Marcus’ voice came from a long way away, congratulating her as the room filled with applause.
She lifted her head, which in itself felt like a Herculean feat. Her gaze landed on the Council members, on Marcus. If he was disappointed by her lack of failure he didn’t show it. Instead he seemed to feed on her pain, his eyes intense and over-bright.
Allyra steeled herself – she wasn’t going to provide him with any more entertainment. She bowed to the Council – a shallow bow, the least she could do without being obviously disrespectful. It was her own brand of rebellion, a sign to them that she was far from finished. Her legs were shaky, but she kept her chin up and her back straight as she walked towards the gallery reserved for the Trials participants. She sat down next to a large Terra and let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding.
She was safe – for now.
Chapter 23 – Jamie
Jamie stood in the small anteroom and watched Allyra walk out the door, his heart in his throat. She had to face this test alone and the idea that there was nothing he could do to help her chilled him, leaving him both hollow and anxious. A thousand ants were crawling over him, not just on his skin, but actually inside him.
It wasn’t just the helplessness. There was something else, something he couldn’t quite pin down.
Why is it that things never turn out as you might expect?
He’d spent so much of the last month thinking about the moment he would have Allyra back, but now that she was, it felt wrong. He didn’t want to admit it, or even think about it, but there was something about Allyra, something wrong, something he couldn’t quite pin down.
He couldn’t shake the memory of her first moments back – that wild, unthinking madness in her eyes. And since then, she’d been distracted and distant, taking everything calmly in her stride. Too calmly…
He shook his head, trying to physically expel the doubt creeping through him. Maybe he was being petty, maybe he’d imagined himself to be her knight in shining armor and it had turned out that she didn’t need him.
Maybe the strain over the last month was finally making itself known. For Allyra, her ordeal had been mercifully brief, but he’d endured long days of fear and doubt. Jamie counseled himself to be patient – he needed to give her time to come to terms with her new reality, time for them to fall back into their rhythm.
He pulled restlessly at his collar, feeling as if it was slowly strangling him. And the red cloak was making him feel more than a little ridiculous. He couldn’t help thinking about red riding hood…
A restless silence had fallen upon the remaining participants. Without the welcomed distraction of family to talk to, they were all getting lost in their own thoughts, preparing themselves for the ordeal ahead.
More than half an hour passed since Allyra had been led out of the anteroom. His agitation was increasing, not knowing what she’d faced and not knowing if she’d passed the test.
He wished he could just do something. Several of the waiting participants obviously felt the same way. Many had taken to pacing restlessly and Jamie was debating whether to join them when the doors were thrown open again.
The Cleaner requested, in a calm and utterly emotionless voice for the Infernos follow him through to the Great Hall.
Unlike his previous visits to the Great Hall, it was now filled to capacity. Curious eyes swept over the entering Infernos. The crowd whispered amongst themselves, trying to pick their favorites. But Jamie had no interest in any of them, his focus saved for only one person.
Allyra was sitting on an elevated gallery, next to Gemma and a number of Terras. The pale yellow hood no longer hid her face; her hair fell like silky waves down her shoulders, framing her pale face, her eyes stormy and wild.
Looking at her now, Jamie found it hard to believe that it had only been a month. Instead, it felt as if a lifetime had passed between them. The Allyra he saw now was an altogether different creature to the one he’d known so well. She was a creature of legend, emerged from a stormy sea, droplets of water clinging to her hair, both beautiful and deadly. It struck him suddenly that he might not know her at all.
Their eyes met for the briefest of moments. Her gaze was unreadable and Jamie felt as if a vast fissure was forming between them, its darkness filled with unspoken secrets. He wanted more from her - a sign, an acknowledgement, but none was forthcoming.
He had to be content with the fact that she was there – sitting in the gallery reserved for participants who’d passed. She looked pale, but uninjured, and certainly stronger than Gemma, whose face was devoid of color, in sharp contrast to her bright pink hair, which fell limply next to her clammy skin.
Both Atmospherics had passed, but judging by Gemma’s appearance – the test had been far from easy.
Allyra was safe. It was time to turn his attention to the task ahead. Jamie forced himself to concentrate on Marcus explaining the details of the test. It seemed to consist of multiple components.
First, four silver balls and single black one hung on delicate cotton threads above a steel table on which a fierce fire was burning. The Infernos would have to release the black ball by burning through its thread, all the while making sure that none of the silver balls fell. Next, they had to intensify the fire to such an extent as to melt through the steel table it was burning on, allowing the black
