by A. L. Knorr
“So how was it for you guys?” I asked, shoveling a forkful of rice and curried vegetables into my mouth. My gaze narrowed on Harriet. “Yours started so late in the evening. Were you tired?”
“I was, but I have this weird quirk where I actually perform better under pressure. I muddled through. Let me bring you up to speed, since only Tagan was here before me. I’ve heard all the stories.” Harriet pushed her chair back from the table to give herself room to sit cross-legged.
Brooke set her tea on a side-table and collapsed into the loveseat closest to the table, pulling her feet up under her. She propped an elbow on the armrest and her chin in her hand. She’d heard all this before, too.
“First off, did you fall through the tilty gameboard?”
I nodded and rolled by eyes, still chewing.
“Well, don’t worry. Nobody made it past that bloody thing without falling through.”
My second forkful froze on the way to my mouth, momentarily forgotten. “No one?”
Brooke tugged on a coil of long brunette hair. “No. But, we figure no one was meant to.”
“Otherwise how would you discover the masks in the bottom?” Harriet tapped her fingernails against her glass.
Brooke nodded. “Yeah. If a Firethorne kid actually got past the board without falling, they would save a ton of time, so we’re thinking that part of the game wasn’t meant to be beaten.”
I nodded, hoping they were right. It would have taken a lot of practice to get across that board without falling down one of the holes, practice no one had had.
Harriet sipped her drink. “The game-makers said time was the only metric that mattered. Figuring out the tongues and climbing those balls took me longer than anything else. It would have cut off an hour not to have to deal with all that.”
“Not for me.” Brooke dragged a hand across her forehead in a gesture of frustration. “For me it was the pool. Figuring out how to release those ropes—”
I paused again. “What ropes?”
Brooke and Harriet exchanged a look before Harriet’s calculating green eyes swung back to me. “How did you get across the pool if you didn’t find the ropes?”
“I used the blocks.” I set my fork down. There had been ropes? So … what, they had swung across the pool like Tarzan?
“What blocks?” Brooke and Harriet asked together.
“The ones that made up the arch. You mean you didn’t have to use the arch?” My mind had started to whirl.
Brooke’s eyes narrowed. “How exactly did you use the blocks?”
“I burned the wood getting out of the vambraces, which caused the arch to fall down. So I used the blocks to make stepping stones across the pool.” I picked up my fork again but only because my stomach had given an embarrassing growl.
Harriet’s jaw dropped. “The pool was that shallow?”
I nodded. “Wish I’d found the ropes though. Carrying those blocks was exhausting. By the time I reached the shaft, I was pudding.”
Brooke and Harriet absorbed this, then Harriet asked, “Which obstacle was the worst for you?”
“The hardest or the one that took the longest?”
“They aren’t the same?”
I shook my head and dabbed at the corner of my mouth with my napkin where I felt a stray bit of sauce. “I haven’t learned any alchemy yet so I had to wait for the lantern at the beginning to change to normal fire. It felt like it took forever. I was stressed about how much time I’d lost at first, until I tumbled down those balls. I’d say the climb out took me the longest.”
Brooke had a long thumbnail between her teeth. “Not the masks or the sub door?”
I shook my head, breaking off a piece of buttered naan. “Basil has drilled me a lot about metals, and pitch is one of my stronger skills, so I was okay with those. How about you?”
She sighed and let a foot dangle over the floor. “The submarine door took me forever. I’m okay with pitch but if you weren’t bang on accurate, it didn’t work. I started out using Celsius and had to do the whole thing over again, converting to Fahrenheit and making guesses a few degrees either side of the right temperature.”
“Me too,” said Harriet. “But those gigantic steps were the worst for me. I tend to over-detonate and whacked my head twice.” She put a hand up to the crown of her head, wincing. “It’s still tender.”
“Sorry.” I gave her a sympathetic smile. “How did the guys do?”
Brooke filled me in with her charming Spanish accent. “Peter figures he aced it, even if he fell through the floor. He agrees that no one was meant to get across the gameboard. Everything else, he figured out. Tomio stalled on the masks, the lanterns, and the tiny bullseye. That’s to be expected since you’ve both just finished first-year. Tagan says he loved it but hasn’t told us which ones stumped him, if any, I think he’s keeping quiet until we get the results.”
A burst of laughter from the library drifted through the archway. However the course had gone for them, the boys sounded pretty happy.
“They’ve taken up a game of Hearts,” Brooke explained, getting to her feet and stretching. “I think I’ll join them.”
Harriet looked like she wanted to go, too. “Do you know it?”
“Hearts? No. I’ve never played.”
“We can teach you. It’s good fun.” She waggled her brows in invitation.
“Thank you but I’m going to fall into bed. I’m exhausted.”
Harriet nodded and got up to follow Brooke out, then paused. “Did you get your key from Dr. Price?”
I shook my head.
She went to a side-table and picked up a woven bowl, raking through its contents. She pulled out a room key attached to a disc by a thin chain. She slid it across the table to me. “It’s just down the hall beside mine. Number forty-five. I mean, you’re forty-five, I’m forty-three.”
“Thanks.”
She smiled and headed for the arch.
I took another bite of my curry, chewing slowly but not really tasting it. I marveled at how I could have missed the ropes the girls found. I couldn’t recall seeing any clues or triggers. I wondered if the guys had found the ropes or if they’d had to lug a zillion pounds of stone back and forth like me.
Only Cecily and Felix were left to go of the Arcturus crew. That meant there’d be two Firethorne students left as well. If everyone did the course within an hour or two of one another, surely this challenge would be over by the end of the day tomorrow.
Sixteen
Death Meted Out
My stomach jangled and tumbled around like a dryer full of socks and coins as we marched into Lecture Hall A and took our seats on the same sides of the room as before. It was early afternoon on day six and the first challenge was completed.
Davazlar and Guzelköy stood at the front of the room, but instead of talking, they watched us come in, keen eyes passing over every competitor, pausing on a few. I thought Davazlar’s watchful gaze lingered on me a little longer than anyone else, but that could just be my fire-engine red hair. Mom used to kiss my head and tell me I could stop a cruise ship a mile away.
When we were seated, Guzelköy took his place at the edge of the dais, the spokesmen of the odd couple. Davazlar stood near the blackboard.
“Before we get to the results, Davazlar and I would like to congratulate you all on your performance. It was a very close game with many of your times coming within minutes of one another. Thank you for your patience as we ran this first installment. It required quite a bit of fiddling between rounds to ensure you all had the same quality of course to run. Some of you did quite a bit of damage to the game.” He chuckled.
I could have been imagining it but I thought his eyes lingered on me the way Davazlar’s had. I fought the urge to shrink in my seat. Had I caused more damage than anyone else?
“Davazlar will first reveal who the algorithm paired against whom.” Guzelköy gestured to his partner and stepped to the side.
Davazlar slid the blackboard in fro
nt to the side, revealing the list. People leaned forward to read it. The names were listed in the neat printing of a first grade teacher.
1. Tagan Lyall VS Kristoff Skau
2. Harriet Ashby VS Sean Pilterman
3. Tomio Nakano VS Liu Xiaotian
4. Brooke Ortega VS Serenamen Hall
5. Peter Toft VS Axel Bell
6. Saxony Cagney VS Liam Walsh
7. Cecily Price VS January Jaques
8. Felix Kennet VS Eira Nygaard
I wracked my brain to try and remember which one of the Firethorne kids was Liam Walsh. I’d been so distracted by Eira that I hadn’t paid enough attention.
Competitors on both sides looked across the room to locate their matches. Others remained facing front.
Guzelköy cleared his throat, pulling a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “I have the performance times here, Davazlar would you mind?”
Davazlar grabbed a piece of chalk, pinching the little white thing between thick digits.
“Starting at the top and going to the minute since the seconds didn’t matter for any of these matches, in the end.” Guzelköy unfolded the page. “Tagan Lyall clocked in at three hours and two minutes while Kristoff Skau finished in two hours and fifty-five minutes.”
Davazlar scratched out the times beside the names as this first announcement registered among the teams.
The Firethorne kids burst into applause and whistles. Some of them turned to a slender kid in the middle row, high-fiving him. Kristoff blushed, bringing to attention the impressive crop of pimples on his forehead. He definitely wasn’t out of his teens, and he wasn’t cocky either. He smiled, but kind of slouched down in his seat and crossed his skinny arms over his narrow chest. Looking at him, you’d never guess he’d be much competition for Tagan, but that was the world of fire magi. You couldn’t tell what kind of firepower one might have banked beneath even the littlest ribcage. I doubted Kristoff was Burned, because Tagan wasn’t and their times were only 7 minutes apart.
Tagan rubbed his face, disappointment apparent in the gesture. Felix, who was seated behind him, thumped him charitably on the shoulder.
“Well done, Kristoff. Moving on,” Guzelköy lifted the sheet. “Harriet Ashby came in at three hours twelve minutes.”
There was a disappointed murmur from the Arcturus side. It seemed like the Firethorne kids were holding their breath, getting ready to loose another cheer.
“While Sean Pilterman clocked in at three hours fourteen minutes.”
Two seconds of silence passed and then the whole room groaned, even us, in spite of Harriet’s win. Our groan was in relief, though. She’d edged out Sean by a hair.
“Two minutes,” Peter said as he wrapped an arm around Harriet’s shoulder and gave her a congratulatory squeeze.
There wasn’t time to figure out who Sean Pilterman was before Guzelköy was reading off the next set of competitors.
“Tomio Nakano finished with a time of two hours, thirty-two minutes,” the game-maker said, his gaze flicking up to find Tomio.
I gasped and squeezed Tomio’s bicep. He put a hand over my knuckles and his body went tense. His time was the best so far. I was sure he had it in the bag.
“Liu Xiaotian clocked in at two hours, eleven minutes,” Guzelköy read.
The Firethorne side of the room lost their collective minds as the Arcturus side froze in a tableau of disbelief. Liu had knocked Tomio out of the games. Tomio dropped his head in disappointment, then leaned back and looked up at the ceiling as the Firethorne kids loudly congratulated Liu.
A glance at Liu kindled my ire. She nodded and smiled smugly, like she’d known all along that she couldn’t be beat. Surely she was Burned to have knocked an impressive competitor like Tomio out by almost twenty minutes.
Basil turned to give Tomio a sympathetic smile but Tomio didn’t seem in the mood for sympathy, and let himself slouch in his seat, his gaze on the floor. Tomio was not accustomed to losing, but this wasn’t an MMA tournament. He’d been schooled.
“Quiet, please,” Guzelköy said, directing this to the Firethorne side who were still laughing and talking with excitement. I caught Babs sending a sidelong glance at Basil and my blood threatened to boil. I closed my eyes and took a breath. We still had the results of five matches to go.
The room went still.
“Brooke Ortega,” Guzelköy began, finding his place on the page, “finished with a time of three hours and one minute, while Serenamen Hall completed at two hours and fifty-eight minutes.”
I let out a groan and covered my eyes as the Firethorne kids celebrated again. My heart had begun to drop toward the region of my pelvis. Arcturus, one. Firethorne, three.
I opened my eyes and put an arm around Brooke. “It was that bloody submarine door and those masks,” she murmured, her voice tight. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” I whispered as our teammates reached out to touch Brooke, if they couldn’t reach her they gave her a sympathetic smile. Basil didn’t turn around this time, his shoulders seemed locked back against the chair. I saw Dr. Price’s arm move, maybe she had taken his hand.
“Moving on.” Guzelköy cleared his throat. “Peter Toft clocked in at two hours fourteen minutes, and Axel Bell finished with a time of four hours and four minutes.”
This time it was the Firethorne side who fell into a shocked silence. Our team didn’t scream or clap, it didn’t seem right to celebrate a win with such a wide margin of time but there was a collective feeling of relief on our side of the room. I wondered what had gone wrong for Axel.
I looked over at the Firethorne side but no one was moving. Liu shot a venomous glance at the back of a boy in the front row who didn’t turn around. His ears were red, but we didn’t have time to study their reactions. My name was next. My fingers trembled against my leg and Tomio took my hand and squeezed. I shot him a grateful look, happy to see that he’d bounced back from his loss quickly.
“Saxony Cagney finished with a time of two hours and three minutes,” Guzelköy announced.
Everyone in the room froze, then our side exploded into applause. My knees were slapped, my shoulders whacked, my body jostled from side to side. My jaw was on the floor. I had the best time listed so far, even better than Liu by a whole eight minutes and that felt pretty damn good. My body went into a kind of weak state of relief edged with shock. I reminded myself that Liam’s time hadn’t been announced yet, and stiffened up, holding my breath.
“Liam Walsh came in at two hours…” Guzelköy paused and frowned at the page. Guzelköy went back to Davazlar, showed him the page and whispered a question.
Tomio’s hand tightened on mine and I squeezed back just as hard. It seemed the whole room was holding its breath. This was how I was going to die, from pure stress and anticipation.
Davazlar whispered something back to Guzelköy, Guzelköy nodded and returned to his place at the front of the room. Without explanation, he cleared his throat and began again. “Liam Walsh finished with a time of two hours, twenty-three—”
An explosion of whistles, screams and applause from our side of the room drowned out the last of Guzelköy’s announcement. I grinned, my lips trembling against my teeth.
“Simmer down, ladies and gents,” Guzelköy called over the din. “Simmer down. We’re not through yet.”
Team Arcturus found their seats and settled into them, buoyed by the latest results.
“Cecily Price performed with a time of two hours, thirty-seven minutes,” Guzelköy said, with a raised voice this time. “While Ms. January Jaques finished with a very close two hours and thirty-eight minutes.”
Groans from the Firethorne side mingled with an Arcturus cheer. We were back on track now with four Arcturus wins, three Firethorne wins and one to go. Felix was a force. There was a sense on our side of the room of confident anticipation.
“Felix Kennet clocked in at two hours, two minutes,” Guzelköy announced.
Another explosion from the Arctur
us side of the room. Felix had beat my time, and held the record thus far. He got smacked around with congratulatory beatings and looked like he enjoyed every second.
“And Eira Nygaard finished with a time of one hour, five minutes,” Guzelköy finished, a strange gleam in his eye as he glanced at the ice-blond Firethorne competitor. “Well done, Eira.”
Our side of the room went numb with shock, even some of the Firethorne competitors looked startled. Some of them clapped but many of them turned and began to whisper questions at her. Basil and Christy leaned their heads together and exchanged quiet words. Babs sat in the front row of the Firethorne side, next to Mr. Bunting. She glanced back at Eira and gave a nod of approval. She didn’t even look surprised at the woman’s performance, as if she’d expected Eira to clean house.
I glanced at Felix who looked like someone had sucker punched him in the back of the head. No one spoke, but everyone must have had some version of the same question running around in their minds. How had she done it? How had she bested the next fastest time by almost an entire hour?
“Well done, competitors.” Guzelköy lifted his voice above the Firethorne group’s storm of whispers. “Davazlar and I need a week to prepare for the next round. If there are no questions, we’ll release you and get to work.”
There was a spattering of applause.
The Firethorne students left their seats and began to file out one by one. The Arcturus group remained seated, watching our opponents leave the lecture hall. Liu shot me a triumphant glance but I barely noticed, my eyes were on Eira, but the blond kept her gaze demurely on the floor as she left the room.
Challenge one was over. Each team still had four competitors in the running, evidence of the algorithm at work, resulting in the improbable tie match the game-makers wanted. So why did it feel as though we’d been roundly beaten?
Seventeen
A Loophole?
It was spitting as the Arcturus teammates, both current and former, stood in the driveway in front of the villa. After the Traps, Tools and Time game was over, the disqualified Arcturus competitors, with the exception of Tomio, made arrangements to leave. A taxi with all its doors open waited patiently for its cargo. Tagan, Brooke and Felix would share the cab to the train station where they would then go their separate ways.
