Chapter 7

Since she received the paperwork, she spent every waking moment doing it.

There was too much to do by herself without some sacrifices but she was managing.

She attended class every night, spent minimal hours sleeping and eating, and spent as much time as she could doing the paperwork. She had absolutely no time for anything that wasn't the damned paperwork the Order sent her.

She didn't need nor want help. She could do this herself, get through this without wanting to kill something or maim someone. It was mostly patience she was getting the hang of.

Kore did not like any sort of schoolwork, and this reminded her of the coursework she would have done in her English school. Giving proof of work she had done such as online and physical documents, including emails and other stupid programs she had to use.

She hated paperwork!

But at least this was something she was actually interested in so she didn't doze off at the first boring statistic.

Most were about new laws that the other two Crowns wanted, ones which would affect all three clans so would need all three Crowns to agree on. Others were statements from Court members that were asking for this and that to be approved, approvals of marriages or bondings, of houses and buildings to be built or redone, of people moving into and out of the Greylight Magical Community in the southeastern side of England and all of Ireland.

If she had been in England and had been allowed the title of Crown and all of the perks, Kore would have had one of the advisors look at all of the documents and give her a rundown of statistics and bullet points on each topic. She didn't have this luxury. She had to go through all of the paperwork by hand and read through it all before she put them into piles of Yes, No, or Undecided.

There was no chance she was going to simply look at the summary the other Crowns gave her. Most of them were very misleading, especially the ones that they insisted were for the good of everyone while in fact, it would have harmed the Greylight Community and the surrounding villages and towns. Kore wouldn't do something that would risk the safety and health of her people.

"When was the last time you slept, Kore?" Richard asked as he brought in a lidded box and dropped it onto her desk where several other boxes sat. He looked to her. She knew she was alert but she also knew that she had dark circles under her concealer.

Kore stood in the middle of the room, documents floating in an organised manner in the air. All of the dozen pieces of paper floating in the air belonged to one single file, and Richard had subconsciously counted nine files in a single box. She brought one paper closer and held it, reading both sides before letting it float back up so it could stay in order before taking the next.

"Hmm?" She looked up from the document she was reading. "What time is it?"

"Reaching eleven in the evening,"

"Twenty... eightish hours ago?" She shrugged. "Something like that. I don't know."

"Isn't that a little too long to be without sleep?"

"Perhaps, but I'm busy so sleep can wait."

His lips thinned into a concerned line. "Have you at least eaten in the last day?"

"I've eaten enough,"

"How much is enough?"

"Richard, I'm fine. I'm just really busy, really very busy because those assholes of Crowns decided to send all of the documents including the ones that the advisors would have sorted out."

He gestured to the other boxes scattered around the room, at least six or seven boxes with three already packed away in the corner. "Are all of these boxes full of documents?"

"Yeah, and I have to read all of the pages before I sign off," Kore said, scanning the rest of the dozen pages still in the air. "Usually the Crown would get an overview of the documents from an advisor but I don't have one. And I don't trust the provided summaries."

"Are they misleading?"

"Very,"

He hummed. "Silas ordered some sushi to the Houses, they should be arriving soon if you'd like to join us?"

"I don't eat fish,"

"There will be vegetable sushi rolls too," he smiled like he knew something. "What do you say? Take a break and refuel because you look exhausted and hungry."

"I am hungry," she admitted before rubbing at the tiny bags under her eyes. "Do I look that exhausted?"

"No, you just look more tired than normal." He smiled as she let the documents float back down to the pile, neatly stacked before she turned around and they both left her dorm.

)()()(

There were a total of six seats around the low square table. All of them had seating pillows as they all sat around it, and Kore was glad she was wearing trousers. She wouldn't be able to sit on her knees for as long as the others could, so she sat with her legs crisscrossed as she knew that was acceptable.

Even with the school being an international school, it had many traditions rooted in Japanese culture.

Kore took the free seat on Markus's left side, only after watching Richard go for one of the head seats.

Richard was to her left, picking up his chopsticks before beginning to eat the sushi on his plate. With Annaliese and Wylan in front of them, Silas sat on Markus's other side.

She picked up the chopsticks that sat to the side of her plate, stabbing the sushi on her plate. She already knew she wouldn't be able to use them properly. She was never able to because she hadn't been taught how to. She was English, she never had the need to learn so she never did.

Each time she stabbed the sushi, easily eating it like that, Markus tutted under his breath and Kore made sure to do it once more to piss him off.

He put down his chopsticks, snatching hers out of her hands and showing her how.

His fingers were soft as he tried to show her how to properly hold the chopsticks, letting her try it out and seeing she failed at it. He then showed her how to clasp them between her fingers and how they moved, then she nodded her thanks and no longer stabbed her food as she could finally pick it up with her chopsticks.

It was nearly two am when they finished eating.

Richard had offhandedly mentioned that she was working through an absurd amount of paperwork. Kore sent him a glare before shrugging it off as something that had to be done. She had no choice in the matter because she wanted to be Crown so she had to act like one, including doing the paperwork and documents. This conversation resulted in her being allowed to use the Library to do her paperwork as it had more room than her dorm.

When it came time to do more paperwork, Kore had spread her papers across the large table in the library. She sat on one end as she worked, letting the papers float over to her when needed as Markus sat with a book on the other side. He was caught up with his studies and kept her company as she worked through the mass amounts of paperwork.

Rain pelleted against the windows, loud and crackling with rolling thunder. Kore was stressed and overworked and as a result, her emotions were causing the weather to be manipulated.

Within an hour, when her head touched the table, she was dead to the world.

Head nestled on folded arms, Kore was asleep while she sat awkwardly at the table. The papers were Magically tucked back into piles as soon as she had drifted off, even subconsciously she knew she couldn't make a mess in here.

Markus waited a few minutes, making sure she was actually asleep, glancing at her frowny face and scrunched-up eyebrows as she slept in the cold of the library.

He left his open book on the table, leaving the library to head to her room. He went past the Magic barrier she had placed around her door with ease. It was based on intent and all he wanted to do was grab one of her blankets, and that was what he did. He brought it back to the library, seeing she was still asleep so he gently draped it over her shoulders.

It was cold on the best of days.

He took his seat at the table and went to finish up his book again. He wasn't going to leave her alone. While he knew she could protect herself well enough, the small amounts of Magic she displayed told him she was capable of damage. He did not trust many of his lower-ranked classmates to not try anything.

He was still cautious of how Davina was acting towards Kore.

A Witch's blood did many things that would be considered miracles, including healing. If Davina got her hands on Kore's blood, it could heal her blood disease. Her blood rage could be healed. It would be dangerous if it ever happened. Markus knew Kore wouldn't allow it but Davina was a crafty little individual and would do the unconventional to get what she wanted, including blackmailing or even attacking.

An hour or two later, Kore now sat with the blanket now draped over her legs as she sipped on a hot coffee as she continued to work.

"I saw there were more applications to join the Key House," he said, turning a page. "All Witches from England. I had background checks done and refused almost all of them. There were three I was unsure of, triplets from the Sallow Family."

"Cera, Bereket, Usher." Kore hummed, resting her chin on her arm as she signed another document before sending it off flying to the finished boxes where it landed neatly on top of other papers. "My cousins from my mother's side."

"Should I approve their request to transfer to the Key Dorm?"

"I don't care,"

"They're Witches, they are your territory so I'm asking if they would be a good part of the school."

She side-eyed him, "Markus, do you want more Witches at the school?"

"Would they outrank you?"

"No one outranks me,"

"Can you control them if there is a need?"

"Yeah, maybe,"

"What do you mean by maybe?"

"I outrank them easily, but to control them like you can control the other Vampires isn't an ability I currently possess control over," Kore shrugged. "I have the ability but I don't know how to use it."

He was silent for a minute, letting the calm atmosphere surround them before he asked, "Out of curiosity, what would happen if you failed the Challenge?"

"One of three things, you lose to use Magic for a time, you lose your Magic completely to the Flame," she said as if it was common sense. "Or you die. It's all about the connections a Witch has to their Magic and to Magic overall. My mum lost proper sight of Magic, meaning she... saw a corrupted version of it within herself, causing her to lose her connection to society and our community. Because she failed the connection, she would have lost her Magic and be transferred to the next Heir or another Crown."

"And if you win?"

Her smile was feral, "The other Crowns will have to find another way to kill me."

Markus stiffened before looking up from his book, making sure she wasn't joking, "They would kill you?"

"They'd kill me for my Magic," she said seriously. "Which would have to be forcefully removed from me. They tried that with my mum. As soon as they knew she was dying, they tried to possess her Magic. Blood calls to blood as Magic calls to Magic. Or they'd try and pressure me into marriage."

"I thought marriage was not a thing amongst Witches?"

"Marriage is just a social construct that states that one should be equal to another in all ways in a relationship in the eyes of the law. Bonding is the bonding of souls, only a few dozen are carried out every year." She sent another paper flying to the boxes. "Bonding isn't taken lightly."

"Who would they marry you off to?"

She hummed. "I don't know. Probably a noble they had under their thumb. I doubt I'll ever get married, let alone Bonded. I've had marriage proposals since I was a babe."

There was a pause.

"They're mostly..." she trailed off, stopping her reading as she tried to think of the right words. "They're more like arranged marriages or marriages for social power and status. It's political rather than for love."

"Would you ever get married for political gain?"

"I would prefer not to legally bind myself to another but I would if it would benefit me," she said. "Wouldn't you if it meant keeping everything you love and cherish safe?"

He frowned. "Is marriage not sacred?"

"Marriage is a piece of paper, a contract to say you and another are one entity in the eyes of the law. If I were to Bond, I wouldn't Bond with just anyone. To bear your soul, your Magic to another and link yourselves for eternity, you would put great consideration into the decision."

"To your kind, Magic is sacred," he stated. "To mine, blood is sacred."

"To a Greylight, Magic and blood are the same. There's a reason why our Family Crest is Lightning Bird." She smiled. "Cannibalistic, bloodthirsty and Magical. It's a family secret that our crest is a Lightning Bird, something the Heir gets told on their fifteenth birthday. Everyone thinks it's just a bird."

"The secret is why I did not know about your secondary gift,"

"Yes."

"Your secondary gift is sought after by the other Crowns,"

She bit her tongue. "They didn't know about it until Christmas. They found out by accident and my mother is dead because of it."

"What happened, if I may ask?"

"Assassination attempt," Kore fiddled with one of her small hoop earrings, strung through the tunnel she had in her stretched lobes. She looked and sounded like this was a conversation about the weather. "Commonplace for an Heir to be targeted at least once before their eighteenth. I was in a coma for two weeks, poison. My mother had enough of waiting to see if my Magic would burn it all off. The other Crowns walked in as she got the poison out of my system."

Markus hummed before letting silence fall again.

"I am curious," he closed his book, setting it down as he properly turned to her, staring as he asked, "How does Magic and blood work in your case? If you were poisoned, wouldn't you be able to heal yourself?"

"It was a special poison crafted to my blood type, meaning healing it was harder than it should have. I couldn't do it myself."

"What about the Magic in your blood?"

She tilted her head to survey his expressions as she spoke. "I let you in on the meeting between myself and the Crowns because I knew the topic of blood would be approached. I know about the blood you tasted. You should be dead or at the very least a withering mess."

"But I am not."

She picked up her cup, smiling into it, "Because I allowed it."

There.

That look in her grey eyes, the one that promised death and danger, yet held the luck of life and chaos. It made him question many things. There was a lot she could be saying but she kept her words to a minimum, letting him contemplate what could be versus the secret truth.

He didn't know what was going on inside her head.

That was the danger.