Kaly's office, as it turned out, was at the other side of the floor. Sophia knocked on the door quietly and the door opened, revealing a dimly lit room with a clear glass table in the middle. The dark mahogany of the walls gave way to frosted glass at the bottom, lit from within by lights Sophia couldn't see.

Kaly was sitting in a black office chair, a stack of papers before her. She looked up when Sophia entered, face softening into a smile. "Ready for the overview?"

"Sure," Sophia said, standing awkwardly at the doorway.

The audie nodded at the chair in front of her desk. "You can sit if you want." She did, sliding into the black leather chair opposite from Kaly, who began speaking. "I heard of the Viperi invasion the other night- your sister explained it to me." Sophia nodded, unsure of what Kaly wanted her to say. The audie continued. "Your mother didn't want you to come here; she thought it'd be too dangerous, but it seems you've learned to fight extremely well on your own."

"I had tutors," Sophia said, "but thank you."

"Even so," Kaly said. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you push yourself to train so hard? Viperi don't usually invade Asteri, the Ice Kingdom especially."

It was a question Sophia had asked herself years ago, and she knew the answer. "My father, he died when I was young- killed in a skirmish between the Ice and Fire Kingdoms." It had been a long time since she'd spoken of this, and the words seemed foreign on her tongue. "I never wanted to lose anyone like that ever again. I guess I thought if I could just train hard enough, become a better fighter, I could prevent that from happening. Protect the people I love." She glanced up at Kaly, who was listening intently, gray eyes focused on her. "In some sense I also wanted revenge, revenge on the people who'd killed him and therefore inadvertently hurt me. But I had been so young when it happened, and the emotion had been so raw. It's better now, and I realized revenge wasn't really what I wanted, or what was good for the kingdom. Ice doesn't need another Fierian War, and I had a duty to my kingdom as well as myself." Sophia shrugged. "So that was that."

Kaly's eyes were kind. "Of course. I hope the academy can help you, Sophia." Sophia nodded, but Kaly seemed to realize she didn't want to discuss it further and moved on. "Joie Hall, I'm sure you know, hosts Elementales from all the various kingdoms." She projected an image onto the screen. "The building itself has 100 floors, each one occupied by a team. We're on the top floor. The Kalos, Mr. Clio, is your teacher but he's away right now- meeting in Asteri- so you won't be having too many classes." The Kalos were the teachers in the academies. They, and the assistant teachers, the Loteira, made up the Mentoris path Elementales could take after graduation. Sophia was sure she was never going to go into the Mentoris. She had been drawn to the other path- the Guard- for as long as she could remember. It was the Praei, then the Vanguard, then the Enguard. She remembered seeing pictures of the Vanguard, seventeen Elementales from the kingdoms, leading the Enguard into battle as a kid. Even then, she'd had that sense of awe, watching them charge through the snow like some avenging force. Sophia turned her attention back to Kaly.

"You'll still be training and going on missions though - mostly recon," the audie was saying. "The Praei sometimes comes here if there's any real mission in Asteri that they need us for.

"You'll have to go through the Weapons Ceremony later. It'll pair you up with a weapon that'll be yours. Of course, we have regular weapons- swords, daggers, bows- here as well as dozens of Magnesias. The training room's down the hall from here and the Armory- that's where we store our weapons- is right next to it. They're both pretty easy to find. If you need anything, feel free to come to me."

"Where's the Weapons Ceremony?" Sophia asked, imagining a dimly lit underground room possibly in a cave with magic circles and people dressed in dark cloaks with hoods drawn and chanting.

"In the training room," said Kaly, and the image in her mind shattered. "I'll be conducting it."

"Okay," Sophia nodded. Kaly let her go with a reminder that dinner was in half an hour and she returned to the room she shared with Samantha, pushing open the door. She felt exhausted all of a sudden, shutting the door and launching herself onto the bed.

"You good?" Samantha asked from the other side, looking at her in alarm.

"Just tired," Sophia answered, resting the back of her head on her hands. She kicked her boots off and crossed one ankle over the other. "This place is freaking huge." Suddenly, the events of the past day and night hit her like a truck. It was as if the adrenaline that had been coursing through her body had sustained her and now it was gone and she was crashing. "I'm going to take a nap," she told Samantha.

Sophia didn't hear her friend's reply- she was already asleep.

❅ ❅ ❅ ❅ ❅

Later that night, she woke with her covers tangled around her legs. Untangling herself, she blinked blindly in the darkness, squinting in an attempt to make out the outlines of the walls and furniture around her. It was only until she saw Samantha's black figure lying in the other bed that she realized it was probably midnight already.

She threw off the covers, shoving her feet into tactical boots- the nearest pair of shoes she could find- and slipped out the door. The floor was dark, moonlight casting shadows across the walls in sharp lines. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the dimness, making her way through the kitchen and into the lounge. The view outside the windows was expansive, the dark night sky contrasting wildly with the lights of the city. Even now, New York was wide awake, cars rushing by while people laughed and shouted on the sidewalks, their voices carrying even to where she was standing so high up.

Sophia made her way past the dark outlines of the chairs and couches and slid open the balcony door, slipping outside. Her boots against the stone floor of the balcony were silent, the small throwing knife she kept stored in the side pressing against her leg as she walked. She grinned, thinking of Samantha's horrified expression at the thought of bringing weapons with her. Sorry, Sam, she thought, silently apologizing to her friend.

It was cool outside, the last traces of summer giving way to the fall crispness. This high up, the wind blew in almost a continuous gust, blowing her hair to the side. Before her was the dark expanse of Central Park, the outlines of the trees down below obscuring part of the horizon from view. All around her were the lights of the city, scattered windows alight with a yellow glow in the high rises, the road down below gleaming with the light flooding from the brownstones lining it. It was hard to see or hear with much detail, as high as she was, but although the noises were muted, the view of the city was so much more extensive.

She was finally here, at Joie Hall, where she had begged her mother to let her go to so many years before. She remembered the first time Samantha had come over, announcing that now that they were twelve years old, her father was allowing her to attend the academy in New York City. Sophia had wanted to go almost immediately; she loved traveling, and New York in the normal, mortal world seemed like a great option. She and Samantha had begun planning for it in great detail, hope soaring until her mother had dashed it. "It's not safe," her mother had said. Sophia had frowned, arguing that if Samantha could go, why couldn't she? Her mother had just shaken her head, and Sophia had gone crying to Juliana afterwards, wailing that Bayleigh wasn't being fair. Juliana had comforted her, brushing her fingers through her hair. Sophia felt a sudden pang of home-sickness and longing for her sister. How was she coping? Did she miss Sophia at all? She pushed it down. Here she was, in the place of her dreams, and she missed the Ice Palace, her prison for all these years.

Images from last night kept flashing through her mind like a montage, each of them filling her with so much pain, and guilt, and fear so that when she heard a noise up above her, she slipped the knife she had hidden in her boot free and unthinkingly, unhesitatingly, threw it at the dark figure standing on the roof, body swathed in shadows. She squinted, making out the outline of a boy, tall and slender. He was holding her knife in his right hand, the metal of the blade glinting silver in the darkness. He stepped forward into the moonlight, footsteps sure even as a strong gust of wind blew past them, rustling the leaves of the trees down below. She stared.

He was beautiful, all tousled, ink-black hair and elegant cheekbones, but his eyes were what kept her gaze locked on him. They were a brilliant gold, like rich honey, framed by long, dark eyelashes. There was a hint of mischief in them, and in the curve of his lips.

He seemed her age, about seventeen or eighteen, and was dressed in a dark lightsuit and tactical boots. She could see a leather sword strap across his chest and the glint of blades in the lining of his jacket. The knife she had thrown at him was in his hand, fingers gripping the handle loosely. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you normally throw knives at strangers you don't know? Or just the good-looking ones?" There was a hint of amusement in his voice as he spoke.

Sophia, realizing that her mouth had fallen slightly open, closed it, furious with herself. "Can I have my knife back?"

The boy leapt lightly down onto the balcony, his feet barely making a sound on the stone floor. He regarded her silently before speaking. "I'm not sure. I'm afraid if I give it back to you, you'll just throw it at me again."

Sophia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm not crazy. I won't throw it at you. Again," she added, on second thought.

He gave her a dubious look, the knife still grasped in his hand. He was standing only a few feet away from her now, and this close up, she could see the softness of his hair, the dark strands blowing in the wind. "Promise?" he asked, looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Give me the knife back," she repeated, and he held it out to her. She took it, careful not to touch his fingers with her own.

"So, who are you?" he questioned, slipping a Magnesia blade from his sleeve and twirling it casually in his hand. "I don't think I've seen you around before."

"I'm Sophia," she answered, not sure what else he wanted her to say.

It seemed to be enough though, for he said, "Oh, you're Sophia. You look different than I imagined you." He tilted his head as if comparing her to the view he had of her in his head. "Taller. Possibly scarier."

His gaze on her was unsteadying, and she gripped the knife tighter in her hand. She could feel the edges digging into her skin. There would be a mark there later. "How do you know me?"

He smirked. "James. And Samantha. It was like you were Santa coming with a big bag of magical toys or something, the amount of times they talked about you. Who knows?"

She raised her brows at him, smiling sweetly. "So then, how did you imagine me? Caramel brown hair? Deep blue eyes you could stare into all day?"

He didn't seem fazed, tapping his finger against his chin thoughtfully. "Nah. More cold, frigid. You know, dirty blonde hair, ice-blue eyes." He paused. "I got that part right, at least."

She turned away from him, walking towards the couch in the corner and hopping on the table. The boy slid onto the couch, his legs stretched out in front of him. "You never told me your name," she pointed out.

"Valentino." His hand went up to flick back a strand of hair that had fallen in his face and Sophia saw a glint of gold on his finger. A ring. It was etched with the design of a single rose, two swords in the background- a family crest. Dimly, she realized she had seen that design before, in the center of the banner representing the Kingdom of Darkness in the Ice Palace. It was the crest of the Cartiles, royal family of Tenebrae. So he was a prince of Darkness. She should've known.

She pointed at the ring. "You're Asher's son? The King of Tenebrae?"

Something flashed across his face, the amusement in his eyes replaced by something she didn't recognize. Sorrow? "Did you get that from the ring?" he asked, reclining on the couch. "You're right. I'm the second son of the King of Darkness." There was an edge to his voice she couldn't quite place. He gazed lazily at her. "I know your sigil, daughter of the Ice Queen. The fleur de lis."

He was so close she could feel her heartbeat pounding a million beats per minute. His scent was all around her, all musk and rosewood. He smelled like the night air too, like wind and darkness and something wild and liberating. It made her heady.

Sophia scooted back, crossing her legs on the table. "How genius of you." Sarcasm dripped from her voice.

"I thought so," he said, looking pleased.

"So, where were you earlier today? Everyone else was there."

He lounged on the couch, gazing at the blade of the Magnesia he was still holding. "Here and there," he said, turning sideways and throwing his feet up onto the couch. "It's New York. So much to do! So much to see!" He didn't look at her. "You should probably get to bed. It's late."

She wanted to protest, tell him he didn't get to decide when she went to bed, but he was right and she was tired. She got up. "Goodnight, Valentino."

"Goodnight. Don't let the bedbugs bite." Amusement tinged his voice again, but she didn't turn around to look at him. She could feel his gaze on her as she walked back inside, leaving the balcony door open for him.

She paused as she stepped in, waiting for her eyes to readjust to the darkness. The floor was as she had left it, the flood of moonlight encroaching on the darkness. She made her way past the kitchen and into the hallway, slowly opening the door to the room.

Samantha was still sleeping, her brown hair black in the darkness. Slipping out of her boots, Sophia crawled into bed and was asleep within minutes.

A/N: finally got to introduce you guys to valentino!! let me know what you think ;)) as always, please don't forget to vote/comment! any feedback is welcome <33