1 Prologue.
It was deep night, two figures were sitting near the fire, the flames of the fire cast shadows of those sitting.
One figure was more refined than the other, it was noticeable that it was a girl sitting looking at a young man who was looking at her. It was dark, but you could see the color of her eyes, they were dark red.
When the young man felt the gaze, he turned and looked at the girl, unlike her, he had blue eyes, the smoke from the fire could not hide the interest in the girl's gaze.
- Are you worried about the test that will be tomorrow? - The girl asked the guy thoughtfully, seeing how he silently nods his head and looks at the fire again.
The girl wanted to cheer him up to say that there was nothing to worry about, but this did not help the young man.
- If it turns out that you have no talent, what will change in your life? - Asked the girl straightening dresses.
The guy looked away from the fire and looked into her eyes and then looked back at the fire, sighing, he began to speak in a low voice.
- If I don't have a talent for magic, I will be useless to my family, most likely I will be disowned, branded as a dummy, and sent to the academy for sword training. - The guy answered in a quiet voice, watching the fire devour the tree.
- And it's all? Are you afraid of being rejected by your family? Or are you most afraid of not participating in the struggle for the throne? - Asked the girl, carefully looking at the guy.
The guy looked up and looked at the girl again and grinned, in this world, talent for magic rules.
If you don't have it, you can be a simple person. Live a quiet life and not worry about someone wanting to take possession of your talent or set you up for the sake of their interests.
But also if you have no talent, you are not truly free, any magician can take from you everything that he likes a woman, your child, a house, and even your life.
- Not one or the other, I'm afraid of losing that little freedom that I have now. Without talent, I am nothing more than a servant or slave until the owner wants to sacrifice me and I can't even oppose him. - Looking into the eyes of the girl, the guy answered, he could notice thoughtfulness from his words in these eyes, but she only snorted and then, instead of thoughtfulness, her look became serious.
The girl looked at the guy and thought about his words, in part, he told the truth without a talent for magic, a person, or as mortals called them, was nothing more than a servant of magicians. But it would also be a big mistake to rely only on talent. When you rely only on your talent, you become his slave and not his master.
- Relying only on talent, a person becomes nothing more than his servant and not his master, remember this. - The girl said in a serious voice, looking into the eyes of the guy, who, without looking away, nodded, looking at the fire, and he suddenly disappeared.
The girl continued to look at the place where the guy was sitting, then raised her head to the sky and spoke.
- So the time has come, huh? It will break you or make you stronger, Alurik, but for now I can only watch and wait. - With sadness in her voice, the girl said, then lowering her eyes to the fire in her eyes, there was neither fear nor any emotions.
