Prologue
"Shaya, are you paying attention?"
"Yes, Chase, I heard you. Your friend Ian is coming over to today. I got it."
"Never ignore someone, Shaya," My father would have said, It's rude. If you're going to be a lady, you must be polite to everyone."
But Chase was my brother. I was allowed to ignore him. He did the same to me sometimes.
"He'll be here any minute." He continued, "He's very punctual."
That gave him points in my opinion. I'll be the first person to say I'm terribly impatient, so I don't like waiting around for anyone. Today, though, I just wanted to get back to the book I was trying to read.
My father had bought me a new magik book, and I spent nearly all my time reading it. Chase didn't see the appeal of magik, not like my father and I did. I studied every chance I got. I wanted to be a great Sage someday, just like my father.
A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts.
"Oh, that's him!" Chase said, rushing from the room.
Watching him go, I shrugged and returned to my book. If he wanted me to meet this Ian Tyler, he'd let me know. I certainly wasn't going to follow him. And apparently he did want me to meet his friend, because a couple of minutes later he returned to the dining hall.
"Cassie, this is Lieutenant Colonel Ian Tyler."
I looked up, prepared to give this stranger a nod and brief greeting before going back to my book. That was polite enough, wasn't it?
But when I looked up, I found myself unable to look away.
I wasn't sure what I had expected from this Ian Tyler that Chase had been talking about all day, but it certainly wasn't this... this perfection standing before me now.
"So you're Shaya," He said, "I've heard a lot about you."
"It's nice to meet you, Lieutenant Colonel..." I said, surprised to find my voice at all.
"Please, call me Ian. And believe me, the pleasure is all mine."
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