Professor Manders folded his paper and stuffed it into the file drawer next to him. He leaned back in his chair. “Now, Alayne, what can I do for you today?”
Alayne started to speak, but Manders cut her off, leaning toward his window and peeping through the blinds. “Actually, it looks like a pleasant day. Why don't we take a walk outside?”
Surprised, Alayne agreed and followed him to the chute where they dropped to the ground floor. Manders had tugged a worn coat over his arms, but Alayne wrapped a heat shield across her shoulders and notched the bend. Manders didn't speak until they had walked a ways up the river.
After a few moments, he spoke. “I'm sorry for interrupting you back there, Alayne. Since Justice Connel's death a few days ago, it's been difficult to maintain secrecy regarding my Last Order work. I may be under suspicion, in which case, it wouldn't surprise me if someone were to be listening in on my conversations.”
“Oh.” Alayne shivered in spite of the heat wrap. “I didn't realize.”
Professor Manders nodded. “Please go on. Tell me what you wanted to say.”
“I—I wanted to get your opinion on something.”
“Yes?”
“Some people have asked me if I would help to organize a—a sort of Last Order chapter here at Clayborne—one that the students can take part in, one that can give some of us a bit of a vent for our feelings.”
Professor Manders glanced over at her, his expression somber. “Why do you need my opinion?”
Alayne stopped walking. “You're the experienced one. You know what the Last Order is all about. I—I'm just the daughter of a full-blooded Natural Human and an Elemental who's a little scared and a lot angry over what's going on in the Capital. How can I handle this? What can I do?”
Manders eyed her for a few silent moments. “Alayne, you understand, of course, that officially, I know nothing about the Last Order beyond what has been tossed around in the media. I know nothing of any student groups that will attempt to put something together. I know nothing of any conversations you or anyone else has had regarding any of this. Do you understand?”
Alayne nodded. “Of course.”
“Unofficially, now, I will tell you that I think this is a wonderful idea. Adults can only do so much. If you can get a grassroots movements started within Clayborne, which is one of the prime darlings of the Capital—that and Andova—you will have accomplished much toward the weakening of the Elemental Alliance and its goals.” He adjusted the glasses on his nose and turned back into a walk. Alayne matched her steps to his.
“You'll need a place to meet. As I said, I think my office and classrooms are being watched, so it wouldn't be wise to set those up as a meeting place. Most of the rest of the school is easily accessed by both friends and enemies of the Last Order. I think your best bet would be to meet in the tunnels beneath the school.”
Alayne shivered. “That would mean coming to you for the key, and what about Sprynge? He comes down there now and then.”
“Yes, he does. Some of the other teachers as well.” He rubbed his goatee. “Well, let me think about it for a while, Alayne, and if—”
“What about the utility hallway? You know, behind the gym? Daymon took me that way after someone tried to Shadow-Cast me.”
Manders's gray eyes grew speculative. “Hmm. Yes, that might work well. Mind you, now, you'll have to meet during obscure times, certainly not during the day, and if you try meeting in the evenings when everyone is busy socializing in the common room, you might be missed. It would have to be either late night or early morning.” He paused. “Another thing, Alayne. It may be a good idea to meet under some innocuous student union name: a gardening club or a student activities panel. That way, if word did somehow leak that there was a group of students disappearing at certain times, you would at least have a name to call it. We could maybe generate some sort of paperwork that would make it seem legitimate.” He chuckled as he glanced at Alayne's wide eyes. “Don't worry too much about it. Find some way to vet the students who show an interest to make sure your secret is kept, and maintain a watch on the doors, but you should be fine. The Last Order will be proud to have you in their ranks.”
Alayne smiled. “Thank you, sir. Utility tunnel it is then. Unless, of course, you think I should ask Professor Pence if we could use her classroom.”
Manders laughed heartily. “Wonderful idea, Alayne. A bit like bearding a lion in its den.” He chuckled again and then grew serious.
“Alayne, I heard you chased off the lion that attacked Prof Pence.”
“Y—yes, sir. The mountain lion I healed during the exams last year—I think she's still around.” She hesitated. “I haven't seen many other kinds of animals, but I've heard rumors that they're around. I'm not really afraid of them. I'm used to seeing them near our house back in Skyden.”
Manders's eyebrows rose. “Be that as it may, Alayne, the animals are wild and a danger to you and anyone else. Be careful, all right? Make sure you keep the elements handy.”
“Yes, sir.” She swallowed and added. “Felycia told me I was stupid chasing the mountain lion from Pence.” She shrugged. “She's probably right, because I could have been killed. But the lion was mauling her right in front of me. As much as I hate her, I don't want to see that.”
“Tell me everything that happened, Alayne.”
Alayne was surprised. She had assumed that Daymon had already filled him in. In quick, succinct sentences, she described the rest of what had happened that night. She tried to gloss over the part where Daymon had been walloped in the head by the willow tree.
A half-smile covered Manders's face when she finished. “Well, I won't pretend that Pence's injuries aren't serious, and that I'm glad you stopped the cat when you did. But I do find it amusing that Daymon was embarrassed enough about letting Pence's tree get the best of him that he failed to tell me about it.”
By the time they returned to the school, Alayne felt better about a secret student-led Last Order chapter. She even allowed a fission of excitement to race along her veins, though the fear of discovery still made her hands sweat.
“When will your first meeting be?” Manders asked as they neared the entrance to the spire.
“I don't know. Marysa's really been the contact; I need to figure out with her how to let people know to come and what our group's going to be called, you know, in case Pence or someone else comes poking around.”
“Not likely. Not in the utility tunnel. But you're right, best to be prepared.” Manders pressed the button on the chute. “Well, I wish you luck. Let me know if I can do anything to help.”
“Thank you, sir.” Alayne stepped through the chute doors with him, and the two flew upward.
* * *
Last Order meetings were set to begin on Monday evenings for the foreseeable future. Of course, the term was hush-hush, so Marysa decided to call it Clayborne's Speed-Dating Club, a name which made Alayne's eyes roll as soon as she heard it.
“Well, what else is going to sound plausible for a bunch of students to be interested in?” Marysa asked, exasperation in her voice. “A gardening club? Seriously, Layne? If seventy or eighty students started heading off to a gardening club, every professor in the school is going to come check it out to see what in CommonEarth was wrong with those kids.” She whirled to go but then turned back. “Not, of course, that any professors are even going to hear about this, but just in case they did, the name will throw them off course.” She turned and hurried out of the room on her way to recruit more members for the speed-dating club. Alayne sank onto her bed, worry pinching her stomach. How under the skies were they going to pull this off without word getting out to the wrong people? More and more, as Marysa encouraged and wheedled and advised, Alayne retreated into a nervous veil of tension and distrust.
When Alayne had first mentioned the idea to Kyle, his eyes had flamed with interest. “So you're staging a coup right within the walls of this school?” he'd asked, eyebrows arching in surprise.<
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“No, nothing like that.” Alayne had frowned as she'd struggled to explain. “Just something that can help those of us who sympathize with Naturals stand together, to defend ourselves, if need be.”
“And what if somebody finds out?”
Alayne didn't want to face the possibility. Part of her wished to give up the project, but a growing part of her sensed the urgency of the Continent's political climate. “We'll just have to be careful,” was all she'd said, and Kyle had subsided in thoughtful silence.
The first meeting took place near the beginning of February. Marysa went early with Rachyl to make sure that the rooms were set up and that there was no sign of any of the professors nearby. The rooms in the utility tunnel lacked size, but two had an adjoining double-door opening. If the doors lay open against the walls behind them, it was nearly as good as one large room. Marysa had smuggled down a podium and some heavy crates to serve as a makeshift stage so Alayne could be seen.
As Alayne and Kyle headed down to the meeting, a nervous knot tied itself in Alayne's stomach.
“How do you think it'll go?” Kyle slid his hands into his pockets, a notebook wedged under his arm.
Alayne shrugged. “I don't know. I don't even know why I agreed to do this in the first place.” She tried to push the tension from her stomach. She eyed his notebook from the corner of her eye. “What's that for?”
Kyle glanced at her. “For taking notes on anything you say.”
Alayne was surprised. “Oh.” She hadn't thought about the fact that anything she had to say might be worth hearing.
“Come on, Layne, you're the keynote speaker.” Kyle winked at her. “It's, like, required to take notes, isn't it? You'll do great.” His finger brushed down her arm, but Alayne refused to be comforted. She wished she could go throw up.
The chute didn't help. By the time they reached the gymnasium, Alayne was sure her face was a lovely shade of puce green. Several students had already wandered into the gym, and Daymon stood on the side of the track, ushering them down a dark hallway behind a set of lockers. Alayne turned into the hallway and saw Rachyl at the far end, holding a door open as she waved students through.
The spiral steps were just as she remembered them. She dragged her pace as she went down them, half considering turning back and fleeing to her dorm room. Kyle touched her back and guided her to the gray, metal door of the room they had chosen. She entered it, wishing she could hide behind Kyle's broad back until the meeting were over. Marysa noticed her right away. “Over here, Layne.” She motioned to the podium she'd set up in front of her makeshift stage.
Several other students were already in there. Alayne recognized all of them, but knew only about half of their names. She reluctantly turned her steps toward Marysa. “How many are we expecting?”
“All told, about a hundred and twenty-seven agreed to meet. Of course, I don't know if everyone will come, or more or less... are you okay, Alayne?”
“A hundred and twenty seven, you said?” Alayne felt the blood drain from her face.
“Yeah, and that doesn't include one of the track teams. Josh said that he can't make his team skip practice this evening, but he's trying to get the evenings switched around so more of his team can come. That would add another thirty or so, depending on how many decided to go for it.”
Alayne sank weakly onto one of the crates that made up the stage. How was she, a shy girl from the outskirts of a City Center, a nobody really, supposed to head up a chapter of the Last Order? “Marysa?”
“Yeah?”
“A hundred and twenty-seven students aren't going to fit in these two rooms.”
“They will if everybody stands up, and we'll just put more in the hallway and leave the doors open. It'll all work out, don't worry.” Marysa brushed some of the dust off the podium. “The thing to remember is to keep guys and girls alternating where they stand, since it is a speed-dating club, after all, and if for some reason we got caught, I'd want it to look like a speed-dating club. Holy hot-breath, I forgot the sign to put on the outside of the door.” She dodged around the podium and clattered her way up to the door.
“But...” Alayne exhaled in frustration. “Fine.” She rubbed one trembling hand over the other.
Kyle stood behind her and lightly massaged her shoulders. Alayne allowed it for a moment, but then moved away. He still pushed for more than she was willing to give, despite his assurances that he wouldn't, and Alayne's heart chafed with sorting her feelings concerning Jayme.
Kyle's hands dropped along with his gaze as she stepped away from him. When she glanced at the door, Daymon's blue eyes burned into Kyle where he stood outside the entrance.
Alayne turned her attention to her notes and studied them without seeing a word.
More students flooded the room, laughing and chattering as they spread across the open space, all of them facing the podium at the one end of the room. The room began to grow warm, the air to smell stale.
After a few minutes of white noise, Marysa emerged from the pack of students and hurried to the podium. “Good evening, everyone,” she called out in her clear voice. “Or perhaps I should say 'good night, everyone,' since it's so late.”
Anticipation filled the room; the voices quieted immediately. “Thank you all for coming.” She cleared her throat. Her natural ease exuded from the stage, and Alayne felt herself relax a tiny bit.
“I've talked to a good many of you in person, and several of you brought friends. I'm glad to see each one of you here, but I'd like to be very clear about one thing.” She paused and looked around the classroom. “These meetings are highly secret and very dangerous. Under no condition is anyone to speak of them, refer to them, or even send notes about them. I'd like to think I can trust each of you who made an effort to come, but we all know it's not a perfect world. So,” she walked to the wall where a massive poster leaned against the cinderblock, “while this isn't a perfect fix either, it will help.” She held up the poster. On it, in Marysa's neat scrawl, Alayne recognized the names of the students who had entered the room and stood quietly listening. At the top, she could see her own name and Marysa's.
A small First-Year in the front eyed the list of names. “What's that?”
“This list names each person here. I'll add more names to the list if others come. I tried this out before we started, so I hope it works, but if I were to say the words, 'Last Order...”
Marysa's name at the top turned from black ink into a heated, fiery red. Gasps sounded across the room. The element bend rocked Alayne backward; it was such a tiny change, but the power behind it was phenomenal. Alayne's gaze fastened to her friend's face.
Marysa quickly readjusted the element back to normal, and the ink faded to black.
“This same thing will happen for a variety of other keywords that have anything to do with these meetings, so just a reminder to everyone—please keep quiet about our purpose here. I don't want to see anyone's names lit up in fire.”
“Does it work outside this room?” asked a curious voice from the back.
Marysa chuckled. “It would be pretty pointless if it only worked here. No, I've locked down my element on each of you. For those of you, mainly First-Years, who don't know about locking elements, it's this: an element bend is when I shift an element. An element notch is when that shift stops and holds in the place where it's been bent. I can let go, allowing it to stay without my constant attention to it, but anyone can unnotch it. A lock is when I notch the element, and then detach it from the element grid, so that it stays that way until I unnotch it. The element is locked until I unlock it. Does that make sense?”
A few dark looks sprouted in the room, but Marysa barreled on. “When you leave this room, this hallway,” she motioned to the students who lined the hallway outside and who hadn't been able to fit in the room, “the element will go with you, and you can't release it because I've locked it. It's not a strong enough shift to notice in your daily activities, so you needn't worry that anyone
will be curious about it. But it's enough that if you mention the words I just said, or any other words I've keyed in that may have to do with our meetings, your name will light up my poster board. Okay! Are we clear on that?”
“What if we decide not to come back to the meetings?” A First-Year in the front row tugged on one of her braids.
“You can make the decision not to come back, but it doesn't change the secrecy of these meetings. Your name will stay on the poster board, and the rules still apply. Any other questions?”
No one else made any effort to respond. A smile tugged at the corners of Alayne's mouth. Leave it to Marysa to come up with a plan to keep the meetings secret. She breathed a little easier. Secrecy had been one of her main worries when she'd agreed to head up the meetings, but Marysa had told her she'd come up with something.
Some of the students exchanged glances, but none of them protested. In spite of Alayne's nerves, she couldn't keep back a surge of pride in her friend, who only last year had started out as a talkative, fiery First-Year. Suddenly, the hatchling had morphed into a dragon; she was spreading her wings and learning how to fly, and the sight was breathtaking.
“Now, I'd like to introduce Alayne Worth to you. Most of you know who she is, if you don't know her personally. Lots of you have heard how she and Daymon Houser fought Simeon Malachi last year on the set up for our final exams. And she won. Now she's here to talk to us about the LO,” Marysa pointed significantly to the poster board, and Alayne realized she wasn't going to say the actual words, Last Order, in her speech, “a movement that fights specifically against the government-organized and -controlled group called the Elemental Alliance, of which Simeon Malachi is a member. Come on up, Alayne.”
Alayne rose from the box where she sat and stepped up to the podium. She spread her notes on it with trembling fingers, smiling uncertainly as she watched Marysa go stand against the wall. Over a hundred pairs of eyes stared at her expectantly. There was little opportunity to move. The hall doors were open, and Alayne glanced out of them at the students lining the metal walkway. She tried to remember what she had prepared to say, but her mind was a blank void. She had fallen prey to a vicious attack of stage-fright, and every pulse of her heartbeat behind her eardrums reminded her of that fact.
Shadows of Uprising (Guardian of the Vale Book 2) Page 19
