She hurried forward to collect two thick envelopes, her face lighting up with joy. It was good to see her smile like that. She was finally starting to look like the Kailin I had fallen in love with, and not a mere shadow of her.
Shovia's name was called. A dozen others. Then Morek's.
I returned to my lunch, figuring that was it. My family wouldn't write.
"Cadet Tekum!"
I froze with my fork halfway to my mouth.
Codric looked at me sharply, and I stood and made my way to the second-year. He handed me an envelope made of expensive paper, sealed with a merchant house mark I recognized.
The handwriting on the front was my mother's.
My heart started racing.
"Thank you." I took the envelope and walked back to our table on legs that felt unsteady.
"What is it?" Kailin asked, her excitement about her own letters fading as she saw my expression.
"Letter from home."
"That's good, isn't it?"
I stared at my mother's elegant handwriting. The last time I'd seen that script, it had been in official correspondence. She never wrote casual letters. "I don't know."
My mother wouldn't have bothered penning the letter herself if this was just a response to my carefully worded updates about life at the Citadel.
"I need to read this somewhere private," I said.
Kailin looked at me with worried eyes. "Do you want company?"
"Yours, always, but I need to read this first alone."
She nodded. "I understand. I hope you get good news."
"So do I." I kissed her cheek and stood.
I went out to the landing platform, sat on the stone bench, and opened the envelope carefully, unfolding a single page covered with my mother's formal script.
My dear Alar,
I hope this letter finds you well. I write with troubling news. Your father has fallen ill, and the physicians are concerned. He asks about you and when you will be back.
Your brothers send their regards and say that you should return home and be by your father's side at such a difficult time.
The business continues to thrive, but Father is not happy with you being away, and he misses your eye for detail. Consider taking at least a short leave to visit home.
Your family needs you.
—Mother
I read it twice. Three times.
Father was ill. The physicians were concerned. Everyone thought I should come home.
Was he actually ill, though?
The timing was too perfect. The Day of Volition was in less than two weeks, and suddenly, my father was ill and needed me home. Right before the ceremony that would determine whether I bonded with a dragon and became a permanent part of the Dragon Force?
