Palatials, 1133

It didn't take long for Noa to find Liam and Joshua on the ship. The two had already stored their bags and were playing cards in the Kaal's pavilion. Many of the nobles who frequented Shailaja took this route to get there. After passing through Palatials, the ship would anchor in Tegalaan, Hiwot and other lands to the north. The first to board would even spend the night on the ship. The trip would not be short for them either. It was at least another ten hours until Shailaja, with favorable currents.

They played cards until lunchtime. Then they went to the dining room. At a table, they already saw some tutors. Mr. Alfred Theirn, who taught History of Civilizations, bowed when the Kaal entered. He was sitting with Mr. Killian Winoc, who trained the sports teams and taught combat techniques, and Mrs. Véronique Ainsley. Véronique coordinated dance, singing and etiquette lessons and was the nightmare of Shailaja's young women. Good thing they didn't have to deal with her. They waved and sat down at a table in the corner of the room. A servant soon came, and they asked for wine, soup for starter and a meat stew.

- Roparzh, look who's here - Joshua indicated a table to the right with his head.

In addition to the teachers, there were many traders who took this route and nobles who used to meet there every year. At the table Joshua indicated three young women were seated, but Noa did not recognize any of them.

- Who are you talking about, Blake?

- Hey, the rani that Liam courted last year ... The blonde one.

In addition to having a bad memory for Liam's romances, Joshua did not have a good view from a distance.

- Sybilla? It's not her, Blake! Where are your glasses? - replied Noa, laughing.

- Sybilla doesn't take this ship ... She doesn't come this way, it couldn't be her - said Liam without taking his eyes off the table. Despite Joshua's mistake, the young woman was incredibly similar to Sybilla. Her eyes were big and blue, her hair was long and blond... But she was thinner. Her skin glowed as if she had spent the summer on the beach... Hadn't Sybilla said she was going home in the summer? The young woman was talking to two more and smiling. The smile was identical! Liam was speechless.

- Blake, to be fair, she looks very much like Sybilla... - observed Noa, slowly.

The resemblance was striking, but the three agreed that she couldn't be Sybilla. After a few minutes of staring at the other table, Liam concluded that she would never take that route without sending him a letter. When they were in the same place, Sybilla made sure he knew.

- Creepy - said Liam at last.

- Who are those others? - asked Joshua.

- No idea. Will they go to Shailaja? - Noa asked, quickly assessing the three: in addition to the blonde, there was a redhead and a brunette. He watched the brunette closely, but soon concluded that her skin was too pale and, even sitting, he could tell she was tall. She could not be a palatial, let alone Hannah Maël.

- We've never seen them before... I can't believe it! It's impossible to miss that redhead there - said Liam.

- Good afternoon, gentlemen, My Kaal - interrupted a thin voice.

They were so busy staring at the other table that they didn't even notice Daria approaching. Daria Ainsley was the youngest daughter of Mrs. Véronique Ainsley and the last to attend Shailaja. Noa, Liam and Joshua had known her since she was little. Aydan Aisnley, her older brother, had been a veteran. He had left Shailaja a few years ago and had become an important general in the Rariff army. He was a trusted man of the Kral Ür and Noa considered him a good friend.

Daria was a smiling girl. Her brown hair was shoulder-length and she wore a straight fringe. The big glasses and the book – she always carried one – gave the impression that she was too studious, but the truth was that she had three older brothers, who taught her to cheat in games, fight with a sword, use a bow and arrow and everything else her mother abhorred. She was much younger, but great company. This would be her first year at Shailaja and Noa had promised Aydan that he would protect her.

- What are you talking about? - Asked the girl, sitting down.

- About how inconvenient you are, interrupting us out of nowhere - Liam joked.

- Gimme a break.

- We were talking about that girl over there, who looks like the rani Sybilla Per Hyanchinthe - Noa replied.

Daria glanced at the other table, noticing a tall, redheaded young woman, one with much shorter black hair, and the blonde they were obviously talking about.

- Impressive resemblance, right? Now, that redhead is sensational, look at that body... - Liam began.

- Roparzh, that's not an appropriate comment. Do I need to point out the presence of Ms. Ainsley? - Joshua scolded.

But Daria hadn't even paid attention to Liam's comment and was still focused on the other table. Now, the three of them had finished eating and were waiting for the servant. Finally, she said: - I think I know who that one is.

- The redhead? - Liam asked, excited.

- The blonde... I heard my mother saying something about it... She could be Sybilla's twin sister.

- Twin? - for the first time in the last ten minutes Liam turned his eyes to the girl in front of him: - But she has no sister!

- How can you know? - Daria countered.

- I don't know, but she never talked about a sister... People talk about these things, don't they? "Oh my brother is boring, I hate my brother"...

Sometimes Noa lost patience with Liam's endless chatter.

- Roparzh, let Ms. Ainsley explain. What did you hear?

- I heard... I think I heard, Kaal, I wasn't paying much attention, actually... My mother was talking to dad about how this year they would have some problematic students, I think she used that word: "problematic". Then she said something about Sybilla's twin and that the Hyanchinthes could only be crazy. She said something about how they could have sent just one sister to Shailaja. Really... It's weird, isn't it?

The three young women got up. As they prepared to leave, the redhead looked back. Noa noticed her studying the tables in the hall. Her green eyes landed on him, and she stared for a few seconds. Suddenly, as if sensing her indiscretion, she blushed and looked away. Noa knew she'd looked directly at him, yet Liam would spend the rest of the afternoon bragging about how the redhead girl had flirted with him.

***

- Which one is the Kaal? - Bia asked when they left the hall. – It's the one on the left, isn't it? I had to take a look...

- We noticed... - Chris rolled her eyes.

- Really, it was very subtle... - Serena joked.

- Serious? Did he notice? – Bia asked, blushing.

- Bia! You stared at him!

- It's just that curiosity got the better of me... And, besides, you spent the entire lunch watching and commenting and I had my back turned. It's not fair, okay?

- I don't know why all this curiosity. In a few hours we will be in Shailaja. Gaetana said that everyone is presented in an infinite and unbearable ceremony - Chris recalled.

Gaetana had prepared her for the presentation, but Bia was trying not to think about the event. The idea of ​​being announced in front of so many strangers made her nervous. She knew Serena felt that way too, and that's why she tried even harder not to show it. It would be much worse for Serena, with her sister there and people thinking she was crazy. But for Bia it wouldn't be easy either. Everyone in Shailaja thought she was dead. In fact, they didn't even know of her existence. They never heard of anyone who had survived the attack on Judicaël. She really hadn't survived. She was not there. She was already on the Island at that time.

Her parents took her to the Island right after she turned five. They knew about her gift; her mother had also been an apprentice on the Island. Bryanna always went home in the summers. She was one of the few children on the Island who had a family or who had not been rejected. The people of Judicaël did not fear the gift of the rana. It was quite common among girls from some villages in Judicaël who cultivated the ancient knowledge passed down hundreds of years ago by their ancestors. Bia had always wondered why her parents sent her to the Island instead of teaching her at home. But her mother always said she wasn't like the other village girls. Those rare ones, which concentrated more energy, should be sent to the Island for proper training. But as the Great War approached, its people had been wounded and decimated. Hence the secret of her survival. She was the last among them. On the Island, it was not uncommon. In Shailaja, it would be extremely rare and peculiar.

About Christine, there would be no surprises. She was the daughter of the infamous Duke Gwenaël. The family had inherited much land in Adij Rariff. And she was from a huge family, some cousins ​​even attended Shailaja. She didn't have a happy story either. Nobody was going to live on the Island without a good reason. But at least the story of the tragedy in her family had already been widely whispered in the courts. Like all gossip, it had been debated and each of its protagonists judged to exhaustion until new gossip arose and it turned into a forgotten tale. But Bia doubted that, had the real story been revealed, it would have been so easily overcome.

~*~

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Ps: I am a brazilian author and a dear friend is helping me translate this book. Please feel free to point out any mistakes. Hope you like it!