Arcane

Chapter 12

Counselor Kilian knew partly why, but it was not his lie to tell the truth to this broken girl. After she admitted about her initial beginning of her training Kilian decided to back off, he knew she never had to answer the questions he was asking her once in her life and it clearly made her feel more closed off.

Kilian grabbed a stack of cards from his desk drawer. 

"Let's play a game." 

She seemed to perk up a bit when she heard him say that. 

"Wha-t game are you thinking?" She said in a sniffle. 

"It's a strategy game called Irrumator. Most people call it tens and twos because the literal meaning in our language is...not so nice." 

She realized he and the rest of the government actually speak their own language that no one else understands to keep people from knowing what they're talking about. He quickly explained the game, after one quick game she instantly understood what she needed to do to win. They were sitting on the floor of the office, halfway through their second game she was about to pull out her winning card when the door opened to reveal a very stressed out looking Master Vitiate. 

She looked up at him, "Master Vitiate, is something wrong?" He took a second, looked around the office and took in the situation, then let out a deep sigh. 

Clearly, he was worried about something. Kind Counselor Kilian asked him if it was time for the meeting, Vitiate simply shook his head. 

"Would you like to join in the next round?" He asked politely. Sora took the chance and placed down her winning card and smiled. 

"Are you joking?" Kilian was shocked after just two games she'd already figured it out, he guessed they weren't wrong about her being a quick learner. 

"Nice job, Sora. It took me at least ten games till I started to get the hang of it." She looked pleased with herself, she had a true smile on her face. 

Vitiate's shell cracked for one moment and he smiled down at her.

They played three games, at the starting of their fourth, a knock came at the Counselor's door. The person standing in the doorway was not a Counselor but an Overlord coming to escort them to the Council Hall. Before entering both counselors stopped Sora advising her to relax, Vitiate went on and Kilian quickly told her 

"If you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to message me through the book system." He smiled at her then they went into the Council Hall. 

When she got in the large hall it was a square shape. It sort of reminded her of a court. There were chairs on the side where the door was, on each wall, but opposite of the wall where they entered was two large chairs on either side for the High Council, then a step up each Hand sat the left hand on the left side of the Emperor, the right hand on the right side of the Emperor, and one step higher sat the Emperor. 

Sora took a gulp and stepped forward in the center. She looked up at the Emperor and his Hands then looked at Vitiate with his straight face but his eyes seemed to be conveying something else like he was telling her something. She was in the middle of trying to figure out what when the Emperor's voice boomed through her ears. 

"Sora Lanaue, age fourteen, three umbras?" Sora took one long deep breath and constantly imagined the view from her favorite tree, the smell, the wind, the peacefulness. "Yes, Emperor." 

He nodded at her response. "Miss Lanuae, we asked you here today because we wished to know more about you. As you probably know, only three percent of the population has multiple umbras and few have more than two."