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Indigo. You know how to reach me should that change.”
    She nodded and he kissed her on the cheek before striding regally from the room, satisfied that he had done his duty as her guardian.
    He should have been royalty . She gave a small shake of her head as she watched him descend the stairs with a swift elegance that reminded her of Yiloch, though even her Uncle would pale in the power of his presence.
    Leaning her head against the door, she gazed down the now empty stairwell for several quiet minutes. Memories came to her, haunting ones of people she had killed and helped kill with her power. Of blood and staring eyes devoid of life. She pushed those away, drawing upon good memories of the times she and Yiloch had made love, of sneaking moments to be together without the knowledge of her countrymen, of sitting on the steps beneath the throne in the imperial palace with his arms around her, gazing up through the created crystal ceiling at a star lit sky.
    She shook herself from the reverie and went to retrieve a brightly colored shawl that matched her colorful summer dress. The outfit contrasted her mood, but donning a pretense of good cheer might set the headmaster off his guard.
    The members of the King’s Order were supposed to be a clandestine group acting on the king’s orders in defense of the kingdom. Only a few days before her departure to Lyra, she had discovered that no one else knew of her training. Now she meant to find out why Serivar was keeping her training secret from everyone, even the king she supposedly served. She had used that information to blackmail the headmaster, offering to keep his secret and continue working with him only if he let her join the force of soldiers and healers going to Lyra. Because he had been resistant and she was the stronger adept by far, she had used ascard to intimidate him into going along with her decision. Whatever plans he had for her, she needed to make it understood that she didn’t intend to be his docile pawn. The training was important to her though, so she hoped her fear that there might be sinister intent behind his actions was unfounded.
    She connected to her inner aspect and drew on ascard as she descended the stairs with a forced lightness of step. If she acted cheerful, perhaps she could persuade herself to begin feeling that way. Extending her ability, she used it to search the area for anyone she might want to avoid, feeling for the unique signature of the inner aspect within those individuals. She primarily wanted to avoid Jayce, but also Andrea and some of the other acquaintances they shared. Discovering Serivar’s intentions must be her only focus today. She needed no distractions.
    With much practice, she had increased the range of her reach and could now pinpoint Serivar’s location within the academy administration building well ahead of her arrival. Interestingly, he was in the hidden training room behind his office where she had done most of her Order training so far, and he wasn’t alone. She didn’t recognize the inner aspect signature of the individual with him. Perhaps he was training another adept for the Order like herself.
    The prospect kindled curiosity. When she agreed to become an adept of the King’s Order, Serivar told her she would probably never meet any of the others. It was tempting to dig deeper into the skill of the stranger and learn more about them.
    After a moment of vacillating on the edge of morality, she drew back her ability, respecting the stranger’s privacy, and waited until she was almost to the headmaster’s office, then she reached out once more and touched Serivar, using ascard to alert him to her arrival. There was a pleasing start of surprise from him. She’d never done such a thing with him before and the skill was one she had worked out on her own. Tracking his movement with ascard, she waited outside the office door until she sensed him within. Whoever was with him had also come out to the office.
    After