Her days continued pretty much as they had before her visit from the Illusens in the headmasters office. She received the results of her exams; surprisingly, she had passed them all, some with flying colours, others not so much.
She had no idea what effect her demonstration had on her grades, if any. It was never mentioned again, and there was nothing on paper about it.
She had been told she was now allowed to leave Perdition grounds though. That had been the greatest piece of news. She was planning to go out with the boys; they promised they would take her out to dinner tonight to celebrate, but first they'd spend the day exploring the town, and she was really looking forward to it. Her first time off Perdition grounds in years, and it was to celebrate with her two favourite people. Perdition was loosening her leash.
She opened her dorm room, eager to grab a few things before getting the hell out of the academy for the first time in years. She froze in her doorway, gaping at the woman just finishing packing her things into trunks—trunks that didn't even belong to her. Where had they come from?
"What the hell are you doing!?" She yelled at the woman.
To her credit, the woman didn't bat an eyelid as she turned to the girl and bowed.
"Lord Illusen sent me to pack up your possessions and move them to the Illusen estate."
"Wha-?" Words failed her as her voice trailed off. "Why?"
"I was not made privy to that information. But Lord Illusen also requests your presence, and I am to escort you there."
"That's not necessary," she said, shaking off her stupor. "I don't want to see Commander Illusen, and my things'll stay here."
"He's not to be disobeyed," she said, blocking Sun from getting to her things. "Please, just go and speak with him."
Sun recognised the trace of fear in the woman's voice. Would she get into some kind of trouble if she didn't do as was requested of her? Sun sighed and reluctantly gave in. She didn't want anyone in trouble on her account. But she vowed to give the Commander a piece of her mind when she saw him. What right did he have to intrude upon her life like this? She assumed it was about the blood results, but even if they proved there was a blood connection between them, that didn't give him the right to do this.
A carriage carried them to the edge of the town. When Perdition had first been founded, there was no town. It had sprung up around the base, and later the academy when that had been added. It had started off as just the families of Revenants and grown from there. It was a thriving town now.
Sun watched out the window as the streets gradually became more and more beautiful, the houses larger and more expensive. The ride only took fifteen minutes at most but the tense silence made it seem longer. They rode through a set of wrought iron gates and up to a beautiful estate. She had thought the gardens at Perdition were beautiful but they had nothing on this place. There were flowers and trees she had never seen before. What she didn't like about it though was that everything was so perfectly maintained and trimmed. She preferred a more wild environment.
She followed the servant girl towards the front doors, where two men stood ready to open them. She followed the woman through countless hallways. Eventually she stopped and indicated for her to wait here before disappearing down the hall and around the corner. Sun looked at the door in front of her. Was she supposed to knock? Sighing, she raised her hand to do so when she caught the sound of a raised voice—a very angry voice.
"Do not be so foolish!" Sun instantly recognised it as the old lady from the headmaster's office a few days ago. "Pull her out of the Revenant program, pay her, and send her on her way!"
She wasn't one to eavesdrop, but it didn't take a genius to figure this was about her, so she pressed her ear to the door.
"No," she could only just make out Commander Illusen's cold voice. Unlike the woman, he wasn't yelling.
"Then get rid of her," said Noda. The way she said 'get rid of her' made Sun want to shudder. "It is not uncommon amongst the four houses."
"That may be how the other houses handle their infidelities but I will not run the Winter Clan that way. Formally acknowledging her is the honourable thing to do."
"What about the shame this will bring on your father's name!?" She hissed.
"My father is dead," she was amazed he could say it so tonelessly. "The affairs of this world will not affect him in the slightest. And he should have thought twice before getting someone pregnant. What happens now is my decision, and I have made it; I will not be questioned."
There was a tense silence before she heard the old woman begrudgingly apologize. Sun scrambled back from the door, realising this was the end of the conversation and not wanting to be caught eavesdropping. The sliding door slammed open and she came face to face with a silently seething Noda. The woman glared at her before storming off in the same direction the maid had taken only moments ago. Sun had been expecting to be spit on, she was pleasantly surprised.
"Enter," she heard him command.
Remembering how angry she was supposed to be with him, she stormed in to where he was sitting at his desk. She opened her mouth to curse at him but before she could get a word out he told her to take a seat. Temporarily thrown off she glared at him, then the seat, then at him again.
"I don't want a seat," she said. "I want to know what the hell is going on!?"
She could feel the pressure of his aura as he released more of its power over her.
"Such displays are unseemly," he said. "Take a seat."
She huffed at him but did so. Truth be told, he did intimidate her and she loathed herself for it.
He leaned forward, clasping his perfectly manicured hands together on his immaculate desk.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Kalys Illusen, head of the Winter Clan."
"I know," she practically spat the words. She remembered. There was a long pause.
"It is polite to introduce oneself in these situations. Your demonstration the other day was hardly adequate."
"Well, it's not necessary; I know who you are."
Did he just want to tack on that 'head of the Winter Clan' title? He'd been introduced as a Commander the other day. But reintroduced in the headmasters office. She already knew he was clan head.
He just stared at her.
"Well? Are we going to get to the point?"
"It's polite that both parties introduce themselves," he said.
Fuck politeness. Was what she wanted to say. But it certainly wasn't what came out.
"I'm Sunshine Farron, everyone just calls me Sun. Or Sunny."
Truthfully, only Nick and Zen called her Sunshine, or Sunny. Everyone else was Sun. But she was sure the jerk already knew her name. They had met at her demonstration, no matter how inadequate the introduction had been. Was this a stupid test?
"Your introductions need work," he told her. "Well, Sunshine," he inwardly cringed and decided he wasn't comfortable calling her that. It was a ridiculous name.
"Sunny," he continued. "The blood witches have informed me of your parentage. It has been determined your father was Nero Illusen."
From the look on her face, it was clear the name meant nothing to her so he elaborated. "Nero Illusen was the previous head of the Clan, my father. Our father."
"You're my half brother?" She asked hesitantly.
He gave her a barely perceptible nod.
"Do- do you know who my mother is?" She asked softly.
"No. The ritual cannot work without another sample to compare."
His response stung more than she would have thought, but she shrugged it off. "So what now? You're going to throw some money at me and send me to the other side of the world? Or maybe 'get rid of me.'"
Maybe she could hide behind a tough attitude and air quotes. His eyes narrowed, and she actually regretted what she had said. Would he slap her?
"If you heard that, then you should also have heard that I have no intention of taking either of those routes."
"Then what do you intend?" It wasn't as venomous as she would have liked; she just hoped he didn't catch on to the hesitance in her tone.
"I will formally acknowledge you as my sister to the King and other Clan Heads. You will live here from now on; you will be taught the things you should have had you been raised here, and tomorrow you have an appointment for a full physical-"
"No thank you," she said; the ice in her voice could rival his own. "I am happy with my life as it is."
"It was not an offer." He felt her aura begin to pulse as her rage climbed. She would need to work on that. He could feel the iciness in it too, more evidence of her heritage.
She stood, slamming her hands on the desk. "You can't do this! You have no right!"
"I have every right," he said. He was unused to being yelled at, yet it had happened twice in less than ten minutes. But he would make her understand her place, just as he had Noda. "I am head of the Winter Clan, only the King ranks higher than I. Perditions guardianship of you has already been transferred over to me. Your room has been prepared, and private tutors have been arranged to teach you etiquette, the gentle arts, and the history of our clan."
She sat in her chair. "No. I refuse."
"You carry noble blood in your veins; you have a duty whether you like it or not."
"No. This is how it's going to be," she said, leaning forward. He almost sneered at that but kept his expression blank. She had nerve; for that he would give her credit. "Whatever rituals the blood witches do showed I wasn't related to you at all and my eye is just a genetic defect of some kind. I go back to my life, and you go back to yours, and we can pretend we never even met."
"No. Looking at you, there is no denying what you are," he said. "The papers have already been drawn up, and word has been sent to the King."
He felt her aura flare, and he suppressed it with his own, forcing her to remain in her chair.
"You are lucky I am going to allow you to keep your Revenant Candidacy. Noble ladies are not careerwomen. Every day when your classes conclude, you are to return here for your extra lessons. You have much to catch up on; other noble women are taught these things from early childhood."
All she could do was gape. How in the hell did things end up like this?
"Dinner is at seven; I won't tolerate tardiness. And when you're free we have much to discuss about what that eye of yours means."
Recognising the clear dismissal, she stood and stormed out, not before tossing him a glare that could have killed a lesser man. Glaring helped hold back the tears. She was going to have to live with this man?
Trying to find her way to the main entrance, she came to realise just how huge this place was. At least if she did live here, she most likely would never run into him.