"Come on princess." Kiara dragged Tess' foot out from underneath the warm covers. Tess groaned and jerked her foot to free it and return it to the cozy warmth. Alas, Kiara had always had a strong grip, and her foot remained cold. "Don't you remember what day it is?" Kiara said, not leaving the suffering foot alone. That's right. Kiara only got up early when she was excited about something. And today, that something was Inquisition Day. Tess slid out of the bed and pulled the covers up neatly. Kiara's bed was on the opposite side of the room, still messy as if she'd just got up. Tess couldn't believe they were twins.

She noted Kiara was fully dressed before she was, for once. She was wearing her usual clothes, complete with leather riding boots and dark green cloak. Despite being dressed, Kiara's brown hair was still a knotted mess. So much for finally changing.

"What Flame do you think you'll get?" Kiara asked, like she had so many times previously. "I'm probably going to get green, like mother." Kiara had always wanted to follow in their mother's footsteps and become a Green Scout. The clothes she was wearing emulated the Scout's uniform.

On Inquisition Day, all thirteen-year-old children of the Queendom of Abira were tested to see if they had a Flame, and if so, what colour. The colour of a Flame indicated the highest Mancer rank you could reach. Green was both the fifth rank and the highest "Elemental" rank. For their backwater town of Gilstead, it was uncommon to receive. "I'm going to get a purple Flame." Tess said confidently. Purple was the ninth rank. There was a boy, Fred, who had produced a navy blue Flame, the sixth rank, and had already graduated Inverell Academy. In Gilstead, it had been celebrated for days.

"That's stupid." Kiara said. "Only nobles get purple Flames." The average person only had a 50% chance of getting any Flame, and then a smaller chance for each rank after. Tess knew this, of course, but she also knew that genetics weren't the only factor. Some lucky commoners got really high ranks, and some nobles were stuck with lower ones.

"Maybe I'm secretly a noble." Tess shot back defensively. She looked to their thin bookshelf, and Kiara followed her gaze. Books were a luxury in their little backwater town, so they treasured every volume they received on their birthday. Every year, the postman would deliver a book for each of them with a small note from their mother. They were mostly fictional tales of grandeur rather than educational, and Tess loved them all.

"Life isn't a book, Tess. You're a commoner, in Gilstead, in the middle of Abira. Time to get your head out of the clouds and under a Flame."

Tess sighed and mumbled "Rich for you to say, dressed like that." Kiara ignored her, adjusting her cloak.

"Why do you do that?" Kiara said, indicating Tess's bed while sitting back on her own and leaning against the wall. "Nobody's going to see it anyway."

"Because it's neat and tidy. It doesn't make me feel like a slob." She shot a look at Kiara, who rolled her grey-blue eyes. It was one of the few noticeable differences about them, as Tess' eyes were a blue-green.

"I'm gonna get breakfast." Kiara pushed off of the bed and went downstairs into the kitchen.

Tess got dressed similarly to Kiara, except she wore a red cloak instead of green, and a black corset that would make her look more mature. That, at least, she could hold over Kiara, who was built more like a rectangle than an hourglass. She flicked her carefully brushed chestnut brown hair, revealing the gold chain of the jade pendant their mother had given her on her first visit home. Tess slumped, wishing her mother could be here to be with them, with her, today. But duty called, and their mother had to answer.

After a moment's hesitation, she made Kiara's bed as well. Things needed to be tidy. Joining Kiara in the kitchen, Tess saw her twin painstakingly peeling her boiled egg. She was obsessive about getting the shell off completely and perfectly every time. Tess just took a spoon to it.

Their father joined them, holding a half-eaten fried egg sandwich in his thick fingers. "Big day, girls. Just looked out the window and people are starting to show up."

The Bradshaw family lived on the corner of the central plaza, earning a living as a butcher shop. Kiara often helped their father bring the fresh meats in, but Tess was too disgusted to touch a dead body, even if it was an animal. She spent most of her time counting the money and doing the selling. If things went right today, the two could earn money as Mancers and their father wouldn't have to work as hard.

Kiara finished her egg in two bites and rushed to the window. Tess finished hers shortly after and joined her. There was indeed a crowd forming around the stage that their father had helped set up the previous night.

"Come on, girls. Don't want to be the last ones up there." Their father herded them out the door and into the crowd. "I'll be watching from our window, alright?" Tess nodded to him as Kiara dragged her by the hand further into the chattering mass.

The Mancer conducting the test was usually an unspecialised Grey Mancer. Their frock coats greatly differed from the Green Scout uniform, which was dark, tight-fitting pants, a black tunic, and a dappled green cloak.

Like the twins' mother, Mancers could choose careers based on their abilities and rank. His coat was snow-grey, signifying he was an Air Mancer, and he was looking around at the gathered crowd appraisingly. His near-black beard was neatly trimmed, mimicking his neatly brushed dark brown hair. This geezer spent a long time in front of the mirror just to end up looking so stupid, Tess thought, unimpressed. He looked middle-aged, which was way too old to be doing stuff like that.

Tess let herself be dragged past parents to the middle of the crowd, where the group of kids awaiting testing began. The man on stage clapped his hands, and it echoed unnaturally loudly around the plaza. Mancing, Tess thought admiringly. Soon, she'd be learning how to control the elements just like him.

"Attention, everyone!" the man said, and it too echoed unnecessarily over the already-quiet heads of the assembly.

"Welcome to this year's Inquisition! I'm sure you're all excited to begin." A cheer sprung up, went on for a bit, and then stopped short when faced with the palm of the man. He smiled with thin lips, making him look like a frog. He probably had some gross, perverted enjoyment of the attention and power. The previous testers never did this sort of thing. Tess turned to Kiara to share her thoughts. Kiara stifled a laugh. "He does look a bit like a frog."

"My name is Grey Mancer Jeoff, and it is my honour to be testing all of you potential Mancers!" Another cheer rose, continued, and stopped at the signal. "Now, let's get started! I'll have those closest to the stairs come up, please." Tess expected the kids to rush up the stairs to the platform, but they went up in an orderly fashion and stood lined up facing the audience at his direction, like they did every year. There was definitely a sense of ceremony on this day.

Grey Mancer Jeoff produced a strange item from his pocket. It was a grey metallic sphere with a swirly symbol of some kind carved upon it. He touched it to the first girl's forehead. Her shoulders bunched up in excitement. The symbol glowed moss green, and from it rose a small flame of the same colour. It hovered above her head, and remained there as Jeoff removed the sphere. The girl looked up at it and laughed giddily, clapping her hands. She was now known as a Green Flame. As soon as she learnt Air Mancing, she would be known as a Grey Mancer. She could then go on to learn Fire Mancing to become a Red Mancer, and so on.

The Flame wasn't like a candle flame, as Tess had expected when she was young, but like a small, smokeless bonfire with tiny flickering tongues. The girl was lucky, and an appropriate applause rose. Yellow appeared from the next child tested, a rank below green. Another applause. Red from the next boy, applause, but nothing from the last girl. She seemed disappointed for a moment, but then took a deep breath and collected herself. The audience clapped politely in encouragement for the Flameless girl. When the children began to move, the Flames trailed them, hovering the same distance above their heads. Parents calmed the children who hadn't seen the spectacle before, assuring them that the Flames would fade over the course of a few minutes. Jeoff let the tested teenagers step off the stage, and beckoned the next set.

As it turned out, Tess and Kiara did end up in the last group. Tess cursed Kiara's willingness to let others go first, but if Tess did indeed get a purple Flame, it would be just like the stories she loved to read. She'd make town history, go to Inverell Academy as a powerful underdog and make loads of friends. She would then meet a prince, or a handsome rogue, he'd fall in love with her, and... Tess shook herself out of it. Grey Mancer Jeoff was testing the final kids now, and she was second-to-last. Tess' fear bubbled to the surface. There was only one thing now that could ruin her dreams completely. If she were Flameless, she'd have to stay home. Even worse would be that Kiara might go to Inverell Academy without her, and live out Tess' dream.

It came time for Tess to be put under the Flame-producing orb. She scrunched up her eyes and balled her hands into fists. Please make a Flame, please make a Flame. The cool metal touched her forehead. She felt Kiara slide her hand into her own and squeeze it. Tess opened her eyes to see a familiar face gazing at her with... sympathy. Oh god, she was Flameless. There was a polite applause. Tess swallowed hard, trying to open up her constricted throat. She squeezed Kiara's hand and looked up to the sky.

She had a Flame. The only problem was, it was grey. The lowest rank of Mancer. Maybe that was worse than being Flameless... she could only hope that Kiara would get low as well. Then they could be weak together, and support each other.

Grey Mancer Jeoff moved over to Kiara. The orb touched her head, and the symbol blurred against the dark silver metal as it turned black. Black? Tess had never seen black. Dark Mancing produced a navy blue Flame, but this definitely wasn't blue. Even Grey Mancer Jeoff looked shocked. He blinked and pulled the orb away as the black Flame rose above her twin's head. Kiara looked over the silent crowd with wide eyes and threw her head back to see the unnatural thing.

Kiara looked to her sister, an alarmed confusion in her eyes. Tess didn't know what to say. But she could see in them a glimmer of curiosity beginning to sparkle. Kiara had always had a way of being totally, infuriatingly unfazed with everything.

Tess felt hollow. Kiara seemed to be embarking on a fairytale of her own... without her. Kiara was the name on everyone's lips. She was the one with the mysterious power. As something began burning in Tess' chest, she had a thought.

Maybe there was something worse than being Flameless.

This chapter has undergone its FINAL EDIT! I've made Tess' personality a bit more clear (in the last paragraph)

For the most part it's just been little clarifications and details, so nothing too major to the plot has been put in or taken out. Just some character personality as mentioned above.