The class had just started taking their seats on Monday morning when Torin returned. He stepped into the room and handed Ky a note. Ky's brows furrowed as he read it. It was from the Chancellor ordering him to let Torin spend the day observing his class.
"Why?" he asked softly and rhetorically. Torin cocked his head to the side.
"Because I believe she's in here." He replied in his hollow voice.
"Not that. Why are they letting you do this?" Ky forestalled him by holding up his hand. "Don't answer. Take a seat there." He pointed to the last desk in the column closest to the door, across the room from Momo, Ro, and Aerie. "And don't be a nuisance." He called after him as Torin began walking to it. Ky resolved to do nothing that would call notice to any of the three girls as Torin took his seat.
Class started. It was more telepathy practice this week followed by light magic training. Ro was one of the worst in this. They were all trying to make orbs light up. Ro only managed a little flicker, while both her friends were able to do it with ease. Angelique could do it as well and kept sending smug gloating looks over her shoulder at Ro whenever she completed a new exercise. At some point someone opened the windows and let the breeze in. It drifted right past the three girls and straight to Torin who had been watching the room with bland eyes.
As it reached him, his whole body turned, and his empty eyes took on a cast of hunger as he looked in the direction from whence it came. Torin recognized the faint scent the wind carried as the one associated with the girl from Laine's mind, the one he had been searching for. He looked over the three girls sitting in the room's opposite corner. One was petite, with short black hair, her back was to him, so he couldn't see the rest of her. Another was pretty, with ash blond wavy hair and bright blue eyes. The third was hideous, with murky bug eyes and a lopsided mouth. It could be any one of them. He continued to watch them for the rest of class. He also noticed Ky's attention keep returning to them as time went on as well and realized that Ky would probably know which one she was. If he looked in his mind, he might find the answer, Torin mused.
After lunch was called Torin got up and went to Ky's desk. Ky was putting points in the database. He had only given out a few today.
"Something I can help you with, Torin?" He asked not looking up.
"Yes." Torin replied mildly. When he didn't say anything else, Ky looked up at him.
"Well what is it?" Ky sounded annoyed. Torin met his eyes and called on his magic. Instantly, Ky surrounded himself in white light as he'd been teaching Ro to do. He felt immense pressure against the light in his mind. It was so strong he could barely hold it off. He could feel his barrier weakening as time went on. At last he heard Torin sigh and felt the pressure drop away.
"What the Other?" Ky asked in anger. "You can't go around using your magic on a teacher."
"You are an AR student and it was worth a try." Torin said emotionlessly and shrugged.
"I don't care what this note says. You are no longer welcome in my class. Get out and don't come back." Ky practically yelled at him. Torin didn't say anything. He just turned and left. Ky sighed in relief. He didn't know that Torin was going to do that. If he had he would have used something other than light magic to stop him. As it was, if Torin had tried just a little harder, he would have been in Ky's mind like slicing into butter.
After lunch class continued uneventfully. Meditation went well and for self-study Ro choose to work on light magic as she still couldn't make the orb light up. Momo and Aerie chose to practice shadow magic in preparation for next week. By the end of class, Ro had successfully lit the orb once. In that time Momo and Aerie had completed two exercises a piece. Ro tried hard not to feel like a failure as they headed to the locker room.
***
For the whole of morning classes Ky had been puzzling over the note and why the Chancellor would let Torin sit in for something as trivial as finding a girl. It made no sense to him. He resolved that as soon as class was over, he'd go talk to him. So that's what he did.
As he was admitted into the dark office, he saw that the Chancellor was on the communicator. So Ky looked around as he waited. His eyes observed the mahogany bookshelves filled with books of magic lining the walls. The Chancellor sat at a massive, matching desk. On the windows were partially closed curtains of a rich, forest green and on the floor was a carpet of the same color, embroidered with a golden design that represented strength. In front of the desk were two chairs made of mahogany again, with cushions of the same green as the curtains and carpet.
Ky looked at the man behind the desk. He had short, straight, glossy, black hair with a grey streak in it at the front. He had a pencil straight nose, high cheekbones and a square jaw line. Ky couldn't see his eyes but he knew they were the same deep red as his own. Through his suit, Ky could tell that he was fit and lightly muscled although on the slim side. The man gestured for Ky to take a seat before turning his back on him. Ky did, crossing his legs and thought about what he was going to say. He had been shown right in, meaning the Chancellor was expecting him. That implied he knew what this conversation was going to be about.
After a few more minutes, to show Ky who was in charge, the Chancellor shut the communicator.
"Well, what brings you by, Ky?" He asked politely as he took his seat and folding his hands serenely in front of him.
"We both know why I am here." Ky replied flatly. The Chancellor put on a fake, politely confused expression, one that he knew would irritate Ky. Ky rolled his eyes and explained. "The note. Why did you allow Torin to enter my class for such a reason?" Ky's tone was annoyed.
"Ah, that. I felt like it."
"You felt like it?" Ky asked not comprehending. Then the words registered, and he felt the heat of anger well up inside him. "You let one of the top six enter my class just because you felt like it. That girl needs to be protected. She is only a human and just starting to learn about our world."
"That girl; we knew she'd be trouble when we let her in." The Chancellor said with a long-suffering sigh. Then his blood red eyes sharpened on Ky. "What happened to you, you used to love playing with the students?" Ky didn't answer he just sat sullenly fighting his rage. The Chancellor continued. "I remember the one time you kidnapped Rage's salamander and forced the class to practice blowing pieces off of it. You didn't tell them that you had placed regeneration magic on it. Then you kicked out the students who refused. It was half the class." The Chancellor chuckled, "They all thought you were kidding about that part. I can still remember all the angry letters we got about that incident. Oh, what about that time when decided to make your whole class fall in love with you." Ky shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "When we asked you why you did it, you said that you'd thought it'd be fun to have an army of slaves at your beck and call. Fights broke out all over the school over who you liked more. By the end of the year it was so bad we had to wipe the memory of the entire class and they had to repeat the year. Even then, some of them still weren't right. If I remember correctly, Torin was one of your students that year." The Chancellor laughed at this.
"I don't do that anymore." Ky growled
"What happened? That was only five years ago." The Chancellor peered at him with curiosity. Ky shifted again in his chair as he shrugged. "Well thankfully we still have your brother. Without him I'd say the future of our family is lost." When Ky didn't respond, the Chancellor sighed. "We've gotten off track. You wanted to know why I allowed Torin to sit in on your class. It's for the same reason that I put the crow in there. Adversity breeds character. I want to acclimate that girl to our ways, and I want to see her get stronger." Surprise lit upon Ky's face. It was rare for the Chancellor to take any interest in the students and even rarer still if that student was a human. The Chancellor loathed humans and every so often would try to get them banned from the school entirely.
"Why?"
"The family wants her." Ky's face darkened at this simple response. "Her potential is astronomical. That's why she smells so good. Her potential is so great that you can actually smell it on her. So, we put her in your class. We wanted you to get close to her and you have, haven't you? You gave her a gift and then rather than take it back when Rin got involved, you gave gifts to her two friends."
"And you aren't mad about that?" Ky asked not believing what he was hearing.
"No, in fact, we want you to go ahead and claim her." The image of his brand on Ro's naked body flashed in his head. He felt his body instantly tighten as desire gripped him. He clenched his fists and willed the image away. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. One part of him was elated and the other, larger part was filled with icy fury at the thought of his family interfering.
"Who is we?" Ky was surprised his voice wasn't shaking in rage.
"The family." The Chancellor's eyes narrowed sharply. "More specifically, your father. He said, and I quote: that pathetic excuse for a son of mine can finally do something worthwhile."
"So, not the school?"
"As far as the school is concerned, none of this is happening."
"Is this optional?"
"Does it matter?" Ky was silent. "Then consider it an order." The Chancellor said with a resigned sigh. Ky stood with a dark look. The Chancellor smiled. "I haven't seen you wear that look in years. It's good to know you can still make it." Ky turned on his heel and began walking out. "There was one other small thing." Ky turned and looked at the Chancellor, his eyes glowing in anger. "This is from the school. You need to cut five students from your class by Friday." The Chancellor smiled politely again.