Seven Twisted Stars

Chapter 1: Inch By Inch

~HM dimension~

Caesia didn't understand why the royal messengers looked so excited to hear that she was a dormant telekinetic. Nearly a quarter of all Yakora's magic users fell into that category — born with the marks that signified their heritage and power, but never able to touch that power, and thus doomed to a life of even more all-consuming normalcy than those born without any marks at all.

But she couldn't think of another reason for the messengers to be excited. The only other things they'd learned from this brief and spontaneous interview were that she was from the outer colonies, she hadn't managed to find any real work in at least a year, and no, she had never heard of the Doemnian Mirror Gates, whatever in the Gods' names those were.

"Could you please come with us, Miss..."

"Caesia Vallenscey," she reminded them. Maybe that was why they were excited — they had found someone who could offer nothing to society and would be using her for target practice. But no, the looks in the guards' eyes weren't malicious. Just genuinely thrilled to have found her.

"Yes, Miss Vallenscey," the guard said, nodding. "We'd like to invite you to meet His Royal Highness, Prince Ikreva, at the royal palace."

After a long second, Caesia crossed her arms. "Sorry, what?"

"The Prince is looking for someone of your specific nature to aid him in something vitally important."

"Oh, thanks, that's not vague at all," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Really," the guard emphasized, looking almost desperate. "His Highness is in great need of people such as yourself for a vitally important task."

"Repeating the words 'vitally important' will not convince me, no matter how many times you do it," she told them.

But this was the Crown Prince they were talking about, and she was talking to his personal guards. She wasn't sure she really had any choice here at all. "Alright, fine, I'll come," she sighed after a long moment, and with a little more drama than was strictly called for.

"We are most thankful for your cooperation, Miss Vallenscey."

Caesia followed them to the palace with her head held high and a strut in her step. After all, she was on her way to meet the Prince, and she would be damned if anyone still saw her as useless.

Yet still, she wore her sleeves down to hide the marks of her failed magic.

Prince Ikreva was much less...interesting-looking than Caesia would have hoped. He was tall and thin, strutted about in a domineering manner, wore his eyebrows so high they became part of his well-groomed black hair, and was overall such an embodiment of a snooty royal that Caesia thought she could have drawn his portrait before seeing his face and done a better job than nature had.

When he saw the amused expression on Caesia's face, his eyebrows squeezed further into his hair.

"Your Highness," Caesia said quickly, remembering her manners and kneeling down if only to give his eyebrows a break.

"You may rise," the Prince said in a clipped, businesslike tone. "What's your name?"

"Caesia Vallenscey," she told him as she climbed back to her feet.

"And you're a dormant telekinetic from the outer colonies."

She nodded.

"Perfect. Follow me." He spun on one heel and strode toward a doorway at the side of the room.

Caesia hurried after him, almost tripping but regaining her balance just as she speed walked through the door. Inside was a small sitting room, with two chairs on opposite sides of a table so small it must have been put there purely for aesthetic reasons.