Page 18 of Lucent Academy: Trinity Awakens
She had no idea how right she was.
CHAPTER EIGHT: THE AFTERMATH
The courtyard was quiet now, the chaos of my summoning slowly settling into something like normalcy. The crimson moon had faded back into daylight, the cracks in the stone were being repaired by staff members with casual waves of their hands, and the tree that had sprouted during the Fae prince's arrival was being carefully examined by a group of scholars who seemed both fascinated and terrified by its existence. My three mates stood in a loose semicircle around me, still eyeing each other with suspicion but no longer actively threatening violence, and I found myself stealing glances at them when I thought they weren't looking.
Vaerath, the dragon, had introduced himself with a grin that showed too many teeth, calling himself the Abyss King in a tone that suggested he expected me to be impressed. Caelan, the Fae prince, had offered a formal bow and a string of titles I immediately forgot, his manner cool and aristocratic but not unkind. And Aldric, the vampire, had simply inclined his head and spoken his name in a voice like velvet over steel, watching me with those crimson eyes that seemed to see far more than I was comfortable with. They were intimidating, all three of them, ancient and powerful and utterly beyond my comprehension. But watching them now—the way Vaerath's arrogance softenedinto something almost playful when he caught me looking, the way Caelan had let a butterfly land on his finger and studied it with genuine wonder, the way Aldric had steadied a stumbling staff member without hesitation or expectation of thanks—I had a feeling, deep in my gut, that they were kinder than they wanted anyone to know.
Amber appeared at my side, Pyrrhus a warm presence behind her, and she looked at my mates with an expression caught somewhere between wonder and skepticism. "So," she said quietly, "what do you think of them? First impressions?"
"I think they're kind," I said. "Beneath all the posturing."
Amber stared at me for a long moment, then shook her head with something between admiration and disbelief. "A Fae prince I can understand," she said. "But a dragon and a vampire lord, kind? You really are an optimist, aren't you?"
"Someone has to be."
Before she could respond, I felt a strange sensation in my chest—a tugging, like something being slowly pulled away from me. My connection to my mates was already beginning to fade. My control was too weak to sustain them for long, and soon they would return to the Pacted Realms. Vaerath noticed my expression and crossed the distance between us in two long strides, his golden eyes softening in a way that made my heart do something complicated.
"Don't look so worried, little gardener," he said, and his voice was surprisingly gentle. "We're bound to you now, all three of us. When you're strong enough to call us again, we'll come. Every time, without fail."
"He's right, for once," Caelan added, appearing on my other side with that fluid grace that made movement look like art. "The bond is eternal. Distance means nothing to it."
"And we will answer it," Aldric said quietly from behind me, his presence a cool shadow at my back. "Always."
I looked at them, these impossible beings who had decided I was worth fighting over, and felt tears prickling at my eyes. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to do," I admitted. "I don't know how to be what everyone expects me to be. I'm just a gardener's daughter who wanted a quiet life."
"Then be a gardener's daughter," Vaerath said simply. "We didn't answer your call because we wanted a warrior or a queen or a savior. We answered because we wanted you. The rest will come in time."
They faded then, all three of them, dissolving into light and shadow and green growing things, returning to the Pacted Realms from which they had come. I felt the absence of them like a physical ache in my chest, a hollow space where something warm had been only moments before. Ten minutes. I had known them for ten minutes, and already I missed them.
Amber's hand found mine and squeezed. "Come on," she said gently. "Let's go to the recovery wing. You look like you're about to fall over."
The recovery wing was nothing like I had expected—instead of something clinical and sterile, I found a sprawling complex of private suites that felt more like a palace than a hospital. My room had a bedroom larger than our entire cottage back home, but I barely noticed any of it. I simply found the bed, lay down ontop of the covers without bothering to change, and stared at the ceiling until a knock at the door pulled me from my daze.
A staff member informed me that the Lord Principal requested my presence in his adobe, and I followed her through corridors that twisted in ways that made no geographical sense until we emerged into a circular room at the top.
The principal's office at the tower's top was circular and lined with bookshelves, its ceiling open to an illusion of sky complete with drifting clouds and distant birds. The frost phoenix perched on a railing near one of the windows, still in her human form, and she waved cheerfully when she saw me enter.
Several other students were already there. I recognized the boy who had summoned the lamia princess and the girl with the werewolf alpha, both looking as drained as I felt—their mates had clearly returned to the Pacted Realms already, just like mine. Amber stood near the back, and when she saw me her face broke into a tired but genuine smile. Pyrrhus was gone too, I noticed. We were all running on empty.
But what drew my attention most was the figure standing apart from everyone else, alone by one of the windows with her archangel still manifested at her side. Diamond-rank control, I realized. She could sustain him far longer than any of us could manage with our mates. Cleopatra turned when I entered, and our eyes met across the room. I expected anger or resentment. Instead, I saw curiosity, sharp and assessing, as though she was trying to solve a puzzle that refused to make sense.
The principal arrived a few minutes later, Crystalline immediately flying to his side. He surveyed us with an expression that was tired but not unkind, then gestured, and chairs appeared from nowhere.
"You are all here because you are exceptional," he said once we had settled. "In a typical year, we might see one or two gold-rank summonings across all groups. This year, in Group One alone, we had seven golds, three platinums, one diamond, and..." His eyes found mine. "Miss Wood. The Equinox Supremis has produced a generation unlike any in the Academy's history. That is why I will be personally responsible for your training."
He explained the mechanics of summoning—how it depended on both mana capacity and control, how stronger mates required more power to sustain. Most of us had already discovered this firsthand, our mates fading back to the Pacted Realms as our mana ran dry.
"Miss Wood," he continued, "your mana capacity appears to be unprecedented. But your control is at the iron rank, which limits you to approximately ten minutes per day with all three mates, or thirty minutes if you summon them individually."
"Ten minutes." Cleopatra's voice was cool, measured. "The Trinity, savior of the Empire, limited to ten minutes of combat capability. How... fortunate for the Voidborn."
The words weren't hostile exactly, but they weren't friendly either. A few students shifted uncomfortably in their seats.
"Her control will improve with training, Your Highness," the principal said. "That is why we are here."
"Of course." Cleopatra's violet eyes met mine again, and this time I held her gaze. "I simply hope the Voidborn are patient enough to wait for our savior to finish her lessons."
The silence stretched. Everyone was watching me, waiting to see how I would respond. The old Leah would have looked away, apologized, shrunk into herself. But I wasn't that girl anymore.
