Revolution (Book 3 of POE Chronicles)

Novella: Margo Part 1

My mother named me Margot because her great grandmother was called Margot. But I had never liked the name. For as long as I could remember, I had asked people to call me Margo. One less letter, but a much more pleasant sound. My father often said that he would have called me Victoria. Being named after the founder of our family would have been much more preferable than a random French name, but I supposed I would have made it my own in some way anyway.

The Balikova Family was huge in Budapest Citybase. To be honest, it was huge in the entire Protectors of Earth Community worldwide. I loved our difference to the world, a difference that Victoria Balikova had worked hard to secure. Her blood ran through my veins, even if it was three hundred years later. I had heard so much about the legendary story of her growing up, and I often wished I would grow up faster so my powers would manifest. I was sure that I was a telepath, just like Victoria. In fact, I was sure that I would be the next Legre-communication gene carrier after Louisa. She got all the spotlight for being the one who could communicate with Legres. But when I grow up, she'd be sidelined.

What I didn't expect was my mother being a de Silver.

They had a huge argument about it. They sent me to bed and locked themselves in the study, but they didn't know about the old key-hole gap that let me see through. True, it was locked with an electric field, but I could still hear them and see them.

Father was mad because mother hadn't told him about it. But mother couldn't have told him, because she didn't know herself. It was all very dramatic and stupid. I stayed for five minutes then headed off to bed. They could fill me in when I wake up tomorrow. Besides, father was over reacting. But it was also hard for me to process. I wasn't just a Balikova anymore, I was a de Silver, too.

This made me even more special.

Father wasn't at breakfast the next day. My maid helped me into a new dress and I wondered what the occasion was, especially since father wasn't here. The dining room seemed a little more empty than usual without him, the dark wood paneling giving a harsh glow in the sunlight. There was no food either.

"Come, Margot," mother said, dressed in her best dress suit, and reached for my hand. I noticed two small suitcase was beside her and a car was waiting outside. "The de Silver had arranged for us to visit their headquarters. Grandma and Grandpa would meet us there."

I nodded. Before their shouting match yesterday, they had told me as much. It turned out that Grandpa's mother was a de Silver who had been a Norm and ran away. How did you run away from one Citybase to another without being traced? That was beyond me.

Anyway, so they found them eventually when cousin Dahlia's power emerged and joined the de Silver. She was sent to this school called the P.O.E. Academy first, of course. She should have joined the Balikova, but none of us were telekinetics.

The ride to the airport was smoothed. I had been on one twice, more than the average girl, so I knew exactly what to expect. I would be traveling a lot more as I get older, so I leaned back and took the chance to rest like my mother.

My nose wrinkled as we drove down the tarmac of the airport. The plane de Silver sent to get us was an old model, a Class B Bumblebee. That was cheap of them. Maybe they redecorated it? I boarded, scanning the interior and letting my mother dragged me to the nearest seats. Nope, it was just a regular Bumblebee. At least we weren't flying commercial.