Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini
So you do trust me, Rowan?
Yes. Except for one thing.
“What?” Lily asked aloud, hurt.
Rowan smiled at her, and led her away from the fire. He brought her inside his tent and pulled her close to him. She leaned against him, her limbs suddenly light and her insides lifting like she’d jumped off a cliff. Rowan was breathing fast as he lifted her hand to his willstone. Lily hesitated for just a second, wondering if he really meant it, and then gently laid her fingertips on it. She took a deep breath, resisting the urge to grab it and crush it in her hand, and managed to hold it gently even though she wanted it. Rowan shivered and sighed, his willstone glittering.
A world of tenderness wrapped around Lily and filled her up, as if the air had turned into Rowan and she was standing in him and breathing him in. Lily saw images of herself—a pile of rags and pale skin in the oubliette, a human cinder that muttered and twisted with fever, a pleading white mask under dark and icy water.
This is why I don’t trust you, Lily.
He looked her in the eye. “I don’t trust you not to go and die on me,” he said aloud. “You’re stubborn and brave and you don’t listen to me.”
Lily smiled up at him nervously, her throat tight. “I’ve never been good at doing what I’m told. I’m sorry, Rowan. I know you want me to say that I won’t go tonight for your sake, but I can’t.”
“I know,” Rowan said. “You wouldn’t be you if you could.”
He kissed her, softly at first, but then more deeply, until Lily felt herself falling open under him. Rowan dropped his head to the side and kissed her neck.
“See?” he whispered against her jawbone. His fingers were inching her skirt up her thighs, his knee sliding between her legs. “I can’t trust myself around you.”
Rowan opened himself up to her completely. He let her feel what he was feeling in his body, all his excitement and anticipation. He showed her the ways he wanted to kiss her and touch her and how urgently he wanted it. Lily’s body lit up with sensation, but her mind fumbled somewhere between eagerness and fright. She wanted to open herself to him, but she had nothing to share back. And inside her was a nagging thought. She’d never intended to stay in this world, and although she still had no idea how to get home, that was still what she wanted to do.
At least that’s what she thought she still wanted.
She was falling in love with Rowan, and yet she still intended to leave him—didn’t she? Lily froze. Rowan pulled away and held Lily at arm’s length, abruptly shutting off the stream of feelings.
You’ve never been with a man, have you?
No.
Rowan’s face darkened and he took a step back.
“But you and your Tristan. You showed me the two of you together,” he said carefully.
Lily shook her head, suddenly feeling very small and exposed. She crossed her arms. “You didn’t see all of it. I would have, but he didn’t want to.”
“Idiot,” Rowan whispered.
“No,” Lily said fairly. “I’m lucky he stopped.”
“I meant me.” Rowan smiled and came to Lily. He unwound her arms and stepped into them. “I knew you were shy with your body.”
Lily narrowed her eyes. “Actually, you called me a Puritan,” she chided gently.
“Well, to us you sort of are. Seventeen and never been with a man?” Rowan teased. “You’ve got so much catching up to do I might have to draw you a chart.”
Lily tried to break out of his arms, but he only held her tighter. He took energy from her to do it, too.
“You’re cheating!” she said with disbelief.
“I’m your mechanic.” He pressed his hand into the small of her back, sealing her against him. “My strength flows from you. I can’t cheat you.”
“Is that all you are?” Lily asked uncertainly. She felt embarrassed heat pouring out of her, and she knew that Rowan could feel it, too. “Are you just my mechanic?”
He shook his head slowly, never taking his eyes off of hers. His willstone glittered high on his chest, just under his throat. She watched the light inside his stone writhe and fall with mesmerizing grace.
“You have the prettiest willstone,” she murmured. “I’ve never seen anything that even comes close. And I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything more.”
He was still and silent for too long. Lily looked back up into his eyes. They looked hungry. “Did I say something wrong?”
“Slowly, Lily.” His breath caught in his chest. “We’re going to go very slowly, for both our sakes.”
He tucked his face into her neck and just held her. She could feel the pull of want in him, like a tight thread inside. She felt it, too, but he wouldn’t let her turn her mouth to his and kiss him.
“Hey! Sorry,” Tristan said from the entrance of the tent. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.” His eyes slid away from them, and Lily could sense that he didn’t want to look at them holding each other. She wondered if she should be worried about that or if it would go away on its own. “It’s almost time,” he said.
“Alright, both of you out,” Lily said, easing away from Rowan’s embrace. “I need to change.”
Rowan and Tristan shared a look with each other and then turned to Lily, smirking like they thought she was crazy.
“I know, I know. You’ve both seen me naked a jillion times, and I’ve noticed that nudity is no big deal in this world, but I don’t care,” Lily said, shoving Rowan toward the exit. “I’m actually conscious this time, and it’s not like we’re doing a spell to save a bunch of dying children. So get the hell out.”
They obliged, laughing with each other as they left the tent. Once Lily had finished changing, she joined Tristan and Rowan outside the tent and went with them to an open field near the sachem’s council carriage on the edge of the camp. A huge fire was already going, and as they arrived Caleb threw another log onto it, sending sparks crackling up out of the white-hot center. The sachem was there, along with four of his elite guards with the painted faces.
“Watch the trees,” Alaric said to his guards. “There were reports of simian Woven out there.”
The warriors swept past them and set up a perimeter between them, the rest of the camp, and the dark canopy of trees.
Got your pocket bomb? Rowan asked anxiously.
Lily smiled at him and patted the small bulge in her skirts. Of course.
The sachem stepped forward and went with Lily to the edge of the fire. Rowan and Tristan set wards in a circle around them to hide the night’s witchcraft from both the camp and the soldiers on the wall. Caleb trailed behind them, watching and following their instruction. He hadn’t finished his training as a mechanic as they had, and each new situation was a chance for him to learn. Arcs of light sprang out of their willstones and wove together until a hazy screen formed into a large dome over the group. Lily and the sachem stood with their backs to the fire, waiting for her mechanics to finish.
“You’re taking quite a risk,” said the sachem.
“I’m not doing it for you,” she replied. “I’m doing it for them.” Lily made a gesture toward the camp.
“Good.” The sachem smiled slowly at Lily, and she found herself smiling back at him. She didn’t know how she felt about Alaric just yet. She wasn’t ready to trust him, but she did respect him.
The sachem looked up and watched as the spell trails of the wards dimmed. “Beautiful,” he whispered. Lily’s mechanics joined her, kneeling in front of her so that the darkness was at their backs and the fire behind her lit up their eyes. Alaric turned to Lily and tipped his head.
“Good luck, Lily Proctor,” he said, before limping off into the night surrounded by his ghostly guard.
Ready? Lily asked her three charges.
Ready, they answered as one.
Lily took a breath with her whole body, breathing in air through her lungs and heat through her skin. A witch wind kicked up immediately, knocking all three of her mechanics forward with its ferocity. Lily??
The harvested heat grew inside her chest like a seed sun. Her smoke stone floated in front of her, wanting it the most. Heat piled on heat inside Lily’s body. As the witch wind shrieked around her and flew her high into the air, Lily knew that this was the most power she’d ever taken into herself. She looked down on her three mechanics, waiting on their knees, and saw how small they looked several stories’ distance beneath her. She was afraid for them. How could she give this much power to them without crushing them?
Help me, Rowan. I don’t want to hurt you.
It’s okay, Lily. Give me the most, Tristan the second most, and go easy on Caleb. He’s not as experienced as Tristan and I are.
I’m afraid for Caleb. Show me how much is too much for him.
Spill it all into me, and I’ll Gift Tristan and Caleb. Don’t worry about hurting me. I can take it.
All of it, Rowan?
At this level, I can take whatever you can gather, Lily.
There’s another level?
Firewalking. Don’t think of it now, just Gift me.
Her smoke stone opened like a book of light. She poured all her power through it and into Rowan and gave him the Gift. Giving the Gift was different from the dribs and drabs of power she’d been channeling into her mechanics to dig tunnels and climb ropes. This was on a different level entirely. It turned her mechanics into gods who could do the impossible. It filled them up and set them free so that only the limits of their imagination limited their physical abilities.
She was getting better at transmuting energy. Every calorie of heat from the fire changed easily into raw force inside her willstone. This much power also tempted Lily to take them over, to steal their will. She wanted to own each of them so badly she ached, but she wanted Rowan most of all. He was the strongest by far, even though both Caleb and Tristan were physically bigger than he was. Rowan’s mind was like a diamond—strong, clear, and so tightly bound onto itself that he could handle enormous amounts of pressure.
Let me keep myself, Lily.
Yes. I will. I’m sorry.
It’s okay. It’s time to start over the wall. Let go of the heat. I’ll catch you.
The witch wind ended abruptly and she fell from the sky. Rowan rose up to meet her and caught her in midair. Lily saw that Tristan and Caleb were with him, and all together they sped to the great wall around Salem. The landscape swept past her so quickly, and they climbed over the hundred-foot wall so fast that she thought they might be flying. They crested the wall and slipped past the sentries, hidden by the darkness and their incredible speed. In moments, they were over the wall, and through the strip of no-man’s-land on the other side. When they reached a busy city street they slowed.
Rowan held Lily high against his side with his left arm. He swung her down to the ground and she released her tight hold on his neck.
Face glamour, Lily. And tuck your stones under your shirt.
They continued down the street, melting into the crowd like they belonged there.
Rowan? Why aren’t we running?
The streets are too well lit, and there are too many people to try and maneuver through.
Lily glanced over at Tristan and Caleb. She could easily see the excitement they felt. They were enjoying this. Caleb looked borderline giddy, and because all four had been linked through mindspeak for most of the night, the sensation spread through all of them.
Tristan led the way, although it was easy to see where they were headed—the Citadel. The giant granite structure was across the city, at the edge of the ocean, but the ramparts were still visible through all the other soaring structures of Salem. They wove through the streets swiftly, and as they neared the giant gate that Lily had entered on her first day in this world, their excitement turned into focus.
Tristan and Caleb peeled off to the left and right and disappeared in the dark. Lily knew that their camouflage magic wouldn’t work once they got inside the Citadel and clashed with Lillian’s wards, but camouflage still worked along its perimeter. Rowan lifted Lily and sent the signal.
Over.
Rowan brought Lily over the Citadel wall in one leap. When they landed inside the inner courtyard, she could hear muffled thumps and gasps as Tristan and Caleb took out the guards. They were exposed, but Rowan moved across the courtyard quickly enough so that no one would be able to see them in the dark. He stopped at the portcullis that led down to the dungeons. By the time Caleb and Tristan were done hiding the guards’ bodies behind the scaffolding of the gallows, Rowan had bent the bars of the portcullis and made an opening.
The small raiding party swept down the steps together. They only had minutes to find the scientists and get them out of there before they were discovered. Rowan reached out to all of them.
When we split up down there, the granite will block our willstones from each other, and we won’t be able to mindspeak. Once you release your prisoner, take him, and run as fast as you can through the city. If you get held up in a fight, Lily and I will be right behind you to help. We’ll rendezvous back at camp. Good luck.
They raced silently down the torch-lit steps. Lily felt the chill and smelled the stone all around her. It was the smell that got to her. She hadn’t anticipated this. Her heart began to pound and panic fizzed in her blood.
I don’t know if I can go back into the dark, Rowan.
It’ll be okay. This isn’t a prison for witches, Lily. It’s made to hold regular people, so there will be light and heat all the way down. Stay calm.
I’m trying.
Caleb stopped his descent and went down the passageway off the main staircase to retrieve the scientist on the topmost level. The rest of the party went down two more flights, while Tristan broke off to retrieve the scientist on that level. Lily and Rowan descended all the way down to the lowest level. At the bottom of the steps were four small passageways that radiated out in different directions. The largest passageway led straight ahead to an alcove. It was filled with guards.
Rowan put Lily down at the base of the steps and stepped in front of her. All the guards turned to look at him.
A mad scramble began as the guards lunged to grab whatever weapon was closest. They came at Rowan with swords, daggers, maces, and spears. He strode down the passageway toward them, his chin down, his fists at his sides as he covered the distance, and then he burst into a flurry of motion.
Rowan grabbed weapons by their blades and yanked them out of the guards’ hands. He turned with the swords and spears that they would have used on him and ran them through with their own weapons. Fountains of blood followed Rowan’s path through the cluster of doomed men. His willstone flashed with pulses of light, and Lily threw back her head, exulting in the feeling of power she shared with Rowan.
“Witch!” a guard screamed, pointing past Rowan and zeroing in on Lily.
Get down!
Hails of arrows were loosed. Rowan snatched dozens out of the air as Lily hit the floor.
Roll to your left!
Lily did as Rowan instructed, rolling down one of the side corridors off the stairway. More arrows streaked past the opening of Lily’s passageway.
I need more strength, Lily.
Lily scrambled back up onto her feet and grabbed the nearest torch off of its sconce on the wall. She took in the torch’s heat, and a witch wind whistled toward her from all directions. Lily changed the gathered heat into force and fed it to Rowan. The sounds of the fight in the corridor picked up again.
Go get the scientist, Rowan. We’re almost out of time.
I’ll lose contact with you if I go for Chenoa. She’s all the way down a corridor at a right angle from yours. It’ll put fat
It’s okay if we’re out of contact for a bit. You draw off the guards, and I’ll start up the steps while you get her. I’ll meet you aboveground.
I don’t like it.
I’ll be fine. Just do it, okay?
Okay. Go quickly.
“Lily?” Juliet said, her voice ragged.
Lily’s head snapped around, and she saw that she was standing in front of a dark cell. Juliet was in there.
“What are you doing down here?” Lily said disbelievingly. She put the torch back in its sconce and grabbed on to the bars of Juliet’s cell. Her sister came to her and hugged her through the bars.
“I told you I got into a little trouble with Lillian,” Juliet replied.
“How could she do this to you?” Lily said, her teeth grinding together. She called out to Rowan in mindspeak, but she got no reply.
“I told Lillian if she wanted to hang them, she’d have to hang me first. The scientists, I mean,” Juliet admitted sheepishly. “I couldn’t stand back and let one more person die. And apparently killing them means more to her than I do.”
The sisters broke apart and Lily looked at Juliet. “I need a vessel. I can’t rip this door off, but if you let me claim you, I can give you strength and you’ll be able to.”
Juliet shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “Lillian claimed me when we were kids.”
Lily knew that two witches couldn’t claim the same person. Juliet was stuck with Lillian unless she smashed her willstone and got a new one. Lily looked down the long corridor. There were more cells. Lily saw faces pressed against the bars, and even a few mirrors sticking out, as the inmates tried to see what was happening down the passageway.
“Who wants their freedom?” Lily screamed.