Realm of the Sun

Chapter 12

Author's Note:

Hello! It's Remi :D
I just want to say thank you if you've made it this far into the book... the writing isn't flawless (especially in the first few chapters, I'll definitely rewrite those in the future), but I love all my characters and the world I built so much and I'm glad you (hopefully) do too! Since it's the end of the month, and exam season is finally over, I can get back to writing without using up chapters I've already written... without further ado, here's chapter 12!

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"Roza's not here today, so I'm covering your lessons."

Solarie looked up from the desk, finding Sylas standing over her, holding a sizable amount of books in his arms. This morning, Sylas had asked Solarie to meet in the library, without telling her why. This was probably the why.

"Where is Roza, anyway?" she said as Solarie stood up to pull out a chair for him. Sylas gratefully dumped the books onto the wooden table, his glasses tilting sideways in the process.

She so badly wanted to adjust them for him. They were just sitting on his nose, crooked, and he paid no attention to it.

"Off to her father's estate, with Gwen. Tomorrow is the interview, and we need to do one last check on script responses." Sylas sat down. "After that, normal lessons continue. Ready?"

Solarie sighed. "As I'll ever be."

The practice questions didn't take long. The first few were easy; Roza and Gwen had done well preparing Solarie for everything and anything. While she hoped it was the same for Nicholas, seeing his colossal failure the first time made Solarie have her doubts. In no time, Sylas was moving through Roza's regular lesson plan, walking through all of the random nonsense that was High House politics.

"Sylas," Solarie whined. She couldn't take it any more, listening to stories about someone accidentally setting a tree on fire that caused a political cold war between the high and low court. "I hate this. No more."

"But we have to. By order of the king, you must learn history even if you can't read and write." Sylas explained.

"Does it have to be boring history?"

Sylas shook his head. "History isn't boring." he looked at Solarie pouting, and reconsidered. "But... we can learn some more modern history. Do you want the origin story of anything?"

She thought for a moment, scanning her brain for any questions she might have. Finally, she found one. "Why do we call Roza the Storm Witch? I know she's super powerful and all, but aren't witches part of Viva folklore?"

"Witches are part of Ardish folklore. I think Roza covered the Ardish invasion already, so I think you can connect the dots. But in short, Roza is the Storm Witch because the king gave her the title after she decimated her Sun Trial." Sylas explained.

Solarie tilted her head, confused. "Decimated?"

He shrugged. "She killed all of the monsters in one go."

"What, she unleashed a lightning storm during her first trial? At fifteen? Is that even possible?"

"It's Roza. What do you think?"

"That's fair."

Sylas chuckled softly. "They had to restart the trial the next day. I was only twelve, but I still vividly remember the amount of chatter running through the halls of the palace. It was a fun time."

Solarie laid her head on the table, closing her eyes even though the sun was still high in the sky. "Tell me more."

Now it was Sylas' turn to be confused. "Pardon?"