“Service and dedication are part of every decision we make,” Ellery said, trading off on the microphone. “Because service is at the core of who we are as magicians. We are your Chosen Ones. Your champions. And soon enough, your heroes.”
First a few staggered claps came from the audience. Then more, and more, until the entire crowd cheered. Flashbulbs popped from all directions. Bursts of illusion magic rose from training wands, sparkling like fireworks.
The applause shattered through Ellery’s lingering sense of a nightmare until it felt like an impossible dream. Domenic grinned at her, and Ellery grinned back, just as wide, just as false.
Together, they would give Alderland the performance of a lifetime.
XIXDOMENICWINTER
No matter how many times Domenic scrutinized the front page of theGallamere Gazette,he couldn’t be sure he’d read it right.THECHOSENTWO, its headline declared, above a photograph of him and Ellery side by side, brandishing their wands and beaming like they were in a toothpaste advertisement. He didn’t know whether to be proud of giving such a grand performance or embarrassed for the public so gleefully swallowing bullshit.
“You do realize you’ve been staring at that for basically two hours, right?” Hanna groused beside him.
Domenic slapped the paper onto the table of their booth. To their left, the morning daylight cut out as their train hurtled through another mountain tunnel. Automatically, the enchanted sconces throughout their private carriage brightened.
“And why shouldn’t I?” he said. “Look at me! I mean, I’d still rather lose the bow tie, but Iseul must’ve told them to get my good side.”
Across from them, Ellery deadpanned, “Huh. I don’t have a bad side.”
A dirty joke singed the tip of Domenic’s tongue, but he didn’t dare utter it with Hanna present.
“Next time, I think they ought to give us capes,” he replied instead.
Hanna rolled her eyes.
“You should be focusing,” Glynn reminded them, hunched over his work at one of the other booths. Aetherium was balanced precariously at the table’s edge; with every rock of the train car, it rolled closer to falling. Glynn didn’t seem to notice. “We’ll arrive in Undermere in less than an hour.”
According to Hanna’s theory, the next prophecy piece required them to access the magical network of alban roots that spread across the whole country and fortify it against the worsening Winter. The Council had selected the outskirts of Undermere as their test site because its alban tree was the most remote of any in Alderland, far from settlements that risked damage should their experiments go awry. And there was a real chance they could, considering no one—not them, not Hanna, not Glynn—had any idea how to connect to the network in the first place.
“Have you found anything?” Hanna asked.
“No, not yet,” Glynn answered, sighing and flipping through what looked like a torturous magical theory book.
Hanna rose into the aisle. “I’m going to keep looking for a memory of Rhodes connecting to the network. See if it—”
“Keep looking?” Domenic cut in, alarmed. “I thought you found one yesterday?”
Hanna tensed. “O-oh. I mean, I want to study it again.”
“But is thatwise?” Glynn asked. “You shouldn’t spend so long in Syarthis’s Archives. It’s not good for you.”
Hanna scowled at all of them and muttered, “And here I thought it’s the greater good we’re supposed to be worrying about.” Then, without waiting for anyone to argue further, she yanked open the sliding door and stalked into the adjacent carriage.
No one spoke for some time. They were, seemingly, focused dutifully on their upcoming task. Glynn returned to his research. Ellery stared at a book of her own, gnawing on her lip. Domenic’s attention, however, drifted back to the front page, to the photograph of him and Ellery looking so much like a set.
Those times we flirted,he thought,it’s not like we were in our right minds.
Maybe he still wasn’t. Because even if he knew saving Alderland was the only thing that mattered, a traitorous part of him still wanted her. Even more than he always had.
His leg jittered. He glanced at his hideous designer watch.
“Does accessing the Archives normally take Hanna this long?” Domenic asked, making Ellery and Glynn look up.
Glynn peeked at his own watch and frowned. “Hm. Perhaps I ought to check on her.” He picked up Aetherium. At first, Domenic assumed he meant to perform an enchantment. It was only once he pointed it grimly toward the exit did Domenic realize it was for his own protection.
Domenic jumped to his feet. “No, I’ll do it. I’ll check on her.”
Before Domenic could change his mind, he barged past Glynn into the neighboring carriage. It was a sleeping car. Private compartments lined the aisle, each door bearing a window of murky reeded glass. Domenic peered into the first compartment, only to find it vacant. As was the next, and the next.
