A dim light flickered to life in the depths of the volcanic glass sphere, illuminating the passage. Tika sighed behind her.
“Thank the gods,” the other girl whispered.
Amethyst scoffed slightly. “It wasn't the gods that lit the passage, it was me,” she said, and they continued making their way down the spiraling stairway.
After what seemed like an eternity, the corridor ended in a small chamber with a brick archway in the far wall. The air here was still cold but approaching comfortable. Heat radiated from the well-lit hall beyond, flickering firelight reflecting off the myriad drops of condensation that had gathered on the domed ceiling. Footsteps echoed down the stairs behind her, so Amethyst stepped forward and into the next chamber.
This room was dry, with glass cased lanterns on each wall casting a bright light over everything. Finely sanded wood planks were fitted seamlessly together, covering the floor and giving the room a distinctly warmer feel. Five doorways were cut into both of the long walls, leading to corridors that extended out of sight. On the far end of the chamber was a door, similar to the ones in the Temple of the Summit – fine-grained, steel banded, and tightly closed. In the middle was a long table surrounded by chairs and loaded down with sliced meats, loaves of bread, and cheeses. Earthenware carafes were spread around the table, within easy reach of every seat. Though there was no hearth in this chamber, it was much warmer than the stairwell.
The Hopefuls that had come down before her stood around the chamber, pulling off their gloves and holding them close to the lanterns, warming their frozen fingertips near the tiny candles inside. Amethyst moved out of the doorway, holding her heating stone out to Tika. They both cupped their hands around it, the heat almost painful against their cold hands. Soon, the circulation returned to their fingertips, and they were able to relax.
Rasul entered behind the last of the Hopefuls and the quiet murmuring in the room dropped off to silence. He stood in front of the door and put his hands into his sleeves, seeming none the worse for wear, even though he had just made the same climb and had been subjected to the same cold as the rest of them.
Amethyst felt a tremble in the floor. With a groaning, grinding sound, the stone that formed the threshold to the stairwell rose upwards, pressing against the top of the archway and forming to it like clay, sealing off the outside world.
“Now, these chambers will be where we conduct the final preparations of the Choosing,” he said, looking around the room. “In four days, the solstice will be upon us, which is when Master Giriraj will make his selection from among you. Your trials will be two days before then.”
Fredrick held up his hand. “Sir?”
Nodding towards him, Rasul addressed the young man. “Yes, Fredrick?”
“When will we meet Master Giriraj?”
“The Master of Earth will make himself known when he chooses. He has been watching all of you from the moment you set foot on the lower summit, until even now. “
“Well, where is he?”
Rasul frowned. “He is where he is. That is the extent of what you need to know.”
Fredrick opened his mouth to speak again, but Rasul shot him a look that made him snap his mouth shut and remain silent. After a moment of tense quiet, Rasul looked around the room again.
“In each of these corridors, you will find two identical chambers. Each of you will take one of these rooms – it does not matter which one. You will find a bed and a chamberpot, as well as a chest in which to store your belongings. Take your rest for this day. At dawn tomorrow, we will begin your final lessons.”
With that, the messenger of the Master of Earth left the chamber through the door on the far end, closing it behind him. There was no latch or knob that Amethyst could see, so following him was out of the question. She exchanged a glance with Tika, and they immediately lifted their packs and headed towards one of the corridors to claim rooms near to each other.
The passage itself was short, no more than fifteen feet long, with a nondescript wooden door on either side. They each took one of the rooms, and as Rasul had said, they were identical. No more than four yards to a side, there was a simple woven rug, a bed frame with a straw mattress, and a small chest sitting at the foot of the bed. Amethyst quickly stowed her things, setting her heating stone on the foot of the bed, and returned to the main chamber.
Most of the Hopefuls were already seated, eating their fill of the meal laid out on the table. Amethyst and Tika sat across from each other, and as Amethyst loaded her plate with food, she realized just how hungry she was. She tore into her food with a vengeance, pouring herself a cup from the carafe, relieved to find that it was water and not wine.
“So,” said Tika around a mouthful. “The day after tomorrow, the test begins.”
Amethyst washed a bite down with her cup of water. “So it does.”
“Are you nervous?”
Pausing, Amethyst sat her cup down, considering the question. “I don't know. I haven't had time to think about it.”
“We're going to be competing against each other,” said Tika, setting down the piece of meat she had been eating and looking Amethyst in the eye.
“I know.”
“I'm not going to go easy on you.”
Amethyst looked down, then back up at Tika. “I know. I would expect no less.”
“Don't go easy on me.”
Amethyst furrowed her brow. “Do you really think that's going to be an issue? You've been the one teaching me how to work with the element. You've definitely got the edge.”
Tika shook her head. “You still have no idea how powerful you are?”
Amethyst frowned. “What do you mean? I couldn't even melt the ice until you showed me how.”
“Look. After you went to sleep the first night, I tried to break my heating stone, and I couldn't.” She tore a bite from a slice of turkey, chewing on it as she spoke. “You couldn't fix the one that broke, so you just... made another one. You made the basin we washed our clothes in, and boiled the water with it. I couldn't heat that much stone by myself, I tried. You can push and pull so much more energy than I can, you just don't know how to use it yet.”
“And that's going to be your downfall,” said Fredrick. “No elf has ever been a Master, or even an Apprentice before, and that is not going to change this time around.” He pointed at Amethyst. “You shouldn't even be here. I think Rasul slipped when he brought you to join the choosing.”
Tika scowled. “And I think you're only here because your city caught you shagging the sheep and kicked you out,” came her barbed reply.
Fredrick and a few other young men who had been hanging around him for the last few days laughed at her. The red-haired young man made an obscene gesture at Tika. “Just go home now. There's absolutely no way you're going to win this, and I'm sure your village is missing their broodmare.”
Tika feigned a gentle smile. “Better than a broodmare missing its stable hand, I suppose.” She turned to Amethyst. “I'm heading to my room. I can feel the void between his ears trying to pull me in.”
Amethyst refilled her cup and took her plate from the table as well. “I think that's a fantastic idea.”
As she turned around to walk away, a bread roll struck her on the back of the head, and she whirled to face the table again. Fredrick and his cronies were laughing amongst each other, but she couldn't tell exactly which one had thrown the roll. She gritted her teeth, and beneath her, the stone trembled. As the tremors grew more powerful, the young men held onto the table, glancing nervously at the ceiling.
Tika put a hand on her shoulder. “Easy, easy! If you bring this place down on our heads, then it won't do anyone any good!”
Amethyst glared at the boys for a moment, before turning on her heel and stalking to her room. She paused at the door, turning to Tika.
“I'm going to absolutely destroy them in the Choosing,” she said, her alabaster cheeks still flushed with anger.
Tika nodded. “Of course. Just try n
ot to kill the rest of us in the process.”
As she closed her door, she heard Rasul entering the chamber, demanding to know who had caused the earthquake. She put her plate down on the trunk at the foot of her bed and sat on the mattress, waiting for him to come and speak to her. No doubt, Fredrick and his companions would quickly sell her out. The earthquakes that happened when she got angry were definitely her doing, of that she was convinced, but she didn't know why, nor how to control it. She looked up at the solid gray stone of the ceiling, and the thought of it coming crashing down on her made her shiver. Of all the ways to go, that would probably be one of her least preferred.
As she had guessed, there was a knock at her door. She opened it, and Rasul stepped inside. Closing the door behind him, he leaned against it and crossed his arms over his chest, different from his usual stance.
“You need to control your temper, Princess,” he said, indicating the ceiling with a quick nod upwards. “Those boys, they aren't worth it.”
Amethyst sat back down on her bed. “I know. I just get so angry when they speak the way they do.”
Rasul sighed and shook his head. “Tomorrow, you are going to learn things that will make you worthy of being an apprentice. You will experience things that are designed to break down your walls and breach your barriers. I knew from the moment that I saw you that you were destined for greatness, but you must be in control of yourself, or that control will pass to others.”
Amethyst pouted. “You sound like my father.”
“Your father is a great king. I will take that as a compliment.”
“Well, it wasn't meant to be.”
Rasul chuckled. “I know. But rather than allow you to goad me into irritation, I chose to take your words and use them to my benefit. In this way, I am in control of myself.”
She gestured angrily towards the main chamber. “And how am I supposed to do that with them? When they leave obscene statues outside of my tent? When they make crude gestures and comments towards me, towards Tika? They're a bunch of animals!”
Raising an eyebrow, Rasul frowned. “Your horse is an animal. When he misbehaved while he was being broken for riding, did you wash your hands of him?”
“I didn't break him, and I'm not going to ride Fredrick.”
“But you understand what I am saying.”
Amethyst huffed. “I do.”
“Those people could very well be your inferiors once the solstice comes.” He stepped over to her and crouched down, putting himself at her level. “You can either be an example of what you wish to see in the world, or you can sink to their level. You can show discipline, or you can show recklessness. You can show fear in your anger, or you can show pride in your calm. These choices will be instrumental in the coming days.”
Amethyst nodded, looking down. “I understand.”
Standing, Rasul tucked his hands into his sleeves. “I certainly hope so, Princess.” Walking back to the door, he opened it and paused in the doorway.
“Tomorrow is going to be extra hard on you, I think. I cannot tell you what you will be facing, but I can say that no matter what it is, you must complete every instruction, exactly as it is laid out before you. If you do not, you will not prevail.”
With that, he closed the door and left her alone.
~~~
11th Waxing Moon of the Long Night, Year 4367
Amethyst stood in the main chamber, side to side with the rest of the Hopefuls. Nineteen of them remained, as they had lost one coming up the mountain. For the first time, she looked over her fellow applicants and saw that the sandy-haired young man was missing. He must have been the one to fall.
The table was gone, leaving the room empty but for a slight echo. They didn't have to wait long for Rasul to arrive; when the door at the far end of the chamber opened, he beckoned for them to enter into the room beyond. Amethyst's heart leapt into her throat as they filed through the door, both excited and apprehensive for what would come next.
The chamber beyond was much larger than the one they left, cut from the same solid gray rock as the stairs, dining chamber, and bedrooms had been. In the center was a wide, shallow pool filled with crystal clear, steaming water. Broad, low steps descended into the middle, which looked to be perhaps as deep as Amethyst's shoulders.
On either side of the pool stood several low wooden shelves with stacks of folded cloth on them. Some were thick white towels, while others seemed to be garments of some sort, the same shade of brown that Rasul wore.
“The first thing you all must do is bathe,” Rasul was saying as they all looked around the chamber. “You are dressed for the cold, which is understandable, but here, in this place, you do not need those clothes. They will be washed and returned to you. Instead, you will all dress as you will if you become Master Giriraj's apprentice. These clothes will keep you warm and protect you from most mundane threats.”
One of the young women in the group, the blonde girl that had slept with Fredrick, raised her hand. “Sir? Are we to take turns bathing?”
Rasul shook his head. “As the apprentice to the Master of Earth, you will be expected to perform any task he tells you to, including bathing him if he so chooses. If you cannot be exposed to the nakedness of the human body, then you will be unable to perform this task.”
The young woman lowered her hand. “It is not having others exposed to me that bothers me, sir, it is being exposed myself.”
“There are other tasks that you may be ordered to perform that would require that as well.” Rasul looked around the group of now very nervous Hopefuls. “Again, if you cannot follow these instructions, you will not be fit for the position. If you refuse, leave this chamber in what you currently wear, and you will be removed from this place.” In the silence that followed, Rasul left the chamber, the door closing behind him with a thud that echoed throughout the room.
They were all silent, milling about uncomfortably, before one of the young men cursed. “Nah, fuck this,” he said. “Avalanches, bathing old men, being stuck underground... it's not worth it. I'm going home.”
He turned away from the rest of them and left through the door. A moment later, the two youngest Hopefuls – a boy and girl of no more than fourteen – left as well. They were down to sixteen; Fredrick and nine young men, as well as Tika, Amethyst, and four other young women.
The remaining Hopefuls in the room stared at the pool for a moment, before a brown-haired youth – one of the young men who had been hanging around Fredrick – stepped forward, peeling off his shirt and casting it aside. He kicked off his boots as he walked to the edge of the pool, and undid his trousers.
“I'm not going to lose the Choosing just because I'm afraid of some tits and peckers,” he said as he dropped his trousers to the ground and stepped naked into the pool. He paused on the top step, swishing the water around with his foot.
“It's warm!” he exclaimed, half turning to face the group. He splashed into the middle of the pool, which rose to his chest, and sank under the surface, running his fingers through his hair.
“Of course it is, you moron!” said Fredrick, stepping forward as well. “Look at the steam coming off it. Cold water doesn't steam.” He too stripped and made his way into the pool.
After the first two had entered the bath, the rest of the group started removing their clothing – some of them dropping it where they stood, others folding their garments and setting them aside. Even Tika was disrobing, her smooth brown skin showing marks from where the seams in her clothing had been pressed against it for so long.
She glanced at Amethyst as she pulled down her trousers and undergarments. “You gonna let a little bit of ass stop you?” she asked, grinning. “I know I could use a bath. I bet my smell could curdle milk.”
“Uh, no,” she replied, flushing a little. She had never been nude in front of anyone else before, even her handmaiden – she had always at least worn her undergarments. In the pool, the rest of the Hopefuls were busy splashing each other, washing
, and generally enjoying themselves.
Fully nude now, Tika reached out and slapped Amethyst on the backside. “Then hurry up, before they all turn the water into mud!”
Stepping lithely to the bath, Tika left Amethyst standing alone in front of the door, the only one still clothed. She had a bit of a shimmy to her hips as she walked that had not been apparent when she was covered in protective clothing, and it was evident she knew it too.
Fredrick turned towards Amethyst, rubbing water out of his eyes. “Look, it seems that the elf is too good to bathe with us mere humans. I guess we don't get to see if she grows a bush after all.”
At that comment, Amethyst almost turned and walked out. She could feel herself blushing even deeper, and it made her angry that Fredrick felt entitled enough to speak to her in such a manner. Never before meeting him had she had to endure such crass and tasteless comments. She steeled herself and defiantly pulled off her insulated tunic and chemise with it. Dropping it into a pile next to one of the shelves, she kicked off her boots, setting them neatly next to her tunic, then untied her trousers.
“No real tits to speak of. Oh well,” said Fredrick, drawing a chorus of snickers from some of the other boys.
“At least she still has time to grow some,” said Tika, her breasts floating slightly in the water. “One baby will do that. Your teensy pecker, however, that's yours for life.”
The women in the bath laughed while Fredrick glared.
“Come on over here, and I'll show you exactly how big it is!” he said, beckoning to Tika, but the damage of her cutting remark had already been done, and nobody paid him any mind.
Quickly, Amethyst pulled down her trousers, setting them aside, and stepping carefully into the water, heedless of the shock of heat until she was up to her shoulders. It was a little deeper than she had guessed, rising almost to her chin, and she found herself struggling not to float. She pulled the ribbon out of her hair, tying it around her wrist, and started washing herself in earnest.
“Aren't you going to spend some time enjoying the water, or are you all business?” Tika asked, swimming over to Amethyst. “I've never been in a hot pond before, but I've heard of them. I could get used to this.”
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