Suryn leads us into the same room with the thrones we were taken to yesterday. We arrive a hell of a lot faster than I thought we would, and it confirms my suspicion that the winged asshole, Ory,wasfucking with us last night.
The throne room feels a little less intimidating in the bright light of a new day. It’s lacking the presence of a shit ton of guards and the Sovereign, which I’m taking as a good sign. I wonder how long it took for all of the guards to wake up. I’m not sure if any of the Sentinels we knocked out last night will be itching for retaliation, but we should be careful just in case. Not that any of us were going to be frolicking all willy-nilly around here in the first place, but still.
Suryn makes her way up the stairs at the front of the room. She walks casually to one of the smaller thrones positioned on the side of the Sovereign’s larger chair and sits down. I can tell that she likes how it lets her lord over us. I can also tell that she’s purposely not looking at Enoch or any of his coven.
Tawv, Sauriel, and three other mystery Sentinels walk into the room from the side door. The two Sentinels that were standing guard at each of the doors stand a little straighter and watch the Quorum closely as they move toward the seven thrones at the front of the room.
“Good morning,” Tawv greets us as he gets himself comfortable in the same throne he sat in last night to the left of where the Sovereign was seated. “I hope you all were able to get some rest,” he continues, and a couple of us nod while the rest are quiet.
“Today we will be selecting members of the tribunal,” Tawv announces formally. “Once selected, they will convene and go about coming to a decision on the Sovereign’s dispatch order for Suryn of the Second, her Marked, and for the Sentinel of unknown origin and her Marked.”
With that, the three mystery Sentinels who Tawv and Sauriel left by the side door bring in something that looks to me like the Stanley Cup’s older brother. I’ve never seen the hockey trophy in person, but this version of it is just shy of the size of Tawv. It looks tarnished though, and I notice there are symbols etched into the metal instead of names like the hockey trophy has.
Tawv, Sauriel, and Suryn watch while the other Sentinels set the giant metal cup in the middle of the room. No one says anything. I wonder if maybe Tawv will explain what the hell these three guys in gray monk robes are going to do, but the Quorum seems keen to just pretend like we’re not here now.
One of the robed guys calls on a gilded dagger. It appears in his hand and catches the sun and sparkles in a fascinating way.Maybe I am part raccoon; I sure do seem to be distracted by shiny things, I observe, and then I start when the robed guy slashes his palm with the blade.
“Did not seethatcoming,” Knox whispers, quietly commentating on what the Sentinels in the middle of the room are doing.
“It kind of looks like a more elaborate version of a beacon spell,” he observes, and that has me thinking back to the night that I found out Lachlan was my uncle. The blood I put into the brownie bowl and Keegan doing his thing over it until all hell broke loose. I try to blink away the images of Keegan and Lachlan with their heads pressed together, comforting each other after Lachlan had attacked me.
Another robed Sentinel slashes his hand and places it above the chalice portion of the hockey trophy looking cup.
“What team do you think they’re trying to summon?” Torrez asks quietly, and I snicker.
“Thank fuck I’m not the only one who thinks they stole the Stanley Cup,” Bastien states, and he fist bumps Torrez and then Knox.
The last robed guy cuts his hand and, like the two Sentinels before him, holds it above the bowl of the cup. Oddly, I can hear the blood drip into the mouth of whatever that overgrown chalice thing is, and Siah shifts his weight on his feet next to me. I turn and look at him. His features are tight, and he’s staring at the wall across the room like it has all the answers.
Fuck, he’s probably hungry and needs to feed. I mentally berate myself for not thinking about Siah’s hunger and needs before we left this morning. My other Chosen consumed every spec of food on the five platters that were brought up to us. They ordered more and were just digging into it when Suryn showed up. We all slept like the dead last night and woke up ravenous. Whatever happened at the barrier, the fighting, and everything else, had the whole crew running on empty.
I couldn’t eat, my stomach was in knots, but I’m a fucking dick for not thinking of Sorik and Siah. I look away from whatever the trio of Sentinels is doing to the cup now and eye Sauriel.I wonder what he does for blood?Like Sauriel can feel my eyes on him, he turns to me. I don’t look away. I study his face, searching for the same madness in his eyes that were in his brother's. I’m taken aback when his lips lift into a kind smile. My eyebrows drop in confusion, and I try to decipher just what the hell he means by smiling at me. His red-gold eyes go from warm to a little sad, and I struggle to understand why.
Chanting starts up in the room, and I pull my perplexed gaze from Sauriel back to the Sentinels and the cup. They murmur something together that I can’t make out.
“Which one of us do you think will get selected for the Triwizard Tournament?” Ryker teases, and more snickers sound off from the guys.
“Not it,” Sabin calls out on a whisper. “I can’t fly a broom or fight a dragon,” he confesses straight faced, but his forest green eyes sparkle with amusement.
“Can’t fly a broom?” Torrez asks with faux shock. “Even I can do that. You just got your wizard card revoked,” he announces like it’s a thing.
I shake my head at them and don’t fight the smile that their back and forth is coaxing out of me.
The inside of the cup lights up, and an orb goes hurtling out of it. The pink light streaks up and disappears through the ceiling.
“I’m thinking, based on the lack of panic or screamsthat it escaped, that the light is supposed to do that?” Valen comments, voicing all of our concern and subsequent deduction.
The chanting continues, and another pink orb goes streaking out, this one flies up toward the thrones and goes dive bombing through the window. Tawv and Suryn look bored, not at all impressed by the light show. Two more orbs streak out, exiting through opposite walls, and the chanting never ceases.
Another pink orb rises out of the cup, and I wonder where this one will go. We all try to track it as it shoots like lightning toward us. Several of us shout out a warning, but it’s too late. The pink light slams into Sabin before any of us can so much as dive out of the way. He gasps like he can’t breathe and grabs at his chest. I panic and reach for him, terrified of what the fuck just happened.
I call on my Healing magic and shove it into him. I search him for a wound or something that needs to be fixed, but I don’t feel anything. Sabin pulls in a deep breath of air and looks down at me, wide-eyed with the same shock and fear that must be on my face.
“I’m okay. I think I’m okay,” he reassures all of us as he rubs at his chest.
My frantic panic is slowly replaced by a whole lot of pissed off. I call on a short sword and step toward the gray robed Sentinels. Clearly, the word isn’t out about what happens when you fuck with someone I love. Time to fix that.
“Sentinel, no!” Tawv yells at me, and a barrier flashes up to protect the robed males in the middle of the room.
