We reached a large, imposing door guarded by two stern-faced sentries. The guard escorting me knocked twice, a coded signal that echoed ominously. The door creaked open, revealing a dimly lit chamber filled with shadowy figures.

"Miss Seawright," a deep voice intoned from the darkness. "Step forward."

My breath hitched as I stepped inside. The doors behind me were passively shut with the cry of a dying cat as the rusted hinges protested.

A long, polished mahogany table sat in the middle of the dimly lit room, and various other authorities took the sides of it. Denver, the head councillor, slid up from his chair, which screeched through the floor as he indicated the chair at the furthest end of the table for me to take that was inevitably facing him, who sat at the other end. My designated spot might as well have been a burning cushion and spiky metal legs, with the way everyone was waiting for me to take it.

I strutted forward and pulled the chair back. It was safe from any burns or harmful spikes as I sat on it begrudgingly. Being the centre of attention for people who deal with the law was never my tide. I dealt with shadows and darkness, breaking the rules and running away when in jeopardy of a light switching over on me. That was the tide I was familiar with. But now, it seemed like I was going to get a fair share of this prick I have been successfully avoiding all along.

The head of the council was a very spherically shaped man who had a mountain folded in his stomach. He sat back in his chair, enjoying the soft luxury it served. But despite his visibly weakened looks, I sensed a high aura of dominance around him—one that wasn't to be messed with.

He fashioned a cut on his eyebrow, which raised in my presence. "Ms. Seawright." A stern voice spun out of his throat. "Considering you've come here in peace, shall I drop the formalities?" Mr. Denver, the council head, asked with a glint of a serious smile. His English startled me with the slightly filtered tang of Cheril's accent. I was used to hearing the Kerneigh accent, and hearing the accent of its neighbour from a Wielder felt surreal. Like I was expecting a completely different one from him.

I nodded as I rubbed my sweating palms on my dress under the table. His grin widened. "Alessia, is it?" I nodded again, my head bobbing up and down like I was a jiggling toy.

He took a deep breath, which echoed through the quietness of the room. The other authorities all sat rigid, making no movements other than the mere moving of their chests with each silent breath; otherwise, I would have deemed them as statues or part of the shadows.

Mr. Denver's face was full of bright emotions, all painted and feigned, as he examined a file in front of him. "So, let's begin this section." He said as he clasped his hands together in front of him before musing into his file. The sound of pages turning one by one cloyed with the sound of blood pounding into my ears. "We've got several issues to discuss in your presence, which includes the shipment of two unauthorized humans into our midst. And with the endangering arrival of Everard, which would be a breach of the contract between the two lands.

His gaze fell over me as he pursed his lips, waiting for me to ingest it before continuing. "We shall start with the least concerning matter here. According to the report from our fellow Wileder working in the port of Newhelm, you've brought with you not one, which is bad enough, but three humans here. Am I correct?" His tone was accusing, but he seemed to be amused by me.

"Yes." I said, trying to sound confident. The entire council's gaze penetrated me like countless laser beams burning into my soul. I fought the urge to shrink in my seat. I had mentally counted about six people here, clad in rather peculiar attire, both men and women alike.

The council head continued to stare at me, his brows crooked as if he were expecting a different answer—one longer and more eventful than the one I had procured—and he didn't even bother to hide his disappointment. "I can understand your arrival here, but the increased shipment of more humans? Weren't you the illegal resident there, while, as far as I'm concerned, their residence there was fully legal and authorized?" He asked.

"When I was caught in Kertneigh, I was seeking refuge in their approach, and they even helped me in my escape, exposing themselves as traitors to their kind." I took a pause, unsure. "And if I were to leave them there, they would've been killed."

"So, you chose to bring them here so we would be killed by them?"

That caught me off-guard. "That's a rather accusing assumption, sir. I can fully assure you that they mean no harm."

"What sort of assurance can we expect from you, Miss Seawright?" My head turned to the side as I heard a member other than the council head speak. Her demeanour was still cold and numb, but it didn't shake off the chill I felt in my spine.

Henrietta Yarrow, I have heard of her before. A woman with a slightly round stature but an iron grip of power. She had the wield of mental energy; she sucked it out of people, enabling them to lie or covet her. She was pale with sleek straight light blond hair, a Lnervan with their official green peircing eyes.

"That is, I would take the punishment in case any disturbance were to be made from their side, along with banishing them from this island."

A light smile graced her face. "And if we were to still reject their presence here?"

I deadpanned. "I would leave with them." The council head raised a brow, which was the only indication to me that I had caught them off guard. I was the wielder born for their peace; I was supposed to represent them had the alliance not gone to shambles. If I get killed, the wielders will be the first to get the blow.

Another man spoke, barely sidestepping a chuckle. "You think we would put our people in danger for your mere presence here?"

"No, but I believe you would not put our entire kind in danger for the sake of a few more human presences."

"Don't think too highly of yourself, Miss Seawright. We can easily kill you right here." Henrietta said it hotly, burning me with it.

I felt a challenge sneak past me. "You can, but you won't. My life is very valuable to your dying cause. I have to remind you that it is you who needs me, not me."

The man laughed, "But that horde of humans at your tail said otherwise."

"This is not the only house out here. The House of Winland and House of Maryeh are still nearby; I just have to travel a bit longer by sea to reach there safely." I challenged. It was not entirely true; those two houses were quite far to reach in a single day, and any more than that would require some necessities like food, water, and other stuff. Which I very well know would be the last thing to expect from them.

Among the two houses, which were, as I heard, some of their biggest power rivals, I was their walking jackpot; letting me go would be foolish of them and a deathtrap for me. After the fall of the Breaza Empire, the last empire was under the rule of wielders. Scattered refugees all seek hearth in houses and places that are inhabited and inaccessible to humans. Sooner, the strongest among each house challenged and fought to rule over that area. And that is how the houses were formed. There are about thirteen houses here. Anything more than that was way beyond my knowledge.

Each of the fifteen houses forms a local council, and the five local councils form a state. I heard that a three-state council forms an imperial. But according to the wise, the number of houses didn't mean strength in numbers for wielders. Most of them have a sparse little population, and according to the whispers of Kertneigh, many are still under the clutches of the Savorlean emperor. The current ruler.

My eyes drafted the scene as I went on, already having inflicted too much damage to back down. To back down meant to show that I wasn't a reliable and strong-willed person, and that was the last way for me to be viewed. To be weak is one thing, but to shamelessly admit it is as good as asking to be slaved.

The council head bit his lip and peeled back a layer, letting out a speckle of blood before he licked it. "You may be a child of truce, but that's all that you're worth now. You can't wield or fight. A half-blood that got the short end of the stick in both gene pools. What sort of use do you have other than your birth privilege? Your brother, as far as I've heard, is slightly better than you. But that's it, slightly."

Ouch. So much for not wanting to seem weak. The council members around me laughed, a cacophony of humiliation slurred into laughter. Anger seared through me like hot iron, burning my veins.

"It's true. I may can't fight nor wield, and my only worth is the privilege of birth. But there are plenty of people around with either one or both of the capabilities, but they are as easily disposable because having a wield and fight is a common worth. Mine makes me indispensable, and the biggest evidence of it is the way you're still talking to me when you could've thrown me out the moment I'm in. Which evidently shows the purpose I serve, and for that privilege, I lost a common worth but gained an indispensable one. And don't you dare forget that you're all the reason for my drawbacks; you made me and my family the guinea pigs for the survival of your depleting arses."

Silence. Deadly enough to hear my blood cursing through my veins with full-on adrenaline, the air emptying my lungs. The truth I relieved from them stood in the centre of the table, raw and naked, scratching itself with the sudden light shone upon it as if its first daybreak after decades of being shrouded. As ugly as it was, it helped me break through the demuring smiles of the councils as I bewitched them.

"Ridiculous." Mr. Denver roared incredously, anger popping his veins as he stood up from his chair which fell back at the impact. "Every single one of them matters. No matter how small or big they achieve or change, their hearts of sacrifice is what makes them worthier." He sat back in his seat, anger seethed from him. "Not only are your weaknesses abundant but you also lack the moral integrity. I would've expected better from the daughter of Maise Seawright. You're nothing but a callous shell of her remembrance, a humiliation!"

"I wouldn't have been if Maise Seawright were the one to raise me. If I hadn't been left to rot, to believe that every being was worthless despite being miraculously stronger than us that they still needed to depend on the blood of mere children to survive. And now I've grown but not of my earleir beliefs which only strengthened about reaching here. And it's just too bad that Maise Seawright under your grand protection is not here to correct me." My tone was venomous, enough to add fuel to his fire as the inner demons that had plagued my nights roared. 

"You've crossed a terrible line, Ms. Seawright." The council head exhaled sharply. Everyone's eyes were pinned to me as anger coursed through their veins. I felt like laughing at them. The irony of getting mad when all I did was answer their questions.

"And rightfully so, Derek." A male voice reverted. The familiarity of it made my heart swell with emotions.

I whipped my head back.

Uncle Elijah.

Derek was a set of fuming engines, spouting smoke and air. "You're not supposed to barge in between the meetings, Elijah."

I placed a comforting hand on her back. "And you're not supposed to humiliate our future representative. So Derek, if you wish to start this game, you know very well that it would wound your pride the worst. With that being said, the meeting is adjoined." He announced, and surprisingly, everyone was quick on their feet and prepared to leave the room.

How powerful was he?

"I wasn't expecting you to arrive so soon, my child. Otherwise, I would've been among those who have greeted you first." Elijah smiled down at me.

"I wouldn't have had it not been for Jake's timely arrival. He saved us from them."

Elijah pursed his lips. "I'm a hundred and one percent sure he's the one who set them after you. That boy has a very tainted means of talent in extinguishing the fire he sets."

That gave me a flashback of Jake's earlier threat of how he had threatened to send armed guards our tails if we didn't let him save us. I smiled bitterly in agreement with my uncle, who laughed at it.

"I hope the journey was well?" He enquired, his gaze searching for any signs of discomfort. I smiled brightly at him.

"It was quite eventful but we did manage to get out of it unscathed so I guess it counts." I shrugged.

Elijah's eyes twinkled, his cocoa-coloured sweetness his eyes enveloped me in a warm and protective embrace that I had lacked all those years.

"Come on, I've already released everyone else. They are all enjoying a splendid welcome feast. Hurry before your brother gobbles down everything, including the serving dishes, at the pace he has been going."

My eyes crinkled as I smirked at him. "And from whom did he get that?"

My uncle blushed furiously red in embarrassment. "Of course, your mom. Who else?" He deadpanned.

My uncle, my family.