The Haunted Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 5)

Chapter 1: Beginnings

A rainbow of light splashed the stone floor of the assembly hall of the Corweign Military Academy at Dansestari, its edges spilling onto the first rows of the audience gathered there. Sabrina Devon looked up at the colored glass windows and smiled, glad for the cheerful weather. She had hoped everything today would be perfect, and as the last strains of the military march faded in the echoing hall, she felt that it was.

The graduating cadets were standing in the center of the hall, about a hundred of them, while their families and friends looked on from seats placed at the sides of the hall, facing inward. It was a room full of exuberance and hope. In a way, Sabrina thought, it was a fitting sequel to the last time she had been in this room, singing to her dead adopted father and his people of commitment and courage. At Rayland's funeral, she had passed his saber, as Regent, to the woman who had succeeded him, but today she was a mere onlooker as her brother, Rayland's chosen son, having given one life to Praxatillus, committed his second to the same path.

Sabrina's attention came back to the present as Maratobia, Queen of Praxatillus, began speaking from the dais. It was not unheard of for her to address assemblies such as this, but only a deep personal commitment could have led her to make a long, grueling official appearance when she was in daily expectation of giving birth to the long-awaited Inheritor. The speech sounded less spontaneous than most of Mara's public addresses, and Sabrina thought she could hear fatigue in her friend's voice. But, as always when on display, the Queen looked composed, content to be where she was.

Sabrina had been delighted to discover that Mara was pregnant, secretly cherishing the hope that this time she could play the role denied to her with Mara's other children because of her stay on Earth. But Mara's rigorous schedule had prevented that to a large extent, and after the Great Crystal of Miah revealed that this child would be the longed-for Inheritor, Sabrina had hardly been able to get near her friend. The Miahns were ecstatic at the advent of the next Guardian, after two hundred years without an Inheritor—for most of Mara's time as Inheritor had been spent as a captive of the Xoentrol invaders. This child, it was resolved, would have a much brighter beginning. Mara was surrounded by well-wishers and courtiers jostling for positions in the Inheritor's household, which would necessarily be more extensive than those of the other royal children.

So Sabrina had surrendered her hopes of becoming Mara's caretaker again, just as she had resigned herself to a lesser role in her brother's new life. He had been happy living with Lord Leran and Lady Selémahs, not to mention their daughter Aurora, while he worked hard to fill the gaps in his education, if not his memories. His progress had been astonishing, enabling him to fit in several months of active service as part of his term at the Academy after completing his coursework in record time. He'd exceeded everyone's expectations, rewarding the enormous collective effort that had made this new life possible.

It really had been a group effort, Sabrina reflected wryly, remembering a rare complaint by Scotty of being "everybody's pet project." Of course, everyone's life was affected by nearly everyone they encountered, but usually a fairly small group was responsible for shaping a character. Once upon a time, she would have said her parents and herself were Scotty's main influences, with the addition of their Aunt Euphrasia, who'd been their guardian since their parents' death when Scotty was fourteen, and a few teachers and commanding officers along the way.

Now Scotty had an additional parent—Tirqwin, who had donated genetic material when Scotty's own was damaged beyond hope of repair and had overseen the reconstruction of his body, not to mention the restoration of his fragmented memories. And Leran and Selémahs had become surrogate parents, absorbing him into their family seamlessly. Planetary Defense Commander Treva nar Mukryilla, Rayland's successor, had also had a firm hand in Scotty's re-education, besides telling him endless stories of Rayland until Sabrina thought he knew more about their adopted father than he remembered about their original parents.