Chapter 6

"You look worried," Markus said as the two of them waited in Iscariot's main office in his residence manor.

"It's been a month since my mum died," Kore sighed as she leaned back into one of the plush chairs. "I've moved continents, I'm across the world in a society I've never been in and I'm attending school with Arcanes. And that isn't even the bad bit."

"What is?" he asked, standing with his hands clasping the back of the chair next to her.

He would rather have his hands on the back of her chair to try and ease her anxiety, but he knew she wasn't in the mood for comforts. She was strung high and still angry from before, a dangerous combo because she was a move away from breaking something or breaking down.

From the little time he had known her, she was more inclined to break something before going back to her room to crash into bed. He disapproved of the classes she missed because she didn't want to attend, though Richard had to advise him to leave her alone about it because Markus was the cause of her anger.

Though it was amusing to see her anger and frustration, Markus knew he wasn't safe from any retaliation. She wasn't under him in social standing, being the only Witch helped that fact. The others couldn't tell her what to do just like he couldn't, Markus could only advise and request before watching her consider it or bin the idea entirely.

Unlike the other females around him who were inclined to be quieter but just as dangerous, Kore was loud and just wanted to have fun. She saw no point in hiding her personality, even if she was quieter in the first few days. She didn't allow anything to hinder her, not even the disapproving looks of the lower Nobles who watched on in jealousy as she interacted with Markus and his friends.

She complimented Silas's loudness and his confidence, matching his arrogance stride for stride as they chatted about the attention of the humans. Annaliese's cold demeanour matched Kore's when the Witch wasn't happy or just didn't want to bother with people. Wylan was the more brass out of all of them and Richard had a calming effect on all of them, preventing Kore and Silas from getting into too much trouble.

Ever since the little incident in the nurse's office, the Witch tested him. While Silas could be stopped by a single glare from Markus Alastair, it just made Kore see how far she could get before she got a decent reaction from him. The main way she did it was by wearing the uniform wrong, though he couldn't tell her off because Wylan did the same thing, or eating at inappropriate times such as class.

Food kept the beast at bay with her, he realised. As long as she was fed, she wasn't a menace to the class learning or to her own attention span in class.

"It's raining," Markus said, nodding to the window as he got her attention back again. Kore grinned at the rain, making Markus realise that she was the cause of it.

"I love a good storm. It's always refreshing and calming," she sighed, leaning into the chair before almost jumping onto her feet and strutting to the window. "They're here."

"Who are?" Markus walked over to the window to stand next to her, peering out into the gloomy weather as he saw five people walking towards the building along with Evette. "Who's who?"

"The two with pentagram star brooches are the Crowns," Kore pointed out as those two were walking in the middle of the group with a man between them. "The two behind them are guards, I'd bet."

"And the man between them?"

Kore let a soft, adoring smile onto her lips. "That's my dad."

"I presumed he was out of the picture," Markus admitted, watching her shrug.

"Kinda is, kinda isn't," she said. "He's there when I need him. My mum primarily looked after me but he took me during the holidays and weekends."

"Were they not together?"

"No. The Clans don't approve of him." Kore muttered, only continuing when Markus gave her an expectant look. "He's a Chimera, he absorbed his twin in the womb. Everyone thinks he's cursed because of it."

He raised an eyebrow, watching the group as they walked closer to the building. "He is still a Pureblood."

"Not of the royal clans. His family is more of a wandering type, they don't like to settle nor do they like to get into politics."

"And yet he married your mother?"

"Nope. Did the deed with my mum and I came out nine months later. Marriage isn't a thing with Witches, Bonding is what we do."

"Bonding?"

"Of souls."

He hummed. "That's an interesting concept. So do—"

Headmaster Iscariot quickly poked his head into his office, nodding for them to follow him. After a second's hesitation, they promptly got up and followed him. It took less than a minute before they got to a small room where they would have the meeting.

Kore took a second to centre herself, letting a single breath before relaxing completely. She had no time for emotions, they could be manipulating and she needed to be the manipulator. Hurt egos could be so easily bruised, and the Order was already black and blue with them.

There was yelling coming in from the meeting room already and Kore wasn't even in there.

Her eyes trailed to the guards next to them, eyes turning cold as an equally harsh grin appeared.

One of the guards opened the door as the two neared it, letting them in without allowing a single emotion past their faces but Kore knew. She knew that they didn't want to be here, they would rather be at home with their families. They truly didn't care about this turn of events that caused them to be across the world.

The best thing was that both of the guards were from the Greylight Clan. Her Clan was always in abundance with people wanting to protect and serve, working with the British military more often than not.

"You've got no right to ask her anything!" her father sneered, eyes glowing with electric blue as he glared at the two Crowns. His arms crossed aggressively as he shook his head.

The guard closed the door as soon the two of them were inside, silencing the room so only those from inside could hear anything.

Her father's brash behaviour brought a smile to her lips.

"Hi Dad," Kore sighed with relief.

"Hey, kid,"

Jupiter glared at the two next to him before he turned to her, waving her over. When they were within a foot of each other, they both placed a hand on the other's neck and pulled their foreheads together as they closed their eyes. It was their way of showing affection.

"Japan is doing good for you, kid," he grinned a lopsided smile, the same one she acquired from him.

She fixed the collar of his leather jacket, shaking her head. "You couldn't be bothered to get properly dressed, could you?"

"I don't go anywhere without this jacket. It's my—"

"Lucky jacket, I know." She stepped back, letting Markus come closer. "This is Markus Alastair, head of the Key House and a friend. Markus, this is my dad."

"Jupiter Dunner, none of the title shit that comes with being royal," he stuck out a hand for him to shake.

Markus did as required. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr Dunner."

"Solid handshake, I approve," he sent his daughter a raised eyebrow and grin, making her roll her eyes at him, before turning back to the Vampire in front of him. "Call me Jupiter."

Jupiter Dunner was a tall man with unruly dark hair and stubble. He wore a pair of dark slacks with a grey linen shirt and a black waistcoat, hiding that under a leather jacket which groaned as he waved his hands angrily at the two other adult Witches in the room. He didn't bother with dress shoes, going for black leather boots to match the jacket.

Oh, she hated the absolute sight of the Crowns.

Blackwood was a tanned woman with her brown hair curled into an updo. Black trousers accented the dark shade of her loose blouse, showing off the dainty gold necklace she had around her neck.

Whitestone was a middle-aged blonde man with a permanent scowl. His shirt was baby blue and his trousers were dark navy. He didn't even bother to put on a tie or a jacket.

Both had a brooch pinned to their left breast, the metal was shiny silver in the shape of a star with a coloured stone in the middle. Whitestone had a blue gem while Blackwood had a red gem.

"Blackwood, Whitestone," she greeted stiffly. "This is Lord Markus Alastair, Senior Prefect of the Key House and the highest-ranked Arcane at the school. Markus, they are Crown Blackwood, and Crown Whitestone, respectively. He will be in the meeting with me."

"Kore, this is a Witch matter," Blackwood said, her arms crossed loosely. "He has no—"

"I'll stop you there." Kore raised a hand to silence her. "You do not get to call me by my name like we are friends. It is Crown Greylight, or Princess if you have to. I will be addressed by the title that fits my status."

"Fine. This is a Witches' matter, Princess Greylight, " she almost spat out before turning her dark brown eyes to Markus. "You have no business here, Vampire."

"And you have no business telling me what to do, Witch," Markus said back, his tone as cold as usual. "I was asked by Kore Greylight to attend, not by you. You are only allowed this meeting because Iscariot advised me to allow you entrance to meet her here. I control the Key House and who attends and who doesn't. She is under my protection at this school."

Jupiter nodded, gesturing vaguely to the table. "Let's just sit down before one of us bursts a lightbulb."

The table had six seats, two on each side across from each other while another two were sitting at the ends.

The Crown took two of the seats next to each other, letting Kore and Markus sit across from them. Jupiter took one of the head seats while Headmaster Iscariot appeared and took the last.

After a moment of silence, Iscariot broke it.

"Crown Blackwood, Crown Whitestone," he said respectfully. "Why don't you start with why you asked for this meeting?"

Whitestone scoffed. "We didn't ask for a meeting, we wanted one of our own at the school but you refused and this was the next best thing."

"Why did you want one of yours positioned at the school?" Iscariot asked, raising an eyebrow in question as if he was insulted yet curious about the answer. "Iscariot Institute has plenty of teachers that are certainly qualified to teach at a high level. We don't need anymore, nor are there any positions open for them to take."

"The Order wants to make sure that Princess Greylight is safe while she attends school with Arcanes,"

Kore reframed from rolling her eyes, "I'm perfectly safe."

"You live in a House with Arcanes," Blackwood tried to counter, her voice thick with disgust.

"You speak of my kind like we are savages," Markus didn't look impressed. "I assure you, we are not. Calling us violent is calling yourselves that too."

"A few weeks ago, I cut my hand by accident in class and nothing happened. I was promptly escorted to the nurse's office and I fixed my hand." Kore said, refusing the urge to look back and give Markus a dirty look. "Nothing happened. No one attacked me. No one even tried to get near me."

"Witch blood is sacred. Even the minuscule chance of it ending up in an Arcane's hands is dangerous, you know this, Princess Greylight,"

"And you know that blood taken from a Greylight is suicide for Arcanes," Jupiter said, one hand laying on the table as he gestured with it. "And adding in Dunner blood, it's almost like adding acid to the wound already filled with salt. Even if Kore was attacked, the attacker wouldn't have time to comprehend the fact that acid has replaced their own blood before they wither in pain for hours."

"Blood is Magic and Magic is sacred." Whitestone spat at him, suddenly looking back at Kore. "You're under nineteen, so a minor in our eyes, and because of that, you need guardianship of some sort. You can't be running amok in a different country like you're doing now."

"I am eighteen, legally an adult in states and countries," Kore placed her elbows on the table, leaning forward. "Who would be my guardian then? Would I be allowed to choose who looks after me or would you appoint someone? I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone under your thumb."

"Your father would be your guardian."

Kore made a sound of disagreement, a low and short hum at the back of her throat. "He signed away his parental rights when I was born. He has no legal obligation to look after me nor does he have any right to tell me what to do, in our society and in the human."

"He is your father," Blackwood said. "He is your biological parent and you don't want him to be your guardian?"

"Look," Jupiter sat up straighter, a scowl on his face. "If Kore wanted me to be her guardian, she would have asked. I signed my rights away when she was born but I was there to help if Ceres asked. You have no right to tell her what she has to do. She is emancipated by our laws as well as the human laws."

"She isn't nineteen yet. She hasn't come into her powers and cannot access it fully."

Jupiter scoffed, rubbing a hand down the side of his jaw. "Two centuries ago, the Blackwood family had a fifteen-year-old as Crown and there was no problem. They didn't even have a regent for them. I don't see a problem with Kore taking the Crown title already, she's been raised and brought up to be the Crown. She is Clan Greylight."

"That was then and this is now,"

She shook her head. "You don't want me to rule, that is it, isn't it? What difference will nine months make? It certainly won't make me more appropriate to rule. I've spent all of my life training to be Crown and you want me to be taught more? What more can I learn?"

"You have no control over your Magic and you think you can rule?" Blackwood said. "You caused a storm twice in as many months."

"The first storm was because I was in mourning!" Kore wanted to scream but instead, she slammed her fist against the table, letting sparks of purple electricity escape her skin. "My mother is dead because you Challenged her ruling! You are the reason she died. She wasn't going to do what you wanted and so you Challenged her because you knew you couldn't take her. You were going to do the ritual that would have transferred her Magic."

"You tried to do a transference ritual?" Jupiter said, turning his angry gaze to them slowly. The electric blue was glowing deeply as the Crowns' eyes also glowed a strange shade of green.

"What is a transference ritual, if I may ask?" Iscariot asked.

Kore gritted her teeth, keeping an eye on her father's temper. "It helps transfer the Magic from one person to another, usually done between the Crown and Heir when the Crown dies. But if the Crown is alive, the Magic has to be willingly given or it won't leave the owner."

"Your mother decided she didn't want to give up her Magic, as was the Challenge's consequence if she lost and she did. She died because she didn't want to give up her Magic,"

"No, she didn't want to give her Magic to you," Kore shifted her feet until she hooked her ankles behind two legs of her chair, it helped her settle herself and her Magic as anger hummed through her blood. "The Challenge, with the terms you wanted to place, would have given her Magic to you. Magic that was never supposed to go to anyone but a Greylight."

"There is no such thing as Greylight-only Magic, just like there isn't Blackwood or Whitestone Magic," Blackwood continued. "You need to stop being irresponsible and come home. You've wasted enough time and there are a lot of preparations that need to be done before your Magic inheritance."

Kore just laughed at that, a condescending sound that vibrated in her chest as she grinned with a look that stated she knew something they didn't.

She had already gone into her inheritance after her mother died.

She gained it a single moment before her mother sent her a sad smile and dropped onto her knees, dead on the ground. Kore had screamed, though most people thought it was out of grief and emotional pain when it was actually out of physical pain.

The scar still tingled when she remembered the moment she was struck with lightning, transferring Magic from mother to daughter, from Crown to Princess.

Sliding the chair back a few inches, Kore shrugged off her blazer and placed it across her lap. Kore crossed her arms very loosely, looking at her nails with a bored expression.

Markus and Iscariot weren't quite sure what was going on, but Markus knew it had to do with the scar on her shoulder and back. It stood a shade or two darker but this time there was a silver sheen to it, letting the light bounce off as if it was a lightning bolt.

The Crowns stiffened, displeasure and a great deal of disbelief crossing their faces as Jupiter leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile on his lips as he rubbed at his chin with a shake of the head at her.

"Preparations before my inheritance of Magic, what preparations would they be?" Kore hummed, caressing the beginning of the scar as it sat near the collarbone and joint. "I'm fine with not having the Crown title until I am nineteen, I have no problem with that. But I do have a problem with you thinking you have any right to tell me what to do or what I should do. There are no laws that prevent me from taking the Crown at the age I am."

"Yes, there are."

"No, there aren't. You tried to pass one not even an hour after my mother's death. You tried to pass it and I voted against it, as was my right as heir."

"Which you had no right to do,"

"Didn't I?" Kore ran her tongue against her teeth. "I am Clan Greylight. I have come into my Magical inheritance and I have been raised to be the Crown of my Clan. The only thing stopping me from taking my rightful place on the Order is you."

"You're a child," they scoffed. "You know nothing of the Magic in your veins. You have no goals or ambitions to aim for. You don't even have a Clan anymore."

Kore took a breath to calm herself. "The guards you brought with you, they are from the Greylight community. Why do you think the best guards are from my Clan? We value loyalty, trust, and family. My ambitions were to go to university, study, have fun, and fall in love before I have to take the Crown title. You decided my mother and her goals weren't fit to rule so you got rid of her. You won't be able to get rid of me."

"You have no right to rule your Clan,"

"I have no right to rule my Clan? You have no right to tell me what to do with my Clan. It is my birthright by Magic and by blood," Kore's eyes glowed with silver anger, clenching her hand on the table as the table rattled in place. "While you are part of the Order of Witches, you have no authority to tell another Crown what to do. You can Challenge me if you want because I will not stop. I will have my title and my crown."

Their lips curled up dangerously as the elder Crowns looked at each other before glaring back at the young Witch. "Crowns Blackwood and Whitestone Challenge Princess Kore Greylight for her worthiness and right to use Magic and rule her Clan and Witches."

Kore grinned but it was more of a baring of teeth than a pleasant smile. "That's settled then. By our laws, I have until the next solstice to prepare."

"We will see you in the summer then,"

"Wrong. Any Challenge issued and accepted occurs on the next solstice. But the law states that the Challenged has to be nineteen." Kore stood from the table, placing her blazer over her arm. "I don't want to see or hear of hide nor hair of either of you or your Clans until the Challenge. Any political issues or laws to be modified or made will have to go through me also, until the Challenge. I will act as Crown until the Challenge, regardless of what you want. Unlike you, I won't be petty and I will actually try to consider my Clan's opinions."

"That isn't one of the conditions."

"Telling me to do something is like telling lightning to strike," She turned around and began to leave the room, all of the lightbulbs shattering as she turned her head back to look at the Crowns. "We will take it into consideration but we will do what we want and leave whatever we touch destroyed. I want you out of the country by nightfall."

Everyone but Jupiter stood up, the Dunner Witch staying in his seat as he sighed.

"You expect us to treat you like you are one of us?" Blackwood said.

"I expect you to treat me like any other Clan leader." Kore turned on her heels, standing promptly with her shoulders back and with confidence that was beyond her years. "By law, I am allowed to see to any legal or Witch matter that the Crown cannot attend to. As heir, and not Crown as you state, I can and will attend to the duties of a leader because there is no Crown at the moment."

"I will have the Prefects escort you out," Iscariot said to the adult Witches as they all stood. He nodded for Markus to follow Kore's lead and leave.

They waited in Iscariot's office, needing to speak to the headmaster before they left for the House again. He sat in one of the chairs with a book in hand, shifting his gaze from the pages to Kore's tense form before the window. The Witch looked out the window and into the storming weather, watching the Crowns and her father leave.

"Next time you go behind my back about my Clan and matters," Kore warned, not moving from the window. "I will make sure you regret it."

"There is nothing you could do,"

She glanced back at him, over her shoulder with dark, blank eyes before returning to the sky again. "We'll see."

She took a pause and walked to the other chair, promptly sitting down. She crossed her legs at the knee and leaned back.

"Don't mess with politics you don't know about," she said. "You had no right to agree with a meeting between them and me without telling me and letting me approve."

"Would you have gone to the meeting if I told you beforehand?"

"I wouldn't have agreed,"

"Exactly," he said. "This tiff between you and your elders would have affected the school and I could not allow that to happen. There is a reputation to uphold at Iscariot Institute."

She laughed, a sound without amusement or humour coming out of her with a sudden sneer on her lips. "Do you realise that I more or less signed my own fucking death warrant?"

He stilled, "What do you mean?"

"The Challenge," She rubbed her hands together before clasping them together. "Only a third of Witches survive it. And only a seventh of those who survive, keep their Magic. I have a four per cent chance of surviving and keeping my Magic. The Challenge isn't about who is worthy and who is not, it's about strength and connection with Magic with the other Clans. A connection which I do not have!"

Markus hesitated at that, wanting to somehow comfort her but he knew she would not welcome it. He thought for a moment. "What kind of connection does it have to be?"

"What?"

"Is there a specific type of connection you need to have with the other Clans, emotional, or physical?"

She blinked. "It's more than the Magic which connects us needs to be solid, than an actual connection."

"Then do what a new ruler must do, rule," he said. "Take the power you have and start shifting things into your favour by getting into the good graces of the Clans. Start with your own and work outwards, good word of mouth is always strongest when several people talk."

Kore paused, letting her thoughts collect and figure into a plan before she stood. She got up from the chair, leaving the blazer there as she soon stepped in front of him. Markus sat up, placing the book next to his glass on the table as he warily watched her.

She clasped both of her hands on his jaw, letting her eyes flutter to half-lids as Magic heated her palms. He knew she wasn't going to hurt him, there was something that told him this.

"I knew you would have some uses!" She set a soft kiss on the side of his jaw, more of a chaste peck than anything before she jumped back. Kore grabbed her phone from the blazer and hung the blazer on the crook of her arm before strutting out of the room with a springiness to her steps.

Markus touched the cheek she had pecked, a warmth spreading from there. The ache in his gums seemed to dull along with the thirst. Her Magic had influenced his body's need for blood, a nice relief from the agony all Vampires were in all of the time.

He was surprised by this sudden show of affection from her. He had held her by the injured wrist a few weeks ago and yet she wasn't scared of him. He had shown anger and she had no fear. She had the audacity and gall to touch him, something very few could imagine, let alone had the courage to even attempt.

There was a freshness about her cautiousness that was more about uncertainty than what she knew of him and Vampires. It wasn't the Magic in her that made her courageous, it was the fact she wasn't scared of much. Besides spiders, as the Key House found out one evening when a larger-than-average spider had wandered into the living room and she blasted the thing to oblivion.

They couldn't blame her. Eight eyes and legs were still too much for some of them too.

Kore looked at him like he was her equal.

Besides his parents, no one looked at him like that. He was always better than everyone in their eyes, purely because of his lineage. It didn't matter that there were five royal families, the Arcanes always revered Vampires more. His family didn't make him any more a god-like figure than it did Kore.

He liked having an equal.

"I saw that Kore left," Iscariot said as he came in and closed the door. He looked at him, smiling cheekily. "You have a little something on your cheek."

Markus simply wiped at it and didn't comment or let any expressions pass through his face. He took his red glass and sipped at it.

The sneaky little Witch had exchanged his allotted blood, O- for real AB+, his favourite.

It was also her blood type.