Page 29 of The Ordeals
Sniffing, I point out a walkway we haven’t tried yet. ‘This way?’
Tessa nods. ‘Makes sense to hide it away, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t want the kitchen staff confusing the plants for vegetables.’
In the end, we find it by accident. Stumbling through a gate with a rusted chain, we come upon a garden much smaller than the others. The wind and rain seem to die down, the distant rush and wail of the sea dimming to a sigh. The light is fading fast to twilight, the raised beds within pulsing with a luminous glow. I realise it would have been hidden on my runs, the walls too high to know what lies behind them.
‘Wolfsbane, foxglove, carrow, hemlock, nightshade …’ she says, looking around and ticking them off on her fingers. She bends to examine a flower unfurling as darkness descends. The petals are a deep purple, tips pointed as they spread for the moonlight. ‘I don’t recognise this one though.’
I narrow my eyes, raking my memory over a lecture I once attended at the Serpentine library about flora and fauna in the woodland running like a seam through the middle of the territory. This one … I’m sure it’s a Kellend native. A flower that blooms in the woodlands of the north. ‘Alphemera?’ I ask. ‘Did you make notes on all the specific plants?’
‘Oh, I already knew about the other poisons. Part of mygrandmother’s preparations.’ She chews her lip, leafing through her notebook, her eyes widening as she places a finger on a page, angling it towards the plentiful moonlight.
She reads aloud, ‘The alphemera flower can be both antidote and poison. Use it to counter the effects of most varieties by sucking on a single petal. But beware mixing its intoxicating effects with the plant that holds no taste or scent. This will stop your heart in two short beats.’ She looks up at me, smiling. ‘Greg copied out particular passages on varieties of poison plants and antidotes this afternoon.’
‘Helpful.’ I swallow, drawing out a handful of tiny vials that I found in the trunk, along with my things. It seems these will come in handy to use for more than just the Collector’s marks. ‘And from the look of the carrow plant, it hasn’t been harvested. In fact, the only ones that have been are nightshade and wolfsbane.’
Carefully, I use a pair of sewing scissors to snip at the velvety petals and drop them in the vials. I hand half to Tessa who pockets them immediately. ‘That alone may get us through tomorrow,’ she says, turning to me. ‘I could owe you my life by tomorrow evening. And Greg’s. I knew you’d be useful.’
‘Thank you for sharing what you found with me,’ I say, holding out my hand. ‘Looks like we might survive the first Ordeal after all. I promise, if I can help either of you tomorrow, I will.’
Tessa searches my face and smiles, shaking my hand before stepping further down the path. ‘If that history book is correct and these are indeed all the poisons used throughout history in the first Ordeal …’ she hops back as a thin vine lashes for her ‘… we’d better get to work. We need to memorise themalland there’s only so much a reference book can teach. Even if it looks as though only two plants have been harvested, I don’t want to take my chances.’
Chapter 10
Claw Marks
We assemble in the courtyard as instructed, the only well-rested hopefuls in a pack to one side. The botanists. Alden is the only one among them not smiling, hands thrust in his pockets, eyes narrowed on the ground as he shuffles a small stone with the toe of his shoe. He looks up, eyes meeting mine, and a shiver runs down my spine that isn’t wholly terrible.
‘Hopefuls,’ Professor Grant’s voice rings out, instantly killing the undercurrent of murmurs and whispers. She clasps her hands in her lap, eyeing us all in turn. ‘This Ordeal will test more than your magic. It will test your courage, your resolve, your willingness to work in a team. As with every year, you’ll find a few alterations. Last year, we led the hopefuls to a laboratory in Fetlock at this point, but with Hess joining the faculty this year, we’ve been presented with an extraordinary opportunity.’
The man with slicked-back red hair steps forward, clapping his hands before rubbing them together. ‘Professor Grant is quite right. Innovation is the catalyst for improvement and Killmarth likes to level the playing field between those that are first, second and third generation. And to the botanists here, I say, maybe you shouldn’t have come along today expecting an easy ride. We test attributes beyond wielding in this Ordeal, with an emphasis on confidence, cunning and resourcefulness. A weak-minded magic wielder is anunsafemagic wielder and we have no wish to strengthen magic in the wrong hands.’
I peer under my lashes at the botanists, who are looking decidedly less certain now. My eyes meet Alden’s and he raises his eyebrows imperceptibly. My mouth curves into a small smile. Perhaps he’ll need his wild card after all.
‘Now, Bess, Phillips …’ he pauses as two scholars appear in the courtyard ‘… the mirrors, if you please.’
The full-length mirrors each scholar is hefting with them are brought forward and placed against the wall. At first sight, they appear unremarkable, cheap even, with gaudy gilt frames and silvered edges. And they’re baffling because Hess called them mirrors but they don’t reflect the other side of the courtyard at all.
‘Professor Hess is a jewel among magic wielders, an alchemist with the power to create portals out of inanimate objects,’ Professor Grant says. ‘His portals can lead to other points across the territory, allowing you to travel vast distances, bending the properties of the mirror entirely. Quite the talent. You will work with your partner, and any pair that successfully makes it back through these mirrors alive and whole,together, will pass the Ordeal.’
‘You will each walk through a mirror. One we will poison; the other will carry the antidote,’ Professor Hess says. ‘If those carrying the antidote do not find the other person in time to save them, you will fail and be asked to leave Killmarth. This presents a ticking clock to this Ordeal, so the pressure is on.’
‘And the other hopeful?’ a slight voice scrapes out and I see it’s Greg, seeming a little green.
‘The other may die,’ Professor Grant says quietly. ‘More likely, they will fall into a stupor that will take some time to lift, and they will fail.’
A chill silence stretches around us. I have three vials of thealphemera flower in my coat pocket, along with my switchblade. But will it even help? The information we found may help Tessa and I, but it may not save us. I glance at her and see the same realisation reflected back. We can counteract the poison if that’s what we’re given, but with these new rules, we’ll still have to find our partners and make it back alive. And I made a promise to her. If I find her or Greg, I’ll help them, because something tells me those portals won’t take us somewhere soft and safe.
‘To sweeten the incentive of making it back swiftly …’ another voice says and we all turn, seeing the representative of the Crown, Caroline Ivey, stepping towards us all, ‘the first ten pairs to return will be given a junior common room to make use of in Gantry. There will be sofas, a well-stocked fireplace, books and afternoon tea and treats laid out each day. Compliments of the Crown to celebrate the front runners of your cohort.’
A murmur ripples through the courtyard, despair making way for determination. I even find myself straightening and squaring my shoulders, wanting to win this privilege.
‘Now for the pairings. Are we an even number now, professor?’ Professor Hess asks.
‘Yes, two scarpered in the night. Change of heart. Forty-eight left.’
‘Twenty-four pairings. Marvellous,’ Professor Hess says, rubbing his hands together again. ‘Best to give you botanists the antidote as well I should think. Otherwise, it’ll give you an advantage over the others. Can’t have you all curing yourselves within moments. Song, Berryman …’ he says, pointing to two women, a botanist and a masquier. ‘The first to walk through with your partners. You’ll carry the antidote.’
He moves through the courtyard, sizing us up and pointing one from each pair towards a line on the left or right, leading to a mirrorrespectively. We all shuffle around and I bite my lip as Tessa pats Greg on the arm, who I’m fairly sure is about to puke again.
