Volinette's Song Read Free Page A

last opportunity to do so. Once she was released into the care of the Academy, there was no legal way for her family to interfere with her any longer. Even if she washed out of the Academy without being chosen for admission to any of the schools, she’d still technically be an Apprentice of the Orders. That meant, in the eyes of the One True King, that she was an adult and capable of making her own decisions. Never again would her parents have any say over what she did, where she did it, or who m she chose to associate with.
    Reanna’s lips returned to the same thin, white line that they had been in for almost the entire visit at the Great Tower. For a moment, Volinette was sure that her mother would force her to return home, to re-enter the life of virtual servitude as one of the players in the family business. She was surprised when her mother gave a curt nod to the Master.
    “I do so release her into the care of the Academy,” Renanna said to the Master. Then she turned to Volinette. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Volinette. You know that your father will never welcome you back into his house after this. Are you sure this is what you want?”
    There was a tiny part of Volinette that wanted to go back with her mother. To turn her back on the power she could feel thrumming at the base of her spine and go back to a ‘normal’ life. Or, at least, as normal as her family’s nomadic existence could afford her. That, at least, she knew. It was familiar. If she continued with the Trial, nothing would be familiar again. There was so much that she didn’t know that she would have to learn.
    In the end, the tingle at the base of her spine, the subtle caress of the Quintessential Sphere, convinced her to face the unknown. She wanted to see what could happen. If she stayed with the family, her only prospect s were working as a second-rate performer or working with the crowds. Volinette knew she would spend her life supporting better performers, like her brother or her sister Taryn. Father had said over and over that Taryn was going to be the best voice to come out of the family in generations. Why bother to compete with that when she could explore something that no one else in her family would ever do?
    “I’m sure, Mother.” Turning to the Master, she said, “I’m ready to participate in the Trial of Admission.”
    A small smile twisted the corner of the Master’s mouth as he shook his head.
    “Not just yet, youngster. There’s much to do beforehand.” He nodded to Reanna, his smile gone. “You’ve released your daughter into the care of the Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences. You are dismissed.”
    The Master turned on his heel and began walking down the corridor. It took Volinette a moment to realize that she was supposed to be following him. She took a few steps and stopped, glancing over her shoulder at where Reanna still stood, motionless. She almost felt bad for her mother. She doubted that Reanna Terris had often been dismissed from anything, for any reason. The Master cleared his throat, and Volinette hurried to catch up, stealing one last glance over her shoulder. This might be the last time she ever saw her mother. When she looked back, Reanna was striding up the hall in the opposite direction. It seemed they’d both made their choices.
    “This way please,” the Master said, directing her into a small office off the corridor.
    Once she was inside, he closed the door and went to sit behind a cluttered desk. Stacks of parchment and paper littered the work surface, and towering bookcases lined every inch of wall space in the cramped office. Without seeming to look, he reached up, plucked a sheaf of papers from one of the bookcases, and sat them on his desk. He popped the cork from an inkwell and rummaged about in the drawer for a quill pen that Volinette was certain he’d been using since his days as an apprentice. It was far more drab and utilitarian than the quill the Master in the hall had