The next evening, I admired myself in my new evening gown. The creamy satin shimmered in the candlelight, and one of Aunt Serena's maids did up my horrid, mousy hair into an elaborate coiffure of ringlets and pearls, all elegantly pinned up and set beautifully.

As the carriage pulled up to Blackwater House, I was amazed. It was a huge, three-storied stone mansion at least twice the size of Everdale House and richly ornate, but frankly overdecorated, I thought. The inside was even more impressive, with a marble foyer, huge columns, and statues everywhere.

As liveried servants escorted us to the drawing room, I glimpsed intricate tapestries, massive windows draped in silk, gilded frames, and portraits that lined the gleaming mahogany walls.

The drawing room was full and bustling with chattering ladies in all their finery, as well as smartly dressed men in their evening doublets and highly polished boots. It was brightly lit with fragrant candles burning in massive silver candelabrums and a huge crystal chandelier gleaming overhead, hanging from an ornate and intricately carved ceiling.

"Ah, Serena, how lovely to see you," said a beautiful lady, with chestnut hair spun with gold. She was wearing a rich maroon velvet dress, which clipped her tiny waist before falling to the floor. It was thickly embroidered with gold flowers, and she had matching flowers adorning her elaborate hair.

"Sorcha," said Aunt Serena, greeting the lady warmly. She then pulled me forward. "Rory, this is the Duchess of Blackwater," my aunt said.

"Your Grace," I said with a small curtsey.

Serena had taught me most of the ways I should address people. I was still confused about ranks. I knew a duke was the highest ranking noble after the king and prince, but then was it a marquis or an earl, a viscount, and then a baron, or the other way around? It was all very confusing.

"So this is Rory," said the duchess. "Damien has told me about you. I am so sorry about your parents. It is unfortunate and such a huge loss for a young girl your age."

The duchess sounded genuine and was not at all mean like Damien, but I reminded myself to be careful; after all, this was the archmage's sister I was talking to.

I was introduced around, and most of the people paid me only a passing greeting. I was relieved that no one was too interested in me, as I was not very comfortable answering questions about myself, since I had to lie so extensively.

Soon dinner was announced, and we were led into the dining room, which was also larger than the one at Everdale House. The massive hardwood dining table was highly polished and could easily seat fifty people. White-gloved and liveried footmen, who accompanied us everywhere like shadows, showed us to our seats.

Somehow Damien managed to seat himself next to me. I don't know where he turned up from. I hadn't seen him the whole evening. Calisto was seated opposite me near Zorek, but luckily a huge flower arrangement hid me from her view. I was not in the mood for Calisto's cutting remarks. Next to me, much to my horror, was the Lady Leticia Glenbarry, who looked just as peeved to have been seated next to a nobody like me.

I was plowing through the first of ten courses when Aunt Serena gave me a glare from across the table. I soon remembered that she had warned me that proper young ladies don't eat as though they have never seen food in their life. Women are supposed to only pick, chew a lot, and make innocuous comments about the sauce.

There were courses of everything from soups and roasted vegetables to fish in an array of sauces, extraordinary concoctions of some meat, and poultry done in a dozen different ways with cream, nuts, and honeyed apricots. The desserts were just as elaborate: delicious spun sugar concoctions, hot berry puddings with creamy sauces, cheeses, fruits, and more chocolate than you could possibly imagine.

We were halfway through dessert when the man next to Leticia spoke up.

"Lady Leticia," he said, fawning over her, in obvious hopes of being noticed by the lady who was betrothed to the Prince of Eldoren. "When will the prince return from his travels? I have an urgent matter to discuss with him."

"I cannot divulge that information, Lord Mornington," Leticia said, smiling sweetly, but her eyes flashed with anger.

"She has no clue where my cousin is," whispered Damien meanly in my ear. I could tell he didn't like Leticia, but she was a very difficult person to like. "He prances off whenever he wants, and my uncle has to constantly send guards to bring him back from whatever inn or tavern he is holed up in."

I was taken aback; Damien really hated his cousin, the prince. It wasn't only in my family that jealousies ran rampant. I knew that if the Blackwater's had their way, they would overthrow the king and take over Eldoren. Were all these rumors true about the prince?

Across the table, a conversation was turning into an argument.

"You cannot possibly think that the Black Wolf is anything more than a thieving outlaw," said an old earl loudly, sitting up straighter in his high-backed chair. "He must be caught and brought to justice."

"But he saves so many innocent lives," said a plump, middle-aged lady who I recognized as the Countess of Dewberry. Aunt Serena had introduced us earlier in the drawing room. "He should be awarded a knighthood if you ask me, Marcus."

"A knighthood," spluttered the old earl. "Have you gone insane, woman? When that outlaw is finally caught, he should be hanged. I shall bring this to the notice of the council. Outlaws cannot be permitted to take the law into their own hands."

"But he does so much good," the countess insisted, holding her ground.

"What good is he to us?" said the old Earl, now going red in the face and looking like a ripe tomato ready to burst. "All he does is save those heathen fae. If you ask me, I think I quite agree with Morgana, that the fae should go back to Elfi and stay there."

The countess gasped and turned away from the earl, refusing to even look at him.

I was so engrossed by their conversation that I didn't notice the man next to Leticia trying to get my attention.

"So!" said Lord Mornington, looking at me. "Rory, is it?"

"Yes, my lord," I nodded.

"And you are a mage in training at Evolon?"

I nodded again.

"Yes, yes, very good, all the Morningtons have been to Evolon too, you know. Except myself. Sadly I was not graced with the magic you possess," said Lord Mornington, leaning back in his chair and fondling his wispy beard. "Young Damien here must be teaching you a few things, eh?" He gave me a lewd wink.

What did he mean by saying that Damien was teaching me? There was definitely nothing I wanted to learn from him. And what was that wink about? Did he think I was dating Damien?

"No, my lord," I said, as sweetly as I could, even though I was fuming inside. "It's more that I could teach Damien a few things-in magic, that is."

The bald, paunchy lord laughed so loudly at my answer that he dropped his silver wine goblet, and red wine splattered all over the table and over Lady Leticia's obviously hideously expensive dress.

She jumped up, screaming.

"You clumsy clod, you," she screeched at the mortified Lord Mornington, who was clumsily trying to mop up the wine from her dress with his napkin and, in the process, proceeding to spread it around, creating an even more messy stain.

"Stay away from me," screamed Leticia, swatting Lord Mornington's hands away from her.

Footmen rushed to assist the screaming lady. The Duchess of Blackwater got up as well and tried to pacify her, but it was no use. Leticia Glenbarry, the future queen of the kingdom, gathered her skirts in a huff of stained satin and marched out of the dining room. I giggled to myself. She deserved it, the snooty thing.

Lord Mornington was apologizing all around, and he sat back down at his seat while the footmen miraculously dried everything and replaced the offending goblet with a new one, filled only halfway this time around.

I turned to Damien, but he did not look like he was laughing.

"Who do you think you are, anyway?" he said, his eyes flashing with malice.

I was momentarily taken aback. All this time Damien had been cordial, and now suddenly he hated me again. What had I done?

"How dare you tell Lord Mornington in full hearing of everyone else that you could teach me," he ground out between clenched teeth so no one else could hear. "I am a Blackwater. My blood is one of the most magical in the whole kingdom and beyond. You are nobody, a little girl from a faraway town that no one has even heard of. You think you can teach me anything, I will show you what it means to cross a Blackwater."

"I'm sorry," I said quickly, glancing around. I didn't want a scene now, especially here. "I didn't mean it like that. I was just trying to make a joke."

"Well, it wasn't funny," said Damien, his beady blue eyes full of hatred.

Luckily, the duchess announced that the men could retire to the drawing room, and the ladies would go to the parlor. Everyone got up from their seats and headed out of the dining room.

Damien gave me a dark look and brushed past me. "See you in school," he said, smiling his usual sinister smile.

I shivered at his words. Damien was definitely up to something, and I was quite sure I was not going to like whatever it was that was surely coming my way.

21.

Damien The next few days passed in shopping and spending time with Aunt Serena. Vivienne came over a few times, and we went for walks in the little wooded park behind Everdale House. Soon we had to return to Evolon, and I was not looking forward to that at all. I would have to see Damien, and I was quite sure the Blackwaters were planning something nasty for me.

I thanked Aunt Serena and climbed into the Everdale coach that was to take me back to Evolon. Erien got in with me, and we waved good-bye to my aunt, who was standing at the door to see us off.

Classes were interesting as usual, and I didn't see Damien the whole first day I was back. He wasn't even in warrior skills that day, which was a relief, but I wondered where he was.

I fiddled with my amulet while I walked back from my evening history class, through the gardens to my dorm. I looked at it again, as I had done countless times before. It looked so delicate and harmless, just a flat, round, gold disc with strange etchings embossed into the gold. Quite extraordinary that it held so much power. I slipped it back into my shirt.

It was getting dark, the sun had set, and the early hint of twilight filled the gardens with shadows. I quickened my step, pulled my mottled green cloak closer, and hurried on. It was getting cold. I could hear faint footsteps behind me. I looked back, but there was no one there.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a dark shape appeared, moving steadily out of the shadows. I recognized who it was instantly.

"Damien!" I said, trying not to let the panic in my voice show.

He had threatened to teach me a lesson, and this was it, I presumed. Now he was here in a dark, deserted corner of the grounds with seven or eight of his minions, and I was all alone. Even if I shouted, everyone was too far away.

Calisto also came out of the shadows. Damien and his friends surrounded me. I looked for a way to run, but they were everywhere and had surrounded me on all sides.

I was scared now. If Rafe had taught me to use knives, like I had asked, I might have had a better chance of defending myself. But who was I kidding? Even with knives, one against eight was not exactly a fair fight.

"What do you want?" I asked. I hated that my voice was a little shaky; I could feel the fear rush in. Whatever Damien had planned for me tonight was not going to be pleasant.

"I want to see if you are as brave as all the other disgusting Silverthornes," he said, with a sneer. "Stay where you are and you may get a chance to defend yourself." His tone was full of malice, and his dark eyes bore down on me. "You are nothing, a commoner from a distant kingdom, yet you think you are better than me, Damien, son of the Duke of Blackwater, one of the noblest and most magically powerful families in the kingdom. You don't deserve to be in this school. I told you I'd teach you a lesson. Let us see what you're made of."

While I was distracted, one of Damien's minions surprised me with a stun strike. It was weak, but it hurt, and I was dazed for a few seconds. I quickly put up my defensive shield, although it was shaky at best.

I tried to calm my racing heart and slowly shook off the stun. I strengthened my shield just in time, as five more stun strikes hit my shield and bounced off. It held, but only just. I drew more power and infused it into my defensive barrier. Damien and his friends didn't stop their barrage of magical strikes. Attack after attack, stun strike after stun strike hit my shield and were thankfully deflected. I tried to think, but the attacks were coming at me so fast, I had no time to react except to shield myself. If I channeled my power into striking, my shield could drop.

The attacks were starting to become fiercer. At first, they were one at a time, but soon they were combining their strikes against me. I was getting tired; I'd never had to hold out to a magical attack for so long before. And even then it was against one person with Professor Tanko looking on.

One fire strike managed to get partly through my shield and scorched my leg before I could seal the breach. The pain was agonizing, but I held my ground.

I tried to remember everything Professor Tanko had taught me. "Keep your shield in place at all times. Don't forget to seal the top and bottom as well." I concentrated on the area and closed the break in the shield. I was getting tired. My legs had gone weak, and I fell to my knees, but still I drew more power into maintaining my shield. I just didn't know how long I could hold out. My leg was hurting where the fire strike had hit me. It throbbed, and my skin was red and burning.

"Come on, get up Rory," sneered Calisto. "You think you are so important because you are a ward of the Silverthornes. Well, let me tell you, your peasant blood is nothing compared to ours. We are Blackwaters, our magical bloodline spans generations, and no one even cares where Andrysia is."

She hit me with a strong fire strike.

My shield was weakening again. I felt fear rush in, and her strike hit me on my shoulder. Pain shot through my arm, and I cried out in alarm. I put my palm over the area and reinforced my shield, drawing more power into it. I could feel my power source depleting. Soon I would have none left, and, if I tried to do too much, I could die.

I knew I would have to eventually fight them physically; my magical shield was about to fall. I wondered if I should take off my amulet, but Uncle Gabriel's warning resounded in my head. If I took off the amulet, Damien would know who I really was. He would inform Lucian, and Morgana would come after me immediately. For now I was only safe because she had no idea where I was.

I calmed myself and got ready for the final blow. I was not going to let them defeat me. I was a princess, daughter of the greatest mage of this age, a fearless warrior, and the true King of Illiador. The thought gave me strength to further reinforce my shield, but time was running out.

Suddenly I heard Damien's voice. He sounded panicked. "Let's get out of here. Someone's coming."

They all left as quickly as they came.

I collapsed in a heap on the floor, my shield still defensively around me.

"Rory, are you all right?" a worried voice said.

I looked up to see Professor Dekela, the mastermage, crouching over me. I was safe, and I let my shield drop, but I was too exhausted to get up, let alone walk. Professor Dekela carried me through the mage quarters to his study and lay me down on a comfortable leather sofa. He was quite strong for an old mage.

He handed me a cup of what I recognized as snowberry milk, and I took it gratefully. Snowberry milk was wonderful for calming the nerves and restoring strength to the body, as well as aiding sleep.

The mastermage sat down on a matching leather armchair near me. He looked serious, and I was not sure how much I should actually tell him. If I squealed on Damien and his friends, they would hunt me down, and the next time I may not be so lucky.

"Who was responsible for this, Rory?" Professor Dekela asked slowly, but his eyes showed that he was very serious and concerned.

I shook my head. I didn't want to lie, and so it was better to just keep quiet.

"If you don't tell me, I will punish every student in this school until you do," he said, in his usual matter-of-fact way. "I don't think your friends would appreciate it, when all you have to do is to tell me who the aggressors of tonight's attack were. I will not have any of my students behaving this way."

I weighed the options carefully in my mind. It was no use lying; he would find out eventually.

"It was the Blackwaters, Professor," I said finally, unable to keep it in. "Damien and Calisto, along with some of their friends. You cannot let them know that I've told you or punish them. If you do, they will make my life hell, and you said I don't want to bring attention to myself."

"I will think about it," said Professor Dekela. "Tell me what happened, and then I will decide."

"There were about seven or eight of them, and they attacked me out of nowhere," I started. "I was stunned once. It was a weak stun, but then I got my shield up and held it. They didn't stop. I got scared, and my shield dropped for a minute. That's when the fire strike hit me on the leg."

I showed him where I had got burnt.

"Are you saying that they used fire strikes on you outside of class?"

I nodded. "Mainly stuns, but a few fire."

"We will fix that," he said simply. He put his palm over the wound and closed his eyes. I had learned this in my healing class but had never done it myself. The pain vanished almost instantly, and the skin started to heal, although I knew it would take a few days to restore itself to normal. I showed him my shoulder too, where Calisto's fire strike had hit me. He healed that as well.

"Now, let me get this straight," said Professor Dekela, when I was feeling a little better. "Eight students attacked you out of nowhere and used stun and fire strikes on you."