Chapter XVII. Domenic #3
“Do not whine to me,” Sharpe snarled. “Do you realize the stakes we’re all playing with?
There are five million people in Alderland.
Five million lives. You may have pulled off a victory in Oldermere, Barrow, but even you must have a clue about the effect your naming has had on the nation.
The Order is a public institution. Your academic record, your disciplinary record—they’re all out there.
The stock market had already been falling since Valmordion began thawing.
Yesterday, it plummeted. Every supermarket is sold out of essentials: milk, eggs, toilet paper—”
“I get it,” Domenic choked.
“No, you don’t. Because what would you have had us do?
Hand what could be the most dangerous wand in existence to a teenage girl without hesitation?
If you believe just because you’re Chosen that we’ll trust your judgment with no questions asked, then grow up!
Destiny isn’t some storybook narrator that gives you permission to run off playing heroes! Destiny is duty! Sacrifice!”
“But—”
“Did you think that by forcing us to meet you here, somehow you’d be in control?
In this house that isn’t even yours? That you live in as a dependent?
” Sharpe laughed cruelly. “You have both confessed to lying, breaking and entering, theft, trespassing, and treason—yes, Barrow, treason! And you think we owe you an apology for the way we’ve treated you?
You think being permitted to return to your dormitory after creating a Winter wand is anything less than generous?
You have no idea what lengths I will go to for the sake of this country.
If I decide you’re a threat, then destiny be damned—I will be the one to have the last word. ”
Domenic slid his hands beneath his legs to hide their trembling—whether out of distress or fury, he couldn’t be sure. Beside him, Ellery had gone statue-still.
Sharpe strode toward the fireplace and glared into the flames. “I think I speak for all of us when I concede you both seem correct about the prophecy pieces. But even if you are both Chosen, the public won’t have it, I can tell you that.”
“They won’t like the idea of a Winter magician, at least,” Iseul said grimly.
“But the country already knows Ellery,” Glynn protested. “I understand all of you consider me biased as far as Ellery is concerned, but you have to admit, if there was ever a candidate to bolster the public’s faith that we’ll reclaim the fallen territory, it’d be her.”
“It’s not just the public I’d worry about,” Peak muttered. “My guys have lost life and limb fighting ghasts. And the way she looks when she uses magic isn’t a whole lot different.”
“Then we hide her,” Sharpe declared. “As far as anyone is already aware, Barrow is the only Chosen One.”
Domenic’s and Ellery’s gazes snapped toward each other. This wasn’t fair. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.
But after Sharpe’s tirade, it felt perilous to argue. Yet as Domenic laid a finger against Valmordion in the sheath at his side, its warmth wasn’t steadying—it was propellent.
“That won’t succeed,” Glynn urged. “Rumors about Ellery are already spreading through the student body. It’s only a matter of time before—”
“Then we deny them,” Sharpe countered. “Tell them Caldwell left the academy because her window closed, that—”
“No,” Domenic said vehemently.
Sharpe paused to glare at him. “Excuse me?”
“Ellery and I, we’re both Chosen Ones. She deserves to be recognized as one.”
“Dom,” Iseul said warningly.
“No, I’m not backing down. I-I’m sorry about the panic.
I really am. But you want to talk about destiny?
Do you know what it’s like to wield so much power that you can feel a winterscurge shudder in your grasp?
That you could summon a volcanic eruption if you fancied a lighter?
Because I do. And so does Ellery. So you want us to throw ourselves into more storms?
To face down monsters more powerful than you can even imagine?
Fine. We’ll fulfill the prophecy, whatever it takes.
But if you want us to trust your judgment, you don’t get to ask us to put our lives on the line and then treat us like shit.
Either Ellery and I are honest with the public—we tell them about restoring balance, about Iskarius, Summer and Winter, all of it.
Which the public deserves, by the way. Or we save this country without you. ”
After he finished, Ellery regarded him incredulously, smearing away tears. The Councilors gawked. But none of them gawked more than Hanna. Her stare darted from Valmordion in his hand to his socks. Glancing down, Domenic realized that—despite casting no magic—he had no shadow.
Sharpe’s eyes bulged. “How dare—”
“Their next prophecy piece, the ‘uncover the tangled roots of the past,’” Hanna cut in hastily.
“Syarthis knows what it is. Underneath Alderland, the roots of every alban tree intertwine, forming a network. Several of the past Chosen Ones connected to it in order to fortify the land amidst each cataclysmic Winter.”
“So we need to do the same, is what you’re saying,” Ellery said. “But how?”
“I don’t know. But the first step will be accessing the network through an alban tree.”
Domenic’s chest swelled. “We could go to the Citadel’s grove, right now. We could—”
“Dom, you need to sleep. You’ve earned it. Both of you,” Iseul said pointedly, peering at Domenic and Hanna. “The country will survive until morning.”
“That seems a sensible path forward for this next piece, yes,” Glynn said. “But what of future pieces? Mayes, do you feel they really could already be halfway finished with the prophecy?”
“It’s not possible to be sure,” Hanna answered. “But if past precedent holds true whatsoever, then yeah, there should only be three to five pieces left.”
“So we can hope,” Sharpe muttered. “That being said, when you access this so-called network, it won’t be from the alban in Gallamere.
I won’t risk you taking out the whole city if something goes wrong.
We’ll use an alternative tree, somewhere remote.
But before all of that, there’s another matter to consider.
The public.” He swiped his tongue over his teeth with distaste.
“Tomorrow, the pair of you will be presented to the country, as Summer and Winter. However, the people will have expectations of their Chosen Ones, and given your record and your magic, neither of you are enough to keep them sleeping easy at night. So you will play your parts as we assign them. That is the compromise. Is that clear?”
Domenic and Ellery exchanged a smile. They’d done it. Shitshow or not, they’d actually proven themselves.
“Perfectly,” he said.
“Absolutely,” Ellery chimed in.
Domenic locked eyes with Hanna next. Thank you, he mouthed.
Except Hanna didn’t join in their triumph. Her expression remained blank, unforgiving and unreadable.
But in her fist, her knuckles whitened around Syarthis.