The Iron Trial(37)

"You all know the story of the Enemy of Death. Many of you lost family members in the Great Battle or in the Cold Massacre. You all know of the Treaty as well - the agreement between the Assembly and Constantine Madden, which ensures that if we do not attack him or his forces, he will not attack us.

"Many of you," Master Rufus added, his dark eyes sweeping the room, "also believe that the Treaty is wrong."

Murmuring began in the audience. Tamara's gaze snapped toward where the Assembly members sat, her expression anxious, and Call realized suddenly that two of the Assembly members were Tamara's parents. He'd seen them before at the Iron Trial. Now they sat ramrod straight, their expressions stony as they regarded Rufus. Call could feel the disapproval rolling off them in waves.

"The Treaty means that we must trust the Enemy of Death - trust that he will not attack us, that he will not use this hiatus from battle to build up his forces. But the Enemy cannot be trusted."

There was a hum of noise among the Assembly members. Tamara's mother had her hand on her husband's arm; he was trying to rise to his feet. Tamara looked frozen.

Master Rufus raised his voice. "We cannot trust the Enemy. I say this as one who knew Constantine Madden when he was a student at the Magisterium. We have turned a blind eye to the increase in attacks by elementals - one last night, barely a few feet from the Magisterium's own doors - and to the attacks on our supply lines and safe houses. We have turned this blind eye not because we believe in Constantine Madden's promises, but because the Enemy is a Makar - one of the few among our kind ever born to control the magic of the void. On the field of battle, his Chaos-ridden defeated the only other Makar of our time. We have always known that without a Makar, we are vulnerable to the Enemy, and since the death of Verity Torres, we have been waiting for another to be born."

A lot of the other students were sitting forward now. It was clear that while some of them had heard what had happened the previous night outside the gates, or knew because they had been there, a lot of them were just starting to guess at what Rufus was about to say. Call could see a bunch of Silver Year students leaning over toward Alex, one of them tugging on his sleeve, mouthing, Do you know what this is about? He shook his head at them. The Assembly members, meanwhile, were buzzing among themselves. Tamara's father was sitting back down, but his expression was thunderous.

"I am happy to announce," Rufus said, "that we have discovered the existence of a Makar, here at the Magisterium. Aaron Stewart, will you please rise?"

Aaron stood. He was dressed in his black uniform, and the skin under his eyes looked bruised with exhaustion. Call wondered if they'd let him sleep at all. He thought about how small Aaron had seemed the night before, being led away from the hill. He looked slight now, even though he was one of the taller kids in Iron Year.

There were several audible gasps in the audience and a lot of whispering. After looking around nervously for a moment, Aaron started to sit back down, but Master North shook his head and made a gesture indicating that Aaron was to remain standing.

Tamara had her hands in fists in her lap and was looking worriedly between Master Rufus and her parents, silent and thin-lipped. Call had never been so glad not to be the center of attention. It was like all the people in the room were devouring Aaron with their eyes. Only Tamara seemed distracted, probably worried that her family looked about ready to run up onstage and beat Master Rufus with a stalactite.

One of the Assembly members had come down from the top bench. He led Aaron up onto the stage. When Aaron spotted Tamara and Call, he grinned a little, raising his eyebrows as if to say This is crazy.



       
         
       
        

Call felt the corners of his mouth lift in response.

Master Rufus left the stage, going to sit beside Master North in the space Aaron left. Master North leaned over and whispered something to Master Rufus. Rufus nodded. Of all the people in the room, Master North seemed to be the only one who didn't look at all surprised by Master Rufus's speech.

"The Assembly of Mages would like to formally acknowledge Aaron Stewart as having an affinity with chaos magic. He is our Makar!" The Assembly member smiled, but Call could tell his smile was strained. Probably he was biting back whatever he wanted to say to Master Rufus; none of them seemed to have liked his speech. Applause broke out at his words, though, led by Tamara and Call, who stamped their feet and whistled like they were at a hockey game. The applause went on until the Assembly member gestured them to silence.

"Now," he said, "it is to be hoped that all of you understand the importance of the Makaris. Aaron has a responsibility to the larger world. He alone can undo the damage that the self-styled Enemy of Death has wrought, free the land from the threat of Chaos-ridden animals, and protect us from the shadows. He must make certain that the Treaty continues to be upheld so that peace can prevail." At this, the Assembly member allowed himself a dark look in Master Rufus's direction.

Aaron swallowed visibly. "Thank you, sir. I'll do my best."

"But no difficult path is walked alone," the Assembly member went on, looking out at the rest of them. "It's going to be the responsibility of all of your fellow students to look out for you, to support you, and to defend you. It can be a heavy burden to be a Makar, but he won't have to bear it alone, will he?" On the final two words, the Assembly member's voice rose.

The audience applauded again, this time for themselves, as a promise. Call clapped as hard as he could.

Reaching into one of the pockets of his uniform, the Assembly member took out a dark stone, holding it before Aaron. "We've been hanging on to this for more than a decade, and it is my great honor to be the one to give it to you. You will recognize this as an affinity stone, one you earn when you gain Mastery of an element. Yours is black onyx, for the void."

Call leaned forward to get a better look, and his heart began to thud dully. Because there, cupped in the Assembly member's palm, was a stone that was the twin of the one in the wristband his father had sent to Master Rufus. Which meant that the wristband had once belonged to a Makar. There had been only two born in his father's lifetime, only two possible Makaris that the wristband might have belonged to - Verity Torres or Constantine Madden.

He stopped clapping. His hands fell into his lap. 





AFTER THE CEREMONY, Aaron was swept quickly away by the Assembly. Master Rufus rose again to announce that they were going to have the day off. Everyone seemed even more excited about this than they were about Aaron being a Makar. The students immediately scattered, most heading for the Gallery, leaving Call and Tamara to walk back alone toward their rooms, along twisting caverns lit by glowing crystals.

Tamara chatted excitedly most of the way back, clearly relieved that her parents hadn't gotten into a visible disagreement with Master Rufus, not seeming to notice at first that Call was responding mostly with grunts and noncommittal noises. She clearly believed that having Aaron be the Makar was going to be amazing for all three of them. She said they shouldn't worry about politics, they should think of how they were going to get loads of special treatment and all the best missions. She was halfway through telling Call how she was going to get to fire-walk a volcano someday when she finally broke off and put her hands on her hips. "Why are you being such a lump?" she demanded.

Call was stung. "Lump?"

"Anyone would think you weren't happy for Aaron. You're not jealous, are you?"

She was so wrong that Call could do nothing for a minute but splutter. "Yeah, I want everybody standing there eyeballing me like - like -"

"Tamara?"

Jasper was waiting by their door, looking miserable.

Tamara drew herself up. Call was always impressed by the way she managed to make herself seem about six feet tall, when in reality she was shorter than him. "What do you want, Jasper?"

She sounded frustrated at being stopped from further interrogating Call. For the first time ever, Call thought Jasper might be good for something.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" he asked. He looked so miserable that Call actually felt bad for him. "I've got a bunch of extra lessons and  …  I could really use your help."

"Not mine?" Call asked, thinking of the night in the Library.

Jasper ignored Call. "Please, Tamara. I know I was a jerk, but I want to be friends again."

"You weren't a jerk to me," she said. "Tell Call you're sorry and I'll think about it."

"Sorry," Jasper said, looking down.

"Whatever," said Call. It wasn't a real apology - and Tamara didn't even know about the time Jasper had screamed Call out of the Library - so he didn't think he had to accept it. But he figured that if Tamara went with Jasper, it would buy him some time to deal with the wolf. Time he desperately needed. "You should help him, Tamara. He needs lots, and lots, and lots of help." He locked eyes with Jasper.

Tamara sighed. "Okay, fine, Jasper. But you have to be civil to my friends, not just me. No more little snide comments."

"But what about him!" Jasper objected. "He makes snide comments all the time."