“The lines of what? I drop onto the edge of the bed and rub at my eyes. “They said I don’t burn. But I’m not unkindled. Everyone here talks in circles, and I get zero actual answers.”
Sarai is quiet for a long moment.
Then she says, “That means they don’t know what you are.”
“Join the club.”
“You misunderstand.” She sits on the bench across from me. “The council does not tolerate lack of knowledge. They tolerate risk, fire, hunger, even pain and violence. But not mystery.”
“That’s… super encouraging.”
She meets my eyes. “You shook something loose.”
I swallow. “Is that why everyone’s watching me like I might explode?”
“No,” she says, softer. “That’s why they’re trying to decide if you’re worth breaking.”
The air in the room thickens. My breath catches.
“Cool,” I manage. “Love that. Any advice?”
Sarai purses her lips, white brows tipped together as she frowns. “The Flame and the Asmodeus rule crimson. Only those with magic, only those sparked, have the chance to…” she pauses, searching for the right word, “wield it.”
“So, the flame knows everything?”Except me?
“There are many who believe the flame knows all, sees all. There are many who believe the flame to be all-powerful.”
“Many.” I can hear the truth in the pauses between her words. “But not you.”
Sarai clamps her lips together. Stark white lashes sweep down to cover her eyes.
“I am not sparked. My opinion does not matter. I cannot commune with the flame. No matter my want, my desire, I will never spark it to action.”
“That doesn’t sound all-powerful to me,” The urge to clap my hand over my mouth practically chokes me. “Maybe we shouldn’t be handing out decision-making rights to something that doesn’t recognize very one.
“The flame leads our Rite of Ascension. It crowns our rulers. It speaks of the future. This I do not dispute.” I hear the word she does not add and I say it for her.
“But…”
She shakes her head. “You don’t need me filling your head with my own personal thoughts. Not today. The Flame sees, the Flame knows, the Flame chooses. If you are unmarked but kindled, the flame recognized you in some capacity.
“And that’s good?”
There’s a gap between her front teeth. I notice it as she bites down into her lower lip.
“For now, it means you’re safe. The Flame could have seen you as a threat and you’d have never made it out of the assessment.”
I think she wants me to focus on the safe part but it’s the first ones that clamor in my brain.
“You knew someone like me,” I say. “Before.” Her hands still. “I remind you of her.”
Sarai doesn’t speak for a while, then she nods. “She was smart. Beautiful,” she says eventually. “And she believed that kindness and compassion were more powerful than flame. More necessary.”
I think about the way the fire bent around me in the hall. How it seemed to wait. To listen.
“Was she wrong?” I ask.
Sarai stands. “That depends on the question you want answered.” She turns away and heads for the door. Just before she leaves, she looks back. “And Kay?”
