Ava didn't sleep.
She lay in her small bed, staring at the ceiling as moonlight filtered through her window, painting shadows that looked like accusing fingers. Every time she closed her eyes, she heard it again, that official's voice, clear and certain, calling a name that shouldn't have been on any list.
Ava d'Lion of the coastal district.
Impossible. She'd never applied. Never filled out forms or taken entrance exams or done any of the things Jennifer had spent months obsessing over. And yet somehow, her name had appeared at number twenty. The final selection. The last spot that should have gone to someone who actually wanted it.
Someone like Jennifer.
The look on her friend's face, former friend's face now maybe, was burned into Ava's memory. Betrayal and Fury. Jennifer would probably hate her now.
"How, Ava?"
She didn't know. She had no idea how.
The crowd had parted as she'd stumbled forward, faces blurring together, some curious, some suspicious, most just confused. Who was this girl? The d'Lion family barely existed in town records. No connections. No wealth. No reason to be chosen over the hundreds of qualified applicants who'd actually tried.
The official had handed her a sealed envelope, his expression carefully neutral. "Congratulations. Your acceptance packet contains all necessary information. You'll report to the Academy in three weeks."
Then it was over. The ceremony ended as people dispersed, whispering.
She'd tried to find Jennifer after the ceremony, but she was gone. Disappeared into the crowd with her family, leaving Ava standing alone with an acceptance she'd never asked for.
Ava had run home, the envelope in her hand.
How did this happen? Someone had done this. But who? And why would anyone want to send her—powerless, clumsy, forbidden Ava—to the Academy of the Thrones?.
The questions circled endlessly until the sky began to lighten with dawn.
Now, as dawn light crept across her floor, she heard noise from the kitchen. Aunt Lisa was up. Making breakfast by the sound of it; the clatter of pans, the scrape of a spoon against ceramic. She dragged herself out of bed, her body heavy with exhaustion. She needed to talk to Aunt Lisa who had been sleeping by the time she came in last night.
"Aunt Lisa" she said as she walked in "you shouldn't be"
"It's fineee" Lisa smiled as she turned but then her smiled dropped almost immediately. Ava's face looked devastated and her lenses were flickering, showing traces of her red eyes "Ava!" She screamed as she slowly walked towards her "what on earth happened!" She touched her face examining it up and down with worry all over her face "did you cry? Did someone offend you?"
Ava shook her head with a sad expression and handed the envelope to Lisa
Lisa took it surprised at what it could be "This is a letter into the academy of the thrones…" she said, with it were official documents. Academy regulations. A schedule. A uniform request form. "Ava d'Lion? Did you register behind my back?" her aunt screamed "I didn't Ava screamed back, I'm just as surprised to see my name there as you are"
Her aunt stepped backed confused and shocked
"Who would do this aunt? Jenifer needed this and she couldn't get in, now she hates me. And here I am being sent to the Academy of the thrones, who know if I'd be able to spend 2 days there alive "
Aunt Lisa was breathing slowing, trying to think of all possible cases "this is dead crazy, you can't go to the academy of the thrones, you just can't, no no no"
"We have to go to the registration office right away"
"But you're not strong enough to step out, the doctors said you need to be resting"
"If I don't go Ava, I might as well lose everything, go get ready now!" She went in surprisingly energized to get things ready and some documents from her little study in less than 30 minutes.
—
The registration office didn't open until nine, but they were there at eight-thirty, waiting in the morning chill.
Lisa had barely spoken a word during the ride (what's their means of transportation). The anger radiating from her was palpable.
Ava felt numb. Disconnected. Like she was watching this happen to someone else.
The official who finally let them in was the same one who'd called her name; a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair and the permanent expression of someone who'd dealt with too many complaints and requests over too many years.
"Let me guess," he said before they could speak. "You want to withdraw." he said, noticing the look on their faces.
"There's been a mistake," Lisa said firmly. "My niece never applied to the Academy. Her name shouldn't be on that list."
"No mistake." The official pulled up his records, turning the screen so they could see. "Ava d'Lion. Application submitted six months ago. Entrance exams completed four months ago. Scores high enough to qualify. Everything in order."
"That's impossible," Ava said. "I never took any exams."
The official's expression didn't change. "According to our records, you did. In the western testing center with multiple witnesses and Proctor signatures."
"Then your records are wrong!" Lisa's voice rose. "My niece has been working in a bakery for the past six months. She hasn't set foot in any testing center."
"Nevertheless—"
"Can we see the test?" Ava interrupted. "The actual exam I supposedly took?"
The official hesitated. "That's… irregular."
"So is being selected for something you never applied for." Ava leaned forward, meeting his eyes. "Please. I just want to understand what's happening."
Something in her tone must have reached him. He sighed, typed something, and turned the screen again.
There it was. An exam, with multiple sections; academic, elemental aptitude, political theory, combat readiness. All completed, scored and certified.
All in handwriting that looked exactly like hers.
Ava felt the floor tilt. "I don't understand," she whispered.
"Look," he said quietly. "I can see you're scared after first making the decision. A lot of students are, when reality hits. But the Academy—"
"I want to withdraw," she said quietly.
"Whatever it takes. She can't go to the Academy." Aunt Lisa added
"Why not?"
"Personal reasons." Ava responded
"Not good enough. Academy selections are binding unless—"
"Unless she's medically unfit." Lisa pulled out a folder she'd prepared. "I'm a certified healer. I can provide documentation of—"
"What condition?" The official's eyes narrowed.
Lisa's hesitation lasted only a heartbeat. "Chronic elemental instability. Potentially dangerous in high-stress environments like the Academy. She could be a risk to other students."
The official studied the paperwork. Then he studied Ava.
"She looks perfectly healthy to me."
"It's an internal condition. Not visible to—"
"Ma'am." The official's tone shifted, becoming formal and cold. "I'm going to be honest with you. Every year, we get few numbers of people trying to back out after selection. Stage fright. Second thoughts. Family pressure. And every year, they try the same tricks. Fake medical conditions. Sob stories."
"This isn't a fake—"
"The Academy of the Thrones is the most prestigious institution in Avalon. Selection is an honor. If your niece is healthy enough to work in a bakery, she's healthy enough to attend." He closed the folder and slid it back across the desk. "Unless she's genuinely incapacitated—and I mean documented, her name stays on the list."
"But—"
"The only other option is family emergency. Death of an immediate relative. Or—" He paused, his expression softening slightly. "—if the student themselves is deceased. Those are the only circumstances under which a selection can be revoked after the public announcement."
The words settled over them like a shroud.
"So what you're saying," Ava heard herself say, "is that unless I die, I have to go."
The official's silence was answer enough.
"You report to the Academy in three weeks. Transportation arrangements, required supplies, orientation schedule. Everything you need are all in the documents given to you"
"This isn't over," Lisa said quietly, holding Ava's hands. "We'll find a way."
"I'm sure you will." The official's expression said he'd heard this before. Many times. "But in the meantime, I'd suggest your niece start preparing. The Academy doesn't accept excuses for poor performance."
They walked the long distance home in stunned quiet.
Ava's mind was spinning, trying to find a way out, trying to understand how her entire life had been upended in less than twenty-four hours, could this be for the best. Deep down, she had wanted this, but no one needed to tell her that she was a misfit.
She had three weeks before she was supposed to report to a place that could expose everything, her heritage, the fact that she had no powers in an institution designed to train the most gifted elementals in Avalon.
"We'll figure something out," Lisa kept saying. "We'll find a way."
They'd reached a street. When they saw a carriage sat in front of Jennifer's house. An expensive carriage with the kind of detailing that screamed wealth and influence. And standing on the front steps, Jennifer's parents were talking to a woman in formal Academy robes—an official, judging by the insignia on her shoulder.
Ava's stomach dropped.
"Is that—" Lisa started.
"Jennifer's house," Ava finished.
They watched as Jennifer appeared in the doorway, her face blotchy from crying. Her mother's arm was around her shoulders, speaking urgently to the Academy official, gesturing with her free hand.
The official was shaking her head firmly.
Jennifer's father stepped forward, his voice rising, Ava couldn't hear the words, but the tone seemed desperate.
The official said something final as Jennifer's mother's face crumpled and Jennifer looked up.
Her eyes met Ava's across the distance.
For one long, terrible moment, they stared at each other. Once bestfriends but now separated by a gulf.
Then Jennifer's expression hardened. She turned and went back inside, slamming the door.
The Academy official climbed back into her carriage and drove away.
And Ava stood frozen in the street, it seemed Jennifer's family had tried to buy her way onto the list. And been rejected.
Ava let out a sad heavy sigh, feeling bad for Jennifer
"Can a position be transferred"
"I doubt that, everything is based on merits, you heard the official"
"Come on," Lisa said quietly, tugging Ava's arm. "Let's go"
But Ava hesitated as she couldn't look away from Jennifer's house, where her best friend was probably crying again, hating her again, for probably stealing a future that should have been hers.
And the worst part was the tiny voice in Ava's head that whispered:
But what if you could go? What if this is your chance to be someone? To explore? to matter? to experience the most talked about academy?
She crushed the voice immediately because doing all that meant dying. Talk about future impossible tense.
They got to their cottage by the end of the town.
As they got in, Lisa was already making plans; talking about speaking to lawyers, about finding loopholes...
"It's no use." Ava said
"Huh?"
"If we keep rejecting, it might draw attention towards us aunt. And if we get that, it's in no matter of time, people will find out what I am"
"Are you suggesting you go to the academy?"
"It might be the best option right now to keep a low profile and since he mentioned no excuses for poor performance, I might be expelled before I even get started"