Page 80 of Wings of Ash & Flame
There was nothing left in Aurelia—everything had burned to ash during Starfall. She belonged nowhere, but she wouldn’t let them see how that cut her. Together, she and Solflara would make their own home.
Alaire met the headmaster’s eyes. “‘True power,’” she quoted from his opening address to the novices, “‘derives from the courage to confront one’s vulnerability—to strip back the façade and reveal the raw, unvarnished truth of one’s soul.’ This is me stripping back the façade.a.”
Stillness stretched across the coliseum.
She waited. She knew he would accept her terms. The words had been chosen to give her freedom without appearing to seizetoo much power. This display wasn’t theatrics—it was insurance. With witnesses, the Consortium couldn’t deny what they’d seen. Behind closed doors, they could’ve found ways to undermine her. Here, she’d forced their hand.
Headmaster Carth would have a phoenix at his academy, and Elithian would gain one of the most powerful weapons in the war against the vampires… at least for now.
At last, he nodded, his jaw set. “It is an honor to have you amongst our fliers.” He turned to Solflara, eyes filled with wonder. “And welcome to Aeris Academy, Solflara.”
Kaia slowly exhaled, tension draining from her stance. Archer slumped against his owl. Professor Ross clapped sharply.
“Now,” he said briskly, “let’s resume the lesson, shall we? Unless anyone else has a royal proclamation to make?”
Nervous chuckles rippled through the class as students refocused.
“He should have addressed you as Your Royal Majesty.”
Nineteen
Alaire didn’t bother knocking. She shoved the already open oak door to Professor Ross’s office hard enough to make it slam against the wall.
He looked up from his desk, parchments clutched in hand. If her dramatic entrance surprised him, he didn’t show it.
“Alaire. I was?—”
“Did you know?” The words exploded out of her, the question burning since she’d bonded with Solflara. “When you found me withering in that cell, when you made your speech about resilience, strength, power in all its forms—somethinguniquelyvaluable—did you already know who I was?”
The accusation hung in the air.
Professor Ross set down his papers with deliberate care. “Sit down. We should discuss?—”
“I’ll stand.” She stepped closer to his desk, hands clenched into fists. “Answer the question. Did you know I was a Vallorian?”
“No.” The answer came instantly, but his eyes didn’t quite meet hers.
“But you suspected something,” she pressed, noting the tension in his shoulders and pallor of his skin. She’d known fromthe start he was hiding something, but this went deeper than she’d imagined.
He was quiet for a long moment, fingers drumming against the desk. “There were… indicators. Patterns that suggested you might be more than you appeared.”
“Patterns?” She leaned in, braid swinging over her shoulder, fists braced on the desk. “Explain.”
“The circumstances of your childhood were unusual,” he said carefully, as if afraid she’d detonate. “A house fire that claimed an entire family but left one survivor with complete memory loss? The Consortium keeps files on anomalies like that.”
The files she’d found in his desk.
“Ah, yes, the files,” she said flatly. “So you’ve been tracking me since I was ten?”
“No.” He shook his head. “We lost track of you when you left the orphanage. No records anywhere. It wasn’t until your arrest that your file was flagged again.”
Alaire scoffed. “There wouldn’t be a paper trail for an orphaned street rat with nothing to her name.” Her eyes burned, but she shoved the feeling down, down, down. “So what was I, then—a convenient anomaly that fell into your lap?”
“You were an opportunity.” He rose, moving around the desk. “Someone who deserved a chance at something better?—”
“Better than rotting in Grimstone for the rest of my life?” Her voice rose, anger straining at the seams. “At least be honest about what you were offering me—freedom with strings attached.”
Something flickered across his face—pain, maybe guilt.Good.
