Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,21

I didn’t know what had happened to his stuff, but his room had been emptied out and there was no trace of him left behind. Some freshman had probably moved in there last night and it would soon be like he’d never existed. Fae died all the time in Solaria, so it wasn’t like there would even be a lot of questions about him. I’d told Sofia and Geraldine over the summer. They knew everything now. I didn’t see the point in keeping it from them, and frankly, with Lionel on the rise I’d rather they were prepared to face whatever might come their way.

Geraldine had been distraught and had announced that she would note him down as the first official A.S.S. casualty to die in the War of the Reborn. When I’d asked her what the hell that was, she’d said it was going to be the official name for the fight for the throne which would be remembered by historians for all of time. She also said we’d only just begun to tell the tale of our rise to power. It seemed insane to me, but she was keeping official records ‘for posterity’ whether I liked it or not and I knew better than to try and change Geraldine’s mind when she’d decided on something.

We made it to the stairs where we paused to say goodbye, but as Seth leaned in to hug me, a noise of anguish met my ears. I frowned, glancing up the stairway, spotting Kylie there in her uniform, her lips parted in shock and her eyes full of betrayal as she gazed between us. I remembered her on the stand in court, spitting vicious lies about me and Orion and venom seeped through my blood.

“So you’re officially together now?” she demanded, her lower lip quivering.

“Did you hear something?” Seth mused and I turned away from Kylie with a shrug.

“Nope, must have been the wind,” I said. “See you later.”

“Bye babe,” he purred in a voice designed to taunt Kylie and I heard her pleading with him to stop shunning her as he walked upstairs.

My Atlas buzzed in my pocket and I found that my name had been mentioned in a news article entitled Roxanya Vega Renounces Her Claim on the Throne.

My heart stopped working, my lungs decompressed. As I stepped out of the door at the bottom of Aer Tower, several lost-looking freshmen bumped into me while I just gaped at the screen, a voice screaming No! in my head.

I clicked on the article, knowing I was going to regret it, but I had to know. Oh my god, what has she done?

Roxanya (Tory) Vega has spoken last night in an exclusive interview with The Celestial Times renouncing her claim to the throne of Solaria and aligning herself fully with High Lord Lionel Acrux. The Vega princess openly distanced herself from her sister Gwendalina (Darcy) earlier this year after it emerged that a feud between the two of them had sent them spiralling down different paths.

After rumours of Gwendalina setting fire to Stella Orion’s house surfaced in July, her growing instability became apparent. Was this a vicious attack on Lance Orion’s mother in retaliation for Stella’s interview which stated that her son was better off in prison than with a Vega? Perhaps we’ll never know. (See page 23 for more information on the Orion/Vega scandal and an interview from Honey Highspell who claims Lance Orion is a victim of a dark Vega plot).

All in all, it seems Roxanya had no choice but to break away from her own flesh and blood stating that Gwendalina was both ‘volatile’, ‘temperamental’, and ‘aggressive’ towards her in the following months.

Witnesses who attend Zodiac Academy with Gwendalina have confirmed that she has been hoping to make a bid for the throne independently for quite some time, savagely cutting herself off from her sister in the process. Roxanya bravely took a stance to distance herself from Gwendalina and is now keeping company with the Acruxes. Some are naming this move as both honourable and respectful to the Councillors who have ruled Solaria peacefully since the times of the Savage King.

It is unlikely that Gwendalina will ever fulfil her dreams of taking over the kingdom, but it cannot be ruled out. We must simply pray that she wouldn’t follow in the violent footsteps of her ruthless father if she ever-

I stopped reading, my blood pumping hot and fast through my veins as I stuffed my Atlas away and released an