“Today, however, I am your proctor. There will be no tolerance for talking or cheating, and under absolutely no condition will there be any tapping of quills.” I straighten in my chair, immediately setting my quill down.
With a flick of his wrist, a piece of parchment appears in front of each of us.
The written portion.
The aged-looking parchment is covered in gold writing that shimmers throughout, basically reading us our last rites before we begin. I quickly scan my eyes over the verbiage, essentially telling us we can’t back out once we begin, and we will be placed in one of the two regiments or face execution by choice of the academy. Also, an additional reminder that it’s a lifetimecommitment. There is no such thing as retiring from our assigned regiment.
I pick up the quill, gripping it tightly in my hand and sign my name next to the red X at the bottom. All the words disappear, and the most important questions of my life take their place.
Chapter six
“That was intense,” Mallory exclaims, sounding dejected. Makeup is smudged along her eyes and around her palms.
“You can say that again. I feel like I’m going to puke or cry. Maybe both,” Finnley half-whispers, farther down the table. A long, slow exhale slips between his lips.
I just stare straight ahead, mentally tapped.
A nagging ache works its way around my knee, and a defeated war cry is brewing in my chest. I’ll save it for later when I can scream alone.
Best not to show them all your crazy at once.
Everyone is focused on their own inner turmoil, so we eat in silence for a while. The quiet is beyond welcome, and I bask in it. I tuck everything away, compartmentalize it, and burrow into the comfort of silence.
A few other prospects join us, each looking as defeated, if not more so, than the prior. We went into that test so cocky, like itwas going to be easy for us to just jot down some answers. Boom. Done. Onto the next.
I thought I had it in the bag. I was supposed to know what was going to be on the test!
Wrong.
So very wrong.
It was a completely different test from what I studied. The questions were changed to be more difficult, almost as if the answers were impossible. The subjects ranged from ethics to alchemy to poisons. It was so broad that, honestly, I’m not sure anyone could study for it. I mean, fuck, I couldn’t even cheat properly on it.
It was humbling, to say the least.
“I’m so doomed,” someone at the table moans.
We’re all doomed.
I don’t know what I expected coming into this, but I guess I thought I’d just find my footing and it’d be simple. If the written portion was this tough, I dread even thinking about the physical portion. This portion was supposed to be where I excelled.
I mindlessly chew on a mushy turnip.
“At least we get the rest of the day off,” someone who I don’t recognize asks. “What’s everyone doing with it?”
I close my eyes.
Hiding.
Hiding is what I’ll be doing.
A sinister chuckle causes me to open one eye. “I know what I’m doing. I’m going to check out the merchandise and see where I land this evening,” Mallory replies with a shit-eating grin on her face. Guess she’s moved her sights from Finnley. She proceeds to scan the lunch hall, letting her gaze fall over the crowd of prospects.
“No fornication, remember,” I mumble through the fingers holding my head up off the table. Emory, another prospect, sitsback in her chair, looking deep in thought, her hands folded together on the table. She hasn’t taken her eyes off one of the far corner tables.
“They never said anything about looking,” Mallory chides.
Finnley doesn’t answer. He just continues shoveling food into his mouth.
