“Thank you all for coming. I won’t waste anyone’s time,” Mariel began. “The reason I called this meeting is to address Ashamel’s worsening attitude—both at home and at school.”
“I understand. The situation with Schemel has had an impact on her, but that is no excuse for her behaviour,” Helen returned.
“If this is about the Galeon, I think it’s fine,” said Terry. “Ashey has the right to make that decision.”
“This has nothing to do with that,” Mariel snapped. “The girl antagonizes me at every moment, and I don’t understand why. I would not have called this meeting if it weren’t for what she did last night. That was the final straw.”
“What did she do?” Terry asked, her voice cautious.
“I caught her stealing the family ring,” Mariel said, letting the words hang in the air. The room went quiet. “Lazy, disrespectful, immature… and now a thief.”
“Why don’t we give her a chance to explain herself?” Marcel interjected. “Ashey, what’s going on? Why are you treating your aunt this way?”
Silence.
“You know Mariel loves you very much, don’t you?” Marcel continued. “She was there for you when no one else could be. Come, sit with me.”
Ashey’s bare feet touched the cold tile. She scurried to the edge of the sofa, shutting down, burying her face in her palms. A warm hand wrapped around her, nudging her into a comforting embrace.
“I’m scared,” said Ashey, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m scared my mom is right. We’re all going to die if we don’t run.”
“Ashey, that is why the Yunnish are here,” said Mariel. “They want to protect us.”
“They killed Kalin,” Ashey shot back.
“For the last time, we don’t know what caused Kalin’s death,” Mariel snapped. “Honestly, how silly can you be? Why would Felis go through all this trouble to gain our trust just to turn around and kill one of our own? And, Ashey, really? If you care so much about the safety of this family, why would you leave for the Galeon by yourself? Why not take us all with you? Just listen to me, and we would all be fine.”
“Give the ring to Ashamel,” Grandma Helen said for the first time during the meeting. Her voice was hard, sharp, and carried authority that even Mariel couldn’t ignore.
“What?” croaked Mariel.
“That ring belongs to my husband,” Helen continued. “In his absence, by law, I am the legal owner. And I want it back.”
“You can’t do that,” Mariel said, her voice cracking slightly for the first time.
“It is my ring, and I want it off your finger, Mariel. Take it off, now!” After a long, tense pause, the ring clinked as it fell to the floor, rolling to Helen’s feet. “You will never be Ashel. The people will never respect you.”
Mariel’s light feet carried her away.
Ashey shook Aunt Terry’s arm. “Can I stay at your place from now on? I don’t want to live here anymore,” she begged. But Aunt Terry was not in the room—her attention had long since drifted elsewhere.
Helen took Ashey’s hand and hovered the golden ring above it. As she lowered it, Ashey flinched, but Helen’s steady grip reassured her. “Don’t worry, the spell won’t hurt you anymore,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” whispered Ashey.
“We should be the ones apologising,” Helen replied. “I don’t know what I was thinking, trusting Mariel knew better than I did. It’s easy to forget that you’re still a child, my baby. Marriage should be the last thing on your mind. No child should bear the burden of their family’s safety. For that, I am sorry.”
“Why did you say those things to Mariel?” Ashey asked, still holding the ring.
“It’s easy to forget where you came from,” Helen said. “I reminded Mariel that she was once like you—powerless and unremarkable compared to Schemel, whom your great-grandfather loved. The day Ashel entrusted Mariel with the family ring, she changed. She believed in herself more, and she has never looked back. Mariel doesn’t need the ring anymore, but you do. You need all the belief you can get if you’re going to get into the Galeon.”
Ashey hugged her grandmother.
“Ashey, care to join me for a walk?” Marcel asked, rising from the sofa. “Just the two of us.”
It wasn’t just a walk. He had intended to take her to the Home of Heroes, where her old home had once stood. The rubble still lay scattered, untouched, as Grandma Helen had been too busy to clear it.
“I kind of wish this didn’t happen,” Ashey said. “Then Mariel wouldn’t have had to take me in.”
“It’s a big house, Ashey. Are you sure you could have lived alone?”
“I’ve been living alone for as long as I can remember,” she snorted. “My mom wasn’t really around after you guys left for Yuna. It was just me, Grandma, and the dossi.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
She didn’t know how to explain that it wasn’t the same. Her mom being home felt… special. Schemel wasn’t always kind, but Ashey couldn’t help wanting her. She still did, and each time she thought about it, a small piece of her ached at how powerless it made her feel.
“Are you ashamed of your mother?” Marcel asked.
“I am,” she admitted.
“I know how you feel,” he said. “I’m ashamed of my brother.”
His gaze stayed on the rubble before them. It suddenly made sense—Pariston had been Marcel’s older brother.
“At least he was just your brother. He’s my father, and he introduced himself in the worst way possible.”
“I heard,” Marcel said, his tone careful. “I’m glad your friends sacrificed so much to keep you safe.”
“And Hamis’ mom too,” Ashey added. “Eden was the one who stopped him.” She rubbed at her arm, trying not to think too much about that day. “I think… she might’ve killed him too.”
“I’m sorry,” Marcel said, but she shook her head. There was no need for apologies. She could not miss someone she did not care about.
“Maybe that’s why I’m the way I am,” she muttered. “Both my parents are not good people. I’m never going to amount to anything.”
“There’s something you should know about Pariston, Ashey,” Marcel said, still staring at the rubble. He paused, as if weighing his words. “Your mother’s best kept secret.”
Did she want to know?
“Long before you were born, your mother travelled to Sexton to further her studies at the university. She met my brother, and they fell in love. She was pregnant with his child—but it never came to term.”
“It wasn’t me?”
“Our father attacked your mother and killed the child before it could ever be born,” he said. “Pariston never knew the truth. He thinks you were his, but that’s not the case.”
The man with metal in his blood. “Is your father still alive?” she asked.
“He refused to speak to me after learning I had married your aunt,” Marcel explained. “A few years ago, he reached out—apologized, tried to convince me to visit—but I didn’t respond. Before Pariston passed, he asked me to forgive him and to try to see things from our father’s perspective but I couldn’t.”
“I don’t think there’s anyone my mom feared more than him,” Ashey said. “Pillard, Pillard, Pillard. I’ve heard her mention his name a few times.”
“Her fears are born from her mind,” Marcel said. “My father retired as a Gaverian long ago. He’s just an old, miserable man, waiting for death.”
“But we can’t leave things to chance,” Ashey said, worry flickering in her eyes. “What if he tries to hurt us?”
“We’ll leave for Yuna at the first sign of trouble,” Marcel said, sliding an arm around her shoulder. “I’ll protect you.”
Marcel needed time to prepare Neva’s room for Ashey, scheduling her to officially move in with the Lloyds at the end of the week. Mariel had been absent since the family meeting, though Helen—now living in a penthouse in Henrik City—said it was because her World Unity Conference was coming up.
On her first night in, Terry and Marcel joined her in Neva’s bedroom to help her settle. Neva and Tori waited on the porch, eager for their parents and Ashey to join them for a movie premiere that night.
After unpacking the last of her things, Terry and Marcel sat Ashey on her bed, facing her with arms around each other’s waist, smiling.
“What is it?” Ashey asked.
“Since I’ve let one secret slip, we might as well share another,” Marcel said.
“I’m pregnant,” Terry added. Ashey was about to scream but was bombarded with hushes from the two. They asked her to keep it a quiet until the whole family was ready to know. Neva wasn’t reliable when it came to secrets.
Later, Ashey and Don Roy stared at the ring together, held between Ashey’s thumb and index finger. They were parked outside the school gate, late afternoon.
“Ashey, you should listen to me more.” Don Roy slapped a golden ticket on the dashboard. Ashey gasped, snatching it and staring.
“One-way trip to Yuna on board the Starcadia.”
“How?”
“I have my ways.”
She slapped his arm. “You made me steal this for nothing!”
“I told you not to do it.”
Ashey sank into the seat, letting her tension go. “Seriously, where did you find this? Did you steal it?”
“Porcia gave it to me,” he said.
“But why?”
Don Roy waved aside her question. He took a soda can from the holster and popped it open. It hissed, and he sucked it down before it spilled. “She has a crush on me, I think. Complicated.”
“As long as she didn’t do anything cruel to you,” Ashey said, “because I would feel awful for what I’m about to say.”
Don Roy’s nose scrunched. He had a sixth sense when it came to Ashey. “You feel bad about leaving your family behind,” he said. “I knew you were going to chicken out at the last minute, so I did some research myself.”
“You?”
“Yes, Ashey, I read,” he said in a scholarly tone.
He reached into the backseat and pulled a file from his bag. “I got curious about the Arden Student Permit. Turns out, you need it to roam New Arden. Tourists, foreign workers, students—everyone needs a permit, or the government kicks you out if you get caught.
“I visited their embassy yesterday and asked about students who want their family to stay at the Galeon with them.”
He placed a bound document on her lap, stacking it with other files and a tourism pamphlet. Reaching over, he showed her a form he had already filled in. “This tells New Arden everything: my name, the school I’m attending, and so on. Here,” he pointed to a blue box, “is where the names of the people who would accompany me go. They need it for housing and other logistics. I wasn’t paying much attention at that point.”
“I’m already lost,” Ashey said.
“Your family can move to New Arden three months after you,” he said.
She read it, nodded, and fell silent.
NAMES OF ASSOCIATES.
The numbered lines went up to five: Neva, Tori, the new baby, Terry, Marcel. Grandma would stay behind. She probably wouldn’t want to leave anyway.
“How come you’ve got no one’s name here?” Ashey asked. “Don’t you want your mom to move in?”
“No,” he said, chuckling. “It’s a fresh start for me. She doesn’t even know I’m leaving.”
She frowned as he finished his soda and reached for her unopened can. Ashey grabbed his wrist and squeezed. He winced but stayed silent.
“Where’s your ticket?” she asked.
He pulled it from his bag. She compared the two tickets—they were both real.
“So, what’s the catch?” she asked. “Why did she suddenly give them to you? Don Roy, what did you do?”
“I told you, it’s fine. I’ll handle it—Ashey, what the hell!” She had both gripped, straining to rip them in half. He lunged to grab the tickets, but she swerved. Holding them taut in opposite directions, she stared at him. His eyes widened.
“Okay, fine. I’ll tell you.”
“Spill.”
“I renegotiated our deal.”
“So, what did she want?”
“The blood of a Sorel.”
Ashey’s joints collapsed. Her eyes, wide as discs, mirrored the horror on his face.
“I know. Super creepy. She gave me a vial to fill. I got a needle and gave her my own blood. She just took it—no questions asked. It’s over. We have what we need.”
Ashey shook her head, trembling. “Don Roy, these people can kill you.”
“Come on, Ashey, she’s just a bored bratty girl.”
“They have magic we don’t understand,” she whispered. “You’ve seen it yourself.”
He laughed. “Too late now.”
She shook her head again and pulled the Sorel ring from her pocket. Cold hands gripped his.
“Get back to the ship and give this to her. Apologize for the fake blood, and promise you won’t try any tricks again. Don Roy, I’m serious.”
“I get it,” he said, freeing his hand. “I’ll do it.”
They stared at each other, the air suddenly cold. Ashey took her ticket and stepped out, keeping the pamphlet for herself.
- Letter of motivation (1,400 words)
- Research proposal in any ascension-related study (700 words)
- Junior High Academic Transcript
- Sponsor’s Financial Statement
- Valid Passport
- Arden Student Permit
- Black Syrup Medication Receipt
- Signed Sansel Pledge
- Boarding Tickets