Trial by death
Gia
Three women in white dresses made from diaphanous materials walked into the chamber a few moments later. By then I was on my feet.
They were too beautiful to be human. With flawless pale skins and blood red pupils and cherry lips. They were the ones that were going to test me.
"We don't take likely to being disturbed Chief Warlock, why do you summon us?" The voice of the one that spoke was barely above a whisper yet the sound carried across the room.
The High Septon pointed at me. "She's descended from the Carvel bloodline, entrance her and put her through the test of Firrin. If you find any traces of the abomination that Katerina practiced, kill her."
The three women glanced in my direction, and for a moment the warmth leached out of my body and my bones went rigid. I felt like I was being stared down by three vipers just waiting to strike,
"A Carvel still alive?" The one in the middle whispered and took a step forward,
What was it with these people and that last name? If I got out of this I promised myself I would immediately have it legally changed to Bob or Thomas or something more mundane. Although with my luck those would probably be the names of some old time foe of the High Septon and I would still end up back here facing his wrath. One just couldn't win in cases like this.
"So young, and so pretty, look at that long red hair and those emerald green eyes," Another of the women said.
"It is strange to see one without the markings," The third murmured.
I felt like an exhibition at a private antique showing.
The first one glided toward me. I was too terrified to move. My legs were glued to the spot and my heart beat was sporadic. She raised her hands and traced my cheek.
"Hmm…She's untouched," She said as if surprised,
"Physically," One clarified.
I just have to get out of here alive. I just have to get out of here alive. I repeated to myself.
"Come child," The third one ordered. She was still standing a few feet away from me.
My limbs obeyed and started moving before my brain could catch up. I stopped a few inches away from her. She uttered a phrase and waved her hand and a large dark puddle appeared on the floor like black ink and a roughhewn grey stone coffin rose from the ground. Etched onto its surface were images of demons, gargoyles and wild beasts.
The three women, the silenced ones spoke as one now:
"This is Firrin. He is the representation of the 'truth' rune. No one dares think or utter falsehood to him. You will lay inside and be examined by Firrin the seer of all. If you fail, you will be forever trapped in the abyss,"
I nodded like all of this made perfect sense to me. "Super,"
The boy from earlier on was leaning against the wall at the far corner, his expression one of boredom. Why was he still here? I guess my trial was such an entertaining spectacle that he didn't want to miss it, or maybe he was concerned for me? I wouldn't hold my breath on that last one.
"Step into the coffin and lay down now."
I was shaking like a leaf now. I didn't have a choice. Almost everyone in this room wanted me dead. What if this coffin saw something it didn't like? I would be trapped in there forever.
You can do this Gia, I encouraged myself.
The top of the coffin slid away and I stepped in and lay down on my back. The rough cut stone dug into my tailbone and the cold surface raised Goosebumps on my arms. The lid closed unceremoniously over me, plunging me into thick darkness and an eerie silence. For a moment nothing happened. Then I started to hear a low hum that got louder until my entire body jerked and I was flung from this realm into another.
* * *
When I came to, I found myself in a barren landscape stretching as far as the eyes could see. The air was thick with yellow and green smog, and a few crows flew overhead heading toward a large rock in the distance while cawing loudly. The soil here was black and grey, like the aftermath of a forest fire.
I stood before a tall hooded figure, it looked like death except without a scythe. Instead it held a large mirror in both hands which had no flesh, just bones that were white and shone like ivory.
"You must be Firrin," I said,
Of course it didn't respond. It merely held the mirror up.
"I guess I have to look into the mirror?"
I was a bit disappointed. I'd expected something more dramatic. I faced the mirror. For a second it reflected nothing, not even my own reflection, just the dried up leafless trees that were behind me, the edges of the branches looked like the outstretched hands of a skeleton.
The surface of the mirror rippled and then I saw the boy from the chamber, except his hands weren't chained anymore and he wore regular dark stone washed jeans and a black shirt, there was something off about his appearance, he was human but not quite. His side burns were bushier and his teeth glinted like fangs.
"What are you doing here?" I asked,
He kept studying me, and then nodded with satisfaction.
"I knew it, I could see it inside of you. You're just like me,"
I didn't understand what his words meant.
"Huh?"
He laughed and it sounded guttural and inhuman. His image became blurry until he was gone and a woman stood before me. With long golden hair and a midnight blue ball gown that made her look like lady in court straight out of the Victorian era.
She reached toward me, but was stopped by the surface of the mirror which rippled like liquid.
"I've blocked the test from happening. They can't be allowed to see what you know," She sounded urgent.
I was getting annoyed. Was this test meant to leave me in a perpetual state of confusion? What were all these apparitions even saying?
"What I know? What are you talking about? Who are you?" I asked her taking a step forward.
The woman waved this aside, "That's not important. I have a mission for you and you must do it if not I'll let Firrin consume you,"
Could she do that?
"What's the mission?" I asked just to be safe.
"Kill Zachary Abbot,"
Who the hell was that? I crossed my arms and gave her a curt look.
"Lady I'm not some hired assassin, okay?"
She shook her head, "You must do it or all will be lost, swear it!"
I was even more stubborn. "No! I can't kill someone else just to live,"
"You'll do it, you have no choice,"
That part irked me. No choice indeed.
"Bite me," Was my lovely response to that.
The woman sighed with exasperation. "Maybe I'm wrong about you. I should let Firrin consume you, but you're the only one that can do what needs to be done."
She mulled over this for a second, more crows flew overhead, and the smog in the air was starting to make me feel sick.
She sighed in resignation, "Fine I'll let you live. But I'll be back,"
I hardly thought I was going to be climbing inside a coffin to face Firrin again so I just wiggled my fingers at her.
As if on cue, I was jerked out of the realm, and my eyes flew open, and instead of darkness, I was staring at the mural on the ceiling of the domed roof of the chamber. I took in a deep breath as I tried to recollect my thoughts.
I sat up, I was on the floor. And the room was almost empty. No silenced ones, no High Council and no coffin. The only person remaining was the boy and his two guards.
I remembered what the version of him in the mirror had said to me. He'd said we were alike, although I couldn't decipher how that had been part of the test. In fact the whole thing had felt wrong and off. Like being in a fevered dream where nothing made sense.
"Are you real?" I asked him just to be sure.
"Flesh and blood." He reassured me, "Congratulations on surviving, only about two out of twenty people ever come back from entering Firrin,"
I looked around the room, the seats of the members of the High Council were empty. Not even the woman named Cara had stayed behind. I had this nagging feeling about the voice that I'd heard earlier…It had sounded like it could've been her thoughts…I shook my head. That was impossible. I refused to think about it. I was just having a bad day to say the least. I wouldn't make it worse by filling my head with farfetched ideas.
"Where's everyone?" I asked the boy.
"They left as soon as the coffin vomited you back out. The High Septon was very disappointed that you weren't swallowed into the abyss,"
He looked downright cheerful about that.
"So they just up and left?" I was angry, "What the hell am I supposed to do now?"
One of the guards standing beside the boy responded,
"You're to come with us, we've been given instructions to take you to St Gordon's,"
It took me a moment for his words to sink in. I'd almost forgotten about the school. I'd survived! I was no longer going to be put to death. I scrambled to my feet infused with renewed energy and giddiness,
"Great!"
"Don't sound too excited," The boy said with a wry voice.
"Anything is better than being dead in my books," I countered.
He nodded, "Fair. What's your name?"
"I'm Gia, what's yours?"
"Zachary,"
The enthusiasm deflated from me like air out of a balloon. And words I'd heard just before I woke up echoed in my skull. Kill Zachary Abbot. That was the condition the mysterious woman in the mirror had given me before I'd woken up. What kind of freakish coincidence was this?
Maybe he wasn't the one. There had to be some other Zachary, but I already knew this was whom she'd been referring too. What were the odds that I'd meet another Zachary?
"What's your last name?"
If he was surprised by this question he didn't show it, "Abbot,"
I sighed. Well there you go.
"I know you didn't go through the test," Zachary said,
I narrowed my eyes at him. "What do you mean?"
"You saw someone while you were in there,"
My insides squelched.
"How'd you know that?"
He just smirked at me leaving me infuriated and with a thousand burning questions at the tip of my tongue. If he knew someone had been there, did he also know that someone had asked me to kill him?
I was going to have to avoid him, there was no doubt about it. If I stayed away from him, then I wouldn't have to kill him. Although I'd never actually agreed to do it.
I needed to keep my head down and find a way to get some answers about my last name, Zachary was only going to add more problems to my already problematic life.
The guard spoke up again,
"I was also asked to tell you that your attending St Gordon's comes with one condition."
I looked at him incredulously, "I just climbed into their coffin, what more do they want?"
"The High Septon himself made the order, you'll be Zach's shadow. Where he goes, you go. And if he ever leaves school grounds again, you'll be killed,"
I could only stare with my mouth agape, my staying alive now depended on this boy, who looked like he hadn't followed a rule a day in his life.
I was doomed. I hadn't escaped death yet. I had to actively work to keep myself alive now.