Free Control (Book Seven) (Fated Saga Fantasy Series) by Rachel Humphrey - D'aigle Page B

softly as she entered the kitchen.
    “Oh, good morning, dear. Breakfast is on the table. I’ve just brought your father his.”
    Mireya did not respond. She knew her mother would not give up. She also knew that if she looked right now, her father would be in the same spot he had been in since her brother’s death. And that he would not have touched a bite of his food.
    “I’ll eat later,” Mireya told her. “Can’t be late, you know.”
    Sheila Mochrie threw her daughter a wide, blank smile. “Have a go od day, dear.”
    Mireya shook her head as she put on the thick coat. Both my parents have completely checked out...
    In a way, she could not blame them. It was easier than dealing with their son’s death. It was much easier than dealing with the manner in which he died. It was also much easier than dealing with the current conditions of the island. 
    Before leaving, she stopped to say an obligatory goodbye to her father. It always gave her a start to see him now. His face was sunken in. His eyes glazed over, staring endlessly out a window, for what, she did not know.
    “I’m leaving now. Bye, Dad.”
    He did not respond to her. Not even a movement in her direction. Her dad has just vanished, deep inside himself, somewhere out of her reach.
    Irving Mochrie might have been strict with her brother, she’d seen it a hundred times. Sometimes overly so, but she never doubted, especially now, how much he had loved his son. He just wasn’t good at showing it. And now, it was too late.
    For some reason Mireya could not get Jae out of her thoughts today. It would lead nowhere good, to dwell on what she could not change.
    She had chosen to rememb er Jae for the good brother he had been, and nothing more. She missed him. Now more than ever. Now that her parents had checked out, now that Ivan was gone, now that Jae was gone, now that Meghan and Colin Jacoby had gone... her once vibrant household had been reduced to a shadow of its former self.
    Mireya left her father and stood at the front door. She was not permitted to leave until 9:01am, and she had to be at her destination by 9:15am. This left a few long minutes for her mind to keep wandering. She was almost glad it was a workday; she needed to keep busy.
    It made her sick to think of that first day after her brother’s death. After Juliska Blackwell had killed Garner and Ravana, in the process revealing that she had created the Scratchers. Juliska ordered an attack on that first day, against her own people.
    Mireya was not sure in the end how many Svoda had died or how many had been taken prisoner.
    Many prisoners were released a few days later, after the Stripers had arrived. Adults were put under house arrest. They were not permitted to leave their homes. Ever.
    School was permanently canceled. Businesses closed.
    Children under the age of sixteen were the only ones permitted to leave their houses and that was to work. Each had been given a specific job in order to keep the island operational.
    The worst part though , were the sessions.
    Each Svoda, no matter how young or old, had to attend mandatory sessions in that first week. One by one, they were lined up and taken to the school building; only it wasn’t a school anymore.
    The Stripers had used magic to change the school, turning the classrooms into prison cells. In these cells, Svoda were subjected to a magic she, nor anyone on the island, knew little about.
    Mazuruk stones. Nicknamed Mazy Stones.
    Mireya had studied the war behind the stones, but as the stones were believed extinct, that is where the lesson ended.
    No information about how to destroy them.
    Nothing about any way to combat their use.
    Or how long it took the stones to completely drain someone’s magic.
    Now, not one member of the Svoda was strong enough to perform any sort of respectable magic. They still had the capability of using magic, if their magical strength could be renewed.
    This didn’t happen though.
    Each member of the Svoda was