The blonde approached the old woman. She drank from the cup and after a moment was sent to the right, which I’d learned meant she was going on to another test.
The group of four mages whispered amongst each other as she passed them. The scholars appeared to be scribbling notes. One of the warriors nodded at her; with the bow on her back and war paint on her face, I assumed that’s where she’d go.
The assassins, three men and one woman dressed in all black, faces and heads covered except for an opening across their eyes, didn’t break from their statuesque stances: hands behind their backs, feet shoulder width apart, chests out. As with all the initiates before her, they paid her no mind at all when she passed by. Either they were selective or they didn’t like to give away their interest in an initiate.
The freckled boy was called forward. When did I become next? Sweat beaded on my lower back. Nausea crawled up my throat. He went right—ducai.
“Come forward, girl,” the old woman crooned. My feet felt heavier with each step up the platform.
The assassin man on the far left, the tallest of the four, almost seemed bored. The bluest eyes I’d ever seen kept looking up at the sky like he was waiting for this to be over, until he tilted his head to the man on his right; his jaw moved ever so slightly under the black fabric. I was oddly curious about what he was saying. None of the assassins had so much as moved until that moment, let alone spoke.
Then he dropped his gaze to mine.
My spine tingled when our eyes met, the hairs on the back of my neck rose, and an involuntary shudder sent chill bumps down my arms. I tore my gaze away from him.
Everything around me seemed to fade as I focused on the rodent and bird skulls dangling from the old crone’s staff. The man beside her in a plum robe handed me the goblet. I held the heavy metal in my hands but hesitated to drink.
This moment could change my life forever.
The old woman’s clouded brown eyes bore into me. Half her teeth were missing. The shine on the raven feathers tied at the end of her twin braids had me wondering if the feathers once belonged to one of those skulls.
Her staff hit the ground with a crack, knocking the creepy skulls together. “Drink.”
The blue-eyed assassin still watched me intently. He made me even more nervous.
I quickly took a sip. It was sweet and thick, almost like honey. I blinked several times, everything went shockingly bright as if I had stared straight at the sun, my ears rang, then focus returned, but the world a moment ago seemed dull compared to now. Colors were brighter. The lines and spots on the old woman’s face deepened and sharpened. I heard the pinging of a hammer somewhere far away, the birds chirping in the trees, individual conversations among the crowd rather than background chatter.
The woman grabbed my chin with her knobby fingers and inspected my face. She ground her rotten teeth, then smiled. “Ducai!”
Chapter 2
There were audible gasps of surprise from the crowd. I was the first outsider called ducai. My muscles locked up. I was supposed to meet my father at the wagon. I was supposed to dance with Kace tonight. My mother was waiting for me to come home. I hadn’t even said goodbye to my siblings or Grandma Esha.
My father stood up amongst the seated crowd. “Dad,” I whispered, aching to reach toward him, but I wouldn’t embarrass myself or my family in front of everyone.
The robed assistant took the goblet from me, and an old man with white hair gestured for me to go right. The old crone called up another, moving on like she hadn’t just upheaved my life.
I stood frozen. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Get in the line,” the old man said in a low voice.
My father waved at me to go. The man took hold of my arm and pulled me toward the line of ducai initiates. My pulse thrummed in my ears. I was ducai, not... fully human. Ducai were as different from humans as vampires were. I’d spent my life hiding those differences, burying them.
“Wait, I think she made a mistake,” I breathed.
“She doesn’t make mistakes. This is a great honor, woman. Don’t cause a scene and bring shame to your family.” Shame... or the wrath of the guilds for refusal.
Honor? It was anhonorto be taken away from everything I’d known to fight in a war against vampires that wanted to rip out my throat? Inside I screamed, but I kept a straight face. I was good at hiding my emotions. Kace pushed through the crowd at the base of the platform. I’d never seen him desperate before. I’d heard it in his voice last night when I was being chased by the vampire, but seeing his face now scared me.
“Kace, it’s alright,” I reassured, but my voice sounded strange. I think I was in shock.
He walked alongside us with his hands sliding near my boots as if he wanted to reach out and grab me. His chest moved rapidly up and down. “Where are you taking her?”
“With the other initiates,” the white-haired man answered impatiently, squeezing my arm harder.
“She’s not ducai. She belongs in Neverglade. My father is the chieftain. We have to have some say in this.”
“The Avakki said otherwise. This woman is not one of you. She was born to kill vampires, and no clan chieftain or hissonhas a say over the guilds.”
