Chapter 4 #2
A few more young men and women file into the ballroom.
Some of them are in sleeping attire, some of them are in party gear.
Then I remember the middle-tier Engineers who also received an impromptu invitation for the ball tonight, and it suddenly makes sense.
Stella was gearing up to … this. The start of the missions.
But that still doesn’t explain why I was invited. Perhaps Stella thought that, considering the deluge of people, she could just get away with adding one more to the list of last-minute invitations?
‘What about the rest of the Warriors?’ I whisper back to Mace. ‘There must be hundreds of you in your final year.’
‘The rest are celebrating in the Gilded Rooms. I’m sure they crashed that party, too, though, since they sent up a few of the middle-tier Apprentices here.’ Mace points at the newcomers.
‘Warrior Apprentices, gather on the dance floor,’ says the Commander with the short bob. I think her name is Commander Selene.
A queasy feeling settles in my belly. There’s something odd about the way Central Command is going about this. And now Mace has to go – just as we’ve started talking again.
On cue, Mace leaves my side and joins Xandra, Allen and Julian at one corner of the dance floor. I give Allen a small nod. Good luck.
He winks at me. We’ve got this.
Goosebumps explode over my skin. It’s uncanny how I can communicate with Allen without needing words.
‘Clear a perimeter around the dance floor,’ shouts a Commander with a tight bun, and every apprentice in the ballroom hurries to do so. ‘If your name is called, step into the circle that lights up.’
Circles of different colours appear on the cleared area. They’re grouped five by five by colour, at a small distance from each other.
‘Team Green,’ Commander Sellick announces, and then begins to call up names, scrolling on his ART. For each name called, a circle lights up, and that person takes their position.
There’s a lot of shuffling going on between the Apprentices, shoving and pushing, and I lose sight of the Top Team. Once all the Team Green members have assembled, a different Commander announces, ‘Team Red,’ and begins calling other people forwards.
Even if I don’t know most of these apprentices, it’s interesting to watch their reactions to one another.
Some high-five their new teammates as they’re called out; others watch each other warily.
Sometimes, the Commanders summon people from other Quarters, and the Warriors’ reactions to them are mixed.
I know what the Warriors think of the other Apprentices: that, no matter the added value they supposedly bring to the team, they’ll slow them down, and they’re not as fit to survive in the Disputed Lands.
I mean, I, for one, have never set a single foot outside of The Citadel. It’s much too dangerous.
There are barely two dozen people remaining in the middle of the dance floor.
Team Silver is being called up: mostly high-ranking Warrior Apprentices, who are usually in a tight competition with Mace’s Top Team.
Chrissy gets called as the last addition, and the Warriors, two men and two women, fist-bump her.
Well, isn’t that sweet.
Top Team look a bit worried. Every year, a few of the Apprentices are deemed unworthy to take the Test Mission and have to repeat the final year, but it wouldn’t make sense for Mace, Allen, Julian and Xandra to be among them.
This doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t be separated, and I’m perfectly aware that lots of people in the ballroom are watching them with bated breath.
Sometimes Stella broadcasts snippets of their missions, and this qualifies as entertainment. Lots of citizens make bets on which of the top-ranking teams will win. The Citadel gets excited about this event every year.
‘Team Gold,’ Commander Sellick calls and the corresponding golden circle lights up. ‘Julian Winters.’
Julian moves to his spot, a bit uncertain, but when Allen’s and Xandra’s names are called in quick succession, his face lights up.
They pat each other on the back as they take their places on two more golden circles that are placed on the same tile.
The crowd cheers – of course. They’re basically superstars.
The next golden circle lights up, but it’s two tiles away from the others. Strange.
Commander Sellick calls, ‘Mayceron Hardfield.’
Mace hurries to his spot. He takes his place in the circle, and Julian leans over, smacking him in the ribs in greeting. The Top Team members are sporting wide grins, clearly thrilled that they’ll complete the mission together.
Then Commander Sellick clears his throat, squints down at his ART and frowns.
‘And the final member of Team Gold…’ he says, his eyes flickering over the crowd, ‘is Haeleanor Errington.’
I blink, feeling my heart slow down and then speed up again.
What?
‘Haeleanor Errington?’ Commander Sellick repeats, impatiently.
Somehow, the information isn’t sinking in with me.
Julian is the first one to react. His entire body stiffens and his eyes whip to mine, widening in horror.
It slowly dawns on me. There can’t be another Haeleanor Errington in the crowd. Stella chooses our names randomly at birth so that there aren’t any doubles with identical names in The Citadel.
So it’s me.
Commander Sellick is irritated now. ‘Haeleanor Errington,’ he repeats. ‘Take up your place on the circle.’
My gaze drops to Mace’s feet. The little golden circle is winking at me.
Oh, shit.
I look up and Allen tilts his head in a silent question. Are you with us, then?
I give him a small nod. Yup. Surely seems like it.
The ballroom has gone so quiet. Mace is staring straight at me. His expression is akin to horror.
‘Ellie!’ Allen waves. ‘Ellie! Get over here, girl.’
There’s no way for me to avoid this. I have no choice but to join them, so I walk up slowly towards the golden circle of doom.
Me, who’s never stepped outside of The Citadel, who’s of questionable physical fitness, is going to be a part of a mission in the Disputed Lands.
Commander Sellick stares at me with sheer ire, and that’s something to behold. That look conveys that if I take one more single misstep, he’ll behead me with his bare hands and swallow me whole.
As I approach Team Gold, Julian mutters something that sounds like, ‘No fucking way,’ and Mace is still frowning at me.
It becomes so quiet that all I can hear is the clack of my shoes on the tiles, while whispers of ‘Who’s that, again?
’ grow around me. The handful of people who know me from my short stints through so many Quarters must be setting the record straight for everyone else about my abilities, or lack thereof.
The whispering doesn’t prevent Mace’s voice from carrying when he asks, ‘Why are you so worried, Julian?’
I’ve almost reached the golden circle when Xandra replies for him, ‘Because she’s the worst Healer in their Quarter.’
My ears are burning with shame as I take up my spot and another Commander starts to call out Team Teal.
I’m so close to Mace that my elbow brushes his. ‘Healer? What was with that shield, then?’ he asks.
‘What shield?’ Xandra asks, at the same time that Julian says, ‘And she already has this link to Allen, even if she says she’s not an Empath.’
Allen’s told them about the talking-without-talking thing? Why is that in any way relevant?