Cardinal Tower (Trinity Central Book #1)

Chapter 26

Instead of attending type five training with Grazinski, I convinced Silas that I was feeling too ill, and that I'd get better after a few hours of rest. I dismissed him, and told him that I'd just be in my room until our outing with Cynthia and Aster. Kent too seemed concerned, but I just brushed him aside, claiming that it was nothing more than a headache and some fatigue.

When I'm finally left alone, I navigate my way through the empty halls of Cardinal tower. Since I was still in uniform, no one questioned my wandering, allowing me to slip between the wings more easily.

Taking Silas's advice, I decided to get information from Jacoby directly. He has the original tests that we took that first day, as well as the notes he took while watching the sparring session. If I can somehow access his office, I might gain the information Kai wants, as well as the truth behind my own score.

I make my way to wing alpha, and find myself in another large area similar to that of wing beta. The round room has twelve doors lining the perimeter, each opening and shutting quickly. A number of navy blue uniforms shuffle from door to door, and I'm not sure which one I should enter. The capitol emblem looms at my feet, a large cardinal with its wings outstretched.

As I watch on, I find one unfamiliar woman donning a high ranking uniform. She has more medals than Silas and Kent, and similar looking attire as what Jacoby wears.

Deciding to follow her, I find myself passing through a set of doors towards the right of the cardinal's wing into a hall similar to every other one in the building. Each door is labeled with a name, and the woman I followed disappears behind a door marked "General Kennedy", leaving me alone in the hall.

I continue my way through the corridor until I reach the end, and the wall on the far side spirals open. I find myself in a square room with a high ceiling, a ledge on either side of the area, as well as a walkway down the center. Under these platforms sits a pool of water, blue enough to resemble the ocean, and deep enough that I can't see the bottom of it.

I step forward and see that there's a plaque on the ground that reads "Warning: Stafford testing, phenomena type two". Plants? Underwater?

The air compresses behind me, telling me that I'm now trapped in this strange room. I'm still trying to find the plants underwater when the door on the other side of the room opens. From the corner of my eye, I can make out a familiar black suit that could only belong to Kai, and he's accompanied by someone equally familiar. Jacoby.

Without thinking and nowhere to hide, I take in a deep breath before diving into the water below. I can't make out the conversation playing above me, but it doesn't last long to begin with. About half a minute passes when I hear a pair of footsteps leave to the other side of the walkway. I make out the outline of a door opening and a navy blue figure exiting, and I realize Jacoby must have left.

As I'm about to come back up from below the water, I feel something snag onto my foot, pulling me back down below the surface. I glance down and see a tall green strand of kelp, entangled with my foot. I try to wriggle myself free, but I'm simply left kicking to no avail.

My hand keeps tugging at my leg, panic setting in as I realize how empty my lungs feel. As I grimace in pain, my fingers wrap around the handle of my dagger, ready to cut at the kelp that ensnared me. Before I have the chance to unsheath my blade, there's a splash beside me, and I see the blurry figure of Kai paddling towards me.

I stop kicking, allowing him time to untangle me. Once I'm free, his arms make their way under mine, lifting me above the water. We find ourselves atop the narrow walkway, coughing through the water in our lungs.

When he catches his breath, he hoists the rest of himself out of the water, wringing out his soaked shirt. "What made you think that was a good idea?" he asks, water pooling under him. "And what are you doing here anyway? You're supposed to be training with Doctor Grazinski."

I pull myself out of the water after him, drying my hair as I make my way down the path. It seems as though he wants to say something more, to keep scolding me, but before he has the chance I cut him off.

"I need you to find information on two Trinity guard trainees from the class two years ago. Charlie and Xander. Silas and Kent tell me that they were part of some sort of recruitment process after their Trinity guard training." I can see he wants to ask more questions, but knows there's no point.

"I'll see what I can find," he nods, "I'll be in your room in about an hour. Make sure no one sees you." He picks up his jacket, shaking off a bit of dust, and wraps it around my shoulders.

I want to reject the offer, but am drawn to the warmth of the fabric. We look at each other once more before exiting through opposite doors, the scent of Kai still lingering on his coat.

* * *

After passing a few more corridors, I finally found myself in front of the door labeled "General Jacoby Jordan". There is a single desk in the center of the room; it's the only furnishing that's not buried underneath a pile. His office is the same size as Doctor Grazinski's, but the clutter of papers makes the room look smaller. I'm not sure where to start exactly in order to find sufficient information, and so I just begin shuffling through piles.

I'm about ten minutes in, not a single detail out of place, when I notice a black folder on his desk. Upon closer inspection, there's a silver dagger etched into the corner.

I open the large folder and am taken aback by everything I see. There's a portfolio for every Trinity guard trainee, their information, ranking, test scores, and personal notes collected underneath a single label. I flip through the pages, my eyes shifting between the faces and his notes.

I reach Aria's label and I notice a red stamp marked above her picture. The sticker has the Karma insignia painted over it, and I now know what it is I should be looking for. My eyes linger over her scared picture for a second, a note underneath it that reads "type five".

I keep flipping through the pages. It's clear many of the trainees didn't catch Jacoby's attention, but I stop myself when I notice another red stamp halfway through the pile.

I remember the face as Blake's, the bulky boy I fought that first day. He was ranked second in class, but according to his profile, his aptitude scores were altered. He scored much lower on the intelligence portion than he was led to believe. Under his picture, there's a label that reads "Legacy", though I'm not sure what that means.

I keep flipping through until I reach the last profile. I read my name at the top, scanning the notes Jacoby's written about me. I flip through my packet to the last page where I get the truth I've been looking for.

My heart sinks as I continue reading.

Under the section regarding my aptitude tests, it's evident that the 600 I scored was falsified. My true score was a perfect 2000, confirming my suspicions.

Despite this revelation, my eyes can't help but be caught by a familiar red stamp over my picture, a silver dagger painted over my face.