Lucian’s brain refused to recognize what his eyes saw. But there was no way around it. Vera’s eyes bored into his, a gaze he couldn’t forget for the rest of his life.

  He was too stunned to speak, too stunned to react, as the Transcends took up their seats one by one. As they did, the sconces beside those thrones lit, the flames burning the same color as their robes. A heavy silence followed, broken only by Khairu bending one knee while lowering her face before these masters in supplication. Lucian wondered whether he should do the same, but Emma remained standing, openly gawking at Vera, who sat on the far-right throne.

  “Your Eminences,” Khairu said. “Before the Spectrum of Transcends, I bring two applicant mages for consideration. The first is Emma Almaty, from L5, Sol System. The details and reasons for her coming, you are already aware of.” She paused and pursed her lips. “The other is one Lucian Abrantes, whom she met aboard the ship, Burung, by coincidence. He is from Earth.”

  “There is no coincidence,” the gray-robed Transcend intoned. “All that passes in the universe follows the will of the Manifold.”

  “Very much so, Transcend Gray. Well said. Emma told me his powers emerged on board the ship in a somewhat . . . violent . . . incident.”

  Lucian looked at Emma. When had she told Khairu that? As he felt the sting of betrayal, Emma kept her eyes forward, her cheeks coloring.

  He realized that Emma would have had to tell her. Khairu would have wanted proof that he was a mage, and Emma would have had no choice but to clarify. It would also explain Khairu’s coldness toward him so far.

  “We’ll let the applicant give an account of himself,” Transcend Blue said in a neutral tone.

  Vera watched, her dark eyes gleaming in the light of the fire. A thousand questions ran through Lucian’s mind. How had she gotten here so fast? Why had she been on the ship in the first place? And what was she doing here? But he didn’t dare speak. Not yet.

  “We will begin with Emma Almaty,” Transcend Gray said. “But first, some introductions would be in order. I am Transcend Gray.”

  The black man spoke next. “Transcend Blue.”

  Vera gave a small smile, her scratchy voice sending a chill down Lucian’s spine. “Transcend White.”

  Something in her tone suggested that White was the highest rank possible. If there was anyone he needed to impress, it was her.

  Transcend Gray spoke first. “Emma, the light-message you sent intrigued us.”

  Emma’s back straightened as if she were a private in the fleet being addressed by the admiral.

  “Your convulsions are an affliction known to us. It’s called the Wreaking, and we can correct it with training. It is a sign of great magical potential.” He eyed her with a critical air. “Without our training, you are certain to fray and die.”

  “Then you must train her,” Lucian said, unable to help himself.

  Khairu shot him a venomous glare, while the stares of Transcends Gray and Blue were icy. Vera, Transcend White, watched him with an almost amused expression.

  “Are you ready to learn more, Emma?” Transcend Blue asked as if Lucian had not spoken at all.

  “I am,” Emma said, lowering her head.

  “That is good,” the elderly Transcend Gray said. “The path is difficult. Harder than even the Wreaking you suffer now. And even with perfect training, the Manifold has its own plans. It is the Manifold, and not us, that must accept you.”

  “I understand,” Emma said.

  “Magic is dangerous,” Transcend Blue warned. “It is not a tool that serves us. We are tools that serve it. It is the mage’s lot to promote the values of peace, knowledge, and harmony, to walk the Path of Balance. As soon as a mage loses that path, they lose themselves.”

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  Transcend Gray looked at Emma with great solemnity. “Do you understand what this means, Emma?”

  There was a moment’s pause. “I don’t understand it fully, but I get the general idea.”

  “Though we three are Transcends, even we are not perfect,” Transcend Blue explained. “The path to understanding is a lifetime in the making. Opening oneself to the Manifold is not about power. It is about giving power to ideals greater than yourself. That is the first lesson any mage should learn.”

  “She misses home,” Vera said in her gravelly voice. “She misses her father, her mother, the gardens of her family’s estate. She misses her friends, she misses music, and she misses the false worlds she loved more than her own.”

  A long silence hung in the chamber following this pronouncement. Transcend Gray and Blue seemed to consider Vera’s words.

  “She is too old in the Manifold,” Vera said at last. “I sense that magic has been latent within her since childhood, even if it hasn't manifested. And she has formed . . . difficult attachments to the things and people of this world. That will be hard to remedy, though her potential is great. If we accept her into our ranks, these will prove to be of great difficulty to root out.”

  “I’m ready,” Emma said, almost with defiance. Perhaps some of her former animosity toward Vera was coming out.

  “Are you ready for salvation from yourself, Emma?” Vera challenged. “Many would say death, even by Manifoldic Wreaking, is an easier path than the one that lies before you. There will be many times you doubt yourself in the days ahead. Many nights when you regret your decision to train with us. Often, the object you seek brings you the most pain.”

  “I am here to be a mage. I gave up my family, the thing most precious to me in all the Worlds. My family, who did not wish for me to come. I am ready to dedicate myself to a higher calling.”

  “Are you?” Vera asked. "We'll see.”

  Vera’s sharp words seemed to deflate Emma, who looked down at the floor.

  “And what of the other one?” Transcend Gray asked. “This . . . Lucian Abrantes. We received no word of your coming.”

  That insufferable Dr. Ross must have lied about reaching out to them. “My doctor assured me she would reach out to you.”

  “One of the tenets we teach here is taking responsibility for your mistakes,” Transcend Blue said, somewhat chidingly. “Even for the mistakes of others when they relate to you. For a matter of such importance, you should have appealed to us personally.”

  “I wasn’t sure of the process.”

  Transcends Blue and Gray stared at Lucian, as if he just weren’t getting it.

  “Your Eminences,” he added lamely.

  That did little to thaw their posture. This was not going well.

  Vera met Lucian’s eyes. If Lucian hadn’t known better, he would have said that look communicated that she didn’t know him. That was . . . strange.

  “Lucian,” Vera said. “Your acceptance within these halls would be even more miraculous than Emma’s. I sense great conflict within you. As Talent Khairu mentioned, I also sense that your powers have recently emerged.”

  “Yes,” Lucian said, surprising himself at the steadiness of his voice. “I’ve known for about a month.”

  “As I thought,” she said. “It’s remarkable that two applicants would chance to meet on the way here. As Transcend Gray said, that is no coincidence.” Vera looked at him, her gaze sharp and focused. “Describe what happened on board the liner.”

  Lucian knew what she wanted him to talk about. He didn’t relish having to repeat himself, but it could be that she was asking for the benefit of the others.

  “There was this group of Fleet recruits. They had it out for me the minute I set foot on that ship. They discovered what I was and attacked me.”

  Vera nodded for him to continue. He felt ridiculous, telling her a story she already knew, but he wasn’t ready to call her out. He had to play the game.

  “I didn’t mean to lash out at them. It just . . . sort of happened. Like an instinct.”

  “Your stream, you mean,” Transcend Blue said.

  Lucian nodded. “Their leader, Dirk, started bleeding from his eyes. He turned out okay, but the captain threw me in the holding cell for ten days.” He considered for a moment whether to share what happened on Volsung Orbital, too. “There was one other time I used magic. It was more recently, on Volsung-O. It was to protect Emma when we were attacked by a gang on our way to the gate. Other than that, I haven’t streamed at all. I came here to train. I need to learn to control this power inside me and not hurt others in the process. This is where I wish to grow, to make my home.” He paused. “If you’ll have me.”

  If they wanted to know more, they’d ask questions. But the length of their silence was grating on him, making him feel as if he hadn’t explained himself adequately.

  “If it were not for the sincerity in your voice,” Transcend Blue finally said, “I’d be hard-pressed to believe you. What you did was no easy thing, especially for one untrained. It would seem you have some gift for Psionic Magic. That you were able to control your stream sufficiently to defend yourself and Emma is remarkable.”

  Transcend Gray held up a cautionary hand. “This is not praise, young mage, so do not take it as such. It might mean you’ve gone too far down the wrong path. It’s obvious you’ve trained yourself in some way. Once trained, it’s difficult for a Novice to accept a new way.” He shook his head. “In light of that, I’m afraid I cannot accept you for training.”

  Those words knocked the wind out of him. He opened his mouth to protest, but no words came out.

  “We should deliberate this more in private,” Vera said. “Talent Khairu, please take them to some beds in the guest wing.”

  Khairu inclined her head. “As you command, Transcend White.”

  She gestured for the young mages to follow her. Like that, the audience with the Transcends was over.