Alex paused and looked carefully at the boy, his blue eyes searching. William shifted his weight, uncomfortable but still defiant enough to stay silent. Having herself been on the receiving end of Alex’s probing glare, she felt a quick stab of pity for William and just a hint of awe at his ability to withstand it.
Shaking his head at William’s continued silence, Alex asked, “Do you not wish to explain yourself? The charges you face are serious, and the punishment can be death.”
“Why should I speak?” William spat out. “It won’t change anything. What right do you filthy pigs have to decide whether I should be allowed to use my power? The lost shall rise!”
He strained against his restraints, and they began to glow red as he tried to reach past the iron on his wrists for his Gift. The Cleaners stepped forward with military precision, forming a circle around William, efficiently joining their Gifts together to create a ward around him until he dropped into a dead stupor.
Alex motioned for them to take him away, and with a quick bow to the Council, the Cleaners picked up William’s prone body and dragged him away.
“We have a choice—the Elemental Trials, the dungeons, or death.” If he was affected by the decision before him, Alex’s even voice gave none of it away.
“There’s no need for a choice—he’s obviously a danger, we should put him to death,” The Inferno High Master’s voice was as sharp as the edge of a sword.
“I disagree,” Thomas said steadily. “He’s still young, we can train him. Ready him for the Elemental Trials.”
“We need to send a message to the Rising—that we will not tolerate their attempts to weaken the Council and all that we stand for,” the Inferno High Master said, acid dripping from her voice.
Alex held up his hand, putting a stop to the argument. “You both make good points—let us put it to a vote. The Elemental Trials—yes or no?”
The result was a tie—Thomas and High Master Laurent voted yes, while the other two voted no. Allyra knew Alex well enough to see that he had expected the result and knew that the final vote would fall to him.
With his expression carefully blank, he said, “The Elemental Trials it is then. Thank you, everyone.”
There was a finality to his voice that gave no room for any further argument though the Inferno High Master looked angry enough to spit nails. The members of the Council got to their feet and filed from the room, but Thomas hung back and waited until he was alone with Alex.
Thomas clapped his hand onto Alex’s shoulder. “You made the right choice.”
The expressionless mask finally slipped from Alex’s face, and he looked pained and completely spent. “Did I?”
“How can you even ask that? He’s just a boy, he didn’t know what he was doing.”
“Our continued leniency will be seen as weakness. You know my position is precarious, there is a growing fraction who believe me too inexperienced to be the Elemental High Master.”
“It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks—you were chosen.” Thomas’s voice was dismissive.
Alex smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and it was clear that he didn’t agree with his brother’s assessment. He changed the subject quickly. “William was found in Terra territory—you’ll see that he’s properly trained and prepared for the Elemental Trials?”
Thomas gave a quick nod. “Of course.”
“Thank you. Would you send in the Golden Mask?”
Thomas nodded again and his fingers squeezed Alex’s shoulder in a reassuring, brotherly manner. “Please stop worrying so much—I know no person stronger or more rational than you. You were born to be the Elemental High Master.”
Thomas walked from the room, leaving Alex alone with Allyra. His eyes lifted to meet hers, and some of the tension seemed to leave him. She started to move toward him, but he gave a quick shake of the head as the door opened once more.
Once again, a Cleaner walked through, but again, this one was different from the usual silver-masked Cleaners. This Cleaner was dressed in the same black cloak, but his mask covered his entire face and was completely golden in color.
He bowed before Alex. “High Master.”
Alex inclined his head. “Golden Mask.”
To Allyra’s surprise, Alex stepped from the raised dais and pulled the golden-masked Cleaner into a hug.
“Why do you insist on the formalities?” Alex asked.
The Cleaner pushed the black hood from his head and pulled the golden mask off. The face beneath it was exceedingly familiar—Mandla.
“How many times do I have to remind you that we will need to keep up appearances for the times that we meet in public. The whole point of the mask is to hide my identity.”
“Well, I’m grateful to have the leader of the Cleaners on my side.”
“Always,” Mandla replied.
“Are you managing to control them? That boy was terribly bruised.”
Mandla shook his head. “No,” he said firmly, “that was not our doing. People are afraid of what they do not know, and when William Reilly was found unscathed in the center of an explosion, there was talk of sorcery. He was given a severe beating before we were able to get to him.”
Alex nodded. “I thought as much. Do we know the boy’s story?”
“We don’t know much, but he’s powerful, and he
