When carrying two buckets of feces, I tried to imagine they were chocolate, hoping that would make them smell better.

Wait—never mind. I take that back. Associating excrement with food made a retching sensation churn through me.

I lugged the two buckets through the streets of Aere Grove, withholding the urge to toss them at people who looked at me strangely.

Cleaning the latrines was a terrible job, but somebody had to do it. My boots scraped across the dirt path as I walked onward, ready to dump the contents into the literal cesspool we had, which was to be transported by Geckari, large, lizard-like creatures, to the ocean at the end of the week.

One of my neighbors strolled past during my short trip. She scrunched her nose up, showing her obvious distaste, before going on her merry way. Better distaste than fear. They had stopped giving me those looks of fear years back. The last incident hadn’t happened since ages ago.

I made my way up the hill, noting the cool breeze slipping past, and tried to use it to distract myself from what I was doing. Whose dragons-damned idea was it to place the waste disposal up a steep hill? I’d had plenty of practice lugging shit around, but my arms never failed to ache after each trip. I snapped my mind back to the nice breeze. Better to focus on the good things in life. The townspeople often said we should be thankful for the airy atmosphere here. The city central, Raynea, housed too many dragon-kind. It made the winds there practically nonexistent, and the heat there an incessant state of uncomfortable.

I dunked out the contents of the bucket, hearing the sloshing sound of mucky crap. At first I thought the stink of my profession would numb my nostrils, but it never did. It still smelled foul, and sometimes my hairs rose on their ends because of how gods-awful it was.

“That’s a day’s work,” my mother said, after finishing her own shift. She still looked at me with a world of blame. My family didn’t talk about it, but I knew they blamed me for the current predicament they were stuck in. They weren’t wrong. “Are you done, Sera?”

“I’ll need to go through the latrines one more time,” I said. “Then I’ll be done.”

“Don’t be late for dinner.”

I nodded, but my mother, Ashryn, didn’t bother glancing in my direction. She gave her hands one final wash, before changing out of her apron and rushing out of the door. Father would take over her shift the next day. Technically, I was supposed to work with him. I cleaned the latrines without fail daily. Not because I wanted to, but because I had a big red target on my back, which was my curse.

But today could spell the end of it all. I’d found a way to climb up the ladder. Maybe after this, Mother and Father wouldn’t look at me with such obvious distaste anymore.

I plucked my two buckets from the ground and meandered back down to our town. Cobblestone buildings and livestock scattered about the place. There were some drerkyn flitting about the place in their half-human, half-dragon forms, wings out in the resplendent setting sun. If only I were luckier with my birth. If I’d been a drerkyn, I’d be up there in the higher social status. Instead, I got the worst of things. I was a human, the only I’d ever heard of, and cursed at that.

I didn’t sulk over my fate, however. I wouldn’t be the person I was today if not for all the crap I had to take growing up. And once the announcement came, everybody here would know just how wrong they were in smothering me with their prejudice.

A couple girls strolled past me, making sure they kept a large distance between me and them as they did. They held the papers in their hands—news from Raynea. I wondered if my name was in there in those papers. I eavesdropped, hoping to get some word, but they were talking about something else.

“Prince Rylan showed up in court in blue last week,” one of the girls said. “The article says it’s a fitting color for him.”

“It’s the color of the royal family,” the other replied. “Is there a sketch?”

“I don’t think it does him justice.”

“Let me see.”

“And there’s some of his brothers, too.”

“I think Gaius is my favorite.”

“Really? He always looks mean in the sketches.”

“I think Kael’s the mean one.”

“But Kael’s gorgeous. He’s the only of his brothers with white hair so striking, it looks like snow.”

“I prefer the illustrations of Micah—piercing eyes. They say his hair is as crimson as the deepest of roses…”

I was out of earshot before I could hear the rest, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. There were better problems to worry about, instead of how princes looked and what they were wearing. Normal girls had time to gossip about that. I was too busy trying to fight away the daggered stares and thinking of methods to turn those looks into ones of awe.

I finished clearing out the latrines and slipped out of my work gloves. It always made me uncomfortable not wearing gloves. I quickly washed up and put on my other pair as soon as I could. If I touched anyone else bare-handed…

Visions from my childhood snapped past my mind’s eye. They gave me nightmares.

I strode back home. I lived in a secluded building off the wayside, far from the middle of the town, together with my parents and sister. It made the walk to work even more inconvenient. The building was little more than a shack. Our door looked like it would break off if we pushed or pulled too hard, and the floorboards protested every time we walked on them. I untied my hair and entered my home, meeting the dark interior of our living room.

Food had been served and eaten. Empty plates lay on the table. Mother had gone ahead without waiting.

“Sorry, darling,” Mother said. “But your sister was hungry.”

Bianca, my sister, was sitting in a corner, working on another one of her sketches and scratching her charcoals on her overused scraps of paper. She peered up. “I didn’t say that.” She was pretty and had dark eyes and long, straight hair, completely unlike my wavy blond locks and green eyes. My family all had dark hair. The different color of mine spelled out my abnormalities to them even more.

Mother hunched over a pail of water, washing the dishes. “Your stomach was growling, Bianca.”

Bianca looked back down at her art. “We should have waited.” I attempted to appreciate the halfhearted concern Bianca gave me.

“No point for us to starve on Sera’s account,” Mother said. “She’s already done enough. I left the food on the table.”

I sighed and walked toward the pathetic portion my mother had left behind. “Where’s Father?” I asked, toying with my food. Potatoes and shrooms again. It was always the same dish. We didn’t have enough coppers for more. My taste buds had gone numb from the bland foods we had to shove down our throats.

Mother put the last of the dishes away. “He’s excited about the results of the council test Bianca sat for last month. Have you forgotten about it? He’s on his way to the announcement podium.”

“I wouldn’t forget about it.” It was my ticket out of this wretched life. Mother seemed to have completely forgotten I’d sat for that test as well.

Stacks of books stood in the shelves next to Bianca—encyclopedias, instruction manuals, textbooks, and dictionaries. Books were expensive, but my parents forked out what they could for Bianca, hoping she’d get into the Council of Intelligence and help reduce our scorn amongst the townsfolk. But my little sister hardly spent any time with them. I devoured them in her place. My parents didn’t notice that. They were too busy thinking about how terrible I was. They still weren’t counting on me to get into the council.

I finished up my dinner in record time. The results would be out in less than an hour, and I had deluded myself into being certain I’d get into the council. I knew the principles of all fields of scholarship like the back of my hand.

“Wash up after you’re done,” Mother said, wiping her hands on a towel. “Bianca and I won’t wait.” Mother had a gaunt face and a slender build. It was a wonder how she managed to find the strength to heave bucket loads of feces despite her stature. Shit was heavy, and it did give Father a muscular frame despite how horrendous our diet was. Mother and I didn’t have the muscles to show for it, however, despite having gained considerable strength since we started. Bianca was still slender and feminine—and weak—because my father and mother kept her sheltered.

I slapped my wooden fork onto the table and lifted myself to my feet. “I’m done.”

Mother shot me a look of surprise. “Oh? I guess you can come along with Bianca and me.” Mother had wanted to leave me behind. I bit the inside of my mouth, holding back a retort. There was no use trying to argue my way to the top. I had to show that I deserved to be up there. And Mother wasn’t going to judge me the same way at the end of today. It was only a matter of time.

Mother’s eyes flitted to my gloves. “Make sure you keep them on. There’s going to be a lot of folks at the junction today. I don’t want you causing any incidents.”

I hastily scrubbed my dishes and put them away. “Nothing has happened since years ago. You can trust me to be careful.”

“I should remind you anyway. If some poor bloke accidentally touches your bare skin… Maybe you should cover your face while you’re at it.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Bianca stowed her drawings and strolled to the entrance. She put on her sandals. “Mom, you don’t have to be harsh on Sera. She’s done her part.”

I wanted to hate Bianca, but sometimes she was too nice. That didn’t mean we got along, however. Some part of her probably understood that our parents gave her all their attention at my expense, and it made talking with her awkward.

“Don’t dally,” my mother said, casting her glance toward me. “We’re going to be late.”

“I wouldn’t miss the announcement for the world.” I checked our clock—a luxury Father had managed to keep from his merchant days. We still had half an hour to go. Plenty of time.

As the trio of us trudged toward the town’s center, Mother said, “Bianca, you could get there quicker if you flew.” Bianca was one of the drerkyn, like my father. Drerkyn were dragon-kind with only half-forms. When they shifted, they bore features like horns and wings, but couldn’t turn into full dragons, and still looked mostly human. By right, her drerkyn nature should help her achieve noble status, but her reputation had been soiled along with mine, and she was stuck having to deal with our inconveniences. Plus, drerkyn needed to eat a lot, and this made our food situation worsen. Bianca did eat more than me, but I wondered if she was even hungrier most of the time.

“It’s okay,” Bianca said, smiling. “It’s better to keep you company.” Better to not leave Mother alone with Sera was what how I interpreted the look Bianca wore. Sometimes I mused over whether my family was afraid of my abilities. I could easily hurt them—physically—if I wanted to, but I wouldn’t, because they were my own. My parents could be mean and vindictive, yes, but I still cared for them in a twisted kind of way. I deserved their treatment, because if not for my curse, they’d still be living a life of comfort.

A large gathering had conglomerated in our town’s center. I kept back, not wanting to squeeze through the crowd in case someone accidentally touched me. Bianca and Mother found my father, who had reserved a good spot for them. They were surrounded by too many other dragon-kind, so I stayed away. It’d spell trouble if their skins came into contact with mine.

The council often picked one or two candidates from each farming district. This year was my turn to be chosen. I was certain of it.

My nerves crept up, making me unable to keep still. Everyone chattered and bustled in the crowd. Some opportunistic boys were running around with baskets hanging at their waists, trying to sell refreshments. My stomach grumbled, but I had no coppers and couldn’t make a purchase.

Moments later, a draerin—a dragon-kind who was almost a full-blooded dragon—dropped from the sky. Draerin were said to have all the qualities of the dragons of the old, but were smaller. The official shifted back into a human away from sight, before appearing moments later, in a long robe that looked more expensive than our entire house.

The yearly announcements were always short. The buildup and anticipation lasted longer than the announcements themselves.

The draerin had both his hands in his sleeves as he climbed the steps of the podium.

My chest tightened, and for a second, doubt trickled through. What if I failed the test? I wouldn’t be able to retake it. Only the most gifted were allowed into the councils.

The draerin took his hands out of his sleeves, fishing a scroll from them as he did. I counted the seconds as he sifted through the sheet with his eyes.

“No candidates chosen for the Council of Fortitude,” he said.

My heart thumped hard in my chest. Usually one got picked every year.

“The prospective students this year weren’t up to par, and both councils have had a surplus of manpower lately. It is not a guarantee that every town will have a candidate.”

Not… a guarantee? I clenched my hands into fists. I had to believe in myself. I’d worked too hard at this to fail. Countless nights reading, committing my subjects to memory, making sure I understood every detail in those textbooks that belonged to Bianca.

I held my breath as the draerin official continued, “But we do have someone selected for the Council of Intelligence.”

My eyes darted to Bianca, who was biting her nails. My parents wanted her to be chosen, because she was nothing less than perfect in their view.

The draerin breathed deeply, then said, “Sera Cadriel, daughter of Theo Cadriel.”

The little murmurs in the crowd fell into hushed whispers. I refrained from pumping my fist into the air. Yes, yes, yes!

That would teach them all to look down on me.

I waded my way through the townsfolk, toward the podium. Men, women, and children parted and left a path as I walked onward. Usually, when people avoided me, it was out of fear and disgust, and it made me feel like dirt.

This time, I felt like a queen. Pride swelled through me. I tipped up my chin as I strode past.

I climbed toward the draerin and took the letter of acceptance from him, beaming. He turned his nose up at my scent. I didn’t care. I looked down at my parents, who were gaping in the center of the gathering.

Euphoria surged through my veins, and giddiness swept my emotions away. I’d never been this happy since… I couldn’t remember if I’d ever felt this kind of joy.

I was climbing up the social ladder, and I never wanted to fall back down.