Chapter 1 - Xara

AN: I plan to write a prologue with Xara in a sticky situation to hook people into the story a little better.   I am playing with point of views and I changed from 3rd to 1st for this story.  I know Xara comes off as stuck up in this one, don't worry she will be taken down a few pegs in chapter 4.  This isn't a romance and I don't plan on introducing a love interest until arc 3 at the earliest.  Chapter 2 will be from Kyler's POV.

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Hello, My name is Xara Greene, and my life is about to become perfect.  Well, nobody’s life is perfect, but all of my hopes and dreams are coming true.  Yesterday, the blacksmith’s son, Rodan, told me that he would propose to me on New Year’s Day!  I know, I know, you are asking yourself, ‘Why hasn’t he already proposed?’  It is custom in my country that all proposals happen on New Year’s Day to kick off the celebrations.  A year later, if the young couples are still in love, their wedding happens on New Year’s Day with anyone else who proposed the previous year.

I live in Silversands, the best city that ever existed. The local government decreed that all houses within the walls were required to have indoor plumbing with proper sanitary hook-ups. That proclamation saved the city tons of gold every year because there were fewer sick. They still have to pay a healer to watch over the poor in their wooden houses with dirt floors outside the walls, but they have access to bathhouses and sanitation facilities.

What shocks me is that even with the ability to pay to use those facilities, my father is constantly issuing fines and throwing people in jail for refusing to get a bath or peeing in public.  My dad, Benjamin Greene, is my hero.  He is a city guard, and he has always made sure that my twin brother and I are taken care of.  Our mother died trying to bring my brother and me into this world.  I would be sad, but I didn't get a chance to know my mother before she was taken from us.  Instead of a mother, we had a long line of nannies and governesses to help raise us.

My rebellious brother seemed to make it his mission to drive off any nanny who came to watch over us.  I love my brother, but his antics drive me up a wall sometimes.  Father has given us a strict set of rules that we are to follow to the letter, and all Kyler does is think of ways around the regulations with loopholes.  His latest excuse for being out past our father’s curfew was, “I was home by 8 PM!  I just left again after that.”  Our father was not amused.

Dad works long hours.  He is up and out of the house by 6 AM every day, and he often doesn’t return until after dark.  When we were younger, he was usually home by 6 PM so he wouldn't have to pay our nanny extra money for staying longer.  Sadly, as soon as we didn't need a babysitter, his hours became longer, and we didn’t see much of him.

When we turned ten, our birthday present was lessons with one of the guard trainers.  Master Stone, as we were told to address him, has been giving us lessons five days a week since that day.  Initially, dad said after I learned the basics, I wouldn't have to go anymore.  It took several sessions of begging for my father to relent and allow me to continue lessons with Kyler.  I’ve always wanted to be a scholar, so in his mind, there was no reason for me to practice how to use a sword and fight.

Oh, speaking of which, I’ve finally saved up enough money to enroll in college to become a scholar.  Since I turned fourteen, I’ve been working after school in the library to save up enough money for tuition.  I’m pretty sure it’s Kyler’s fault that dad refused to pay for any of our college courses.  He has it in his head that he can become this great magician.  While anyone can become a mage if they work hard, it comes more naturally to those who have shown talent.  Talent with magic was not something that ran in our family.  When we were tested for magical aptitude a few years ago, it confirmed what dad had been telling us all these years.  It was no surprise to me, but Kyler was sad that we scored so low.

Ever since that day, all he ever talks about is how he will be a wizard and never have to worry about money again.  It is a well-known fact that if you have a talent for magic, you can make a lot of money for relatively no effort.  Enchanters are the best of the best.  If someone has the talent to understand and create enchanting designs, they can quickly move into a wealthy neighborhood.  Everyone always dreams of becoming one, but very few manage to learn.  Finding a teacher willing to teach you is expensive just to weed out those who don't have talent.  The government has set up scholarships for those who show talent, so they will still have a chance to learn if someone has talent.

Oh, sorry, I’ve been rambling.  This is about how all of my hopes and dreams are about to come true.  Let’s see, I will be getting engaged soon, and I have enough money to pay for tuition for becoming a scribe.  Rodan already owns his own house.  He even spent extra to have a stone floor placed, rather than the wooden one I have now.  I wouldn't be surprised if he had enough to afford a merchant-quality house in the next few years.  Those houses have quartz windows that you can almost see things through.  Yeah, I can open the shutters in our home and see perfectly outside, but then all the flies get in the house.

I know I’ve always wanted to be a scribe, but I’ll let you in on a bit of secret.  My handwriting sucks.  No matter how many hours I have practiced slowly outlining every letter perfectly, I can’t make my script look pretty.  Hopefully, that will be something they can teach me in college.  I love to read, so it makes perfect sense to write what I love for a living.  My secret talent helps me find time in the day to read.

Don't tell anyone, but my talent has never been documented before.  Officially, I can teleport for short distances.  At least, that is what was placed in my talent file.  In reality, my gift is so much better than that.  I can stop time!  There are limits, of course.  Depending on how much ambient mana is in the air, I can only stop it once every 12-24 hours.  I also can’t move anything while time has stopped.  Yeah, nothing at all, not even to turn the page of a book if I wasn’t holding it before I stopped time.

I’ve had this talent for two years.  It manifested around my sixteenth birthday, like most people’s talents do.  It freaked me out the first time it happened.  Thankfully, it only took me a few times to understand how to start and stop my ability.  I figured out that anything on my person while I initiate the time freeze doesn’t get frozen.  I use my freeze most nights to read a book and then sleep.  I still get hungry and tired while time stops, but I can get all of my rest done in a heartbeat, so I haven’t needed to waste flowing time on sleep for a while now.

It was hilarious when I tried to tell Kyler about my talent.  I picked him up to see if he could join the time freeze with me.  It didn't work, but it was funny seeing him hanging mid-air that night.  When I told him about my ability, he made me swear to keep it to myself.  Teleportation is a rare but known talent.  He said people might want to experiment on me if I tell the truth.  I haven’t even told dad the truth about my skill.  Mainly because he never asked, but he is a busy man and can’t be bothered with stuff like that.

Tonight, I will be cooking a feast for dinner.  Dad promised he would try to get off early to spend time with us for our birthday.  We both turned eighteen today, so I am going all out on dinner.  I’ll be making beef steaks, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, and carrots, as well as baking a four-layer cake for dessert.  Don't worry. I cook much better than I can write!  All girls can take a cooking class in school, and it just made sense for me to take it.  Boys are allowed in the class too. But they are mainly there to be around girls rather than learn how to cook.

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A four-layer cake might have been a little overzealous.  It’s ok, though!  I meant to make a three-layer cake instead.  I might have gotten distracted when Rodan stopped by to say hello and burnt one of the cakes.  It was a little embarrassing when he asked if something was burning.  Yeah, we aren't going to talk about that.  Our oven is only big enough to bake one layer of cake at a time, so I only lost one layer with my distraction.  Don't get me wrong, having an enchanted oven at all is a huge deal.  Dad got ours at a discount, mainly because of a broken feature.  Usually, enchanted ovens stop cooking when the food is done.  It still works great. You just need to keep an eye on what you are baking.

Enchanted ovens cook four times faster than traditional ovens that use heat stones.  Adjusting how hot the stove gets with a dial instead of removing stones is a huge time saver.  It is also relatively safer.  Kyler still has a burn on his arm from “helping” me with our old oven.  It was severe enough that a healing potion couldn’t remove the scar.

I had dinner cooked to perfection and on the table at 7 PM sharp.  The cake set me back a little bit, but I made up some time while icing it.  Kyler was nice and set the table for me while I was cooking.  He may be many things, but he is rarely late to dinner.  As we both sat at the table in silence, waiting for father to arrive, I took a moment to make sure he had showered.

I haven’t had to yell at him to take a shower in quite a long time, but knowing him, he would come to dinner tonight smelly just to upset dad.  Thankfully, he wouldn’t take that route to upset dad tonight.  His hair was styled to be shorter on the sides, with the top long enough to be styled in different ways.  Tonight it looks like he opted to style his hair by just drying it off with a towel and letting it be a messy look.  I can’t even get mad at him for doing it. His black hair looked like he had spent time to make it look like that.  I know better, but all the girls that stop by act like he is a supermodel for enchantment advertisements.  He is handsome, don't get me wrong. We both share vibrant emerald green eyes and wavy black hair.  We are both in shape, but he has toned muscles from all of the extra work Master Stone makes him do in the mornings.

“How late do you think he will be this time?”  He said when the silence became too much for him to handle.

“Dad promised he would come home early today.  He knows it’s our birthday, and he doesn’t usually miss those.”  I reply while the meal I worked so hard to make sat enticingly in front of us.  After the first few times, I talked dad into getting enchanted plates to keep the food the same temperature as when you placed it on the plate.  It was an expensive enchantment, but he didn't like eating cold food any more than we did.

“Well, he is already ten minutes late. How much do you want to bet we will have to sit here for an hour before he gets around to coming home?”

“Don't be so salty.  You know dad has a lot of responsibility at work.”

“Fine, but I’m not sitting through another lecture about how I should join the guard and give up my dream of becoming a magician.”

“Dad has no say in what you do with your life.  Do you know where you are going to stay when he kicks you out, though?”

“I can live in the dormitory while I attend mage college.  I’ve got a few people who owe me money, and I have a little money saved.  I won’t be far from covering the first few months between the two.  I’ll live in the poor district if I have to.”

Dad ended up only being a half-hour late to dinner.  He looked tired and thankfully didn't have the energy to pick on Kyler about his life choices tonight.  I don't understand what is so bad about being in the guard.  We don’t have any nearby countries to be at war with.  The emperor conquered the entire continent long before we were born.  He would only need to keep the peace inside the city.  Whatever, I’ve stopped trying to understand my brother’s choices.  All that does is give me a headache.