Staring out at the rising sun, I tucked my knees against my chest and exhaled slowly. I shuffled into a more comfortable position so I wouldn’t end up imprinting the brick pattern of the castle fence on my butt; wouldn’t that be hilarious? I took in the serenity of the forest in front of me and wondered what it would be like to live here in the Old Ages? As the heiress to a castle or some maid who works for the royalty. Smiling, I shook the silly fantasy out of my head and signed again.

The past couple of months had been weird. I had never been staying at the same place for more than a month since the test and here I was, stuck inside a castle in the middle of nowhere, tasked with the responsibility to save the world. I mean, that’s a little too much to ask for a girl who just turned eighteen.

Closing my eyes, images of my friends’ faces flashed through my mind. Elise, Diego and everyone in the qualification test; I had no idea where they were and how to find them. Then there were Natalie, Nate, Holly, Owen, Evanna, Fred, Oscar, Elise and Tom. My body stiffened as I remembered what Nirmal and I discovered. Which prompted me to look at my watch; it’s seven, and I still had to finalise the meeting details with Nirmal. Lynette was arriving in the afternoon as well, and I tried not to groan at the thought of her name. At least I would be able to hound her about where Tom was, she had been avoiding telling me out of spite.

“Hey, there you are.” Viktor said as I slide back in through the sliding doors, his hair still a mess and his shirt half tucked in, his eyes still cloudy from sleep. “Caleb said he needed to talk to you about something, but you weren’t in your room.”

Stifling another groan climbing up my throat I managed to nod in acknowledgment. I forgot about that; Caleb had sent me a message yesterday, something about the School of Medicine and Science. I could only hope it was good news.

“Thanks.” I finally coaxed out as we headed towards the dining room, where everyone else had probably congregated. Except for Casey, she liked to sleep in.

“Morning Miss Gail.” Katerina’s butler, Benson greeted me as we entered the double doors. I smiled in return as he greeted Viktor as well. “What would you like to drink?”

“Hot chocolate please, if you have it.” I responded politely. It took me a while to get use to the luxury Katerina lived in. I found out that her entire estate was run by her descendants, who had no part in the POE world. Katerina’s expense are taken care of by the UGE because of the pact the Originals made; and it’s safe to say that they spared no expense to make sure the seer was comfortable.

“Morning.” I greeted the people at the table and received some nods and smiles. Gerald, as usual had his head buried in a newspaper and didn’t seemed eager to look up; there was already a small pile of newspapers next to him. Liam was waving whilst stuffing an entire croissant into his mouth, and Tristan was talking quietly to Gina. Spotting Caleb I hurried across the long hall to the end of the mahogany table where he was sitting.

“Just the girl I need.” Caleb said as Benson pull out my chair for me like a gentleman. I muttered thanks to the staff as Rachel, the head maid set down my hot chocolate. “The SMS had emailed me back and they want us to fly to Pax.”

A frown immediately made its way to my face and I considered the proposal. It would be good to get out of here, and we might be able to gather more information about what the UGE knew about the Apocalypse as well. However that would risk exposing us to eyes. Million sets of eyes that might alert people looking out for us.

“We will talk about this after the meeting.” I said, nearly burning my tongue on the scorching liquid as I attempted to take a sip. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Liam stifling a snigger and Gina giggling. Some friends they were.

“Has Nirmal come down yet?” I asked everyone and Caleb gestured towards the conference room connected to the hall.

“She grabbed some toasts and headed to the conference room, something about an important call.” He answered and I relaxed into my chair. This meant I had more time to eat.

“How’s the preparation for the meeting going?” Gerald asked without looking up from the papers. I grimaced as I thought about all the super political emails waiting for me. I found that people can be very touchy about word choices, like if you type can you come, instead of would you come they might think you are challenging their ability to come. I felt like I needed to go back to school for English lessons.

This was why I was ever so glad when Nirmal had agreed to come and help me set things up. I reached out to her about a week after arriving at the Falcon Manor (though they really should call it a castle) and she replied to me very quickly. At first I was afraid that she might be resentful about what happened with the ambush, but she was happy that I was okay and flew out to meet me after hearing my new mission. We had been preparing for this meeting between the Originals families for a while now and tomorrow the descendent of the people on the painting downstairs would be gathered in one place. At least, that was the plan.

“How are you feeling?” Nirmal asked as I entered the conference room, which happened to have a floor to ceiling window looking out to the lake, offering a gorgeous view and ample lighting. At first we were shocked because large water bodies tended to attract Legres, but Katerina assured us that this area is free of any Legre above Class E. She didn’t really elaborate on that, as with many things connected to the Originals. If I wasn’t so caught up with work I would have pestered her until she tells.

Well, there’s no rest for the wicked. I propped down at the plush leather seat next to her and spin myself around, tapping on the power button on my three month old laptop to fire it up. “As good as it can get.” I answered and peeped at the notifications tab. Fifty five emails. Argh. It could be worst.

I scrolled through the list and realised most of emails were asking to confirm the itinerary of the approaching meeting, with a dozen internal chain mails attached below. They obviously had no concept of time zone if they expect me to reply at three a.m. in the morning.

“I need a team of secretaries.” I complained, but keeping my tone light so Nirmal wouldn’t take it seriously. This whole thing was supposed to be a temporary solution, and I planned to keep it this way. I might not have any idea about what kind of life I wanted to lead but one in this corporate, political world certainly isn’t on the list.

“And I need Latte.” Nirmal replied and dashed off to the coffee machine on the side. I gave the strong smelling brown liquid a glance and shook my head. Nirmal gave out a sigh of contentment as she sipped the coffee and I rolled my eyes.

“Come on Gail, coffee is amazing.” Nirmal laughed and I raised an eyebrow at her. “Just because you went to the bathroom thirteen times in an hour after drinking one doesn’t mean it’s not good.”

I huffed with indignation at the mention of the bladder fiasco; Nirmal had convinced me to try that evil crap one day when I complained about being tired, which effectively resulted in me dashing to the use the toilet at an ungodly frequency. Safe to say that I was not a huge fan of coffee after that; it didn’t even make me felt more awake.

“Have you got any replies from Alverez-Carillo, Wong, Bugatti or Smith family?” I asked Nirmal who shook her head. Disappointment bubbled up inside me but I pushed it back down. These are only temporary setbacks; at least half the family would be here tomorrow and that’s more than what we hoped for. You can’t have everything in the world; and hopefully once we find out what the Apocalypse were cooking up they would be dashing to our side to help.

“Gail…” a hesitant voice said and I turned to see a head peeping out from behind the door. It was Harriet, my sort of secretary. She was Katerina’s brother’s direct descendent, or so she was introduced. “Your grandmother is here.”

Alarmed I looked up at the clock and realised more time had passed then I anticipated. No amount of psychological build up would prepare me for facing her.

“She’s asking for you.” Harriet added, looking a little stressed. Lynette would do that to someone. Nirmal offered me an encouraging smile and I got out of my seat. Pretty much everyone knew what a head case my grandmother can be; but family is family.

“Abigail.” Lynette’s trademark apprehensive voice buzzed through my ear as soon as I head into the drawing room. She was dressed in one of her best dress suite, a pearl and blush pink tweed set and sipping tea.

“Grandmother.” I forced a smile onto my face and hope it didn’t look as fake as it felt. Lynette proceeded to open her arms and engulfed me into a hug and I could feel the tension building up inside her. I was in for one heck of a lecture.

“I can see that you have been busy.” Lynette said through gritted teeth as she surveyed the room. I could see that Benson was standing by the door and I relaxed a little. Lynette wouldn’t be too harsh in the presence of company.

“There’s a lot to do.” I answered and waited for her to sit down before placing myself on the chair furthest away from her. “I am sure you can understand.”

“Oh I can.” She retorted back almost immediately, her calm, polite façade failing for a minute and I could see how livid she was. I grimaced inside but kept my expression neutral. She wasn’t the only one in the family good at word games. “What I cannot understand is why you have to lie to your only grandmother, hijack an aircraft from SMS to get help from somebody else when you can just ask your family for help.”

There we go ladies and gentlemen, the real reason why she was mad. Oh it wasn’t because I didn’t obey her orders (although I am sure it’s there somewhere too), it’s because I stole the thunders that should have belonged to our family; and she wasn’t my only grandmother. My other grandmother happened to live in Prague Citybase and never had the means to see us.

“Because it is the right thing to do.” I answered courtly. I was not willing to get into a length argument over the topic. If I had stayed in de Silver and relate the entire incident to Lynette, she would turned the entire focus on the fact that Akram was a crucial part of the Originals, and not the impending dangers we were about to face. What use would glories be if there was no one alive to see it?

“I am not here to argue with you.” Lynette said and held her hand up. My eyebrows shot up in surprise. Finally, something that we agreed on. “I am here to discuss the Original Peace Agreement.”

The Original Peace Agreement was famous among the POE community and the reason why Originals are called the Originals. The treaty was signed by the 10 Originals and the UGE declaring the two subspecies would live in harmony and peace. The POEs vowed to protect mankind and in return humans are to never experiment on them, ever. Katarina talked about it with me once and she mentioned that the only reason why there were still three of the Originals alive today was because they were afraid of future leaders of UGE backing up on the deal.

“What about it?” I asked; I had a bad feeling about this but I failed to see why Lynette would be interested in an agreement that benefits our society in so many ways. Lynette put on her secretive smile and I knew that things were about to get serious.
“The Original families were named on the treaty as the Chief Protectors.” Lynette began and I could tell that she had prepared a long time for this speech. “If there are any crises or change to the treaty the head of each family, the deputy and head of SMS and UGE are to meet in a meeting. I believe recent discoveries mean that the de Silver family are entitled to this privilege as well.”

To say that my eyes bulged out of their sockets would be a gross understatement. If my mind hadn’t recalled incorrectly the position is that of a great honour, and also kind of useless. Three hundred years had come and gone and not a single meeting had taken place. Katerina virtually hold her family seat permanently and if you want to summon a meeting, at least four members had to submit a petition. It was just a precautionary measure in the paper for each side in case something drastic happened. Lynette didn’t really want the responsibility, because there wasn’t any; she wanted the fame that would come with it.

“This isn’t something that I can help you with.” I said, mentally straining myself to not face palmed into my hand. I was never gladder that I somehow skipped the genes for psychopathic love of family name. My dad somehow tolerated Lynette’s behaviour but I didn’t see why I had to.

“Your position here with Katerina…” She began and I held my hands up, cutting her off.

“My position here is solely to address the issue with the Apocalypse.” I declared firmly. “And I would not be involved in any other matters.”

Lynette narrowed her eyes at me, obviously not thrill at my reaction but surely she wouldn’t be surprise about it. I was already trespassing on Katerina’s hospitality, using her castle and family guards. I wasn’t about to ask her to right a family name that its founding father didn’t want.

“I see.” Lynette said courtly, placing her tea down on its matching china plate. “I suppose I will see you tomorrow then.” She continued. My heart did a little flip and reminded me to ask her about Tom, but the look she gave me before she exited the room had me promptly shut it again. That woman really had a nasty temper.

“She sure is a fearsome lady.” Harriet remarked as she collected the tea set and I smiled. My grandmother might be a pain, but you were never going to find someone as dedicated to their family name as she was.

“Is Nirmal still in the conference room?” I asked and Harriet nodded. Better go and prepare for the big day tomorrow. I thought to myself; it would be the most important day of my life.

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Hey guys :D here's the first chapter! Aren't you all excited to learn more about the Original families? I have some cool characters coming soon!

Also I just want to let you know that i can't gaurentee any regular uploads; my time table for this term is insane and commuting two hours each day isn't helping with my productivity. That said - of course I would be trying my best! I owe you guys everything for sticking with me through my sporadic disappearances and the support you give me.

And guess what - tomorror (26th Jan) is my birthday, so consider this my early birthday give back ;)

Cover is by the awesome @Twinkle_Gogri , the make-me-a-cover offer is still open until the end of January, don't miss the offer of being able to have a character in the book named after you!

As always comment and vote - let me know if you like the cast!!!! x

PS photo on the side is the Romanian Castle they are in :D

PPS I didn't want to spoil this, but for those of you who guessed the mystery guy in the Prolouge is Tom - heck no! He is not a villain x