How apt that they’re sitting beside each other. No alphabetical order this time. Sam hopes it’s an omen of what their future will look like.
Which means she has to consider this token carefully. This vote is not just about what she wants, but what’s best for Askala. If she’d been able to start a fire, this would be easy because she’d have two tokens. One for her, one for Hawk.
But there’s only one wooden disc digging into her palm.
Her hand sways over the two urns, the token pinched between her fingers. Quickly, without giving herself time to change her mind, Sam pushes the token through the slot in the top of one of the urns. With a soft clunk, it hits the bottom.
Her breath whooshes out. It’s done.
As she turns to the door, Sam lifts her chin. The first test is complete. The first vote has been made.
And now, it’s absolutely essential that she pass the next test.
MERCY
Mercy steps into the courtyard the following morning, tilts her head to the sky and curses. It’s still raining. Which means her normally sleek hair is going to turn into a raven’s nest. She glances at Luca as she reaches behind her neck and quickly plaits it into a long tail.
The fact she doesn’t want to look like a total mess in front of him means absolutely nothing. Hawk can think whatever he likes. She really didn’t appreciate him pointing out to her that Luca’s her cousin.
He’s her second cousin if Hawk wants to get technical. And not even by blood.
Which is all beside the point as nothing is going to happen between them anyway. Luca’s made it more than clear over the years exactly how he sees her.
As a pest. An annoying shadow. Far too immature for the likes of him.
Although, there’s been something different in his eyes since he returned that she’s yet to figure out. A glint that suggests some kind of seismic shift.
“How about an indoor test today?” Gust asks Jagger.
“You made of sugar?” Jagger turns and walks to a long line of wooden buckets. “Afraid you’re going to melt?”
“I’ve never even eaten any sugar.” Gust pokes out his tongue at Jagger’s back. “Although, I hear it’s sweet so maybe I am made from something like that.”
He shoots Mercy a wink and she tries not to gag.
Jagger turns to face them. “Apologies for the weather everyone. But as you’re aware it also rains in the Newlands so you might want to get used to that.”
Bryan punches Gust on the arm and says something Mercy can’t hear. No doubt some kind of jibe about sugar.
“Welcome to your second test,” Jagger continues. “I trust you enjoyed your first vote last night?”
“We all voted for ourselves,” says Nikita, smiling proudly. “We thought that was fair.”
Mercy shuffles, knowing for a fact that not everyone did that. Well, she hadn’t. Partly because she’s yet to figure out if she actually wants any tokens in her urn. But mostly because she’d be willing to bet Luca hadn’t voted for himself. Which meant Mercy had to even that out for him. Well, for Sam really. If Sam’s determined to live in the Newlands, she’ll be far safer with her big brother there to look out for her.
“I thought I was pretty clear about fairness not being a trait that will serve you well in the Newlands.” Jagger shakes his head. “Today, things will get a little more complicated. Participation in the test will earn you one token. Participating for a period of one hour will earn you two. The person who participates the longest, will earn three tokens.”
“But that results in an uneven number of tokens,” Sam says with a frown.
Jagger holds her gaze. “Yes, it does.”
“What exactly does this participation involve?” Sam cranes her neck toward the buckets. “What are you testing for?”
Mercy swipes some rain from her eyes and waits for Jagger to respond, wishing they could just get on with it. The sooner this test starts, the sooner it’s finished and she can get back inside.
“Endurance,” says Jagger. “When I count down from five, anybody who’s standing in a bucket will earn one token.”
Sam is pointing at the buckets one at a time, counting them. “But there’s only—”
“Shh!” Hawk warns her.
But it’s too late. Now everyone is counting, only to find there are nineteen buckets lined up. One person won’t be participating in this test at all. It seems Jagger had meant it when he’d said the early bird gets the cricket. Or worm. Or whatever it was he’d said about birds the other day.
“What’s the point of this?” Mercy asks. “How is standing in water difficult?”
“Ocean water,” Luca breathes beside her, as if he’s talking more to himself than to her. “Those buckets are full of acid.”
“We can’t stand in those for an hour!” Mercy whispers back. “This is insane!”
“Five!” Jagger shouts and everyone lurches forward.
Everyone, except Mercy. She has no intention of tearing her feet to shreds for this test. She doesn’t care how bad it comes across. She likes skin on her feet and nails on her toes. Let everyone else have the tokens if they’re so desperate for them.
“Four!”
Mercy folds her arms and watches the jostling as everyone fights for a bucket, not yet realizing that they can all have one, given she’s held back.
“Three!”
Woven shoes are being kicked off as people plunge their feet into the water, hoisting up their trousers and folding them at their thighs.
“Two!”
The looks on their faces are hard to watch and Mercy flinches. Sam’s already gone red in the face and she’s only been standing in her bucket for a second. Ocean water isn’t that acidic.
“One! Congratulations to the nineteen participants of our second test,” says Jagger. “You’ve all earned a token for tonight’s vote. Mercy, I’m sorry but you won’t be receiving one.”
Mercy nods, blinking at Jagger through the steady rain. “Fine by me.” She turns her gaze back to Sam, who’s flanked by Hawk and Luca, both of whom are already trying to convince her to step out of the bucket.
“You can have my tokens,” says Luca. “I’ll vote for whoever you tell me to. Just get out of there. Your skin’s more sensitive than mine.”
“You can have mine, too,” says Hawk. “Don’t do it, Sam.”
“Stop treating me like a baby!” Sam glares at them. “I can do this.”
But as the time wears on, it becomes more and more obvious that she can’t. Luca’s right. Her skin is more sensitive. A mild sting for the others is surely starting to feel like an itchy burn for Sam. The way she’s shifting her weight on her feet and rubbing them together is evidence of that.
“Are you okay, Sam?” Hawk asks.
“You don’t have to do this,” Luca adds.
But Sam is biting down on her lip and blinking back tears, refusing to look at either one of her protectors.
Mercy walks over to her, positioning herself so she’s in Sam’s line of sight. “Sammy, hop out of the bucket.” She reaches for Sam’s hands.