2

Orientation kept me busy all through my first week.

Picking up my academy pin, activating my dorm access, checking on my scholarship application at the registrar's office.

I did all of it alone.

Just as I had for 18 years. Eating alone, studying alone, choosing a school alone.

Back before the pack's coming-of-age trial, my mother had made Leanna three different balanced meals a day.

I asked why she hadn't made any for me.

She looked taken aback for a second.

"You've always been independent, Aurora... I thought you didn't like having everything planned for you.

"I can make those meals for you too, if you'd like."

And she did.

Better than Leanna's, even.

What stayed with me was the relief on her face.

She probably thought the problem was solved.

But the problem was never the meals.

The problem was that if I didn't bring something up, they didn't think of me.

If I didn't say it hurt, they assumed nothing hurt.

If I didn't hold out my hand, they assumed I didn't need anything.

It was always like this.

One night, my comm crystal wouldn't stop buzzing.

My mother had posted a set of photos in the pack chat.

She couldn't stop worrying about Leanna, so she had gone all the way to Imperial University with her.

The photos showed the university's grand gates up north, the dazzling northern lights, and the library said to have the largest collection in the Empire.

The last was a full-length shot of Leanna standing outside her dorm room.

"Imperial University really is something! It lives up to its reputation!"

"I hear the campus is huge, so there's a lot of walking. Luckily, Reid knows people there. They've approved a carriage for Leanna to use on campus."

My father answered instantly.

"All arranged. The carriage arrives tomorrow. Leanna won't have to tire herself out."

I scrolled through all of it and sat staring at the crystal for half an hour.

Finally, the message I'd been waiting for arrived.

"Aurora should have gotten there by now, right?"

It was my mother who asked.

"Aurora, how is it over there? Are you settling in?"

Before I could answer, my father cut in.

"Aurora never gives anyone trouble. She'll be fine."

And then they went back to talking about Leanna.

Three messages. That was all they had to say about me.

I knew they hadn't meant to hurt me.

They just didn't think they needed to check on me.

I'd always taken care of everything myself. They were so used to it that they thought I didn't need anyone to look after me.

My roommate, Mia Bennett, watched me stare blankly at the crystal. Finally, she asked, "Aurora, didn't your family come with you? I haven't seen anyone these last few days."

"No. They're with my sister."

"Where does she go?"

"Imperial University."

Mia's hands went still.

"Oh... that's where the best of the best go.

"But our academy is good too. The Empire's top ten healers all graduated from here."

I smiled and didn't answer.

The second week, the academy ran a three-day trial for first-years.

We had to go into the Moonlight Forest near campus to identify and collect herbs.

The weather in the South was hot and muggy, and I wasn't used to it.

By that afternoon, I was sick from the heat and badly dehydrated.

I crouched in the shade of a tree, unable to stop throwing up. My vision blurred.

A teaching assistant handed me a potion and bundled me straight onto the bus back to campus.

Under the cool lights of the campus clinic's treatment room, the healer used ice to bring my temperature down.

"Aurora, why can't I reach your emergency contact?

"You're severely dehydrated. Our policy requires me to let your family know what's happened."

I looked up at the ceiling, shook my head, and answered quietly, "They're busy."

While I rested, I scrolled numbly through the messages on my crystal.

My mother had posted again in the pack chat.

All photos of Leanna.

In the photos, Leanna looked like she was on top of the world, a longsword in her hand and the last light of sunset behind her.

That night, before I shut the crystal off, I checked the chat one last time.

Leanna was complaining that the dinners at Imperial University weren't to her taste.

My father immediately posted a screenshot of a transfer. A full 5,000 gold coins.

"Go eat somewhere good. Don't settle for less."

Then he posted another one.

He'd sent 2,000 gold coins to my account too.

"Aurora, tell your mother and me if you run short."

It wasn't that they didn't love me at all. They just gave me so little compared with Leanna.

So little that they often forgot about me altogether.

Then they launched into an excited discussion about next month's Founding Day.

They told Leanna she had to come home for it and tell the pack's pups how she'd gotten into Imperial University.

Nobody mentioned me again.

I put the crystal beside my pillow and turned off the light.

Moonlight came through the gap in the curtains and fell across my bed.

I'd picked this bed. I'd come to this city on my own.

Nobody saw me off. Nobody picked me up. Nobody was waiting at the other end.

But at least here, nobody compared me to anyone.