“I don’t want to attend Wizard Prep, mum!” I yell down the stairs of my family’s little cottage on the edge of the forest as I shove clothes into my large, leather traveling bag. I haven’t used this bag since I was a child visiting my father’s family far far away.

“Of course you do! Everybody in Starstorm does!” Her voice calls back up the stairs.

I stomp my way down a few steps and duck down to see her in the kitchen preparing lunch. “I am not everybody. In fact, I’ve been told multiple times how I am nobody. And we don’t live in Starstorm!”

“That’s silly dear.” She smiles as she continues to chop veggies from our garden. “Nobody can’t be a wizard.”

“That means everybody is a wizard.”

“Precisely. So, you are a wizard, which makes you everybody, and you will love it there!” She shoves all the veggies into a boiling pot of broth.

“I’m not a wizard! Do you understand how unlikely it is for someone of non-magical background to be magical, and show that magic as a teenager?”

“Can’t say I do, dear.”

“Less than point zero zero zero two percent, Mom!” 

“Well, statistical improbabilities happen all of the time, sweetie!”

“No, mom. No, they don’t! That’s what makes them statistically improbable!”

I stomp back up the steps and plop onto my bed.

What difference does it make what I pack? Not like I am going there to impress anyone. And impress nobody I fully intend to do.

When I eventually find the energy to stand, I zip up my bag and toss it over my shoulder. Is the holiday break really over already? Can’t I have two more days before my whole life was uprooted?

Will they even let me paint at Wizard Prep?

Why don’t I have a choice in the matter? Mom just signed the papers without even asking what I wanted.

What are two and a half years of wizarding school even going to teach me… even if I am a wizard?

I’m not.

But if I am.

Ugh.

I haven’t even made anything cool fly, or disappear, or whatever wizards do since that day at school. And believe me, I tried all night every night. Sleep was a thing of my past.

A carriage from the capital city of Starstorm rolls on up to my house before I even make it down the stairs. Which only makes things stranger. Why do I deserve such a service?

And who is paying for it? Because it certainly isn’t Mum and Dad.

I hop into the carriage, carried by four large white horses and driven by a man who only bows, and never speaks, and I am off.

Mum disappears from my window as the horses clomp along until there is nothing to see besides the passing trees and occasionally folks from the forest peeking out to see who the weirdo in the city carriage is. 

We stroll past my old school, the largest building in my whole village. Students have started to clamor in the door for their first day back. Even Marcus Mudfoot, who turns to watch my carriage as it passes.

I sink as low as I can in my seat so he can’t see me. At least one good thing will come of this: he’ll forget I existed.

Here, in the plush seat of the carriage, I fall asleep for the first time in days.

When I wake, I have no idea how much time has passed, but it must have been hours because when I look out of the window, I am no longer in a forest.

Instead of large trees poking into the sky, there are tall buildings of stone that reach nearly as high and as numerous as the trees I already missed.

The streets are not paths of dirt and jagged rocks, but polished cobblestones of blueish-grey with a golden shimmer all through them.

Folks hustle and bustle around the streets, wearing clothes in colors I’ve never even seen before. Where are all the browns and greys?

Everyone looks so… busy. They walk quickly and bump into each other as they go. Where I came from, things are a lot slower.

I like slower.

The carriage stops when it pulls up to a building so tall, so wide, and so majestic, that I can’t take it in from just the tiny window of the carriage. 

When I step out, I can see it in all its glory. 

Wizard Prep.

The most prestigious wizard school in all of the Starstorm kingdom. And Starstorm kingdom is the most magical kingdom in the five neighboring kingdoms.

So… it’s pretty magical.

The entrance to the building is inside a large courtyard that the building wraps around like a crescent moon. It reaches at least six stories high and stretches so far out I can’t even hope to measure. It is all built out of glistening solver stones that shine and sparkle in my eyes.

Architecture like this, I’ve only seen in paintings. It is beautiful. Not in the same way my forest village is beautiful, but beautiful nonetheless. Without my consent, a smile rips across my face because even though I don’t want to be a wizard, there is something freakishly cool about being here.

That feeling wears off quickly once I walk into the building and realize…

… I have no idea where in the name of Merlin I am supposed to go!

The man driving the carriage is long gone, and everyone running around inside the building all look like they have somewhere important to be.

I feel so small in between these students who actually belong here. They all appear so confident and happy, laughing alongside their friends with giant, leather textbooks in their arms. I haven’t had friends to laugh like that in over a year. And in my gut, I don’t believe that is going to change here.

I am alone in this new adventure that I am not supposed to be on.

After a few spins in circles, and a couple of tall students bumping into me and telling me to “Watch it!” I finally spot a large rock in the wall that is a slightly lighter color than all the rocks that make up the rest of the wall. It reads, “Admissions Office,” in fancy letters carved into the stone next to a set of beautiful carved wooden doors.

That is as good of a place to start as any.

I push through the thick doors to the office where one, single, small, elderly woman sits at a tall wooden desk stained the same deep red as the doors. The desk is so tall, it nearly buries the woman behind it. All I can see is the top of a grey bun and half of a set of golden spectacles.

“Yes?” The old woman asks in a crackling voice. “Can I help you?” She attempts to stand to see over the desk, but somehow only gets shorter.

I am no mountain. In fact, my small stature is half the reason I got picked on at my old school. But even at my height, I can lean over the desk with a small push-up from my hands and meet the eyes of the old lady.

“Uh, hey. I’m Allen. Allen Silverlake. I’m new here,” I say as she blinks at me like even through her thick glasses, she still can’t quite make me out.

“New?” Her voice only gets drier each time she speaks. “Wizard Prep doesn’t get new students this time of year.” 

She starts shuffling through papers. I didn’t expect her fingers to be so nimble from the rate of her speech, but she gets through her entire stack in seconds. “No. Sorry. No new student paperwork here.”

“Oh…” I say, sadder than I think it should be. I don’t want to be here anyway. Why did it come out disappointed? This is an excuse to go home. Turn around. Ask for a new carriage. Forget this happened. Easy peasy. “I have a formal invitation, though.”

Why did I say that?

Why did I open my stupid puny mouth?

“And invitation, you say?” The old woman asks. She doesn’t look up from her paperwork, but she sticks out her hand to collect.

“Uh… yeah,” I rummage around my leather bag and pull out the slip of paper that I still can’t believe an actual prince gave me. “It’s from—” 

I go to explain the bizarre circumstance that led me here, but before I can, the double doors slam open again.

The old woman quickly pops up to stand on the seat of her chair and bows her head. “Prince Rhettlin!” 

Sure enough, the handsome, blonde fifth prince of King Liam stands in front of me once more, this time not in full royal attire, but rather in casual clothes.

Casual, but expensive.

Anything I want to say hardens in my throat so I can hardly breathe.

“Sorry, Linda, I did not get the paperwork filled out in time. That is entirely my own fault,” the prince says, not even looking at me as he passes to greet the old woman with an outstretched hand. He is tall enough that he practically stands eye-to-eye with her as she stands on the chair.

Old Lady Linda puts a loose bit of her grey hair that had fallen out of her bun behind her ear before she grabs the prince’s hand to shake.

I can’t blame her. Who isn’t infatuated by someone as attractive as him? The lump in my throat has no room to speak, that’s for sure.

“No worries, Your Highness,” Old Lady Linda says with a blush that lights up her otherwise greying skin. “Must say it’s odd to have a new student in the middle of a term, but if you know about it, I see nothing to report.” 

“Thank you, Linda,” the prince says with a small nod of his head—almost a bow, but just shy.

Okay. Well, at least that is handled.

By a prince.

A PRINCE.

How is this my life?

I try to say, “Thank you,” but nothing comes out. I can’t speak to this guy. Even while just watching the back of his head, I’m too stunned to speak.

It doesn’t matter. Admission is handled, and I am sure the prince will go away and I’ll never see him—

He turns to me, just as I am thinking that, “Good to see you again. Allen, is it?”

I nod. Even that is a struggle. Especially now that I can see his captivating green eyes. I can’t believe this guy is even looking at me… again.

“Delightful. If you will follow me, I will be your mentor this semester. Until you are caught up with the curriculum here at Wizard Prep. We will be getting to know each other quite well.”

He smiles and winks while my stomach twists.

My mentor??