by S T G Hill
“If it is too difficult, picture a smaller stone,” Master Shaffir said.
He sounded awfully close. Ellie opened her eyes and saw him standing in front of her desk.
Only the two of them remained.
A terrible flush of embarrassment ran hot against the front of her stomach.
She closed her eyes again, but it didn’t help much. Master Shaffir’s gaze bored into her anyway. Accusing, judging.
“Anything,” he said, “A pebble, even.”
The disinterested dismissal in his voice hurt. She wanted to tell him who and what she was. She wanted to wipe his judgment of her from his face.
Sweat started on her forehead.
“Today, please,” he said.
The heat moved to the center of her chest, activating whatever it was that lurked inside of her.
A wave of heat pulsed against her outstretched palms. She opened her eyes and grinned. The smooth gray stone she’d pictured waited there.
Shaffir glanced at it, then at her. His eyes lighted on her shortened left pinky finger. Ellie squeezed her hands into fists and hid them beneath the desk, the heat of the anger inside her dissipating.
He nodded and then turned around. “You may go.”
She got up, gathering her notebook and pen. All around her, stones of various sizes, shapes, and colors, sat on the desks.
She started for the door.
“Miss Ashwood,” Shaffir said.
“Yes, Master?” Ellie said.
“That’s not good enough to survive the trial,” he said.
Ellie’s stomach twisted up. “I know.”
Chapter 24
Arabella Thrace paced back and forth along the length of the kinesinomy workshop, her hands clenched together tightly against the small of her back. The hem of her red robe swish-swished around her feet.
She knew that something was wrong, very wrong, at Sourcewell Academy.
She knew that Darius Belt was behind it.
She knew that it had something to do with Ellie. Ellie Ashwood, who had that same life in her eyes as her own sister. Or at least the way it used to look in her sister's eye.
Thorn didn't have a monopoly on secrets. Especially ones that involved Darius Belt.
***
Ellie showed up for her private tutoring session with Arabella with Farazon Shaffir's warning still heavy in her thoughts.
It's not good enough, he'd told her.
Ellie could do some pretty incredible things when that power within broke out. Big, flashy things.
But she still had trouble with the small, finer things. Like the creation of simple objects.
"Hey, Arabella," Ellie said, coming into the large study hall.
Arabella turned to look at her. She'd been standing in the middle of the big room, hands clasped at the small of her back.
"Ellie," she said, "You're here. Good. I need to tell you something."
She strode forward until she could look down into Ellie's face.
"What's up?" Ellie said.
"I spoke with Magister Cassiodorian, as well as with Master Shaffir and Master Stonebridge. We can't get you out of the Trial. Belt has policy and tradition on his side... I'm sorry."
Ellie opened her mouth and then closed it. I need to tell you something, too. I'm the Omenborn. Belt was behind the attack, she wanted to say.
And a part of her thought that Arabella would understand. Would understand, and agree to help.
But then she remembered Thorn's warning: that anyone who knew the truth was in danger.
That if it came to a fight, Belt could defeat any of the Primes. And who knew what Belt might do if they exposed him and pushed him into a corner like that?
She liked Arabella as much as she hated Matilda, and she didn't want to see the red-robed woman hurt.
Before Ellie could overthink it, she hugged Arabella. After a moment, Arabella hugged her back.
Ellie had a couple teachers sort of like Arabella back in her own life. But it was different with them.
Those teachers pitied her, she knew. They did what they did for her out of charity.
Arabella actually seemed to like her, to want her to grow as a person and as a sorcerer. Why else would she give me these private lessons?
Then Ellie stepped back, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth and biting down on. She really, really wanted to tell Arabella everything.
In fact, something in the back of her mind even pushed her towards it.
You'll put her in danger, Thorn's voice said.
"Thank you," Ellie told her instead, "Have you ever seen this Trial thing before?"
Arabella shook her head, "No, not me... How are you holding up?"
"Okay I guess. I don't seem to want to eat at all, though. Actually, I don't think I've ever been this nervous for something in my life!"
"The whole campus is nervous," Arabella said.
"I wish I knew more about what we're all getting into tomorrow."
Arabella nodded. She turned around and went over to a long table covered with books and papers. She ran her fingertips slowly along the surface as she walked, still facing away from Ellie.
"The Trial, as I understand it, is not unlike the entrance test that you took for Sourcewell. It will test you and the others on the three major schools of magic."
Ellie sighed, "But not everyone is good at every school."
"That's right. There is always one school in particular for each individual sorcerer that is strongest, but the most powerful sorcerers are usually quite good at the other two, as well. On the other side of the coin, there are sorcerers who only really have any talent in one of the schools. It’s never perfectly balanced," Arabella examined the table.
"But," Ellie said, "Belt chose everyone at random, didn't he? Shouldn't he have picked the best of us instead?"
"But was it actually random?" Arabella turned to face Ellie, one hand now splayed open on the table.
Ellie felt Arabella's searching gaze, and got the sense that Arabella might know more than she let on.
Again, she felt that urge to spill her guts. She didn't.
"Only one person can win, though," Ellie said, "If only one person can win, but not everyone is strong in all three schools, how is this supposed to work?"
Arabella smiled. It wasn't a joyous smile, but a sympathetic one. "Many of the older magi stopped using the Trial because they felt it divided sorcerers instead of bringing them together. We all told Belt as much but he didn't agree."
Ellie's frustration built inside her like steam collecting beneath a pot lid. "I don't understand why Belt has so big a say as he does around here!"
Arabella sighed, "Magic is dying in the world, Ellie. Every year, we have fewer new students. And more and more, they're innate gifts are small."
"They're abs?" Ellie said.
Arabella nodded, "Without students, there's no need for schools like Sourcewell. Darius Belt is Sourcewell's greatest benefactor. He provides resources. He provides funding. And he also provides students."
Ellie swallowed hard. She remembered how it was Caspian who found her first. Caspian, who worked for Belt.
"He doesn't send all the ones he finds to Sourcewell, does he?" Ellie said.
Arabella closed her eyes, and for just a moment Ellie caught a glimpse of someone in deep pain.
"No, he doesn't. But all of that gives him sway to do nearly anything he wants at the school. Because without him, Sourcewell would most likely no longer exist." Her hand balled up into a fist. She gave the table a soft thump.
That hung in the air between them for a while.
Then Arabella wrestled a smile onto her face, "Now, that wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about today. There's something special that I want to show you. Actually, something I want to teach you. Pay attention, because this could get you out of a tight spot."
Ellie paid attention.
Chapter 25
Everything changed after the selection ceremony.
/> Not just in class, either. Though that was a big part of it. Ellie felt like the teachers all paid her more attention, offering advice or, more often, critiques.
But it wasn't just the teachers. Her fellow students looked at her differently.
When she sat in class it felt like people leaned away from her, as though trying to give her more space.
She caught people staring at her from the corner of her eye, only for them to look at when she turned.
Many of them even stopped called her ab. She liked that. Though she would've preferred it had stopped for other reasons.
The others felt it, too.
Except for Thorn, at least. He kept mostly to himself anyway
No one would sit with them in the dining halls or the library.
The Trial started the next day.
"It's like the whole place is holding its breath or something," Sybil said.
She sat across from Ellie at the table in the dining hall below Bramble and Vine Halls.
"Yeah," Ellie replied, moving her lunch-sized helping of spaghetti and meatballs around on her plate with her fork instead of eating it.
She knew that she should eat. Knew that she should be hungry. But her stomach felt about the size of a marble.
"All the teachers keep letting everyone out early," Ellie forked the spaghetti into her mouth and chewed without tasting.
"I know! Isn't it awful?" Sybil threw up her hands, "Master Shaffir was going to have a lecture on advanced leyline manipulation, but he cancelled it. Can you believe it?"
"I sure can't," Ellie said. She had yet to learn what leylines even were, let alone how they could be manipulated.
Sybil caught the sarcasm in her voice, "Hey, some of us enjoy learning about magic!"
"Some of us don't have the Trial hanging over our heads... Sorry," she said when she heard her own tone.
"It's okay," Sybil replied, "No offence, but I'm super glad I didn't get picked."
"You mind if I sit down?" it was that blonde girl, Jackie. She held a tray laden with orange juice and some spaghetti of her own, "No one else wants to sit with me."
"Go ahead," Ellie motioned to an empty spot. There were many empty spots.
"Thanks!" she said, taking a seat on the bench beside Ellie.
Jackie took a sip of her juice and then copied Ellie, just pushing her pasta around her plate.
"Actually," Jackie said, "No one even really wants to talk to me. I really want to win!"
Ellie and Sybil just smiled.
It was hard knowing the truth about Darius Belt. It was hard to even pretend to join in on the group worship of him.
"Maybe you will," Ellie said.
Of course, only Ellie, Sybil, and Thorn knew that the game was rigged from the word go.
"You know," Ellie said, standing up, "I'm actually really not hungry. I think I'm just going back upstairs."
Matilda wasn't in the dining hall, which meant she was probably in class. Or getting up to who knew what with her friends before the Trial started.
Ellie really just wanted to be alone.
As soon as she started to walk way the table swallowed up her tray, spaghetti and all.
She wished that she could just disappear like that.
Bramble Hall was empty. Which made sense.
No one wanted to sit around in their rooms, not in the middle of the day. Especially not on a day like this one. One more sleep until the trial started.
Ellie didn't mind. She appreciated it, actually. No one to bump into in the hall.
Matilda's snoring somehow kept her awake even with the silencing charm in place.
It kept her awake to the point that Ellie wondered if maybe Matilda had cast a spell of her own. A countercharm or curse or something.
She wouldn't put it past Matilda, especially after they learned they were going to be competing.
What did surprise Ellie was when she opened the door to her shared room and she found Matilda sobbing into her pillow.
Some part of her took some initial pleasure from the other girl's sadness.
But the rest of her remembered how many times she'd done the same thing in various foster houses around the five boroughs.
Sometimes crying herself to sleep was the only sleep that she got.
And so, against her better judgment, Ellie went into the room.
"Hey... Matilda? What's wrong?" Ellie said, not getting too close.
Everyone knew you didn't approach a wounded wolf. They were most vicious then.
"Go away!" Matilda said, lifting her puffy, tear-streaked face from her pillow.
She punctuated the order with a savage wave of her hand.
The spell was strong, if inexpertly waved. It slammed the dresser hard against the wall, sending a pile of magazines perched on it fluttering to the floor.
Just leave her alone, Ellie told herself. No need to get involved in whatever this is. I have bigger things to worry about.
Still, her sense of curiosity had a death wish.
She wanted to know what would cause someone like Matilda, who appeared to feel only hate for other people and pleasure in their suffering, to cry like that.
Ellie crept closer, hands held palm out to show she didn't intend any trouble.
"What's wrong? Maybe I can help..." Ellie said, regretting the words before they left her mouth.
Matilda rolled away from her, covering her face with the pillow.
Ellie saw the piece of paper, then. It stuck out from under Matilda's body, somewhat wrinkled from being rolled on.
"What's this?" Ellie said, plucking it up.
As soon as she held it up she saw the picture of the man that took up most of the page. He looked like an older, meaner, balder Matilda.
Her dad, she thought.
Then the picture started talking. Ellie nearly dropped it.
"Hey, Matty," the man said, apologetic smile plastered on, "Sorry I haven't read your letter yet. I heard you won something at school? Look, it turns out things are busier down at the office than we expected. I won't be able to visit like we planned.
"Also," his face turned stern, "I received a letter from Magister Cassiodorian's secretary that the school has put you on academic warning. Your mother and I are very disappointed, and we hope that your next report card will show improvement."
Then the magical message stopped, reverting to the starting image of the man's face.
What? Ellie thought. Not even a goodbye? Not even an ‘I love you?’
She'd always been jealous of watching other kids get dropped off at school. They looked so embarrassed when their moms and dads would hug them and tell them they were proud.
Ellie wanted that, and she figured she'd been missing it because, well, she didn't even know who her parents were.
She looked at Matilda with new understanding.
"That's mine!" Matilda said, lurching forward on the bed.
She snatched the letter from Ellie's grasp, crumpled it up, and threw it into the air.
Then she snapped her fingers and the balled up letter burst into the flame. It wasn't even cinders before it could touch the floor.
"I'm sorry," Ellie watched the few glowing flakes dissolve, "That has to be hard."
"You don't know anything," Matilda said, swiping at her red-rimmed eyes. She snorted wetly.
"I never knew my parents," Ellie said. She sat down gingerly at the foot of the bed.
"Lucky you," Matilda replied. She wiped at her nose with a fistful of her blanket.
"It sounds like they expect a lot of you," Ellie said, picking at a wrinkle in Matilda’s bedspread. "What does your dad do?"
"He works for the DMA."
"The what?" Ellie said.
Matilda rolled her eyes, "The Department of Magical Affairs. They're the ones who make sure magic is kept secret."
"Oh, them. Right," Ellie said, looking away. Yes, because I totally know about them.
Every time she turned a corner she saw just how much she
didn’t know about magic.
It made her wonder what else lurked beneath the surface.
Kind of like swimming in water she thought was shallow, but then looked and found out it was so deep she couldn't see the bottom.
"Well, it sounds like your parents are just busy. I'm sure they still think about you all the time," Ellie glanced at Matilda’s puffy face and then away, not wanting to make eye contact with the wounded wolf.
"I doubt it," Matilda said.
"Well, if they didn't, do you think they'd care about how good you're doing at school? Why would they even bother to read the Magister's letter?" Ellie said.
Matilda frowned, "Maybe. What would you know about it? You're just an orphan."
"Thanks for reminding me," Ellie said, thinking, And that's my cue to leave. She stood up.
"I'm going to win the Trial tomorrow," Matilda said, "So don't think I don't see what you're trying to do here."
"What am I trying to do here?" Ellie said, standing at the door.
"Trying to get into my head."
"That's the last place I want to be," Ellie replied.
"And ab? If you tell anyone about all this I'll make you regret it," Matilda said. She wiped again at her nose with the blanket, her cheeks and upper lip already getting nice and red from the rubbing.
"Good luck to you, too," Ellie said. She left the room. As soon as the door closed behind her, the sobbing started again.
Later that night, for the first time, when Ellie came back to the room Matilda was passed out.
Chapter 26
Darius Belt arrived once more at the campus amphitheater.
This time he didn't wear a suit, but long and flowing robes so gray they were almost black. The hem swished along against his feet.
The student body filled the entire stepped seating of the amphitheater, and every last one of them held their collective breath. The tension of it filled the air like static. Ellie wished desperately that she sat with them, safe in the anonymity of the crowd.
But no, she and the five others chosen for the trails stood at the back of the stage, facing towards the crowd.
Aurelius Cassiodorian and the Primes all stood center stage, waiting to receive Belt. Cassiodorian supported his weight against that same gnarled staff that he'd used on the night of the attack. The clean daylight showed the bleached wood, so white it almost looked like bone.
