‘It was worth it,’ Therin said with a courtly bow to the witgirls, which Annev knew was meant for Faith. Then, before Edra could chastise him again, the wiry acolyte sprang up, gathered an armload of black cloth and hurried after Markov, who was already making his tenth trip down to the storage rooms.
The other testimonies went quickly, with many acolytes having done nothing but hide under the pews until they were tagged by the witgirls. When it was Titus’s turn, he surprised everyone by pulling two badges from under his tunic.
‘You passed?’ Edra said, disbelieving. ‘How? Fyn stunned you and took your token.’
‘But he didn’t mention dumping the boy in a pile of rags,’ Kiara said, eyeing Titus. ‘I suspect there’s more to this story than Avatar Fyn shared.’
Duvarek grunted, agreeing. ‘Why were you in that pile?’
Keos, Annev thought. Maybe I should have kept those badges …
Titus looked at Annev.
‘Annev and I. We …’
‘Spit it out,’ Edra snapped. ‘You’ve passed. I just want to know how.’
‘Sorry, Master Edra. The truth is … I got stunned—’
‘Titus was bait,’ Annev interrupted, stepping to Titus’s side. ‘He pretended to be stunned, and I was going to ambush anyone who spotted him. Only Fyn was careful and stunned him for real.’ He looked to Titus, hoping the boy wouldn’t mention accidentally stunning himself. ‘Fyn had guessed Titus was pretending, and I stunned him when he was distracted.’
Edra weighed Annev’s words and nodded slowly, squinting at the raised dais and altar at the far end of the nave. ‘Then you dumped Fyn in the Ring of Odar.’ The master glanced at Annev who nodded. ‘A bit sacrilegious to dump someone paralysed in there. Especially for a deacon.’ Annev bowed his head, having no answer for that, and Edra turned back to Titus. ‘And how did you end up beneath those rags?’
‘They were for stealth. To cover our uniforms—’ Titus said, unwinding a black strip of cloth from his body.
‘Not that,’ Edra interrupted. ‘How did you end up under that pile of cloth? Fyn stunned you and took your badge. But now you have two badges. How?’
Titus’s voice grew quieter. ‘Annev hid me there with my badge plus one he’d taken from Fyn.’
‘One riddle solved,’ Edra said. He nodded, dismissing Titus and turning his gaze on Annev. He, Duvarek, and Kiara all studied him in silence. Annev looked away, self-consciously tugging on the glove that covered his left hand.
‘Acolyte Ainnevog,’ Edra said. ‘You’re the last. Account for yourself.’
Annev did, aware of everyone’s eyes on him. He felt Fyn and Kenton’s glare as he reported beating them. He glossed over Therin’s theft, not having realised it at the time, and explained their plan to corner the witgirls. Kiara sniffed but did not interrupt until Annev mentioned beating Myjun and the other wit-apprentice, at which point she huffed in consternation.
‘She was carrying four badges, but you only took two.’ The witmistress stared at him, grey eyes glittering. ‘Did you pity her as you did the plump boy?’
Annev hesitated, realising that leaving tokens with Myjun and Titus really had been a mistake. He shook his head. ‘I didn’t pity either of them. Titus earned his by distracting Fyn. I owed him his due.’
‘And Myjun?’
Annev felt Myjun’s green eyes on him but did not look at her. ‘Titus helped me beat Fyn. Therin and I beat Kenton together, and if he hadn’t stolen my badges, maybe we could have earned some more.’
‘Unlikely,’ Kiara said, ‘and irrelevant when I asked you about Myjun. What is your point?’
‘But that is my point,’ Annev said, gaining confidence. ‘I did well because I allied with my friends – for as long as I could – and your witgirls did well because they worked together. Myjun was part of that. She lost to me, but she was successful working as part of a team. Taking all of her badges would not have reflected that.’
Kiara stared, then surprised him by laughing, not with derision, but with genuine mirth. It surprised Edra and Duvarek, too, and when the witmistress spoke she had a thin smile on her face. She turned to the masters.
‘Your acolyte is as talkative as he is talented – and he has proved my point about the value of working together, as my apprentices are trained to do. Our allegiance and support for our sisters gives us our strength.’ Kiara looked pointedly at Edra. ‘Your avatars would have fared better if they had made more alliances.’
‘Maybe,’ Edra conceded. ‘But this was not a team exercise. We want to assess how well each apprentice will fare on his own.’
‘And you have your answer,’ Kiara said. ‘Poorly. Your avatars may have bested each other, but none overcame my apprentices.’ She paused, appraising Annev. ‘Except this one – who overcame two and is not even an avatar.’ The grey-eyed witmistress steepled her hands but said no more.
Master Narach approached Edra and Duvarek, the black box of stumble-sticks in his age-spotted hands.
‘I have all but two of the rods,’ he said, setting the box down to wipe his pale, watery eyes. ‘No student may leave until I have them all. If they’ve misplaced even one—’
‘We’ll find the rods, Narach’ – Duvarek waved a hand, dismissing the aged Master of Secrets and his evident concern – ‘so you can lock your precious artifacts up again.’
Narach focused the full force of his withering glare on his colleague. ‘Don’t try my patience, Master Duvarek, or I might not be so quick to let you use artifacts in your next lesson.’
‘You weren’t quick this time,’ Duvarek replied, ‘but we will search for your precious rods.’
Narach sputtered and hobbled away, mumbling something about getting Markov to help him.
Master Narach’s presence always made Annev uneasy. He empathised with the grumpy old man, who often seemed an outcast among the younger masters, but he and Ancient Tosan both used scrying artifacts to check if any students, masters or ancients were concealing forbidden magic, and Annev had to consciously stop himself from fiddling with his glove when the Master of Secrets was around.
Kiara pursed her lips together. ‘Acolyte Ainnevog, why are you not an avatar?’
Annev was uncertain how to respond. ‘Because … I haven’t passed the Test of Judgement?’
‘You obviously possess the skills to do so.’ She paused, glancing at the two masters beside her and allowing her words to sink in. ‘Whatever you’ve done in the past, it’s not working. I suggest you rethink your strategy.’ She nodded to Edra and Duvarek. ‘Masters.’
Witmistress Kiara moved towards the door. Nasha and Tonja followed close behind as the eight witgirls, back in their dresses without a hair out of place, trailed them. Narach met the girls, examining each with a scrying stone before they could leave.
Annev tugged at the Glove of Illusion Sodar had made for him. The priest had made several such gloves over the years, but now the illusory fabric Sodar had stolen from the Vault was almost gone. Annev’s current glove was threadbare, but it would still protect him from Tosan and Narach’s scrying. He took a deep breath, consciously releasing the magical glove.