The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)(27)

“The ceremony is when the final-year students at Stillwater House get to test their mettle against one another—a competition of sorts,” Helena elaborated, gazing out upon the scene. “The Headmistress chooses the students at random from a scroll of names she has. She sits there.” Helena motioned toward the throne Alex had noticed, answering his silent question.

“Who are they?” Natalie asked, pointing at the people filling the seats of the amphitheater.

Helena grinned. “They are the families of the students. They all sit in the audience and watch, hoping their child will be Ascended,” she said wistfully.

“Ascended?” prompted Alex.

“Oh, yes—sorry, I was getting distracted.” She chuckled lightly. “The students fight, and the victor is congratulated with the title of ‘Ascended.’ It is the highest honor that can be bestowed on a student. If a student wins, they get to go home with their families and take their rightful place among the magical elite, moving back into society to find a partner and a role among their people in order to prolong the magical lineages.”

Alex sighed, feeling unsettled. “And the loser?”

“The loser is taken away to perform the Gifting Ceremony,” she replied simply.

Horror gripped him. “What’s that?”

“It is where the student’s life essence is extracted and used for the benefit of their magical betters—a gift from the loser to those they have disappointed by failing their final test,” she explained, so matter-of-factly that Alex worried she didn’t even realize what she was saying.

The others stared at her in utter shock, as understanding dawned. Even Jari’s admiration had morphed into an expression of abject horror.

It was graduation, though there was one subtle difference—these students knew what they were getting into, and, bizarrely, they didn’t seem to mind. In fact, they seemed thrilled at the prospect of such a great ‘honor’.

He wanted to shake Helena and make her understand what she was really saying.

“Are the students scared?” he asked instead, hoping to spark some human emotion in her.

Helena pondered the question. “I suppose they are,” she muttered with a shrug. “But they know they have to bring their best on the day of the ceremony. You have to understand, we train for this day for years. If we don’t bring our absolute best to our last match, the consequences are what they are. It is drilled into us from an early age: we must honor our families and win, or pay the price for our failure.”

To Alex’s disbelief, a smooth mask of calm still lay across her face. She could not hear the chilling message in the words she spoke—he was certain of it.

“Doesn’t anyone try and escape the Gifting Ceremony?” he pressed, hating the term. It wasn’t a gift. Gifts were things that were willingly given, and Alex was pretty sure life essence didn’t fall under that category.

She nodded. “Some have. There is sometimes one in a class who will try and run.”

“What happens to them?” Ellabell spoke up fearfully.

“They are sent somewhere else, to receive the help they need,” Helena replied with a sad smile. “I know how it must sound to you, but the Gifting is seen as an honor here. It is the price for losing, and we all understand it.”

Silence fell. Nobody could quite believe it.

“It doesn’t always end in Gifting, though. Sometimes, a pair can tie, and then both get the title of Ascended,” she added, filling the deathly silence.

Suddenly, music started up across the field as drums began to pound in a rhythmic, tribal beat. Helena smiled, clapping her hands in delight. Alex’s stomach sank.

“Okay, I’ve got to go or else I’ll be late, but enjoy the show—you have a great view from here. My friends and I used to sneak out and watch it from this window when we were first-years,” she said. “It’s always an amazing spectacle. I promise you won’t be disappointed!”

With that, she disappeared in a whirlwind of shimmering gray and sweet perfume.

Despite the horror of the show that was about to take place in the arena, the compulsion to go to the window was like the urge to watch a car crash. It was impossible not to look. There was a morbid curiosity that the whole group seemed to share as Alex and Ellabell went upstairs to the bell tower itself, while Natalie and Jari stayed put at the window Helena had brought them to.

Aamir had missed all of the drama of the evening and was still sleeping off the effects of his broken curse. Although he had yet to fully awaken, his fever had subsided and he slept more peacefully, without twisting and turning beneath the agonizing pain of the curse. With it gone, it was simply a matter of recovery.

As Alex and Ellabell gazed out toward the arena, the music thudded loudly in their ears, the bass shaking the very foundations of the tower. The sight before them was undeniably beautiful, in the most picturesque setting. It looked like something pulled straight from the legends of ancient Rome. So much so, Alex half-expected a chariot to appear and go tearing around the pitch. The stars glittered overhead as fireworks rocketed upward from behind the amphitheater itself, lighting up the night sky in a sparkling array of rainbow colors. A collective “ooh” went up from the amassing crowd, as a particularly bright spray of vivid red pinwheels exploded brightly in the darkness.

“Beautiful!” exclaimed Ellabell as the fireworks reflected in her eyes.