Chapter 33

Sorry that I haven't been posting, recently! School has been absolutely crazy...

Credit to owners for images

I rose out of bed like riding from his week long death… spell? I wasn't sure, but turning it over in my head made me smile. I dressed as fast as I could, then headed down to breakfast.

As I entered the semi-large refectory, I saw that the few Trialees early for breakfast were gathered at the left wall of the rectangular room. I speed- walked over, my heart speeding up a little in anticipation.

I reached them, and one of them turned around to face me. She had pointed ears, shocking turquoise eyes, and French braided, ebony hair. “What're you guys looking at?” I asked.

“The next Trial parameters.” The twenty-something year old woman moved aside to give me a better view. I nodded in thanks, then rushed to the front. It read-

~To the Trialees of the Maeve Trials~

Your presence is requested and required in the Center of the complex. Eat quickly, tread swiftly, and keep your wits about you.

My shoulders tensed, seemingly of their own will. Though I had been training like hell this past week, it would have been nice to have more time to get my bearings as far as magic went. I nodded, my jaw work I working itself like a piece of taffy. “I'll see you guys there, then.” I pushed my way out of the crowd, intent on eating, then sprinting down to the Center.

I devoured my food quickly, placed my used dishes in the bins set off to the side, then rushed out of the doors like a gust of wind.

As I advanced down the corridors that I had come to know over the last few weeks, my thoughts swirled and twisted like a sandstorm. Was this going to be a Magics trial? Was I going to be good enough? I shook of my doubts, (at least as much as I could). Just keep trucking, right? I would try, at the very least.

I could hear the crowd before I came within 100 ft of the Center. The masses made the ground vibrate slightly, like the skin of a drum. However, I saw a familiar blonde outline waiting just around the bend… “Melissa?” I muttered to myself, incredulous.. Of course she would be here early- as a former Tale, she would have a lot to prove. Maybe she was finally paying a little less attention to Zeke and a little more to what really mattered here- allies, and the Maeve Trial. I sprinted to catch up with her. “Melissa!” I called out.

I saw her swivel her head around. “Stella!” She ran over, meeting me halfway.

“Do you know what this challenge is going to be?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Sorry, girl, no clue.”

I cursed briefly. “That’s okay, neither do I.” I gestured to the passage before us. “We should get going; making a good impression by being punctual could pay off later.”

Melinda agreed, and we were off to the Center. Our feet pounded on the stone floor, completely in sync. It was almost scary, how in sync we were. Before long, we were approaching a group of people clustered around a large set of double doors that were easily twenty feet by twenty five feet.

“I’m going to go ahead and guess that we’re going to have to split here, pretty soon,” Melinda said.

I sighed deeply. “Yeah, probably. I’ll see you out there- good luck.”

She scoffed. “Good luck, yourself.”

“Says the one that has been around magic for how long?”

She rolled her eyes playfully. “Just don’t get sent home- I’m having too much fun with you.”

“Didn’t know you were into girls,” I shot back playfully, batting my eyelashes before I was interrupted by hand on my shoulder. I went to look behind me, and no one was there.

Melinda looked at me, slightly perturbed by my sudden movement. “What is it?”

I shook myself. “Nothing. I should probably get going to wherever they need me, right?”

She peered at me, her eyebrows scrunched together. “You’re sure?”

“Fine,” I replied, brushing off her concern. “May the best win,” I added on.

“So, me?”

I laughed. “You wish. But seriously, we should probably get going. Do you know where we’re going?”

Someone called my name from a little ways away, maybe ten meters. “That’s me. Good luck, Melinda.” I jogged over in the general direction of the voice while trying to not elbow anyone in my way.

“Stella Lyra? Is there a Stella Lyra here?”

I waved my hand, trying to be seen above the mass of heads that blocked my view. “Here! I’m over here!” I shouted, my other hand cupped around my mouth in an attempt to make myself heard over the crowd. A tall, ginger haired and bearded man turned in the direction of my voice a moment later, his eyes lighting in recognition. He looked a bit like the hipster that was growing his first beard- lanky, youthful, and trying not to choke on the kale smoothie his girlfriend had gotten him.

He hustled over, and struck out a hand towards me. “Name’s Sean, Sean Banks,” he said, his accent flat and broad like an American’s.  He took my hand without waiting for me to take his, shaking it casually.

I grinned. “Stella. Do you know what this Trial is?”

He nodded. “Come on over with me, and I’ll fill you in while you get ready.”

We made our way over to rows of tents that lined the left side of the large passage. They were a bit like the changing tents that used to line beaches in the early hollywood movies, except they were a two or three times as large. Sean pulled me into one that read “Stella Lyra” on a piece of taped-up paper.

“I keep forgetting that modern technology is a thing here,” I mused aloud as I surveyed the inside of the pop-up. Four shimmery, silky walls of black fabric, and what looked like the work benches at the Gardens, where Da and clovis would pile everything. The memory of the cluttered back rooms of the Gardens sent a pang through me- Da and Clovis probably thought I was dead!

A hand prodded my bicep. “Miss? You okay?”

It felt like I was waking up from a dream. “Fine, what’re we doing?”

“You are going to go sing the judges a nice little piece of musical magic. I am going to sit back and watch the show.” He glanced up at me. “No hard feelings.”

I snorted. “Fine, then. What’s on the table?” I gestured to the various items laid out carefully on the aforementioned workbench.

He picked up what looked like an antique set of bracelets. “These are stabilizers.” He put them down, then picked up a large pendant on a thin, silver chain. “This is your tuner.” Sean went to pick up another piece of jewelry, and I stopped him.

“Do I really need to wear these things?”

A sigh escaped his hipster beard. “No, but I would recommend having them, since you’re a new song castor.”

“Will everyone else be wearing them?”

“...No.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, f**k that. Let me at the Trial.”

“Wear them, at least the stabilizers.”

I let out a long breath. “Fine, since I’d probably blow up the stadium.” I slipped them on. “Anything else I should know?”

Sean cleared his throat, deep in thought. “Don’t hurt anyone, don’t wreak too much havoc, that kind of thing.”

I nodded. “When does it start?”

Sean looked at his watch. “A few minutes, since you’re up first or second.”

“Great.” I settled in to wait.