Volinette's Song Read Free

edges of the Imperium to see your sons and daughters, your charges and students, participate in the trials that will determine this year's apprentices to the School of Sorcery. Many of these young people come well prepared for the challenges they will face. However, some of them may yet be too inexperienced to prevail. It is to them that I put forth the following warning:
    “ The tests are not intentionally designed to cause harm. They have been refined over hundreds of years to judge and weigh the aptitude and knowledge of the candidate. They are, by necessity, more challenging than anything you are likely to have faced before. Each of you has the potential to be a future Master within the Grand Orders of Quintessentialists.
    “ I will not lie to you and tell you that no one has ever died during the trials. Unfortunately, there have been incidents beyond our best laid plans that have caused some hopeful candidates to pay for their dreams with their lives. However, we will do everything within our power to ensure your safe completion of the trials.
    “ Now is the time for you to decide. There is no shame in stepping aside today and returning later with more knowledge and experience. Decide to stay, or decide to go, but either way, you must make a decision that could change your life forever. Mothers, fathers, siblings, and sponsors, it is time to say goodbye.”
    Maera stood up and cast an appraising eye over the crowd before sweeping down the small staircase and out of the room. Her exit seemed to spark a low murmur of excited conversation. Volinette dared to look at her mother for the first time since the Head Master had entered the room. Reanna's lips were still set in the thin white line that they'd been in since they had been outside in the courtyard. There was a fluttering lurch in Volinette’s stomach, but she forced it away. She’d already made up her mind.
    “ Come, Mother, it's time to finish what I've started.”
    Volinette wove her way through the milling crowd toward an elderly Master standing near the doorway that led out of the High Council’s Concordance. In one arm, he hefted a stack of parchment. In the other, he held an ornate quill. He smiled at her as she approached, and Volinette felt another flutter of uncertainty.
    “ I'd like to register for the Trial of Admission,” she said with more confidence than she felt. “What do I need to do?”

     

 
     
    Chapter Two
     
     
    As a young girl, when Volinette would listen to the tales told of the Great Tower of High Magic and the powerful Quintessentialists that helped to protect the Human Imperium from all foes great and small, she would imagine that the registration all mages were required to go through when they came of age was a romantic rite of passage.
    She was sorely disappointed when she discovered that the registration process was far more mundane than she’d ever imagined. After declaring her intention to participate in the Trial of Admission, the elder Quintessentialist directed her to leave the High Council’s Concordance and proceed down the hall to where a Master would be waiting to assist her with her registration.
    The Master turned out to be a man with glittering black eyes set too close together over a pointed nose. Volinette thought he looked a bit like a mouse and had to bite back a giggle when the irreverent thought popped into her head. The Master glowered at her , and she forced herself to put forward an appropriately sober appearance.
    “As guardian or sponsor of the young person in question, do you release her into the care of the Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences until such time as she is accepted into one of the schools or is returned to her home as an unsatisfactory candidate?”
    Though the Master’s voice matched his mousy appearance with uncanny precision, Volinette wasn’t tempted to laugh this time. Instead, she looked to her mother. If she intended to interfere with Volinette’s wishes, this would be her