CalledtoPower by Viola Grace Page B

back to her students and smiled, “I have to head to the com centre. I will return as soon as I can, but in the meantime, Instructor Halwen will keep an eye on you.”
    Her students nodded respectfully, and Syrella was on her way to the main Citadel.
    Halwen’s ability to read the minds of any living being made her an excellent barn master and animal trainer.
    A chill of nerves ran through her as she hiked up the path that would take her to the com centre. In her twenty years at the Citadel, Thoola Education Centre, she had gotten four calls. The first two were from her mother telling her how proud her mother was that she was doing well. The third had been the notification that her mother was dead, the fourth communication was that her father was dead. It had been years since she had heard anything from her home world.
    Saluthic was a quiet world in the Vexar Empire. Technically, Syrella was the Duchess of Saluthic now, but it was an empty title with her father’s properties entailed to one of his male relatives.
    There was something about not knowing the person who was calling her that sent a ripple of unease down her spine.
    She nodded to a few instructors and their students as she passed through the main hall. Autumn on Thoola was a good time for new intakes. If they could adapt to the harsh winters, they improved their character dramatically.
    Syrella moved through the familiar halls until she was standing outside the com centre. With a deep breath and a serene expression plastered over her features, she opened the door.
    Tuubi was on the com today, and she got to her feet, winking as she patted Syrella on the arm. It was obviously a private call.
    Syrella sat at the station and keyed in her pass code. The face that popped up on screen was familiar in that it was Vexar. Aside from that, she had no idea who she was looking at.
    The woman was matronly with her hair up in a formal coil. “Syrella? Is that you?”
    Syrella blinked. “I am Syrella. Who am I addressing?”
    “Lady Algiatha Loesh Nevic, your grandmother.”
    Shock ripped a hole in Syrella’s heart as she stared at the woman who had given birth to her father via contract and waltzed out of his life as soon as another offer presented, rarely seeing her son from that moment on.
    “What can I do for you, Lady Nevic?” Syrella wanted to get off the com as quickly as she could.
    Lady Nevic frowned as if the conversation was not going as she had planned. “Oh, well, I have been asked to tell you that you have to return to Vexa. The entire line of succession is dead, and you are all that is left.”
    “What?”
    “You are the new Empress of the Vexar Empire.”
    Lady Nevic’s bright smile had an effect she wasn’t counting on. Syrella cut the communication and lost her lunch in the wastebasket. Not a good move for the new empress.

Chapter Two
    Tuubi helped her sit up and pressed a compress to her head. “Sy, are you all right?”
    “No. I don’t think so. I need to talk to Wadara. I need something confirmed.” Sy wiped her face and got to her feet, swaying alarmingly.
    Tuubi grabbed her arm and steadied her. “You look paler than I have ever seen you, and you are chalky at the best of times.”
    Syrella straightened and tucked the garbage bin under her arm. “I will take care of this.”
    Tuubi yanked it out of her grip. “I will take care of this. You go see Wadara.”
    “Thanks, Tuubi.” Stunned and shaking, Syrella walked into the hall, stopped at the lav to freshen up and then went in search of the head of the Thoola Citadel School for Talented Females.
    Wadara’s receptionist smiled brightly until she took in Syrella’s face. “Sit down, dear, I will call the headmistress.”
    It was less than five minutes until Wadara was standing next to Syrella, taking her by the hand and leading her into the privacy of the headmistress’s office. “What has happened?”
    Sy shivered and took the cup of tea Wadara handed her. “I politely request