Page 55 of The Ordeals
Plunging forward, I hear the beat of their feet following a step behind as I pass through the illusion. For a moment, the mist and illusion cuts me off from them, and I twist round, reaching back until I feel a hand gripping mine and pull Tessa through. She blinks quickly, reaching back and Greg and Alden fall after her. Suddenly … we’re here.
At the heart of the maze.
The mist evaporates. I drop my hands to my thighs, gasping for breath as we all pause. It’s a courtyard. A stone courtyard with a water feature at the centre, a fountain surrounded by water. The water is golden, laced with magic. It’s mesmerising. I wipe a hand down my face, straightening up, and spot the woman who first crossed the courtyard in the Crucible.
She, Fion, flies in from a path on the other side of the courtyard, towing a terrified-looking hopeful, Elspeth, a masquier, in her wake. She’s spinning the hedges away from her with one hand, just like I saw her do with the vines in the Crucible. But with the other hand …
‘Impossible,’ I gasp. She’s holding the other hand aloft, ripples shaking in the air around her, and I realise what she’s doing. She’s pushing the illusion surrounding her away. Like it’s tangible, like she canfeelit in the same way that I can see an illusion. But that can’t be. That would make her a botanistandan illusionist …
‘Two magics. One lesser, one dominant,’ Tessa says quietly at my side. ‘Unusual, but not impossible. I haven’t heard of anyone in our generation with dual power. She certainly keptthatquiet.’
My jaw drops as Fion winks at us, steps up to the fountain in the centre and pushes Elspeth in first, before dropping into the golden water. Then the maze shifts again, a path opening up directly before her through the hedges, straight to a clifftop beyond.
Straight to Killmarth.
‘I guess she’s first again,’ Tessa says with a sigh.
‘After all that shit, I’ll settle for just finishing alive,’ Alden mutters, already jogging for the fountain as the path closes up behind them. ‘DeWinter, Greg, Tessa, you ready?’
I make myself move, just as a couple more hopefuls appear from another path, one clutching a broken-looking arm, the othercovered in small cuts, twigs sprouting from their hair. I’m sure I look no better. And behind them … no. No, it can’t be. I hasten my steps, opening my mouth to call out to them, to warn them—
But just as quickly as I see her, the cold one disappears.
A final parting illusion from the maze.
Chapter 18
Scholarly Yearnings
We stagger back as a group, up to the castle, and as I glance over my shoulder, I find the maze is on the island. We never even left. It’s jutting out into the sea, shrouded in mist, and as I narrow my gaze, it seems to blend with the water surrounding it. Another illusion. A powerful one.
The courtyard holds around half of the hopefuls when we reach it, the professors and Caroline Ivey waiting to one side. As we wait for the remaining hopefuls I quickly grow cold, the exhaustion of the Ordeal gnawing at me. But I’m alive. I did it. And that lingering parting illusion is fixed far too firmly in my mind.
‘Alden,’ I murmur, turning to him as more hopefuls join us in the courtyard. ‘Tell me what you know about the cold ones.’
He spins to face me, features grim, glancing at the people surrounding us. ‘Not here. This is neither the time, nor the place—’
‘Then when is? After the next attack?’ I lower my voice, stepping closer. ‘One of them killed your father, and they killed the only person who really loved me. The only personIreally loved.’
He softens for a moment, regarding me. His eyes trace a path over my features. ‘I’m so sorry, believe me …’
‘And this has all happened before, hasn’t it? You and your brother, you know it too; in fact, he’s been scheming with the professors, meeting with them—’
‘How do you know about that?’
I blink up at him, and he realises his mistake, swearing under his breath. ‘Tell me what’s really going on. Because I have another name for them; tell me if I’m wrong. Vampires.’
He flinches, as though he’s been struck. ‘Look, DeWinter, I can’t, not here—’
‘I need to know—’
‘Hopefuls!’ a voice cuts over us, silencing the entire courtyard. I turn, finding Professor Grant flanked by Lewellyn, Hess and Caroline Ivey entering from Keeper’s Hall and when I glance back, find Alden has gone. Before I can search for him in the crowd, Grant continues, every hopeful still and watchful. ‘Well done on completing the second Ordeal. The maze is a tricksome place, full of twists and turns and illusions. As you will have gathered, illusionists had the same edge as botanists in the first Ordeal, that is to say … none.
‘What we saw was commendable. A group of hopefuls who held their nerve, worked with their partners, were resourceful and quick, and held in their fear. The maze is designed to test you at your weakest. It’s a mind puzzle as much as a physical one. There have, sadly, been some casualties; however, I have a privilege to give to a few standout hopefuls.’
A ripple of interest forms around me but I look away, indifferent, sure that I did not make it back early enough in the group to earn a privilege. I catch Tessa’s eye and she winks, then I spot Alden, over on the other side of the crowd. He’s staring gravely at Hess, who is looking suddenly deathly.
‘… and lastly, Alden Locke and Sophia DeWinter. You will have full use of the junior common room alongside the other six hopefuls until the next Ordeal, for your exemplary demonstration of wielding to release your fellow hopefuls.’
