Page 76 of Wings of Ebony
Blood? What am I in for? “I’m good. Go ahead.”
“I’ll need you to lie back and uh, sir…” he turns to the man on the wall. “You said the Chan—”
“All ready to begin then?” The Chancellor’s voice booms as he enters the room. “Rue Jelani Akintola, daughter of Aasim Amare Akintola.” His voice is more lively than his expression, none of its warmth quite meeting his eyes. “General, good afternoon,” he says, and the man on the wall—apparently a General—softens.
“Afternoon, sir.”
“Now if you’ll lie down.” The tech pulls on gloves and I ease back onto my elbows. I don’t like this. Lying down in here with all the strange vibes in this place. Where’s Aasim? Stupid question. Why do I even care?
“Ah, ah, not so fast,” the Chancellor says. “This one’s going to stand first.”
The tech’s brows meet. “Stand, sir, but…”
“You heard the Chancellor,” the General spits. “Do as you’re told.” He looks to me. “Stand, girl.”
“Rue. I don’t answer to girl.”
“Rue, if you would?” the Chancellor cuts in, gesturing for me to stand in front of him. I glance at the exit, to keep it in my sights.Just in case.
Once I’m in front of the Chancellor I can see him more properly. He’s much older than his portrait lets on. Some of his hairs are pale gray and his eyes are a frigid shade of blue.
“The stones,” he says. The tech holds two black circles about the size of a half dollar.
“Wh-what are those?” I ask.
“Just rocks, well stones, really,” Tech says. “Onyx mined from Yiyo. It’s a great conduit for the magic. It binds really well to it, we’ve found. We tried obsidian and it was downright awful. I mean, you couldn’t even—”
The Chancellor clears his throat.
“Sorry, sir.” Tech hands him the onyx.
I swallow. This shit is gonna hurt. I know for a fact I heard them girls screaming.
The Chancellor holds the balls of onyx in one hand and shoots a stream of magic like a fuzzy strand of electricity from his fingertip. The stones glow orange and it’s only then I notice the Chancellor’s gaze isn’t on what he’s doing.
It’s on me.
Tech stands next to me as the Chancellor fills the stones with remnants of his magic. I don’t know this tech guy, but he’s the only one in this room who hasn’t looked at me like they despise me. That alone makes his presence comforting.
The stones’ brilliance grows brighter and brighter and with each lumen, the General is more visibly irritated.
“Sir,” he says, “forgive me but this is a mistake. I—”
The Chancellor’s eye twitches. “General.”
He snaps his mouth shut.
Giving the half-human who isn’t Ghizoni magic? Yeah, I bet plenty of folks here wouldn’t be a fan of this, actually. Their problem. Not mine.
“About ready,” the Chancellor says. “Tech?”
Tech moves into place like he’s done this a hundred times. Hisslips protective frames over his eyes and the Chancellor drops the stones in his hands, steam rising from them.
“This part is gonna sting a bit.” Tech meets my gaze. “But it’ll cool down quickly.”
A response sticks in my throat and all I can manage is another swallow.
“First, repeat after me.” The Chancellor takes my hands and everyone’s heads turn his way. In expectation or confusion, I’m not sure.
