Escaped Daughter (Morrigan University #1)

2

“Bevin, the maids tell me you’re being difficult again,” Mother chastised a week later at breakfast.

“Well, since I don’t answer to the maids, they should be lucky they don’t work at other households where they would be fired for calling me a brat,” I drawled as I sat with my plate.

I bit back a smirk as everyone in the room froze. I was never honest or snitched like that, but since it was my last day in this awful house, I wasn’t about to hold back.

“And what was this conflict about?” Father asked, not interested in the slightest about whatever was going between Mother and me, but loyalty was a top priority of his, and any dissension in the staff concerned him.

“They were trying to finalize everything she needs to take with her that I ordered,” Mother explained.

“And I informed them that I’ve already packed as I’m leaving today ,” I interjected before she could ramp up. “I was told not to be a brat and I didn’t have permission so to stop making their jobs difficult.” I glared at two of the maids in particular so Father could see. “Apparently, they believe they’re above our deal, Father. We agreed I would register as Bevin Millen.”

“We did,” he muttered, glancing between us.

“Bevin Millen wouldn’t have suitcases full of the fall season’s most expensive designer lines and clothes that cost enough to buy a new car,” I explained. “Which is what I reminded Mother of when I also gave her the new registration saying I was leaving today as I signed up for an additional freshman seminar.”

He raised an eyebrow at that. “It’s subject?”

“How to fully utilize the university’s resources, including in-depth tours of the library, stacks, archives, and collections we have access to as students. Also, the way independent seminar projects are set up that can count as credits if final papers are published. Which I’m already signed up for and will be a useful alternative learning avenue for me given I placed out of several basic requirements.”

“That’s the overview?”

“Yes, but it’s only a week and doesn’t count for course credit, simply the gold star of being wise enough to give the time to attend.”

“Hmm.” He glanced at the two maids I hated who had treated me as dirt for years and years as my family did. “You are both demoted to first-level maids. I don’t care your orders, any Shaw is still your master and to be respected. See the head butler for your new assignments. Fail again and you will not only be fired, but blacklisted from any reputable house.”

“Yes, sir,” they stuttered, giving a quick glance at Mother for help—which she wouldn’t even if she fully knew how they treated me—before scurrying off.

Well, that was a nice parting gift leaving hell.

“On the matter of your allowance, I feel half of normal given our deal is—” Father started, but I cut in.

“I don’t think that’s needed,” I said easily, having been warned about this issue from my furry friends. He planned to use any monetary assistance as his fallback that I used the Shaw family resources. “Our deal starts today. The semester has already been paid for which includes classes, housing, meals, books, and all fees. I purchased everything else with my own means. I don’t really have a need for anything else.”

“Oh? And how did you do this?” he asked incredulously.

I shrugged as I cut into my omelet. “I sold last year’s wardrobe that Mother never allows me to wear once it’s out of season and fashion. It was more than enough to buy the clothes I needed to be Bevin Millen with enough for any expenses I might need. The rest—my vehicle was a gift for my birthday. My electronics all generous gifts but already given.”

“It seems you have it all covered,” he mocked.

“I highly doubt that,” I countered. “And I think we would both agree any threat to my security if someone found out I am a Shaw is separate from our wager as that is of no fault of mine and a risk to our family.”

“Of course,” he snapped, anger brewing in his eyes that I would challenge him as being petty. “I said Shaw luxury, the benefits of the name.”

I nodded. “ We said using the protection of it, so I simply wanted to specify how we framed that. It can protect us from misbehaving or certain troubles, but it can also bring trouble with enemies. I wanted to make sure before I left the house if it was the latter that was exempt from the deal.”

“Yes, as that was long before you were born,” he confirmed, settling down. “And you’re right, we did use that term specifically.” He gave me an assessing look as if wondering if he hadn’t appraised a possession with enough value. “You’re more astute than I would have thought.”

I couldn’t hide my mirth. “Father, I’m more astute than you would think any female to be. It’s the burden of sexism.” His eyes flashed shock, but I ignored it when the head butler walked into the dining room, presumably to confirm what my father had done. “I’ll need a circle set up to take me to Morrigan University within the hour and two staff to help me load my vehicle.”

“Yes, Ms. Shaw,” he accepted without even checking with my parents. He was one of the few that treated me with any respect in the house. Him and one cook in the kitchen.

Wasn’t that sad in a huge mansion that had a staff of over fifty? Then again, why would they when they witnessed how my family treated me?

I finished up my meal and headed to the arboretum to say some of the hardest goodbyes of my life. I couldn’t keep the tears at bay though I tried my damnedest.

My mother made a disgusted noise as she saw my state and where I had come from while walking through the foyer with my father. “You show only joy at the prospect of leaving this family for good but cry over leaving the animals in there? You don’t even have a familiar. That bond I might understand but regular animals? It’s pathetic.”

I couldn’t even hide my contempt for her. I shook my head as I gestured around the lavish mansion. “I understand them more than I ever will you, Mother. This might be the most magnificent prison ever to be seen, but eighteen years locked up here to be kept na?ve and reliantly docile still makes it a prison. The same for them in the gorgeous arboretum as they are meant to be free.”

“Always so melodramatic,” she sighed.

“That doesn’t make me wrong, and you asked,” I reminded her as I headed for the stairs. I left it at that and wouldn’t ever confess that it was mostly how Clarence was having trouble breathing. He tried to hide it, but it was obvious as he said goodbye and licked me to keep me safe yet again. Clearly, he was right that his time was short and maybe the gods really did give him extra years to see me to their path.

Two of the staff and the head butler met me at my room and moved everything that I pointed to onto carts to take down via the service elevator. I thanked them and was shocked when the head butler paused, glancing around.

“I wish you all the best, Miss. May the gods bless you,” he said quietly before walking off briskly to follow the others.

Huh. Maybe it was more than integrity that kept him respectful towards me and he actually cared about the bullied black sheep of the twisted family?

My parents were waiting for me in the foyer. I had no sentimental notions of them wanting to send me off or caring. No, they wanted to test me.

Father clapped me on the shoulder and I felt his magic surge over me, checking mine as he narrowed his eyes at me. He gave a firm nod when he was satisfied at what he found. “Do well and don’t embarrass us since it will come out next semester you’re a Shaw.”

Ass. Hole.

I snorted, shaking my head and not even engaging as I headed for the door. There was no point in explaining that what I did, I did for myself and my own honor. I would get further talking to the wall as there was nothing more than the Shaw name to him in life.

“There is a limit of your little rebellion I’ll allow before it angers me as crossing over into disrespect, Bevin,” my father warned.

I glanced at him over my shoulder. “And yet you were already completely disrespectful to your own daughter by dismissing her as already beaten and calling her choices a ‘little rebellion.’ You may be my father, but what is one of your fundamental rules?”

“Never give respect to those who show none to you,” he muttered, knowing exactly what I meant.

“That accurately sums up my life here, Father. I either fail your teachings and look an idiot in your eyes or disrespect you and still fail. The game was always rigged. That’s why this isn’t a rebellion but a chance to get free of that game.”

He seemed to consider that a moment but then shook his head. “Your siblings didn’t fail the game. I won’t be blamed for your failings. If you had magic befitting our family, you wouldn’t have been treated as you have and lacking.”

I also wouldn’t have been alive , so he could stuff his bullshit. I didn’t nod as that could be in acceptance to someone like him, instead walking out the door and heading for a better life. There was no chance of me losing this bet because nothing would be worse than staying in this family and being married off like a mare who was sold below value to help the family who didn’t care about her.

Nothing.

Everything was loaded in my SUV when I reached it. I thanked the staff again and climbed in, giving one last glance at my gilded prison before starting up my vehicle and driving to the area we used for transport circles. One of the guards moved in front of me and counted down visually before activating the circle.

The magic pulled my breath from my lungs as I was transported hundreds of miles away in a flash. I blinked off the bright light of the circle and found myself outside the guard station of Morrigan University. Throwing the SUV into gear, I checked I was clear and pulled up to the booth.

“Can I help you?” the guard asked as I rolled down the window.

“Hi, yes, Bevin Millen for early new student check in,” I answered as I handed him my ID. Only a few people were aware of my being there under a different name and the guards would be in the loop as it was a safety concern.

Or so the dean told me when I’d worked out getting my registration changed. It was fair. I couldn’t deny they needed to know who would have the most threats against them, and given the power—and enemies—my family had, I was a high-value target.

He took my ID and blinked at it before slowly nodding. “Yes, Ms. Millen, we were informed of the situation.” He glanced down at the tablet and tapped it a few times, frowning. “There was a change to your room assignment. You’re no longer in a normal double but a single. It’s noted here that it’s for security reasons.”

I swallowed a sigh. I should have known Father would have called and tried to stack the deck in any way he could. To him, not having a roommate to share secrets with or have pillow fights with—whatever asinine ideas he had of what college-age females did—would be enough to send me running home.

Hysterical given I’d grown up completely alone and never having a friend. How did having a single room remotely negatively affect me when it was probably best to get my feet wet?

I put on my best smile. “If that’s what was decided, I understand, but I apologize if it inconvenienced anyone so last minute. I really wanted to stay under the radar registering this way, but the dean was concerned about balancing it all.”

“I can understand that,” he muttered, tapping the tablet a few more times before scanning my ID. “I didn’t even know the Shaws had another kid that would enter here. We were all shocked there wasn’t the normal fanfare and crazy orders for us.” He flinched as if realizing what he’d just admitted to, slowly raising his eyes to meet mine.

“I’m the oddball who wanted to avoid all of that,” I chuckled.

“Well, I hope you do and get as much normal as you can,” he said gently as he handed me back my ID. He also gave me a printout of a map that was marked with where I needed to go.

I was coming in a week before most freshmen so I could attend the seminar. And the freshmen came a week before the rest of the students for orientation, so I was actually two weeks before most of the student body would arrive. Classes wouldn’t start for two and a half weeks which gave me plenty of time to get acclimated to campus and get the layout.

Or that was my hope.

I pulled up to the dorm and found the check-in table without a problem. The woman manning the table was cordial and concise. I didn’t expect a lot of bullying or bullshit as Morrigan was incredibly firm that the focus was on classes and not anything petty. They made examples of any “shenanigans” unbefitting of their students.

Would there still be some? Of course, it was the nature of school and a competitive one at that. I simply expected it to be in classes and in the form of competitions that would probably be harsher than most schools would allow.

I had twenty minutes to unload which ended up being just enough time with the cart I could use. I barely got a chance to check out my room on the fifth floor before hurrying to reload. Putting the cart back, I moved my SUV to the parking lot and headed inside to get settled.

The room was nothing special, and I was absolutely sure that was on purpose and arranged by Father. But nothing special at the best magical college in the world was still wonderful as it was freedom like I’d never had at home. It might be a quarter of the size of my room at home and the private bathroom tiny… But no one would be searching it as the servants and Mother did and they didn’t think I knew of.

So it was still heaven.

I spent the day doing the normal college freshman settling in stuff. I hit the bookstore and got my supplies that my parents had already paid for per our deal. I cleaned up the room and unpacked. I walked around campus a bit and took in everything, even finding the small grocery store for students to stock up their rooms with.

It was a closed campus, and from a security standpoint it made sense to have a store for us even if the nearest town was all witches and warlocks—no humans. It was mostly university employees or businesses that made money off the college being there, but it was still smart to have the basics on campus for us so there wasn’t too much unnecessary back and forth.

It wasn’t as if the world was exactly safe and now the school was responsible for our well-being.

The next morning, I checked out the coffee shop the campus had since cafeteria service wouldn’t start until the other freshmen arrived. I had enough to make do and the store had meals to go that would be more than sufficient. I found a nice spot to enjoy a magical coffee that my parents thought crass that was all over social media and a gigantic muffin that smelled divine.

“It’s always the same every year with these idiots,” a woman’s voice bitched. “‘Oh, an owl that big, it has to be someone’s familiar. I bet it’s someone powerful.’ No, regular owls come this size in Vermont, idiots. Try reading books before entering college or looking into what the area you’ll be living in for the next six years will be like.”

“Try having amethyst eyes,” I replied even if she hadn’t been speaking to me. “You wouldn’t believe what people say about them right to me as if they think the color of my eyes somehow makes my ears not work to hear them.”

“I can imagine but—you can hear me?” The owl made a startled sound and flapped her wings when I turned to look at her.

“I can. I’m Bevin.”

“Julie.”

It was my turn to be shocked. “You already have a name. Someone on campus can hear animals?”

“No, you are a rare witch,” she muttered. “When I was an owlet, I was injured and a student helped me. He named me and I kept it.” She flapped her wings and made another noise. “A lot of us are named here. It’s common around so many familiars. We learn.”

“Yes, of course. I apologize. It’s my ignorance. I thought it uncommon.” I glanced out at the pretty campus. “I was probably the first to care in my house and name any of the animals around. That was my only interaction and knowledge.”

“It makes sense. I didn’t take offense.” She paused as I bit into my muffin and tried my heavenly latte. “They are pretty. Your eyes.”

“Thank you.” They were actually a sensitive topic as they weren’t the color of the Shaw bloodline but my grandfather’s and the Millens which had been one of the most powerful magical families. “I’ve been told they are too big for my face and look funny.”

“Girl, you’re talking to an owl,” she chuckled.

Fair enough.

“Sounds like jealous people. Doe eyes are sexy to men. I hear it all the time.”

“I’m na?ve enough. I don’t need my physical features to help me,” I grumbled.

“Well, I can help you. I could always use a witch friend,” she offered. “Wait, what kind of familiar do you have?”

“I don’t have one.”

She was quiet a moment. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

I didn’t reply, simply nodding. It was more complicated than I could explain to most witches or warlocks, much less an animal. Animals might be much, much more intelligent than most people thought, but the intricacies of magic were complicated for people who had it. There wasn’t a chance an animal would understand all the nuances.

Not when I wasn’t sure I understood all of it in this instance and it was in regards to me and my magic.

“So now that we’re friends, any chance you’ll tell me the good places to harvest magic around here?” I asked her.

“Harvest?”

“Cultivate? Accrue it?” I tried.

“Oh, foster it? I’ve heard people say that. When they meditate and try to get more?”

“Yes, that. Different families and teachers use different terms.”

“Why? Isn’t that confusing?”

I chuckled before taking another bite of my muffin. “Yes, but it’s to be cool and not sound like humans or cliché. It’s the ‘in’ thing right now with certain cultures and genres of fiction to be ‘cultivators’ or cultivate magic, so no one wants to say that. Though some of it is different beliefs. My grandfather called it ‘harvesting’ as he believed you had to invest the time and energy into the place like a garden.”

“And it’s all with nature. I know that much. Smart man. Respectful.”

“He was, yes.” I frowned. “He wouldn’t have liked the idea of fostering it. Maybe here since we’re only at school for six years, but it’s not enough responsibility.” I lost the owl then, so I shut my mouth and worked out my debate in my head.

It wasn’t a bad idea for students to maybe use that term as they wouldn’t have full rights to the spaces and then it couldn’t turn into turf warfares. Yeah, I could see that from a teacher’s perspective, as if stating tuition gave students the chance to use the area like amenities in renting an apartment.

But leave it like you found it or better.

“Do you want me to show you the spots?” Julie asked me when I got lost in my head.

“Oh, yes, please, and I’d love any dirt on this place.” I’d feel bad for being demanding, but animals loved to talk, and finding someone who could hear them was like a miracle they didn’t even know they’d longed for.

Sure enough, her eyes sparkled as she started rattling off every warning and piece of information on the school that a freshman like me could ever need to know. I stood and walked with her as I ate, acting like I wasn’t following the owl rambling nonstop that no one else could hear to the other people around.

Such was my life.

By the time I had to head to the first day of my seminar, I was feeling better that I knew a bit more than the freshman arriving would. Or at least those without older siblings who had already attended.

Well, nice ones. Mine hadn’t so much as called to wish me luck. No, they probably hoped I fell flat on my face. I was almost shocked Alex hadn’t shown up to give me one last hit somewhere he thought no one would notice or see. Now that I was eighteen, he might have thought better of it though as I was soon to become another man’s possession instead of the family’s.

Funny because most would have cared when he became eighteen and was an adult beating on a child.

Not really all that funny actually. Sick.

Yeah, sick was the word I was really looking for.

My family was fucking sick in the head.