“Only because you treated us like.…” Domenic struggled to avoid a curse.
“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, yourdisciplinaryrecord—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, thengrow 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 adependent?” 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 aWinter wandis 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—Iwill 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 youareboth 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’rebothChosen 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 trustyourjudgment, 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. “Howdare—”
“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.Bothof 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 pastprecedent holds true whatsoever, then yeah, there should only be three to five pieces left.”
