by A. P. Jensen
“You think the Gem put him in a crappy school on purpose?” Levi said. “Huh. Maybe you’re not as dumb as I thought.”
Cibrian grinned. “I heard Uncle Van tell my dad that. If Luther was meant to be someone he would’ve gone to The Academy.”
“Parker went to The Academy?”
“Of course.”
“Of course,” Levi muttered.
Jordan stirred. She opened her eyes, blinked at the boys watching her and scowled. She looked up at Knight and patted him absently as she sat up and ran a hand through her tangled hair. Using the Valor as leverage, she stood and staggered over to the bench.
“Are we there yet?” she asked sleepily.
“Almost,” Cibrian said and examined her with sudden interest.
“What?” she said when he continued to stare.
“Do you look like your mom? Where is she?”
Jordan didn’t meet his eyes. “Yes. I look like her. She died when I was seven.”
“Did she have power?” he persisted.
“You say the Ignorant usually take drugs or alcohol to cover up their power?” she asked wearily.
Cibrian frowned, nodded.
“She was a druggie. I don’t know if she took drugs to drown out her power or if she was just a common addict.”
“If Uncle Van knew how she would turn out, he wouldn’t have left you with her.”
Jordan didn’t reply.
“We’re here,” Cibrian said.
Chapter Seventeen
The carriage broke through the final set of trees. A huge field of white led up to intimidating ice walls that towered towards the sky. The sun began to rise, making the snow and walls shimmer with dazzling light. In the middle of the huge wall were two huge gates thrown wide open. Jordan let out a startled cry as other carriages erupted from the forest in bursts of powdery snow. Carriages of all sizes, decorated with designs and pinstripes like race cars sped towards the gates as if approaching a finish line.
“That’s Wintra?” Jordan said faintly.
“Yup,” Cibrian said, voice filled with anticipation.
The first carriage with Mr. Parker and the other adults was nowhere to be found in the crush. Their carriage seemed to fit through the smallest gaps and beat the other carriages to the gates. The carriage gently slid onto a wide path made of textured ice. The carriages slowed their mad rush to a steady pace as they reached the main road into the city. Like a highway, carriages going the opposite way were on the other side of the street, turning onto frosted paths that led between the buildings.
The city of Wintra was made of ice and snow. Majestic buildings towered overhead, white and beautiful in the sunlight. Like wallpaper, the walls of these buildings were carved with intricate designs to distinguish one from the other in this monotone of white. Instead of signs, the walls of each building advertised their services or merchandise. A building made of frosted ice covered in hieroglyphs Cibrian explained was a well-known museum. Jordan squinted at a building covered in hearts. The display window looked as if Valentine’s Day had exploded within it. Love potions. A building of a man’s cracked, scowling face was made of packed snow.
“That’s Old Man Pete’s. They make the best sandwiches in Wintra.”
As they made their way into the city Jordan saw that some buildings were made of frosted ice but the largest and grandest buildings were made of ice so clear you could see straight through to the customers within. Some of the buildings looked like swirled ice cream cones while others were sculpted in the shapes of animals, people or nature scenes. The detail on the buildings was breathtaking- works of art so beautiful that Jordan and Levi stared in reverent silence. Along the sidewalks women pushed strollers made of ice, people ice skated around those that walked briskly. Bare trees with foot long icicles were planted in pots of snow. People yelled from booths made of ice, holding their merchandise aloft.
“Why is it winter here?” Jordan murmured without taking her eyes from the incredible view.
“Each capital is stuck in one season and it’s that way all year round. If you want to visit somewhere cold you come here. If you want to go somewhere tropical you can visit Paradice,” Cibrian explained.
The sidewalks were lit by a soft rose glow that wove its way into the heart of the city. Jordan could see advertisements on some of the buildings as if there were huge TV screens within the ice. Advertisements for coats, perfumes and drinks passed by in a blur. Something flew across an advertisement and Jordan let out a scream.
“What?” Cibrian groaned, rubbing his ears.
“There’s someone f-f-” she stuttered, unable to believe her eyes.
Cibrian peered through the glass and snorted. “Well, of course he’s flying. Who would want to walk when it’s so crowded?”
“C-can you-”
“Maybe one day. It takes a lot of concentration. Usually only pure Thishe can manage it.”
Jordan opened and closed her mouth for a few seconds, unable to speak. They passed a building in the shape of a castle, complete with stiff ice flags caught in a nonexistent breeze. Next was a building in the shape of a mountain and the next- a building made of life size angel statues, one on top of the other.
“Cool. We’re staying at The Aquarium,” Cibrian said.
Their carriage came to an abrupt stop behind its twin. Two men dressed in pantsuits decorated with colorful sea life ran forward and opened the carriage door. Mr. Parker was the first one to step out. One of the uniformed men recognized him and took a hasty step back and gawked. Mr. Parker didn’t notice. He looked back into the carriage and a delicate wrist adorned with pearls was extended to him. Instead of doing the gentlemanly thing and helping Ruth out of the carriage Mr. Parker came to their carriage and opened the door. Cold air whooshed in, making them all shiver. Knight rose from his position by the fire with an irritated growl.
“Let’s go,” Mr. Parker said.
Levi and Cibrian hopped out of the carriage first. Mr. Parker held his hand out for Jordan and she hesitated a second before putting her hand in his gloved one. Some of the pedestrians stopped and murmured to one another. Knight jumped down beside Jordan and several people let out yelps of alarm. Unconcerned by the small crowd that gathered, Mr. Parker led Jordan towards wide aqua colored steps and no one stopped them from entering a prestigious hotel with a nine hundred pound mythical creature. Knight stalked at Jordan’s side, showing fangs to the horrified onlookers.
Mr. Parker stopped in a lobby made of floor to ceiling aqua colored ice. Straight ahead was a large front desk manned by avidly staring men and women. Off to the side, people stepped onto circles made of ice and zoomed through the air, using their weight to guide the circle in the direction they wanted as if they were on surfboards.
Jordan frowned when she saw movement within the aqua walls. She edged towards a pillar and stared at the school of fish that darted beneath the ice. Jordan looked down at the floor and saw a pink fish inches from her boot. Before Jordan could go down on her knees to examine the fish Mr. Parker wrapped his hand around the nape of her neck and squeezed. Jordan looked up and saw his gaze fixed across the lobby. Two men approached. One was tall with wavy brown locks streaked with gray and light silver eyes. He was dressed in a white suit that should have looked ridiculous on him but was intimidating and dignified instead. The second man had a riot of strawberry blonde hair, dark eyes and thick framed glasses. He jogged to keep up with his tall companion and clutched a notebook to his chest. When the little man noticed Knight he stumbled to a halt, dark eyes wide with fear.
“Well, isn’t this a surprise,” said the man in the white suit.
“Come to welcome me to Wintra, Yale?” Mr. Parker said, voice mocking.
Yale stopped several feet away and examined the assembled group. His companion sidled up behind him like a child and peeked around him at Knight. He held the notebook aloft in preparation to swat Knight if he decided to attack. Yale’s strange silver eyes paused on Levi, widened on the
Valor and finally narrowed on Jordan.
“You have quite a party here. Is that a Valor?”
“Yes,” Mr. Parker said.
“Is it tamed?”
“No.”
The man with the glasses let out a squeak and stood behind Yale who rolled his eyes.
“I’ve heard strange rumors about you.”
“Really?” Mr. Parker’s voice was bored and unconcerned.
Yale’s eyes locked on Jordan. “Word is you have a biological daughter. Is it true?”
Jordan tried to sidle away from Mr. Parker but he tightened his hold, keeping her beside him.
“Why do you care?”
Yale scoffed. “It’s all our business. You know that. Is she yours?”
“If I say yes?”
“If she is yours then she should be tested. It would give the others hope.”
“We aren’t in the medieval ages, Yale. She’s not gonna be tested to see if she’s compatible with any of the men.”
Jordan took a step back from Yale’s cold silver eyes and this time Mr. Parker let her. Levi and Cibrian crowded behind her and they both felt her tremble.
Yale scowled. “You know what it’s like for us. After what happened to William, they need hope. If she’s your blood, she could give them time.”
“She isn’t being tested.”
Yale cocked his head to the side. “Nobody’s gonna hurt her. They’ll treat her like a queen. What are you afraid of?” he paused and raised his brows, “Unless you’re not sure she is yours.”
There was no warning. One moment Mr. Parker stood in front of Jordan and the next he was face to face with Yale, holding the other man up by the lapels of his perfect white suit. The man that had been hiding behind the Guide scrambled to the side, a pen flashing in his hand as he wrote in the notebook without looking. The group behind the front desk of the hotel yelped in alarm but made no move to approach.
“Push me, Yale, and I’ll melt your perfect city,” Mr. Parker warned.
Yale sneered. “I thought you turned over a new leaf. Taking in strays and all…”
Mr. Parker shoved Yale backwards so he slid several feet on his ass across the aqua ice. “I’ll excuse you because I know you’re worried about your son.”
Yale said nothing as he rose. His eyes touched on Jordan once more before he turned and walked down the main steps, his companion still writing madly as he followed Yale out of the lobby.
“That was thoughtful of the Guide of Wintra to stop by and greet you personally, Donovan. Real classy,” Heath muttered. “He’s still an ass.”
Kelly sighed. “He’s desperate.”
Mr. Parker reached out and gently pulled Jordan away from the boys. An aqua colored circle sped towards him and hovered a foot off the ground near him. Mr. Parker lifted Jordan onto the circle and stepped up beside her.
“Hang on,” Mr. Parker said.
Jordan let out a stifled cry as the circle shot upwards. She wrapped her arms around his waist as the ice circle hurtled through the air, tipping from side to side as it wheeled around corners and up stairs. The circle finally stopped and Mr. Parker stepped down, pulling Jordan’s rigid form with him. Jordan watched as the ice platform zoomed down the hallway like a crazy Frisbee and disappeared from sight.
Mr. Parker opened a door and ushered her in. The room was warm despite the ice ceiling, walls and floor. Jordan stared through the walls at fishes of all colors lazily drifting along as if their accommodation within hotel walls was the norm for them. Jordan stood in the entrance of a room so large she couldn’t see the other side of it. To the left was a kitchen and on the right side of the room was a seating area with comfortable looking white and lavender couches. Behind the seating area, between the fish tank walls were frosted windows and glass doors. Through them, Jordan could see a balcony made of ice and the city beyond.
In the middle of the huge room was a circular lake with smooth black stones leading to a small island. In a daze, Jordan walked across the room to the lake and looked down. In the pond dozens of huge red, yellow orange and black koi fish. They splashed as she neared like puppies excited by their master’s return. The grassy island in the middle of the pond had a sprinkling of white lilies over its surface and a lone stone bench.
Jordan knelt on the aqua floor and the fishes beneath the surface of the ice gathered around her. She stared at the dark lake that she couldn’t see the bottom of. She dipped her hand in the water and the koi swarmed around her hand. One of the koi began sucking on her finger and she let out a surprised yelp and withdrew her hand. Something huge swam overhead, causing a temporary darkness in the room.
Jordan heard the hotel room door open and Knight prowled through. He trotted down the stairs, eyes tracking the fish beneath the surface. Absently, he bat at them with his paw. Mr. Parker jerked his head at her. She crossed to the bar around the kitchen and sat on one of the stools. He poured red liquid into a short glass and slid it across to her and poured the same thing for himself. Jordan jumped when she picked up the smoking glass. Cautiously, she sipped the drink and it fizzed and bubbled in her mouth and slid down easily. She shivered as warmth spread through her and the taste of blueberries lingered on her tongue.
“What Yale said downstairs,” Mr. Parker paused, “I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to.”
Jordan didn’t know what to say.
“If you are a Grounder, there’s gonna be a lot of people in your face, telling you it’s your duty to save sorcerers. That’s bullshit. You have a choice,” he said. “After what happened with William, you, more than anyone has a right to choose your fate.”
“You chose that to leave this all behind and do something different?” Jordan asked quietly.
“Other sorcerers can’t stand that I left my responsibilities behind to live a normal existence. To many, it’s a desecration and something I should be ashamed of.”
“You don’t trust yourself, do you?” Jordan blurted without thinking.
“Can you blame me?”
Jordan thought of her power which was constantly growing, wanting to be expelled. What would it feel like to deal with unrelenting power for the rest of her life?
“I guess not. That man you threw on his ass is the Guide of Wintra?”
Mr. Parker shrugged. “Yeah.”
“Yale’s son is a sorcerer?”
Mr. Parker’s mouth tightened. “Yeah. Started school last year. Youngest sorcerer alive right now.”
Mr. Parker poured himself and Jordan another glass of fizzy red liquid. Jordan downed the glass and felt her whole body flush with warmth. She blew out a breath.
“How does he want to test me?”
Mr. Parker’s eyes heated with anger. “It’s barbaric.”
“What do they do?”
Mr. Parker put his glass down so hard Jordan was surprised the whole ice bar didn’t shatter.
“The examiners will try to drown you and see if you can breathe under water to prove you have Undala blood. They’ll toss you in a furnace to see if you can control fire to prove you have Darsana blood. They’ll trick you into drinking poison to see if you can detect which plants they used to prove you have Eliten blood. To prove your Thishe blood they might toss you into a hurricane to see if you can manipulate the wind that might tear you to pieces,” Mr. Parker’s eyes burned.
Jordan licked dry lips and said faintly, “Yeah. That’s barbaric.”
“Welcome to my world,” Mr. Parker said mockingly.
“Why did I think it might be easier here?”
“I think you left easy behind the moment you Awakened. It’s not going to get easier.”
On that dire prediction Kelly, Levi, Cibrian and Heath walked in. Levi stopped dead while Cibrian walked towards the refrigerator and pulled out a can of soda.
“You don’t mind if I stay with you, right, Uncle Van?” Cibrian said and took a hefty swallow of his beverage.
“As long as Ruth doesn’t come here looking for
you.”
Cibrian grinned. “You know Mom doesn’t care where I go.”
“Good,” Mr. Parker muttered.
Cibrian leaned on the bar and waggled his brows at Jordan. “So, how do you like Wintra thus far?”
“It’s fantastic,” Jordan said sarcastically, giving him a smile that showed a lot of teeth.
“You sure liven things up, don’t you?”
“Not on purpose.” She slid the glass from hand to hand across the ice bar.
Mr. Parker rose to talk to Kelly and Heath who stood near the entrance. Several men in aqua colored uniforms filled the doorway and Mr. Parker turned to them. Was it her imagination or did the men cower the slightest bit?
Cibrian grinned. “I haven’t seen Uncle Van toss anyone on their ass in a long time. Donovan Parker, the rebel, has returned to Wintra with a daughter and Valor in tow. Everyone expected him to become a Guide straight out of school but he disappeared after graduation and no one heard from him for seven years.”
Levi stumbled down the steps and cowered when a whale swooped across the ceiling.
“Get a grip, man. They’re within the walls. They can’t bite you,” Cibrian said.
“But what if it breaks?” Levi stared at the underbelly of a whale.
“That’s never happened before but if it did, find somebody with Undala power to patch up the hole for you.” Cibrian crumpled his can. “Come on, let’s look at our rooms.”
Levi put his arm around Jordan and cast wary glances around the room at the swimming sea life within the walls. Koi splashed happily as they passed and Levi stared impassively down at them. Cibrian led them to the far end of the room where three steps led up to five lavender colored doors.
As if he owned the place, Cibrian walked into one of the open bedrooms. The walls of the room were made of the same aquarium walls. A suitcase with Levi’s name on it stood near the door with three neon orange suitcases that Jordan assumed were Cibrian’s. A block of ice served as a screen for a TV, several intimidating ice sculptures of warriors with their blades held over their heads as if going for a death blow stood around a bed covered in animal furs. To the right was a narrow hallway. Intrigued, Jordan shrugged off Levi’s lax arm and went to investigate. The hallway opened up into a small dome with a small bathing pool. The room was lit by a skylight that let in bright sunshine. Jordan looked up at the skylight and could see snow falling but not settling on the glass.
