“All mages who have the prefix ‘ar’ in their surnames are direct descendants of one of Resinah’s twelve original disciples,” Janta explained, clasping her hands together as she rested them atop the desk. “These are the nobility in our society. There was a time when only mages of noble birth could hold influential positions, but that is not the case today. Our current director of the Mages Guild, Lalia Chen, is a good example of this, as was her predecessor.”

“Right.” I nodded, recalling that neither Chen nor Chartis had the “ar” in their last names, nor did Minister Graning. “So how is it that the ar’Rhea family is directly descended from Resinah?”

“Two of Resinah’s children, her son and daughter, were disciples of hers. Her daughter, Miyanta, is the ancestor of the ar’Rhea family.” Janta’s nose twitched ever so slightly in disapproval. “According to history, Miyanta was as gracious and noble as her mother, but the same cannot be said of all her descendants. The families descended from Resinah consider themselves to be superior to all the other noble mages, and the ar’Rhea family is particularly snobbish. The purity of their blood means everything to them.”

“Great.” I rolled my eyes, trying not to show Janta that, inside, my heart was sinking. If my father was an ar’Rhea, it was no wonder he’d chosen to abandon me. As a shifter-mage hybrid, I had to be even more of an abomination to him than I was to ordinary mages. And considering how I’d been treated when I arrived at Solantha Palace, that was really saying something.

“Since the ar’Rhea family is so ancient and proud of their heritage, there is plenty of information about them in the historical and contemporary records.” Janta flipped the photo of Coman to the side, revealing a page filled with elegant handwriting—research notes, from what I could read upside down. “I checked the Foreign Mages’ Log to see if anyone from the ar’Rhea family had visited Solantha in the year before your birth.”

“That’s smart,” I said—I would have done it myself, if I’d known which name to look for. Any foreign mage visiting a Federation state for longer than a month was required to go to the local Mages Guild and fill out a form. My heart rate jumped up a notch, and I had to restrain myself from squirming in my seat like a little kid. “So what name did you find?”