The Book of Trials || ONC 2019

Chapter Six

There was a chill down my pale green corset like fate's bite at my spine as I faced the man in front of me. I couldn't see his face through the scarf and hood, so I had no way of telling what he was going to do. He'd said he had questions. What was he going to ask? I didn't know anything about him other than the fact that he looked like a ruffian, so it would be plain dumb to go outside with him to talk in private, but if we stayed in here, Tremie and Lefeli would undoubtedly be listening to every word. Even I know that safety comes before comfort, though.

"Please hang your garments and come inside," I said, motioning to a bench away from the dress racks and attempting a smile. "Ask away."

He unwrapped his scarf, revealing disheveled black hair, and when he turned around I got a good look at his face and my shoulders tensed. He was devilishly good-looking, and probably not much older than me. His lightly tanned skin made the color of his hair richer, his face sharp with a set jaw but also with a gentle upturn of his lips that made me want to stare. There was no girl I could think of that wouldn't be fawning over him, but I forced a straight face and kept my posture rigid. No weakness.

He sat on one side of the bench and I sat on the end opposite him. He looked me straight in the eye as he spoke. "Where did you get magnesium?"

I snapped out of my stupor. "What magnesium?"

"What other substance makes a flame that bright? The thing you threw on the road was a piece of magnesium, wasn't it?"

My eyes narrowed. "Yes, it was." He didn't need to know I'd gone to a magician out of town to have it enchanted in secret. A flame bright enough to blind, and incredibly sensitive to water. He would never find a more dangerous piece of magnesium no matter how hard he searched.

A moment of silence revealed a series of soft giggles from upstairs and I shifted uncomfortably. If the boy noticed the sound, he didn't show it.

"Just who are you?" he said after a beat.

How blunt of him. I let out a small huff. "None of your business."

"Why not?"

I scowled. "Why not? And who are you to be asking me that?" Especially after calling me a bird. Chickadee. Like some cute thing. Outrageous.

He released a breath and slouched a little. There was another short pause before his face lit up. "Do you happen to know chemistry?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Just answer, please."

I pursed my lips and folded my arms over my chest. On one hand, I didn't know this boy and he seemed awfully sketchy. On the other hand, though, I didn't see any reason not to answer since his question wasn't really intrusive or personal. "Yes," I decided. It wasn't some secret. "My father was a chemist."

"I see. Is there any way I can meet your father?"

"Why?"

His eyebrows knit in what looked like irritation. "Why do you keep asking that? I'm wanting to learn about chemistry."

"Well that's too bad," I said. "He died eight years ago."

His face blanched and a heavy feeling settled in my stomach. There was something about this boy that rubbed me the wrong way. Was it the nonchalance? The too-perfect charm? Chickadee, he'd called me. Chickadee. I brought my chin up and swallowed the very not nice words I had lined up on my tongue.