Thea’s face was suddenly in front of mine. Her warm brown eyes were the only thing I could focus on. “Eyes on me, Aurelia. Take a deep breath.”
I stood frozen in place, unable to stop my spiralling thoughts. My lungs burned as I felt unable to take a breath. I realized that my hands were clutching at my throat tightly. Loosening my grip, I was able to take a breath. The aura around me was dark as the Eternal Night. My heart sank as my mind spun around in circles, trying to comprehend what I had just seen. The very thing that made me unique and special was considered to be bad and forbidden. An even more insidious thought crept into my head then. I was going to be killed because of this. The king was going to find out that I possessed dark arcana, and the moment he did, he would have me killed, regardless of whatever feelings Sterling used to have for me. Nothing could protect me from the king’s death order.
“I need you to take another deep breath, Aurelia.” Thea’s soothing voice was like a wave of calm that came over me as she placed my medallion back over my head and around my neck.
I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of a door slamming. Thea gently pushed me aside and stepped around me before I was able to make sense of what was happening.
“Prince Sterling, this is quite the surprise,” Thea stated calmly.
I turned around, making immediate eye contact with Sterling. My stomach twisted into knots at the sight of him. His expression was hardened, and his eyes were cold as ice. The shift in energy in the chamber was palpable. Thea stepped back beside me and gently squeezed my hand in a reassuring gesture. Nocturna and Astra stepped up on either side of me, keeping their distance from Sterling.
“I see they finally made their way back to you,” Sterling said dryly. “To be honest, I’m shocked. I thought they were dead.”
Astra remained unmoving after his comment, while a low rumbling emanated from Nocturna.
I placed my hand on her back. “Easy, Nocturna.”
Despite my words, Nocturna continued to growl at the prince.
Sterling snorted and waved his hand at Nocturna. “Yes, I get it. You’re all meow and no bite.”
Seconds later Nocturna leaped onto Sterling, hissing and snapping at his face while her dense body weight held him to the floor.
“Nocturna, no!” I screamed.
Before I could run over to pull her off Sterling, Thea cut me off and smiled. “A little scare is good for the coddled prince.”
I looked at her in shocked horror. “What? No! I have to get her off him before he has her killed for attacking him.”
Thea sighed and snapped her fingers. Almost instantly Nocturna ceased her hissing and snapping and made her way off the prince. She sauntered back to Astra and me as if nothing had happened.
Sterling got up quickly and brushed himself off. “You know that if the king hears about this, she will be dealt with, and it won’t be pleasant,” he threatened as he straightened himself out.
“Oh, Prince Sterling. Settle down. She was just saying hello,” Thea chimed in innocently. “Trust me, if she wanted to hurt you, she would have.”
“Why are you here, Sterling?” I asked as I finally regained my composure.
His ice-cold azure eyes homed in on me, chilling me to my core. “I’m here to see the results of today’s testing.”
All the blood immediately drained from my face. I felt faint, while my knees became wobbly.
Thea grabbed me by the arm and helped me over to a chair. “As you can see, Prince Sterling, Aurelia is quite exhausted from the workwe have already done today. I don’t recommend pushing her any further. Why don’t you come back tomorrow, and we can show you the aura mirror results then?”
Sterling eyed us both carefully as if calculating something. “The king wants an update, and I’m here now. Aurelia can rest later.”
Sensing that Sterling would think something was up if we refused him, I weakly pushed myself up from the chair. I grabbed Thea’s hand and smiled weakly at her. “Let’s just get it over with so I can go rest.”
Thea nodded at me and helped me over to the mirror in the corner of the chamber. Sterling grabbed the chair I had sat in and dragged it across the floor, so he was situated between the mirror and me. I rubbed the spot on my chest where Magda’s medallion sat and hoped for a miracle. Taking a deep breath, I stepped in front of the mirror. Same as before, I saw my reflection in the aura mirror—dull grey eyes, long, flowing black hair, and most importantly, a significant lack of aura. I quickly stepped away from the mirror, unwilling to stand in front of it any longer than necessary.
“See? I can’t get this test right either,” I explained pitifully as I stepped away from Sterling and the mirror and made my way to the desk.
Nocturna and Astra came over to comfort me as I stared at the floor, unwilling to look Sterling in the eye.
“As you can see, Prince Sterling, Aurelia and I still have a lot of work to do to figure out why she is not responding to our tests. It’s clear that she has some elemental arcana, but where that arcana comes from still remains a mystery. You’re welcome to join us tomorrow as we delve into her earth and water abilities a bit deeper,” Thea offered, doing her best to defuse the tension that lingered in the air.
The chair Sterling was sitting in scraped along the floor as he stood up to his full height and stared me down, his disgusted gazesearing every inch of my body. “Every day I find it harder to believe that something so unremarkable was capable of saving my life. Perhaps the other day with the arcana master was a fluke, and you truly are capable of nothing, as everyone suggests.” In a few long strides, Sterling exited the chamber without another word.
Tears burned my eyes as I let his insult sink in.
