Trial by Fire

by Josephine Angelini

“Me! I’m not a scientist, I’m a tanner. I was only looking for a better dye for my skins,” one woman said loudly. She came forward and clutched the bars of her cell. She was an Outlander. Her face was covered in bruises, and her thick wrists were rubbed raw as if she’d been kept in iron shackles.

  “I was accused because my neighbor wanted the reward money! I’ve never even dabbled in the scientific arts!” yelled the man across from her. He was waving his arms through the bars. His nails were long and grubby, and his sleeves threadbare rags. “Help me, witch! Help me, please.”

  More voices joined theirs—all of them protesting their innocence. A great clamor erupted down the passageway. Arms waved and people banged on their cell doors.

  “Everybody settle down,” Lily yelled, holding up her arms for silence. The noise stopped. Lily could still hear the clash of swords far off down one of the passageways and desperately hoped that Rowan was okay.

  “Who here has been claimed by a witch?” Lily asked as she walked down the passageway and looked into each cell.

  “None of us,” the tanner replied. “If we had, we could’ve proved our innocence in mindspeak. But witches don’t care who’s innocent or who’s guilty. They just want more names.”

  Lily’s brow furrowed. It was so easy for a witch to find out the truth. All Lillian had to do was share mindspeak with a suspect, ask a few questions, and she’d know if that person was a scientist or not.

  “Did you refuse to let Lillian claim you?” Lily asked.

  “No,” the tanner replied, offended. “She refused us.”

  “She needs us down here,” another woman said. Her voice was weak. When Lily looked in on her, she saw that she was an old woman. “We’re the example so all those that the Citadel can’t reach are too scared to even try to learn science.”

  Lily nodded and stepped forward. She positioned herself halfway down the corridor so as many inmates as possible could see her. “Who wants to be claimed by me?” she asked. Silence. She didn’t have time for this. “Let’s try that again. Who wants to be claimed by me so you can free yourself and fight the Citadel?”

  The clamor erupted again. Arms reached toward her. Lily went to the nearest, the tanner, and took her stone between her fingertips.

  … A baby. My sweet little man. He needs me.

  Lily gathered the pattern and released that stone, moving on to the next.

  … A pretty little yard. I just want to go back home and see my garden.

  Lily moved on to the next stone.

  … A stack of books. I have so much reading to do. And I’ll never get it done before testing time, especially not if I’m stuck in this stupid hole. I don’t want to die here.

  Lily sped up as she went. By the time she arrived at the last few cells she was swimming in other people’s loves and losses. She didn’t have time to process any of it. She just gathered the patterns and the most basic sense of each individual. The clock ticking, she ran to the nearest wall sconces and pulled down a torch.

  A witch wind rushed toward her, moaning as it raced down the passageways. She changed the heat into energy and poured it into her newly claimed willstones. She didn’t turn the heat directly into force. She didn’t know what the Gift would do to people who weren’t trained mechanics. Her instinct proved right. Most of the prisoners could only handle a tiny bit of power, barely enough to pull the bars of their cells apart, but still they gasped with awe at their first taste of a witch’s strength.

  Lily grabbed the Outlander tanner by her shoulder as she raced by. She was physically the strongest of all the prisoners, but more importantly, Lily had noticed that she could handle a huge amount of power in her willstone. Briefly, Lily wondered why she hadn’t been trained as a crucible because she certainly had the talent.

  “Free my sister,” Lily said, pointing to Juliet’s cell. The woman looked into the cell, recognized Juliet, and then peered into Lily’s face. She began backing away fearfully.

  “You’re her,” the tanner whispered.

  “No. I’m not,” Lily pleaded, reaching out again. The woman easily threw off Lily’s arm and began to run away.

  The rest of the freed prisoners had already fled. Lily couldn’t let her go. No matter what she had to do, Lily knew she would do it to get her sister out of that cell. She hesitated a moment, but knew she had no other option. Lily played back the woman’s pattern to her willstone, unlocking it, and did what she’d promised Rowan she would never do. She took over the woman’s will. As Lily filled the woman like a hand in a glove, she resisted reveling in the delicious feeling of being in total control. She found the woman’s name in her mind and called to her.

  Stop, Dana. Turn around. Come back.

  Dana had no choice but to do as Lily commanded. Lily smothered a triumphant laugh, reminding herself that this was wrong.

  Pull the bars apart.

  Dana obeyed. Juliet slipped out from between the bent bars and hugged Lily. Then she looked at Dana.

  “Did you—” Juliet asked, unable to finish her thought aloud. Lily nodded and grabbed Juliet’s hand.

  “Let’s go,” Lily said, pulling Juliet along. “Good-bye, Dana. I’m sorry I did that to you, but I had to. She’s my sister.”

  Lily gave Dana back her will, even though she had to force herself to do so.

  Go be with your son. Good luck.

  Wait, Lily! I’ll never make it over the wall without you.

  “I’m out of strength. Give me some more power so I can fight my way out,” Dana called aloud. Lily stopped and turned. “You owe me,” Dana said in a low voice.

  The torches flickered with witch wind, and Dana’s willstone flared with power. Dana smiled and rolled her meaty shoulders as a huge measure of strength filled her.

  “Now I owe you. Get behind me, you two,” Dana said, rushing down the corridor. “If anyone comes up from the rear, you holler and duck.”

  And if you ever try to possess me again, I’ll find a way to kill you, Lily.

  Understood.

  Dana paused at the end of the passageway to look up and down the abutting main hallway. She waved Lily and Juliet forward, and then darted down the main hallway to grab a sword from a fallen guard.

  “Oh my,” Juliet breathed when she saw all the bodies.

  Lily had helped create this slaughter. It was inhuman to have enjoyed it as much as she had, and she wondered what had happened to her to make her so bloodthirsty. Was it the thrill of power, or was there something sinister growing inside her? She thought twice about possessing Dana, and still she did it. That worried her.

  “Come on!” Dana said, charging toward the stairs. “Don’t get squeamish on me now.”

  Lily and Juliet raced after Dana, taking the steps as quickly as they could. They encountered a pair of soldiers on the stairs, and Dana ran them both through before they could even call out. Their bodies slid past Lily and Juliet. Juliet shied away from the corpses, her hand at her mouth, and Lily had to pull on her arm to get her to move again. As they got closer to the surface, Lily tried to touch the minds of her mechanics.

  Rowan? Tristan? Caleb?

  She heard nothing in reply and kept climbing. Both she and Juliet were drained, and they were flagging. As they reached the surface, Lily heard the shouts and clangs of a huge fight. The three women passed through the broken bars of the portcullis and came out into the courtyard.

  “Rowan!” Lily screamed.

  He was fighting in the center of at least three dozen soldiers, his legs planted around the crouching figure of a woman. He was bleeding.

  Lily! Help me.

  “Get back!” Lily yelled at Juliet and Dana. She yanked the pocket bomb out of her skirts, pulled the pin, squeezed the lever, and slid the clip over the lever to keep it in place. Dana recognized what was in Lily’s hand and tackled Juliet, who was staring at her sister, slack-jawed.

  Lily threw the pocket bomb at her feet just as it exploded. The white-bright fire expanded, slowed, and then retreated b
ack on itself as Lily devoured its energy. Instead of the deafening clap of a bomb there was silence, followed by the shrieks and howls of a fierce witch wind as it rushed over the ramparts. The wind hit Lily like fists on all sides and pushed her high into the air, arms straight up, head thrown back, and lips parted like she were trying to jump up and swallow the moon.

  She sent the Gift to Rowan and felt him exalt in it.

  The shrieking wind was nearly overshadowed by the screams of the soldiers as Rowan renewed his attack. He quickly blazed a path through the circle surrounding him and pulled the scientist out with him. He managed to stop himself from turning and facing the rest of the guards in the circle. He didn’t want to kill them all.

  We need to run, Lily, before Lillian comes.

  Wait, Rowan. My sister is down there. I have to Gift Dana to get them out of here.

  Lily took the last of the heat from the smoldering wreck of the bomb, turned it directly into force, and channeled it into Dana’s stone. She felt Dana’s elation at this new and much more intense level of power and had to fight to stay focused.

  Get my sister out of here, Dana. Don’t wait for me.

  Alright. Good luck, Lily.

  With its energy source almost completely spent, the witch wind grew weak and began buffeting Lily unevenly. Lily looked down as she was being tossed about violently and saw Dana pick up Juliet, throw her over her shoulder, and climb up the wall in a few fluid movements. She heard Rowan in her head.

  I’m coming.

  Rowan jumped and snatched Lily out of the air. He landed once, rebounded, and leapt over the Citadel wall, holding Lily on one side and the exhausted scientist on the other.

  As they sped through the city, knocking stunned and frightened people out of the way, Lily heard Lillian’s voice in her mind.

  Give them back! They must be hanged, Lily.

  No, Lillian. I won’t let you do this.

  You don’t know what they’re capable of. You don’t know because you haven’t worldjumped on your own. You haven’t seen the cinder worlds yet. Do you have any idea how many of them there are? I won’t let this world burn, too. Think of it, Lily—a few lives to save an entire world, a beautiful world. I know you agree with me. I know what you believe, and I know you’re strong enough to do what has to be done, no matter how hard it is. Deep in your heart, you ARE me.

  No, Lillian. You’re wrong.

  Am I? I didn’t want to do this, but I don’t have a choice anymore. I’m going to show you a version of your world I found on a spirit walk a month before I found you.

  Lily tried to block it, but Lillian shoved the memory into her head so forcefully, Lily went board-stiff in Rowan’s arms.

  … My spirit arrives to empty streets and abandoned cars. It’s a cinder world—yet another Earth that has been devoured in a holocaust of ambition and stupidity. Houses are burning down at the end of the block, and if the wind off the water picks up, the rest of the neighborhood will go up in flames as well. I can feel a version of myself down below, beneath the ground, even though she hates it down there. She’s with Juliet. I tell myself to get out of here. This is just one of millions of wasted worlds, but the pull to see what’s happening to them is strong, even though I’m sure I will see nothing but heartbreak.

  I send my spirit through the poisoned air and down underground to find them hiding in the cellar. They are skinny and covered in sores. They won’t live much longer. If they’re lucky, the fire will suffocate them in a few hours. Better that than—

  Lily finally managed to shove Lillian out of her mind.

  “Lily!” Rowan squeezed Lily, trying to snap her out of it. “What happened? You’re shaking.”

  Tears blurred Lily’s vision. She buried her face in Rowan’s neck to try to blot out the horrid image of herself and her sister suffering. “Lillian’s going to come for the scientists,” she whispered to Rowan.

  “I know,” he replied, and launched them over the outer wall and into the dark forest.

  CHAPTER

  15

  Gideon followed Lillian through the carnage in the courtyard. The wounded had been taken inside to be healed, but the dead still lay where they’d fallen, waiting to be dealt with. Lillian stood among the bodies, her pale face unmoving. The hem of her long gown was dark with blood.

  “You’ll lead the army out,” Lillian commanded in a flat tone.

  Gideon smirked at her. “You’re joking. I’m not a soldier.”

  “I know that, Gideon,” she said tiredly. “You’re also not a jailor, but you didn’t have much of a problem playing that part when it suited you.”

  Gideon froze. He knew that Lillian had heard about Witch’s End. There was no way to conceal so many dead bodies, not from the Witch, but Lillian had seemed satisfied to apprehend Carrick, throw him in the dungeon, and leave Gideon out of it. He realized that he’d been wrong, and he sifted through his mind quickly to try to find a way to amend his miscalculation.

  “You know, you’re only hurting yourself if you have me lead out the army,” he said equitably. “I’m not a natural fighter, Lillian, not even with a witch’s strength in me, and I know you’re not foolish enough to shoot yourself in the foot just to punish me.”

  “I’m not punishing you,” she said. Lillian turned away from Gideon and called out to one of the guards on top of the wall, “Captain Leto! Have a pyre built on Walltop!”

  “My Lady!” Captain Leto replied eagerly.

  “And if there are any soldiers who have not been claimed by me but wish to be before the battle, have them arrange themselves in the courtyard,” Lillian ordered.

  “No one will wish to go into battle without your strength, Lady,” Leto answered proudly.

  The soldiers were looking forward to receiving the Gift, as was Gideon. But someone of his breeding belonged at the back of the fray, enjoying the feeling of the Gift and the spectacle of the fight. He wasn’t supposed to actually fight.

  Lillian turned back to Gideon. “You’ll go out first, but you won’t be in charge. I have a well-trained army and plenty of generals for that.”

  Gideon’s hands went slick with sweat. He wiped them on the sides of his thighs as casually as possible and blinked his eyes so they didn’t stare at Lillian with walleyed fearfulness.

  “So why send me out at all?” he asked as jauntily as he could manage. “I’m not a soldier, I’m not a general.”

  “No, you’re a politician, Gideon. Or at least, you’re trying to be,” Lillian said, her eyes narrowing. “That legislation you and your father are working on—that pathetic attempt to make it a law that witches must bond with multiple stones so their mechanics can control them? That will go away tonight.”

  “My dying won’t make it go away.” Gideon smiled at her sadly, as though she wouldn’t understand on her own—like it was a good thing that he was there to walk her through it. He even moved closer to her, as if to take her into his confidence. “If you want this multiple willstone nonsense to go away, the best thing would be to work with me. Give me a little something. A bit more freedom, a bit more power in exchange for what I’m willing to give up. We can work together on this.”

  Gideon felt himself go rigid against his own accord. His body marched back, away from Lillian, and got down on its knees in the mud and blood in front of her.

  “You are going to go out there tonight like a brave man,” she said in a low voice. “Your father is going to watch you do it. Many Council members will recall that they have sons that I’ve claimed, and now that we are officially at war with the Outlanders, they’ll remember that at any moment their sons, like Thomas’s, could be called into battle by me. They’ll also recall that if their sons smash their willstones during wartime, I have the right to declare them traitors, and they’ll hang.”

  Lillian gave Gideon his will back and he staggered to his feet. She’d never taken him over like that before, although she’d done it to Rowan a few times by accident when they were young and clumsy with
their powers. Gideon knew about the feeling of helplessness through him, but he’d never experienced it directly before. Now that he’d angered her, he wished he had more than that slim warning. That way he would have known what he was up against. He’d never really understood how trapped he was until now.

  “Lillian. I’m your oldest friend,” he pleaded. He felt his breath catch in his throat and let it happen, in case crying might convince her. “I stayed with you when Rowan and Tristan left.”

  “Only to plot against me,” she said with mock consolation for his gathering tears.

  “Only because you shut me out,” he countered accusingly. “I would have been your ally, but what else was I supposed to do when you wouldn’t even pretend I was wanted?”

  “Gideon? I know you’re not really hurt, nor are you my ally, so let’s skip the act. You can either go out there, receive the Gift, and revel in the battle with the rest of my army, or I can possess you and work you like a puppet.”

  Gideon opened his mouth to protest, and Lillian shut it for him with a painful snap. He tasted blood in his mouth. She’d made him bite off the tip of his tongue. Lillian strode toward him, her nearly black smoke-colored willstone now pulsing with an eerie blue light and her green eyes narrowing to slits as her anger rose up inside of her like a steep wave.

  “And I promise you, if you defy me, you won’t even be able to lift your arms to defend yourself when they come to cut you down. This is the only choice you’ve ever had. I’m not going to work with you, Gideon. You work when I tell you to. Now,” she said, the wave of anger ebbing out of her. She eased away from him, and her livid face drained, leaving it white and smooth again. Gideon bent forward, spitting out a mouthful of blood and the tip of his own tongue. “I think it would be wise for you to arm yourself with your shiniest weapons and your flashiest uniform because you, my oldest friend, are about to die a glorious death.”

  * * *

  Juliet let go of Dana’s neck as soon as they reached the Outlander camp. With barely a backward glance, Dana ran off to find her son. Having no place to go, Juliet spun around and looked up at the walls of Salem. She knew this wasn’t over. Lillian would send out her army. Juliet glanced around at the Outlander camp. There were tens of thousands of people here. There was no way they’d be able to break camp and get away from Lillian’s army in time.