A beautiful older woman, with long dark hair and piercing green eyes, strode over to the podium and rapped on it with a gavel. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her. “Hello, new students, I’m Elaine, the headmistress of Alpha Academy. I’m sorry the alpha king could not be here tonight to welcome you. He had a pressing matter.”
Did her gaze just flick to me?
Oops.
“I’m not one for speeches, but as alpha heirs, you’ve been entrusted with great power, and all of us here at Alpha Academy expect you to honor the gifts you’ve been endowed with—and use them wisely.”
Well, at least she admitted she wasn’t one for speeches. Was there a handbook for bad speeches passed around by people in authority?
“And now, we’ll leave you to your festivities. Enjoy tonight…” She scanned over the crowd, her features hardening as she looked at the new heirs. “For tomorrow, the hard work begins.”
The bright lights dimmed, and a cacophony erupted.
Chapter 6
“Ohmymage!Did you see the look on Prince Courage’s face?” Kaja said, grabbing me around the waist and pulling me toward the door. “I mean, I’m sure you didn’t, but he completely freaked out when your affinities showed up. Two!”
I shook my head. “I highly doubt he ‘freaked out.’” I used air quotes for good measure.
She stopped and faced me. “Girl, he was two seconds from storming that stage.”
Heat crept up my cheeks. There were a couple of ways that could be interpreted.One: he was going to protect me from the creepy high mage in the blue robes who complained. Ortwo: he was going to kill me. Based on our past, I was 85.3% sure it was the latter.
I tugged at my borrowed dress. “I can’t wait to change out of this thing. No offense.”
The small group of about fifteen heirs dispersed along the paths outside the gazebo, heading back to the dorms.
“Oh, don’t think you’re changing into sweats, Nai. The night’s not over.” Kaja smirked, and something about her expression screamed trouble. “My older sisters are going to the after-party, and I got us invites!”
Her voice went up to a legit squeal at the end, and I chuckled. “You’re way too peppy for this time of night.”
Kaja put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. “Don’t tell me you’d rather go back to your dorm.”
Dust and rat-infested dorm with psycho Nolan? Or a party? “I’m in.”
There’d better be food. I hadn’t eaten all day, and someone was going to get killed if I went too much longer without a meal.
Like one hundred percent.I just wanted to eat and forget this day.
An hour later,after Kaja graciously fed me snacks, I clutched a delicate blue mask in my hands.
“Tell me again why we have to wear these?” I asked Kaja’s older sister, Nell. She’d loaned me a legit ball gown, complete with rhinestone heels, all of which I had yet to try on.
“It’s tradition,” she said as she touched up my make-up.
The Harvest Clan dorm was opulent and spotlessly clean, and I kinda wished they’d adopt me.
“Some third years started it like a century ago. It’s our one night to hang out together without worrying about alpha status, challenge fights, or whatever might befall warring clans. We magically hide our clan marks, change our hair color, wear masks, and live with abandon until the sun comes up.”
Warring clansseemed like a bit of an exaggeration, but I understood the concept and shrugged. “Well, I’ve always wanted baby blue hair.”
Nell grinned. “You’ve got it. I’ve worked on the hair changing spell all year with my mage teacher.”
She held her hands over my head, and I peered down and grinned as my white locks deepened into a soft powdery blue before my eyes. My gaze bounced to the dress, and my grin grew.Nice. She’d matched the same blue as the gown, only several shades lighter.
“Holy mage, that’s sick! How can a water elemental change my hair color?”
Her lips curled into a smirk. “Your hair has water in it. I’m simply manipulating the properties so light refracts off the strands differently.”
