Trial by Fire

by Josephine Angelini

  … Gideon has just left. Lily is standing there, swamped in my robe, trusting me to protect her. How can I protect her if she can’t give me the strength to do it? Gideon is coming for her. I can either lose her or train her. Everyone wants a piece of her, and I can’t stop them unless I make her a powerful witch—the witch everyone wants me to make of her so they can use her. I don’t know what’s right or wrong anymore, but I know I can’t lose her. How the hell did that happen so fast?

  The memory changed again.

  … making blueberry pancakes for Lily. She’s sitting on the island behind me, so fresh and lovely it hurts. She has no idea Tristan, Caleb, and I are fighting in mindspeak. Neither understands what my problem is. The way Caleb sees it, Lily would have to learn from the shaman to get back to her home, so what’s the problem with us training her? Tristan adds that if she wants to help us rebels, she will. If not, it’s not like anyone could make her do it so what was the harm? I ask them sarcastically if they also think I should do as the elders want and sleep with Lily to seal the deal. Tristan offers to do it for me, whether it seals the deal or not. I nearly hit him. I take a breath and flip the pancakes. I tell them again that I won’t have any part of it. If the shaman shows up, I’ll stop training Lily. I won’t trick her into fighting this war for us.

  The memories ended, and Lily stood, looking into Rowan’s offended eyes.

  “But you’re the only person I told about the shaman in the oubliette. That he taught me how to spirit walk,” she said, feeling chastised. “Why did you tell Alaric about that if you didn’t want him to use me?”

  Rowan smiled at her, shaking his head. “You told everyone about the shaman when you were delirious.”

  “I did?” Lily looked at Tristan and Caleb.

  “You wouldn’t shut up about him,” Tristan said.

  “You kept trying to make us go back for his bones because you hadn’t learned how to worldjump yet and you needed to bury him,” Caleb added, his nose wrinkled with distaste.

  Lily turned to Alaric. “I don’t know how to worldjump. Not completely. I can send my spirit to other worlds, but I have no idea how to get my body there. So I doubt I’ll be of any use to you,” she said bitterly, happy to ruin his plans to manipulate her.

  “We’ll find someone else to train you,” Alaric replied with a shrug.

  “I can’t believe you!” Lily said, shocked by his audacity. “You’re just going to bald-face admit that you want to use me to raid other worlds?”

  “If it comes to that, yes,” Alaric replied heatedly. He spread his hands wide to include the camp. “I want you to help my people, and I don’t care if you feel like I’m using you. I’m doing it so they—” Alaric jabbed his finger angrily in the direction of the camp, “—don’t die. Which is far more important to me than your feelings.”

  As hurt as she was at being misled, she honestly couldn’t fault Alaric for his intentions. Even on her brief walk through the camp she’d seen how much these people needed help. “You still should have told me. If you want me on your side, you can’t keep things from me.”

  “I need your help, Lily,” the sachem said pleadingly. “We need your help. Ask me whatever you want, and I’ll try to give you an honest answer.”

  Lily felt the skirt of her plundered dress between her fingers. No matter how much she sympathized with the Outlanders, was she really ready to raid other worlds for Alaric? She looked at her guys and could feel how much they wanted her to at least listen to the sachem. She sighed. “I’ll listen. But I’m not promising anything.”

  “Fair enough.” The sachem gestured for Lily to join him inside the carriage.

  Thank you, Lily.

  I’m trying, Rowan, for your sake. But I don’t trust Alaric yet.

  Lily couldn’t help but think about Lillian, and what she was willing to do for Rowan’s sake. She felt him put his hand on the small of her back as she climbed the steps and knew it wasn’t just to help her up. They were still tightly connected after sharing his memories and he wanted to touch her. She wanted to be physically near him, too, and she pressed herself against his hand.

  It was her first time inside one of the Outlander carriages. Lily looked around at the scaled-down furniture and how everything seemed to either fold up or have multiple functions. Beds served as couches, and tables could easily be stowed into the walls. There were papers all over the place—maps and designs and lists of names. Lily saw a glass box on a ledge by the window. The inside of the box crawled with crickets. She looked at Rowan, her lips pressed together with mirth.

  Dinner.

  With a little salt, they’re not as bad as you’d think. Crunchy.

  I’ll stick to pickles.

  I don’t blame you.

  Rowan? Did you grow up in a place like this?

  Yes. Except ours was much smaller, and we shared it in shifts with another family. They worked nights and we worked days.

  But it’s so small. Lily widened her eyes at him, and he smiled and shrugged.

  We were poor, Lily.

  Lily sat close to Rowan, pressing her leg against his. Whether Rowan had intended to win her over for the Outlanders or not, she couldn’t help but think the elders had won. A part of her knew she’d do anything for Rowan, and she wondered how deep anything went.

  “Now then,” Alaric said briskly when they were all seated. “What would you like to know, Lily?”

  “I guess my first question is, why are you parked on Lillian’s doorstep and not hiding in the woods somewhere?” Lily asked.

  “No point in hiding anymore,” he replied, throwing up his hands. “Not when Lillian is about to hang three of my best scientists.”

  “Okay. What’s this really about? Lots of people have been hanged. Why are these three scientists so important?” Lily asked, leaning forward and looking the sachem in the eye. “You have God knows how many Outlanders ready to go to battle against a force that can crush them. For what?”

  Alaric looked at Lily with respect. “Power, of course, but not political power. The kind of power that can fuel cities, fight the Woven, and make it so the Outlanders can finally get out from under the thumb of the Covens. Real power.”

  “Elemental power, Lily,” Tristan said reluctantly.

  “You mean nuclear power?” Lily asked.

  Tristan nodded. “They’re going to hang three scientists,” he said. “Lillian destroyed all their notes, killed all their students, and these three are the last who know how to turn elements into energy—without a witch.”

  Lily looked around at Rowan, Tristan, and Caleb, her eyes wide. “Nuclear power is really tricky,” she said fearfully.

  “Tristan already told me that you’re against it,” Alaric said, his expression unreadable.

  “I’m sorry, Lily,” Tristan said contritely. “I didn’t mean it as a betrayal.”

  “No, Tristan. It’s fine. My position isn’t a secret.” Lily ran a frustrated hand through her hair. “Sachem, you can’t really understand the scope of this, but there have been huge disasters in my world because of this kind of power. A lot of people have died.”

  “But how many people are there in your world, Lily?” Rowan asked. “How many millions?”

  “Billions. There are billions of people in my world, Rowan,” she said. A stunned silence followed.

  “And you use this form of energy widely?” Alaric asked.

  “Yes,” Lily said.

  “And it’s helped you grow in numbers, all across your world?” he persisted.

  “It has,” Lily admitted. “It had been used safely in many countries for many years. But it’s also done a lot of damage along the way. In my world, it was originally developed as a weapon. A bomb. That bomb was used to end one of our great wars, and it wiped two cities off the map. The shock of that kind of power stunned my whole world. Even today when it’s used for peaceful reasons, sometimes it gets out of control and poisons the land and the water for miles.”

  “Then mayb
e in another world you could find some other type of energy we could use? Something safe, that will both free us from the Covens and help us fight the Woven?” Alaric asked.

  “I could look for you—” Lily began optimistically, and then broke off.

  She thought of what both the shaman and Lillian had told her. Lily didn’t have Lillian’s entire story yet, but she knew that Lillian hadn’t lied to her. She had been trying to save the Outlanders. She wanted to eradicate the Woven and save Rowan’s people, but instead she must have seen something or learned something on one of her worldjumps that made her come back determined to eradicate science instead.

  Lily felt Rowan’s mind pressing up against hers—a gentle nudge, wanting to know what she was thinking. How could she ever tell him any of this? How could she tell Rowan that, behind it all, Lillian had done this for him?

  “The shaman warned me against this,” Lily continued nervously, careful to leave Lillian out of it. “Stealing technology from other worlds—even if it seems like the right thing to do at the time—has disastrous consequences. And I agree.”

  “You realize, you don’t leave me with many options.” Alaric’s intense eyes captured Lily’s. “You say elemental energy is too dangerous to use, but finding another option is too dangerous as well?”

  “I know.” Lily met his eyes. “I don’t have a solution yet, but I’ll try to think of something.”

  “Unfortunately, we don’t have the time for that.” Alaric’s gaze drifted down in serious thought. There was a knock at the door. “I will let the elders know your position. Now if you’ll excuse us.”

  Dismissed, Lily and her mechanics stood and headed toward the door. She could feel Rowan’s disappointment, Tristan’s frustration, and Caleb’s sadness. At odds with herself, Lily stopped.

  “Alaric,” she said, turning. “I don’t agree with using this type of energy. But I also don’t agree with murdering people just because you’re scared of what they think. I’m not Lillian.”

  The sachem narrowed his piercing eyes at her. “Whether you agree or don’t agree, three people have been tried, found guilty, and they will be hanged at dawn tomorrow. And everything they know will die with them unless we go to war and try to stop it.”

  “You can’t win,” Lily whispered.

  “It not about winning. It’s about having nothing else to lose.” The sachem smiled at her, a brief flash of pain crossing his face. Lily wondered what it was that Alaric had lost. “You must leave now, Lily Proctor.”

  Lily stepped outside the carriage. A group of men and women filed past her to join the sachem. Lily recognized a few of the faces. She nodded at the wiry elder from Cherokee with the salt-and-pepper mane, who smiled back, looking pointedly at Lily and Rowan and how close they stood to each other. Lily’s natural instinct was to move away from Rowan so as not to give her the satisfaction, but instead she decided to lean closer to him, her willstones pulsing possessively. Just to make her point, she sent a surge of power through all of her mechanics’ willstones, making them glitter prettily across their faces.

  “Lady Witch,” the elder said, tipping her head respectfully.

  “Elder,” Lily replied, staring her down.

  Not very friendly, Caleb whispered in her head. She’s known Rowan and me our whole lives, you know.

  Well, then, it’s about time she backed off, Lily thought, earning a devilish smile from Caleb.

  She waited until the door to the war carriage was closed before turning to her men.

  “Why does Lillian give the scientists a trial if she’s just going to hang them anyway?” Lily asked.

  “She doesn’t just want to kill them,” Rowan answered. “What good would that do anyway? Eventually someone else will make the same discoveries as they did.”

  “Lillian always has trials for high-profile scientists,” Tristan explained. “It’s not about proving they’re guilty, but proving to everyone that what scientists do is evil. She puts science on trial.”

  “And it’s working,” Caleb said. “People are actually starting to believe that science is evil and that doctors do nothing but harm.”

  “She traps the people on trial,” Tristan said. “She gets people to admit that science makes chemicals that pollute the world and that doctors make drugs that get people addicted, while witchcraft does everything that the people need without all the side effects.”

  “Except for the small side effect of tyranny,” Rowan said quietly.

  “There’s only one thing for us to do. We have to get those three scientists.” Her mechanics looked at her, surprised.

  “Are you sure?” Rowan asked.

  “You don’t think I’d actually let a war start because I’m not a fan of nuclear energy, do you?”

  “Uh. No?” Caleb said innocently.

  “I wouldn’t,” Lily said, punching Caleb in the shoulder. “But I can’t speak for you guys. It’ll probably be really dangerous.”

  “Probably,” Tristan said dryly. “I say we do it.” He looked at Rowan, who was frowning and deep in thought. “Rowan?” Tristan asked.

  “Yes,” Rowan answered. “Caleb?”

  “I’m in, too,” he replied.

  “Okay. We need a plan,” Lily said, nervously rubbing her hands together. The enormity of what they were going to do was starting to sink in for her. She dropped her shaking hands and steadied herself. “You three are the jailbreak masters. What do you suggest?”

  Tristan and Caleb shared a look, conferring in mindspeak. When they’d finished, Caleb looked at Lily.

  “Even with you fueling us, it’s going to be a close fight,” he said.

  “We can’t just barge in there, blind. We need someone on the inside,” Tristan added.

  Rowan nodded, picking up on their thoughts. “You have to ask Juliet for help, Lily. Or we don’t have a chance.”

  CHAPTER

  14

  Hey, Juliet?

  Lily. This is sort of a bad time.

  It can’t wait. I need a favor.

  What is it?

  You know those three scientists you tried to save? You wouldn’t happen to know exactly where they are, would you? Like, what cell they’re in and stuff?

  Actually, I do.

  Juliet sent Lily images of where the scientists were. She walked Lily through how to get from one cell to another, as if she had been down in those dungeons many times. Lily saw that each scientist was being kept on a different level of the dungeon, as far from each other as they could possibly be.

  You’re the best. One last thing. Are they going to be in their cells all night?

  I think so. Should I ask what’s going on, or should I just keep out of it?

  You’d better keep out of it. I’m sorry, Juliet.

  It’s okay, Lily. Just don’t do anything stupid.

  How are you? You seem strange.

  Um … you just worry about yourself, Lily. I’ll be alright.

  Lily felt Juliet break the connection and frowned.

  “What is it?” Rowan asked.

  “It’s my sister,” Lily said. “She’s acting all cagey and weird. I don’t like it.”

  “Did she tell you where the prisoners are?” Tristan asked.

  “Yeah,” Lily said, distracted. The guys shared a look.

  “Do you think we can trust her information?” Caleb asked. Lily glared at him. “I’m just asking, Lily,” he said, backing off. “It seems to me like she’s hiding something.”

  “Shh,” Tristan hissed.

  There’s someone behind you.

  Lily and Caleb shut their mouths, and they all turned to stare conspicuously at the man and woman loitering behind them until they moved off. The sachem had ordered that the rescue attempt be kept top secret. There were spies on both sides of the walls and you never knew who had been turned or when. Esmeralda had proved that.

  What did Juliet tell you? Rowan asked.

  Lily showed them all the images of the dungeons that Juliet had shown her
, and in a few seconds, they were discussing strategy in mindspeak. There were still a few more hours until dark, and the team used that time to gather the supplies they’d need, then eat. Rowan spent half of supper arguing with them in their heads.

  I still think Lily should stay here. She can charge us with enough energy to get over the wall and back, Rowan thought.

  Tristan looked at Rowan angrily and answered him. If something goes wrong in the dungeon—if we have to fight our way out and we use up what she gave us—Lily won’t be able to give us any more energy with all that granite in the way. We’ll be trapped, Ro. And we’ll all hang, the scientists included.

  I’m going, and that’s final, Lily thought as gently as she could. Rowan’s eyes flashed, but Lily shook her head, stopping him. I mean it, Rowan. I’m going or this isn’t happening.

  Rowan pursed his lips in an expression that Lily was getting to know quite well.

  Let’s go over how to detonate a pocket bomb again, he thought.

  Lily saw Caleb roll his eyes and laughed, but went through the sequence of pin, lever, clip for the hundredth time anyway for Rowan’s sake.

  The camp settled down for the evening. There was a heightened tension in the air. As Lily walked back to her tent to change out of her dress and into darker wearhyde clothes, she could hear music being played around the campfires. Some songs were rousing, martial songs, others sad, like the singers were already lamenting the people who would be lost in the pending battle.

  As Lily neared her tent, she paused to listen to one woman with a haunting voice. She sang with her eyes closed, her back arched slightly and her head tipped back, as if the music were trying to leap right out of her heart and into the sky.

  “I love this song,” Rowan whispered in Lily’s ear.

  “It’s beautiful,” Lily agreed. She felt Rowan take her hand.

  Thank you, Lily.

  For what?

  For proving me wrong.

  Rowan gave Lily another memory.

  … I’m exhausted after days in the woods, and after last night—the confrontation with Gideon, and then Lily bonding with her willstones. I didn’t meet Lillian until after she bonded with hers. Last night was an experience between Lily and me alone. Tristan is sitting across the table, angry with me for giving myself to Lily. I can tell he wants me to share the memory of my claiming with him, but I don’t want to. I don’t want to share her. I’m telling Tristan we can’t trust her, but that’s not it. She didn’t ask for any of this. It’s not her I don’t trust, it’s me. I don’t trust myself around Lily.