United. (Book 5 of the Lupus Antiqua Series)
The tour.

The War College reminded Abby of a compound, and that assessment wasn't far off the mark. When Kani led her through the main building's front doors, the inside was just as massive as the outside.

After walking in, there was a wide open room with a vaulted ceiling. There were couches and tables and fluffy carpets. There were even bookshelves full of inviting casual reading.

Here and there people lounged. Some were reading or chatting with each other. One woman was full on sleeping, which made Abby grin.

"This is the common room, as you might have guessed." Kani swatted the sleeping Witch's boots which were hanging over the arm of the couch hard enough that the woman snorted and then promptly fell off the couch. Abby laughed but kept up with Kani, who hadn't paused. "Despite appearances, it is not for sleeping. But it is a good place to relax and socialize."

"Are the books for anyone?" Abby wondered.

"Absolutely. Just make sure you return them if you borrow." Kani veered to the left. "This is the way to the mess hall."

They entered a massive cafeteria. The tables were all round and made of sturdy wood. The chairs surrounding the tables looked comfortably padded and there were scented candles burning here and there throughout. It smelled like clean linen.

"You can eat here any time of day or night." Kani led her through a side door that entered into a huge kitchen. "The kitchens are always open but they are only staffed until ten at night. If you want a midnight snack you'll need to make it yourself."

Abby gaped at the lovely kitchen. The counters were all marble and the appliances all looked brand new and state of the art. It was so clean she would have felt safe eating off the floor if need be.

Even though it was for all intents and purposes an industrial kitchen, it still managed to seem homey somehow. There were pictures of people on the walls that she assumed were staff members or their families. There were more candles in here, and a rack for the aprons and coats. A hamper for dirty dish rags and aprons sat near a back door.

She and Kani turned around and went the way they'd come, re-entering the common room and going through a door on the opposite side of it.

This led to a warren of corridors and halls with doors that all looked warded.

"These are the main barracks. The True Witches who work here and those covens that are in active service live here in the main building. I'm sure it goes without saying, but entering a room without consent is a major no no.

The covens tend to be a bit territorial and as you'd expect, fiercely loyal to their own above all others. Occasional feuds pop up, and for the most part I allow them to work it out on their own. Most of the time I don't need to get involved. All coven leaders know that they need to have a firm hand.

What you will find different here is that each coven has at least one male member. All Umbra pass through this College for training, but the majority of them choose to enlist in full service.

I know it isn't politically correct to mention it, but the True Witch males in our society tend to be treated as glorified bodyguards and little else because they are so rare. Here in the War College they are treated as equal." Kani explained.

"I can see why most of them would choose to stay here." Abby murmured. She hadn't known that, and it struck her again how ignorant she'd been kept. Anger rippled beneath her skin, but she shoved it aside. It was useless at the moment and would only serve to make her seem unhinged. After that thing with the wards, she didn't want to rock the boat.

"Now, once you have graduated you and Endymion can move in here with whatever coven it is that you join with, but since you are a mated pair, which is pretty much wed, you can also keep your private home. The choice will be yours.

The dizzying maze of halls and rooms gave way to a more organized series of large rooms. They were plain, empty, white, and warded to the extent that it made the hair on Abby's arms stand up.

"These are the training rooms. When War Witches come to us they are rarely in control. When they have their awakenings, again, control is a problem. These rooms are specialized to permit a War Witch to practice without doing harm to anyone or anything.

You are a special case, though, so you will be practicing in the most heavily warded one that we have. I warn you, entering it will make you feel ill initially.

These training sessions will be presided over by myself. If something prevents me from attending, you would be under the purview of Loralee." Kani winced. "About Loralee. She is the Ice Witch. If you had any history, you might have heard her referenced as 'winter's fury'."

Abby halted, eyes going wide.

"Winter's fury?" She gasped. "The winter's fury? The one who, in the battle of St. Petersburg called down a winter so brutal that it killed thousands, True Witch and mortal alike?" Abby asked.

"The very same."Kani confirmed. "She is not particularly pleasant as a rule. But she knows her stuff. So, if you end up with her one day, be respectful, and do not be rude to her in return. You are quite powerful, but so is she; and she has experience on her side."

"I'll be careful." Abby murmured in awe. She'd never dreamed Loralee herself would be here, though she probably should have. Most True Witches lived between one hundred and fifty to two hundred years.

The more powerful the True Witch, the longer they lived. The longer they lived the more powerful they became. It was a cycle that fed into itself.

Abby hadn't entered her longer than average span of life yet, so she still thought in mortal terms. She'd assumed Loralee would be retired or gone because the ice witch had called down that famous storm in the eighteen hundreds. It was wild to think about. Would she live that long, too? She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

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