Jack laughed, approaching the basin to inspect my work, wearing nothing but the underpants he had slept in.
‘Will you put something on please?’ I said, avoiding looking at his exposed body. My face felt rather hot.
Rolling his eyes, Jack fetched a pair of trousers and slipped them on. Once they were buckled up, I turned to face him.
‘Better?’ he asked.
‘Much. How would you like it if I paraded around in my underwear?’
Jack frowned, ‘I don’t understand. Is that a trick question?’
Laughing, Jack skipped out of my reach when I tried to hit him. Glaring, I added, ‘your shirt is clean. Hang it up, will you?’
‘Can’t you wear it until it’s dry?’
‘Oh, for goodness sake.’
Once our garments were washed and dried (Jack had insisted I wear his shirt until it was toasty warm), we proceeded downstairs into the lobby. We asked the mousy girl if she could direct us to The Realm Headquarters. She looked quite alarmed when we asked this, but told us anyway. It turned out the Headquarters was only a fifteen-minute walk away from the lodge.
The Realm Headquarters was an enormous building made of stone and glass. It had a huge glass dome roof and a twelve-foot high fence around the perimeter. Hundreds of stairs led up to the front entrance, where there was a huge oak door with a dragon knocker.
I felt very intimidated as I looked up at this building, as though I was the size of an ant.
The most interesting thing about this building was not the architecture itself but the people out the front. There seemed to be some kind of riot taking place on the front steps. Guards held the crowd at bay, shouting down the angry mob that was trying to push their way into the building.
‘What’s going on?’ I said to Jack as we approached the fray.
‘Some kind of protest?’ Jack guessed, but there was no signs being waved.
I listened to what some of the mob was shouting.
‘You took my sister! You took her! She’s a Mage! A Mage I tell you! You can trace our family history back five generations! We’re all metal-shapers! She can do it I tell you! She is just weak and sickly!’
‘My son! My son! What have you done with him?’
‘I want to talk to someone in charge!’
Whatever the other people were shouting was indistinguishable.
‘C’mon,’ I said to Jack and without a moments hesitation, we pushed our way through the crowd. I ducked and weaved between people and under elbows, trying to make my way to the gate. Guards were protecting the perimeter, pushing people back with such force that they fell to the ground in a heap. Jack stopped to help up an old lady, while I tried to get the attention of one of the guards. They all wore red robes with a seal on the front. The seal of The Realm of Mages – a dragon with the letter ‘M’ emblazoned on the chest.
‘Excuse me!’ I called over the noise. ‘Excuse me!’
They took no notice of me. I was just another person in the crowd.
‘Hello? I’m … I’m looking for my sister.’ I broke free of the throng and approached a guard.
‘Get back!’ He growled at me, pushing me aside.
I fell to the pavement and grazed the palms of my hands. Jack was already by my side, helping me up.
‘We just want to make an appointment with the Human Registration Office,’ Jack said to the guard as he helped me to my feet.
‘Yeah, you and everyone else here,’ the guard said. ‘Now get back, both of you.’
‘Please,’ I said. ‘I need to talk to Korra Waterson. My family was taken, you have to help me.’ I pulled out the notice that had been pinned to my mailbox. ‘Please.’
But my voice was drowned by the sound of the other Mages and their pleas for help.
‘Please! I need to see my daughter-’
‘You took my brother!’
‘Where have you taken them?’
‘She’s not Human, I swear!’
I looked at Jack for support, but his expression was bewildered. Eventually, we were buffeted by the crowd and found ourselves back on the street.
‘Jack,’ I breathed. ‘All of these people have lost someone.’
‘There must be over a hundred people here.’
‘What do we do?’ I fretted. ‘They’ll never see us.’
Jack bit his lip, his brows furrowed. ‘I don’t know what to do.’
I felt tears begin to sting my eyes. I had come all this way and I would be thwarted by the sheer amount of people who also sought an audience with The Realm. But I couldn’t give up yet. There must be a way to get their attention.
‘Maybe we can distract them by setting that trash can-’
Jack eyed my wearily. ‘No, you are not setting anything on fire.’
‘Perhaps Hawthorne could fly us over the fence and-’
‘No.’
‘Okay. We can find out where Korra Waterson lives and-’
‘Avalon, we can’t do anything that will result in you getting arrested. You’ll be no help to anyone locked in a cell.’
‘Do you have any ideas?’ I said desperately.
Jack thought for a moment, ‘I guess we can camp here and wait until they start letting people in.’