A/N: My pen name says it all. After the disappointment of Battle Magic, and the fact that Pierce took down even the hint of a date for her Lightsbridge book, I decided to write my own version. Obviously, a lot of OCs, but don't think that means we won't see any familiar faces!

This chapter will be a little more setup, but hopefully, things will move past the wall of texts after this.

Thanks to everyone who read my prologue, all 10 of you. I plan to write maybe a chapter a week depending on how busy work is. Like any fanfic author, I thrive on reviews, so (good, bad or ugly) let me know what you think.

Tl;dr – Read, enjoy, review


The second night on the road a quiet knock on the door of the adjoining room alerted Tris to her visitor. It had been a more expensive inn than Tris would have preferred, but the smaller servant's room on the other side of the common door had been rented separately.

"Excuse me, Miss Chandler." A rather plain girl about Tris's height and build stood in the doorway. Her brown hair and eyes were not ugly, just unremarkable. "Master Goldeye sent me. Name's Cerri Rees"

"Yes, I've been expecting you. Come in." The other girl seemed nervous as she stepped into the room. "Master Goldeye explained everything?"

This part of the charade had been her last concession to Niko. She had saved up a nice little nest egg from her time in the south, but it had been used up too quickly when paying for her own traveling expenses, school supplies, and tuition. Her teacher had used caution as an excuse, but she was merchant enough to recognize charity, even when it was disguised. She was keeping a tally, and once she had her academic medallion, Tris planned to pay him back, Rosethorn and Keth as well.

"Yes, ma'am." Apparently afraid to fully enter, the girl stood just inside the now closed door. "I'll be travellin' on for a few days as you."

Tris unclasped the necklace she had worn for the last week before handing it to the girl. It seemed as if the non-mage might be able to see the light pouring from the necklace, considering the way she flinched when Tris put it in her outstretched hand. The mage of the duo knew to anyone else's eyes it would appear as a simple amulet on a chain.

"Really, Miss Rees, it's not as if you are in danger." Cerri did not meet Tris's stormy grey eyes, which was probably for the best. The young mage was tired from riding and not doing her best at hiding her displeasure over this bit of theater.

"Then, beggin' your pardon miss, what's it for?" Brown bangs partially hid Cerri's eyes as she peeked up at her companion.

An exasperated sigh left Tris. Leave it to Niko to enlist someone's help but leave out important details. He could be so good with people when he was focused. No doubt his mind was elsewhere when he solicited the girl's help. He had been quite pleased with this particular spell.

"You know those stories you heard as a 'kid' about princes and princesses disguising themselves as commoners to go out into their kingdoms?" She needed a way to explain the situation that sounded completely innocent, and Briar would have been proud of her use of slang. "They always find some long lost twin or someone who looks like them to switch places."

"You tellin' me you're royalty." The girl's skepticism was understandable, but Tris shook her head in disbelief anyway.

"No, I'm a mage. I just need people to think I am normal."

"What's so great bout being normal?" It was better when the girl was cowering.

Rubbing her temple, Tris decided to let it drop. She still had plenty to do before the night was through. Getting a headache from arguing with the young woman was low on her priority list.

"Just wear the necklace for a few days. To everyone else, you will look and sound like me. You can take the necklace off to sleep, but otherwise keep it on. After the week is up, break the necklace, and your part will be done."

"What if I accidentally break it before?" Cerri looked frightened by the prospect, but that could have been because she was only getting paid the second half of the agreed amount once her traveling was done.

"You can't."

"Can't?" Tris was suddenly sorry she had not brought Sandry for this part.

"The magic will only come undone when you want it to, trust me."

Cerri shrugged. She had little choice other than to take Tris at her word. Besides getting to spend a few days with paid room and board, Tris knew the girl was being handsomely rewarded for her time. Before Namorn, the mage would have found the cloak and dagger ridiculous and unnecessary.

Unfortunately, of all the circle, the redhead drew the most scrutiny. People had always underestimated her siblings' magic, even more than her own, because of the mediums through which they worked. However the story of their exploits had been spread, the three's inability to break the shield before her ethereal appearance had not gone unnoticed. Somehow, the tale had grown until half the versions had her singlehandedly taking down the barrier.

Thus, Niko had concocted a plan to take away any prying eyes that might be tailing her. To be fair, Lark and Rosethorn agreed with Niko as well. She had given in rather than face down all three of them; Tris was stubborn, not stupid. Besides, she had planned on a certain level of deception since she first made the decision to attend Lightsbridge. The weathermage had done nothing hastily.

"Cerri, or should I say Tris," Her attempt at a joke fell flat, but she gave her soon-to-be- doppleganger an awkward smile, "thank you for your help. And the necklace goes on in the morning before you so much step foot outside the door."

Watching Cerri swallow hard, Tris wondered if her words sounded more threatening than she intended. Then again, as long as she got the point. Taking a last look around the room at her belongings, Tris let out on more sigh before she made her way into the room Cerri had just vacated. Inside was a still steaming bath, and the other few belongings a student whose bags had been sent ahead traveled with. She and Niko doubted that anyone was following her so closely as to pay close attention to her neighbors, but someone might notice her coming out of the wrong room in the morning.

Unlike her siblings, she had few defining features, no blossoming tattoos, a skin tone that could be from any number of countries and no distinct facial features. It all came down to red, curly hair and grey eyes. Tris took out the potion that she and Rosethorn had worked on. Originally, she had planned to work with Briar on it, but every time she reminded any of the three she was leaving, they started pouting. Rosethorn was much too sensible for such behavior.

Originally, she thought she would simply get a spell from Niko, much like Cerri would be sporting. While seeing magic was rare even among mages, as she had been reminded several times over the years, she was about to surround herself with every caliber of magic user. Trying to fool them all with a spell was too risky. Instead, they had opted for more cosmetic changes.

A good deal of the power she had stored in her braids for the last few years had been used up while they were in Namorn. Niko helped her safely drain all the rest, which meant that her wild red hair had been in a simple plait for the last month. It also meant, she was without her mage kit. That was the first step towards her new appearance.

After a few rinses in the hot water, Tris went to look at herself in the mirror. Looking back was a pale young girl with nondescript brown hair. Rosethorn included an extract from a tree she called a "rubber plant", it was supposed to cut back on her conductivity. The weight of the formula also turned her curls into waves. Never one to bother with appearances, she still couldn't help running her fingers through her hair. Only when she had shorn her hair off out of desperation had she ever been able to do so without tangling her fingers.

Her eyelashes and eyebrows only required a much simpler dye. As for her unusual eye color, a little back and forth with Keth had supplied a solution. In a small box, she carried two tiny lenses of tinted glass. Not only were they made to correct her vision, but they also turned her irises to a similar brown. Now, everything about her was as plain as the girl next door. The type of person you didn't look twice at. She was not Cerri's twin by any means, but close enough to avoid scrutiny.

Tris smiled as she toweled her hair dry. This was a good start.


The no-nonsense woman that had shown her into the office quietly shut the door without the gentleman behind the desk so much as glancing up. Tris stood in silence as he shuffled through the papers in front of him. He was an older gentleman, who looked as though he spent a good deal of time sitting, judging by the belly that folded over the lip of his desk. His gray hair and jowls belied the brilliant light that had her still blinking away dark spots from her vision, a side effect of her seeing magic. While the magnitude of his power reminded her of Niko, he did not command the same presence as her teacher. It could also be that his power play of making her wait for acknowledgement was not sitting well with the prickly redhead. Then again, she was no longer a redhead.

"Meghana Earthborn…" The headmaster's voice was deep but without inflection.

"Yes sir."

Briar would have whistled at how quickly the man brought a shield up around the office without so much as a twitch, but Tris just took a moment to adjust her eyes. She realized now it was a good idea to keep a damper on the spell that allowed her to see magic. Still, his speed was impressive. Perhaps more impressive, his ward cut short the scene of a student gathering books up off the ground that had been wafting through the open window. Was he aware that she heard things on the wind or just thorough? Surely, her ability to scry on the winds had not reached this far north.

"We can drop the pretense for now Miss Chandler." He looked up at her for the first time.

"Of course, Headmaster Aegissworn."

"You are an impressive young lady, Miss Chandler," his tone implied no compliment, "but you are trouble."

Tris had not practiced daily for the last two months to lose her temper on the first day. She kept her mouth shut. As for the headmaster, his papers had once again demanded his attention. When he had scanned through to the end of a page and flipped to the next, he spoke once more.

"Let us be candid. I voted against letting you attend. You have already received accreditation from another… institution, and this deception is beneath us." He cleared his throat without looking up. "Alas, I was vetoed by the council. To be so well connected at such a young age does have its advantages."

She waited for him to continue, reminding herself she had asked for this. He would be the only one at this entire school with a prejudice against her. Niko had tried her patience in every way possible to prepare her. His voice, which would have already caused the winds to start picking up in the room in the past, now sounded suspiciously like the buzzing of a gnat.

"However, as a student, you now fall under my sole purview. You will be afforded no further special treatment. In my opinion, the fact that we exempted you from certain classes is already too much consideration. The professors are unaware of your status; should you use it to your advantage, it shall be the end of your days here at Lightsbridge. Should you reveal yourself to the students, it shall be the end of your days here at Lightsbridge. Should I get the smallest hint of trouble where you are concerned, it shall be the end of your days here at Lightsbridge."

"As you say, sir."

Apparently, her contrite response did nothing to assuage him. He leaned back in his chair to give her the full extent of his glare. In her time, she had faced down pirates who wanted to enslave her, a murderer intent on her death, and stared down an empress, backed by two great mages. This man was most certainly annoying, but if he was trying for intimidation, he needed to go to Rosethorn for some lessons.

She had determined to fully adopt the mantle of a student here, but this man knew who she was. This would be the last time she allowed herself such freedom. "If we are being candid, I would like nothing more than to quietly graduate here without my name so much as passing your desk, until it is time to accept my medallion."

"We shall see. I think you will find the requirements of academic magic a little more stringent than your prior… education." His poignant pauses grated on her nerves. "Madame Prothero will give you directions to your room. Your bags were deposited earlier this week."

Just as quickly as the magical shield had appeared, it winked out of existence. His attention was once again fully on the mountain of papers in front of him. Tris knew a dismissal when she heard one. Without so much as inclining her head, she marched herself back out of the room. Despite his doubt, she had every intention of not seeing him for the next two years.