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Chapter Twelve

"Ms Matthews, your presence is requested in the Principal's Office," Ms Woodsen spoke softly and delicately, despite her wild appearance, to raciously and turned around oncrowd of my classmates, I came out on the other side relieved Drama was not my forte, to say the least, and I wasn't exactly e I'd had enough drama in my life to satisfy the o without a peer group of judgmental adolescents all bent on lish and Dra, lass The marbled floor was pristinely clean and thesills wiped and waiting for new panes to be installed I s of destroying so without a single hint of guilt

I id and windy The Nebraska sky had ceased to send soft, refreshing rain and was now in a steady state of spitting ice I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head, an accessory that had now become my constant companion

Mrs Truance nodded her head in disdained approval on ingly used"Principal Saint's" office without knocking A y for the simple sake that I could He would have been even more upset if he kne I dispelled the built-up electricity thisat his desk shuffling papers I rushed to his arhtly to hi his expensive tweed suit jacket I felt foolish and childlike I ic, but my emotions had overtakenmy back His deep, melodic voice reached to randfather's cal to stop are they? They are never going to stop and I' theer

"Oh, Eden," I heard A continued for severalits best to coh I was past the point however Eventuallysubsided I stepped back, wiping my face with the sleeve of hed forcefully, ridding his voice of any e with his hand for s beneath me in one of Amory's comfortable leather chairs opposite his expansive desk He also took a seat in his own high-backed leather chair

"I' and unable to look Aently, but it didn't reach his eyes Amory had the same black eyes that I had and they were etched deeply with concern For a moinning of ti, I spoke with Lucan," Aravity of what he was about to say settle over me "He asked many questions about you, none of which hat I expected He is playing this game carefully; I believe he knohat is at stake if you suddenly disappear"

"Then why is he trying to kill me!" I demanded rather than questioned

"I ainning to believe he is only testing you He is doing his best to find out what exactly you are capable of," Amory folded his hands on his desk and stared atfor rowled

"Eden, I am afraid that is exactly what you are," he shook his head slohile looking down at his hands

"So ere his questions?" I stifled ing, your huesture displayed the gravity of his words To nificant If anything, I was proud to have been raised by a hunificantly ed, snobby, super-human, fantasy world But as I became more aware of the culture around uardian as a joke, an unbelievable coincidence or even worse, an insult

"What about it?" I grunted, findingImmortals when they reach adolescence When an I adulthood or e, or child birth, tradition dictates that they take a sye to one's present condition and a taking on, if you will, of new responsibility Each Iarded in that there is a ceremony for every major milestone Normally, when an Immortal is born in to this world there is a baptism of sorts and a three-day festival We call it the Eternal Baptism, and we bath each infant in holy water, not in the human sense, but in our own version of holy water In reality your parents bestowed this honor upon you and your brother in the secrecy of their private lives, but when you turned thirteen, the traditional practice was not observed

"It is entirelyand kept our way of life hidden fro, he expects you to fulfill your rite of passage He has agreed to forgo the newborn christening, since I assured him, I baptized you upon your realization of self, but he has been stubborn about the Eternal Walk, the ceremony conducted when you reach adolescence"

"Why is that?" I asked, trying to get my head around thousands of years of tradition I had yet to catch up on