sliding the door open to show Elinos sitting at the desk in the back of the room. To the right of the room, Niona had already been sitting on one of two red cushioned sofa's in the private study.

Upon entering the room, I noticed that someone else was already in here. I looked to the left towards the second red cushioned sofa in the room to see a grown woman sitting there. As I continued to stare at her, only then did I notice that she was wearing a practically see-through linen dress, the only thing to cover her breasts and groin were something closely resembling bandages. I honestly didn't know where to look, I felt extremely uncomfortable just being in a room with a woman almost practically naked.

I could sense something akin to a sinister aura within the room coming from Niona had been sitting this entire time. When I turned my head, I could immediately tell that there was some history between Niona and this woman, and it was pretty obvious that it wasn't anything to be reminiscent about.

“Perfect, you're both here” Elinos announced, clearly referring to both me and Ellana. When I glanced at his face, I could tell that he was relieved to see both me and Ellana as if us appearing was his one true saving grace in this world. It was quite obvious from the look on Elinos' face that something must have happened between Niona and this woman before we arrived.

Just standing here made me feel on edge, the atmosphere in the room made it seem that these two women would snap at any moment. I wouldn't even be surprised if the both came to blows with one another, their expressions were towards each other was enough to make anyone's skin crawl.

“Father, you asked for the two of us?” I almost blurted out the words, feeling as if I was trying to push those words out of my mouth as a heavy, uneasy weight pressed against my chest.

“Yes, I wanted to discuss something important with you Edona”

From that comment alone, it seemed that whatever this was about had to do related to me specifically. But, that also begged the question as to why Ellana had to be here as well. Did Elinos want to discuss something else with her, if so he would have most likely asked for both of us to come at different times to not overlap with one another. I saw the woman that I didn't know suddenly over at me with a rather unimpressed look on her face, as for Niona, it became pretty obvious that she didn't like it one bit.

“So this is what you gave everything up for?” The mysterious woman commented as she looked at me, then Ellana.

I could feel Ellana's hand tense up as she gripped the sleeve of my dress tightly, all whilst hiding behind me out of view. I turned to look back, and this woman continued to look at me. Furthermore, I noticed that her eyes had no pupils, it made me uncomfortable when I realized this. I had never met anyone like her in this world, and as far as I could remember I didn't know anyone like her in my previous life.

“You might want to watch what you say…” I looked at Niona her expression unchanged from before, if anything she looked even more angry “… I might end up doing something that I might regret”. The mysterious woman just laughed at Niona's threat.

“Don't worry, I have better things to entertain me.” Just seeing how both this woman and Niona have been treating one another, it gave me a sudden urge to ask what the history was between them. But, I decided against it, looking at both of them now, especially Niona bringing up such things at this time could possibly tip the boiling water over the edge so to speak.

“Can I please continue?” Elinos asked, looking between Niona and the woman. Both women didn't make any objections, for the time being the two of them seemed content to leave their issues aside for the time being. Elinos in turn sighed in relief, as if he didn't expect the two of them to comply with his suggestion.

Elinos took a deep breath, “Sorry about that girls, let's get to the topic at hand”. I felt the grip around my arm loosen as Ellana took a small step away from me. She must have calmed down having felt scared earlier, to be honest, I forgot that she had been clinging onto my arm so tightly that I'm surprised to didn't fall off. When I glanced at Ellana briefly, I could tell that she was still uncomfortable in the presence of this woman. Was there something that she has noticed that I haven't? It makes me wonder.

“You're probably wondering why I called you here today?” Elinos asked, looking at me in particular. I nodded in response to his question, Elinos slouched back into his chair, looking like he wanted to relax for a brief moment before moving on to the subject at hand. He sat up after a few seconds, before getting to the point of why both me and Ellana are here.

“Well, I've called you both here to discuss the matter surrounding the Inauguration Ceremony that'll be happening in a few weeks”. It seemed that Belesin was right in the end. And now that Elinos called for both me and Ellana it must mean that whatever this ceremony is must be important in some aspect. My guess is that it had to be some form of occasion about being accepted into something, on what that was it would be mere speculation on my part.

“Yes, father.” I bowed slightly before looking at Ellana who was following what I had been doing. Then, standing up right, I saw Elinos gesturing towards both me and Ellana to take a seat next to Niona. Without question, both me and Ellana took a seat next to Niona with both of us sitting on either side of the on the soft comfy sofa.

“First, let's begin with explaining what the Inauguration Ceremony is exactly…” I sat there quiet as a mouse next to Niona as I prepared myself mentally, without a doubt, for an in-depth conversation between me and Elinos about this Inauguration Ceremony. “…the ceremony is an initiation, it marks the start of any given child's journey until they become of age”.

So it seems that this Inauguration Ceremony was the beginning to many things to come in the future. The question that weighed on my mind now was what exactly is entailed with all this. From the sounds of it, this so-called journey would last a good number of years at least but, would be one ceremony or a combination of multiple ones.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“This will be a very important for you this year, Edona as you're now old enough to partake in the ceremony.” Guess that explains why Elinos wanted to see about this Inauguration Ceremony, did this also mean that Ellana will be joining the ceremony alongside me?

“As for you, Ellana, you won't be allowed to attend this year but, I think it will be a great learning experience for you for when the next Inauguration Ceremony takes place.” It almost felt like Elinos read my mind just moments beforehand, answering the very question that I had on my mind since arriving. I watched Elinos turn his attention back to the papers laid out upon his desk as his hands shifted through them. For a brief moment, I looked at Niona to see her still scowling towards that woman sitting across from us.

“Um, Father, I've been wondering who is this woman?” I was surprised to hear Ellana speak out, so suddenly, she never really had a problem conversing with family but, when it came to people outside that small circle. She tended to be more shy and reserved most of the time, so it came as a surprise especially to our parents for her to suddenly speak in front of a complete stranger.

Elinos nervously laughed for a second, I could also hear Niona let out a heavy sigh next to me. It was quite obvious from our parents' reaction, Niona had little to no interest in acknowledging this woman before us, and as for Elinos it seemed he was trying in earnest to avoid stirring the pot even further. Unfortunately, the moment Ellana chose to confidently speak out also happened to be the worst possible timing, especially for the likes of Elinos and Niona. Particularly the latter.

“My friends call me, Yasue” I looked to the mysterious woman who now called herself Yasue. She looked in the direction of both me and Ellana with a small smile, any other situation I wouldn't have had a second thought about it. But, the empty, almost dead-like look in her eyes sent a shiver down my spine once again, it honestly made me wonder whether she was even human at the point.

“Yasue has been sent here by the Temple of Xolena, she will be one of your mentor during the entirety of the Inauguration Ceremony”. I guess that explains why Yasue is here, but it didn't change the fact that her entire persona is simply creepy and unsettling to me. However, if both Elinos and Niona were satisfied to have this woman be a mentor to me, then who am I to disagree with their decision. I briefly looked at Yasue, who still had that unsettling smile on her face, I had to look the other way, not wanting to make eye contact with her.

"As for the other mentors that have been arranged, you'll meet them that at a later date when the time is right". Knowing that I would have to deal with more mentors in the future, I just hope that they wouldn't be like Yasue. I'm probably looking into it too much because for all I know, Yasue may just be a normal person but, right now, the way she has been acting has been nothing short of unsettling. A knock at the door stopped what conversation there was in the room.

"Come in!" Elinos called to whoever was on the other side of the double wooden doors. As the door opened, I could see Jorfire standing there for a brief before taking a few steps into the room. He did a curt bow towards Elinos the metal armor that he wears rattling slightly from his movements.

"My Lord, I hate to interrupt this important meeting but, I bring news of the Queen, your sister..." my mind felt like it stopped for a moment as I tried to process what Jorfire just said, I looked at Elinos to see his eyes widen "...her symptoms have has exacerbated in the last few days and has become bedridden".

It didn't take long for the atmosphere in the room to turn quiet and gloomy. I looked again in the direction of Elinos to see his head resting in both of his hands. A second later, he lifted his head and the look on his face was something that I had never seen from Elinos ever in the six years that I have known him, to be honest, it made me feel unnerved.

I was mostly in shock to know that Elinos' sister was, in fact, the Queen of the nation we all live in but, my shock was nothing to Elinos' who no doubt would be feeling the weight of knowing his sister had fallen seriously ill. To be fair though, if I had met the Queen before hearing about all of this I most likely would be in the same shoes as Elinos but, still knowing a distant family member of mine is serious ill made my stomach feel heavy. I just hope that for this family's sake that the Queen pulls through. Hearing Jorfire speak once again, I pushed all these thoughts to the side for the time being to hear what more he had to say on the matter.

"In light of these events, My Lord, the King has requested your presence in the utmost urgency". Jorfire was still bowing since entering the room. I glanced towards Elinos, he seemed to have regained his composure before letting out a heavy breath, my guess it probably lightens the pressure that had been weighing on his chest upon hearing about his sister's condition. Elinos up out of his chair looking at Jorfire.

"Ready the horses, we're leaving at the hour" Elinos announced. Jorfire acknowledged the order before leaving the room, the atmosphere remained quiet until Niona stood up from her seat. It would be the first time she had said or done anything for sometime since being in this room.

"D-Do you think it could be..." the emotions quickly got to her as she began to stutter. But, before she could finish, Elinos interrupted her.

"I'm sure everything is fine..." Elinos embraced Niona in his arms, after a few seconds, he turned to look at me then Ellana "... I have to leave for the capital, so be good for your mother". Both me and Ellana nodded.

Elinos then directed his eyes towards me, "In my absence, both your mother and Yasue will talk you further through what to expect during the Inauguration Ceremony. And Yasue will mentor you on what you need to learn for the entrance ceremony".

A second later, Elinos kneeled down, embracing the two of us in his arms. For a brief moment, I hesitated to return the gesture, as if a passive mental block was effecting my actions. I quickly reacted, returning the kindhearted gesture before anyone could realize what had just happened. Breaking away from the embrace, I looked up at Elinos partly wondering if had noticed something odd with my behavior from a few seconds ago, but thankfully, his expression didn't seem to show any signs of concern or confusion.

He then turned to Niona once again, giving her a quick kiss on the lips before heading towards the double wooden doors of his office study. As soon as Elinos left the room and the sound of his footsteps slowly faded as he moved further away, the room once again fell into an eerie silence.

So much happened today that I had trouble organizing my thoughts, it started to give me a headache. With Derrian causing both me and Ellana trouble earlier, hearing about this Inauguration Ceremony for the first time, and finding out that Elinos has a sister who's not only the Queen of the nation we all reside in but, has also fallen seriously ill. You would think somebody behind the scenes had been elaborately orchestrating these events with all these events conveniently happening on the same day, and within a few hours of one another.

I first looked at Yasue only to see that her attitude seemed very nonchalant about the entire situation, and I have to admit it both made me uncomfortable and annoyed. However, I decided to forget about for the time being, seeing that I'll soon have to spend a lot of time with her regardless, so if I did want to question about it, I might as well leave till then. I then turned my attention to Niona looking up at her only to see the look on her face that was clearly showing how worried she was, and I couldn't blame her considering will all just heard the recent news for the first time.

Somewhat knowing the situation now, I couldn't blame Niona for how she's feeling, after all, from her reaction to hearing the news it gave the impression that she has a very close relationship to Elinos' sister. I also couldn't deny the fact that this piqued my interest but, it's clearly not the right time to be asking such personal questions.

All I can do is hope that the Queen makes a quick and steady recovery as soon as possible, while I focused most of my attention on this Inauguration Ceremony. Just the thought of all the events of today weighed on me heavily, so it came as no surprise when a strained sigh escaped my lips, while also slowly feeling the weight upon my body fade away.

No matter what, I'm going to put everything I have into this Inauguration Ceremony, after all, it's the least I could do in these current circumstances!