Page 14 of By the Orchid and the Owl
“Thought so.”
Coen leaned closer to me, and it took every shriveled piece of my remaining willpower to keep my stance rigid, to not let him push me back against the wall.
“There is a reason, Rayna Drey, that every single place on this island besides here at the Institute is so heavily stifled. Here, we can do whatever we want, go wherever we want, bed whomever we want, because they have eyes on useverywhere.”
They. The Good Council, I knew, and goosebumps scuttled along my arms.
“But out in the villages,” Coen continued, “they have to rely on sheer fear. All it takes is one person breaking the law, one person using magic on the streets in an inappropriate manner, one execution in every village, for people to obey. To stay small and quiet and never expand the limits of their power that they found here at the Institute.”
I couldn’t escape the weight of his daggered gaze as his words sunk in.
“The Good Council,” I began slowly, tasting the words as I said them, “wouldn’t take kindly to power they didn’t grant me. Power they can’t control.”
A nod. I stroked my throat, the inside of it gritty from my haggard breathing.
“They would exile me? Before the test?” I paused. “Right on the spot?” That demonstration earlier today had seemed like an unnecessary threat with my Final Test lurking so far in the future. I couldn’t imagine facing that woman with the missing fingernow.Tomorrow.
Coen didn’t nod this time. He didn’t have to. I let my hands drop.
“Well, shit.” A thought struck me. “But how can I even keep this a secret? All those inductees in the tent saw it happen.” It didn’t feel right to call them friends anymore, as if I’d betrayed their trust somehow.
Coen swiped his free hand through his hair. “Yeah, about that. I erased their memories for you… just short-term,” he added as my mouth dropped open in horror. “No big deal. They won’t remember a thing after entering their tent for the night. And don’t worry about all those people I hauled you past.” A smug smile as his eyes raked down my body, as if remembering what it felt like slung over his shoulder. “I made them feelveryinterested in looking away.”
I stared at him.
“You’re a Mind Manipulator.”
He didn’t even deign to answer that; it was obvious.
“But…” I swallowed. “I saw you standing on nothing but solid air this morning. I thought you were an Element Wielder. Or maybe even an Object Summoner, levitating yourself.”
“Oh, so you were checking me out?” His lips curled. “But very astute, I’ll give you that. I was actually standing on the fountain in the middle of the courtyard. I simply changed everyone’s perception of what they saw. Wanted to look as cool as everyone else, you see.”
I almost gasped. Almost, but didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. To think that he was such a powerful Mind Manipulator that he could manipulateeveryonein that crowd at the same time...
To think that he’d already been in my mind, manipulatingme, that he’d probably been the main caster of that pirate ship illusion…
“Stay out of my head,” I snapped suddenly. “Don’t enter it again without my permission.”
His eyes flared for a second—in shock—before narrowing with that sly smile.
“Of course. Now, are you going to take this or not?” He held out the pill again.
I folded my arms, a perfect, dominating replica of him earlier.
“Why do you have it?”
“I can’t answer that.”
“Where did you get it?”
“I can’t answer that either.”
I scoffed. “Bet you’re fun at parties.” It was a lame insult, but the only one my jumbled brain could think of.
I wasn’t expecting it when he leaned even closer, so that I could smell the rich, earthy scent of him, something that reminded me of the grove of black bamboo outside the eastern side of Alderwick. When he whispered against my hair, his breath tickled my neck.
“I am thekingof parties here at the Esholian Institute.” His hands—rough, wide, and strong—were in mine suddenly, placing the pill in my palm and folding my fingers over it. “I appreciate your dilemma, little hurricane. Under normal circumstances, I would tell you to never accept a drug that some random man offered you in an alley, so it’s up to you whether you take this or not. But if you don’t…” He withdrew slightly, frowning down at me. “You’d better figure out how to contain that power, because the Branding will make it ten times stronger.”
