Charlotte wakes to sunlight streaming through her window and the sound of voices downstairs. For a moment, she forgets where she is. Then reality crashes back: today is the day. Today she's leaving for Aelwynne.
Her stomach twists into knots.
"Good morning!" Vallea's cheerful voice comes from the cage. "Big day today!"
"Too big." Charlotte throws off her covers. Her hands are already tingling—that familiar warning sign that her magic is close to the surface.
She dresses quickly in jeans and her favorite purple sweater, then picks up Vallea's cage. The fairy has covered herself with the cloth overnight, and Charlotte carefully drapes it back over the bars.
"For safety. Too much jostling and I might get hurt. But I can still hear everything!"
Downstairs, the kitchen is chaos.
Aki argues with Bainto about who gets the last waffle. Broc loads bags into a large trunk by the door. Adelia checks items off a list, her lips moving silently as she counts.
"Charlotte!" Aki spots her and waves. "Come eat! We're leaving in twenty minutes!"
Charlotte's appetite has vanished, but she forces herself to sit down and take a piece of toast. Her hands shake as she spreads jam on it.
"Nervous?" Broc asks, sitting down across from her.
Charlotte nods, not trusting her voice.
"It's not so bad. Scary at first, but you get used to it. And Aki will show you around."
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"If she doesn't get lost herself." Aki grins. "I got lost like five times last year."
"Six." Broc's tone is matter-of-fact. "I had to come find you in the dungeons."
"There are dungeons?" Charlotte's voice comes out as a squeak.
"For detention. But don't worry, you won't end up there. Probably."
Charlotte's stomach churns. She sets down her toast, unable to eat another bite.
"All right, everyone!" Adelia claps her hands. "Bags in the van! We leave in five minutes!"
The next few minutes are a blur of activity. Charlotte grabs her small suitcase—the one she'd arrived with, now packed with her new school robes and books. Broc helps her load it into the trunk of a red minivan parked in the driveway.
The trunk is bigger on the inside than the outside.
Charlotte stares. "How—"
"Magic. Extension charm. Useful for traveling."
Right. Magic. Charlotte is going to have to get used to that.
"Shotgun!" Aki calls, racing toward the front passenger door.
"Guest gets the front seat." Adelia's tone leaves no room for argument. "Charlotte, you're up front with me. Everyone else in back."
Aki pouts but climbs into the back without arguing. Charlotte slides into the front seat, clutching Vallea's covered cage in her lap.
As Adelia starts the engine, Charlotte looks back at the mansion—the place that had been her home for the past week. It isn't much, but it's familiar. Safe.
Now she's leaving for somewhere completely unknown.
"Ready?"
Charlotte swallows hard. "No."
"Good. That means you're paying attention." Adelia pulls out of the driveway. "The scared ones always do better than the overconfident ones."
They drive for over an hour, leaving the city behind and heading into dense forest. Charlotte watches the trees blur past, trying to calm her racing heart. In the back seat, Aki and Bainto play some kind of word game. Broc has his nose in a book.
"How much farther?"
"Almost there. The entrance to Linhollow Station is hidden in a cave. Only magical people can find it."
"What about..." Charlotte hesitates. "What about people like Garka? Can he find it?"
Adelia's hands tighten on the steering wheel. "The station has protections. Very strong ones. He can't get in."
"But he's looking for me, isn't he? That's why I have to go to school. To be protected."
"Yes." Adelia doesn't sugarcoat it. "But Charlotte, Aelwynne is the safest place in the magical world. The protections there are ancient and powerful. As long as you're inside the grounds, you're safe."
As long as she stays inside. Charlotte files that information away, her anxiety ratcheting up another notch.
