Audrey came home to an empty house, everyone was at the party by the lake, feasting and toasting the new full fledged additions to the clan.
She was bone tired from doing all that work but first things first, she had to go and check her room for any and all nasty surprises. She jogged up the stairs towards her room. She reached into her satchel and retrieved the key to her door, slid it into the keyhole and turned it. The lock made several clicks before unlocking.
Audrey carefully opened the door further and peeped in with caution just in case the door was booby trapped. It was not. She stepped in fully and started carefully looking around. She checked her cupboards, her closet, her drawers, her shelves of books and vials. Nothing.
As glad as she was, Audrey realized something was wrong. Those brats would not just be satisfied with a water flask prank. Never. She checked again and under the bed but nothing.
She stood up from the floor and her eyes found the window. She looked through the closed glass and at the world beyond it. She could make out the light of the bonfire at the lake. Tonight, those the Conjuring deemed worthy would be decked in their finest attire underneath dark symbolic robes, their familiars at their sides. Her aunt, Minerva, could not stop gushing about how Rosalia would look ever so enchanting in her specially made gown, you would think Rosalia was going for a beauty pageant.
Her chest tightened and filled with a cocktail of emotions, sadness, self-pity, longing and anger. It should have been her. It should have been Audrey wearing her finest gown underneath those dark robes even if she was three years older! If her mana was even strong enough or at the very least, present in some way, then this would not be happening. She would have already passed her test two years back. She would have passed it this year! This would have been her ceremony! It should have!
Audrey's fingernails dug into her palms so hard she cut herself.
By now, the head witch was already giving her speech and after that the ritual would start. The young witches that passed the test this year would swear before the clan's oldest and most powerful relic, The Porstis Orb. Audrey had practiced the oath for more than eight years in preparation for when she would officially take it.
"In the name of the blood and bonds that bring us together and so strengthen us, I solemnly swear on this sacred orb to do all in my power to better and defend the clan Lestoria. I swear to do so with good judgement and honour, upon my body, blood, mana, heart and soul. Rhry jrykug uefiyql kuifua suh ufik kwuk azul mono lidt."
As always the words slid off her tongue smoothly and like a prayer. The longing in her chest grew. She was only eleven back then and so spellbound by how the ceremony was, how wonderful it would feel to finally be a full fledged member of her clan. Making her parents proud.
During the ceremony, all those swearing the oath would have their left wrist slit by the ceremonial dagger, the blood would then be offered to the orb and the flames of the bonfire. The mark of the clan would etch itself onto their wrists which the orb would have healed. Audrey's right hand went to her unetched left wrist, her thumb lightly rubbing tracing the clan's mark on it.
Years and years of watching the ceremony ensured she knew every detail by heart and the importance of every step. To think, those less deserving of the ceremony were right there by the lake taking the oath and with the entire clan bearing witness in pride made it feel ironic and funny. Audrey opened the window and cool air flew in.
The light of the fire grew brighter, signaling that the blood had been offered and the marks had been etched. Audrey sneered. The days of joy and leisure they would get would be heavily punctuated when it came time to bear duties and go through rigorous training. Then the clan would see just what they were so proud of. Audrey was sure their parents would try to bail them out, Augusto and Rosalia especially but not even they would be able to do anything.
Audrey did not mind missing this particular ceremony all that much but no one missed the clan's initiation ceremony. No one. Not even the members less spoken of and associated with inept dark arts. The fact her own family had taken great lengths to make sure she missed it had bells of worry chime in her head and a bit of a chill run through her. They had even gone as far as putting a barrier specifically for her made it all the more worse. The scortch marks on her fingertips were a testiment to that. The question was if it was just her family, was it Florence, Silas and Wren at work or was it a majority of the clan that did not want her present.
Audrey shook her head to clear the ugly thoughts away. She had to stay focused. There was another test coming up soon, not one of Lestoria's but that of a neighbouring clan, Veshtl. They did not value the conjuring as hers so highly did. They also gave letters of recommendation and monetary rewards for those who passed certain stages excellently. With that her parents would surely open their eyes to at least some of her achievements and she could have a good amount of money to her name. And even her very own familiar. The best part was, she did not have to switch clans at all.
She had been practicing ever since the last test, revising different texts, reading and summarizing as much she could, finding out more about Veshtl's rules for the initiation test, spurred on by the thought that maybe she could actually pass this time. The rest of the stages were easy to master, potions, history, herbology, alchemy, a written and oral spell exam, flora and fauna and astrology but the conjuring was a completely different test every year. No one knew what to expect, not even the examiners. This year's conjuring had been completely tame compared to last year's. Just thinking about it made her feel more tired than she already was.
She stepped away from the window and plopped down on her bed, then it happened. In those few seconds, three things happened. First, the bed rose incredibly high, second was the growl that ripped through the small room and third was Audrey was flung to the wall.