The Broken Ones

Chapter 12:2 -The council meeting

The Academy buildings were four floors high and felt like white mountains looming over them as the coach drove passed and into the Academy area. Still the Academy buildings were nothing in comparison to the Academy council which lay in the middle, encircled by the Academy buildings. What distinguished the council was its dome and its clock tower but instead of a clock there was an enclosed crystal which reflected the sun light to the Academy courtyard.
-That’s what created the flash light each sunset, Ana explained to Soi. –It guides brokens to the Academy.
-As a sort of pier, Soi mumbled while gazing up towards the crystal.
In the Academy area more people were moving around than in the rest of the city, all dressed in white of course.
-This is because, as a new broken, you’ll live close to the Academy. The Academy provide everything for you the first years before you have to decide whether to stay and work for the Academy or move elsewhere.
The carriage arrived at the council entrance where more people dressed in white awaited their arrival, all lined up neatly in two rows.
-What’s with the welcome committee, Ana sighed before she plunged out of the coach with a surly expression on her face.
Soi smiled and followed.
The welcome committee bowed deeply the second Ana stepped out of the carriage and a man took a step forward.
-Miss Ana, how kind of you to return to the Academy, we have all missed your presence here.
The middle-aged man with a round belly and greasy hair falsely smiled at Ana before he obediently bowed and moved out of her way with a toothless disgusting grin, following Ana’s every step.
Soi took protectively a step closer towards Ana and whispered quietly:
-Who’s that?
-The toothless fool? Guilly, the Academy’s guide. Not really necessary for him to be here with all these new brokens, it’s not like this is my first time at the council.
As the two reached the end of the two rows of bowing heads the new brokens lifted their heads and stared after Ana followed by an immediately murmur of excited voices. They all talked about Ana.
Ana and Soi entered the Academy council and walked into a huge hall. Another man, this one younger and with burns covering what was visible of his arms from the white garment he was wearing, met up with the two.
-Ana, he said coldly.
-Ciron, she acknowledged with an equally icy tone.
-How’s your leg?
Ana gave him a glare.
-Aching, as usual. And your burns?
-Still aching, but it’ll get better.
-I bet it will.
The two glared coldly at each other.
-Who’s he? Broken? Ciron nodded in Soi’s direction without taking his eyes from Ana.
-My guard.
-Oh, so you keep such now? Instead of killing them.
-Believe me, I’ve tried to off this one as well, but he keeps at me like a leech.
-Sucking your heart away, Ciron said with a low voice and grinned spiteful. –It looks a bit like Sam, not the same eyes though. But the same height, hair colour, type of body. Heard he’s a monster now, Sam.
Ana gritted her teeth.
-How come you didn’t notice that earlier? Weren’t you two close? And with your clear sightedness, shouldn’t that have been simple to see through? Or has the pain from your leg dulled your brain?
Ana gave him another glare before she walked away, keeping a straight line so it was almost impossible to see that she limped. Ciron snorted loudly behind them.
-Oh, and Ana, let me know when you’re playing with fire next time, I’ll join you, he called after them.
-What did he mean playing with fire? Soi whispered.
-He’s referring to last year’s visit when I set fire to this hall after a meeting with the council. They did a great work restoring it though, it looks exactly the same.
Ana lifted her head to look at the white ceiling.
-You mean, this hall!? You set fire to this hall! Why would you do that? Soi tried to keep his voice leveled but it wasn’t easy when he’d heard something outrageous that was true. This wasn’t like Nibbles little extraordinary lies.
-I didn’t agree with their decision to send Sam to Beroal for an important mission, it was too risky for him to handle.
-So you set fire to a whole hall?!
-I’ll admit I was a bit out of line, but I was frustrated.
-I guess Nibbles doesn’t know about this accident otherwise he’d call you hypocrite when you ranted about that curtain.
-What happens at the Academy stays at the Academy, it’s the only good thing about this white prison.
She slowly turned to face him with a grave expression.
-And you are not going to tell him about it either. You’re my guard, remember? You’ve sworn loyalty to me, and no one else, she threatened.
-I’ve only sworn loyalty to the mayor of Sofara, actually, Soi said with an excusing smile.
Ana snorted scornfully.
-We’ll adjust that when we’ve returned to the mansion.
Not until I’ve told Nibbles all about it, Soi thought but asked:
-Why does Ciron dislike you?
-Try the word hate instead. I saved him from a burning house.
-So…
-I couldn’t save his family. I suppose he’d rather wished I left him to die with his family instead of surviving and living alone.

It was a cold, white hall with windows reaching up to the dome. Thirteen men and women were seated in front of a long table. All dressed in white and with cold piercing eyes, all directed on Ana who met them steadily with her own grim grey glare. But none in the council did even worthy Soi a glance. He was invisible.
-Miss Ana. Please take a seat, a white haired man with scars covering the left side of his face addressed Ana.
The man was seated in the middle of the line of the quiet stone faced brokens. They reminded Soi of marionettes.
A chair was brought forward to Ana, but she remained standing.
-Thank you, sir Harel, but I intend to keep this a short meeting so there is no point to sit down.
Ana was being rude and the white haired man, Harel, gave her another piercing look before he clasped his hands and gave a short nod.
-As you please. Who is this you have with you? A new broken?
All the cold eyes were immediately shifted to gaze at Soi, now that he had been acknowledge as a possible broken.
-It’s my guard.
The eyes switched back to Ana. It reminded Soi how Nibbles had treated him on their first meeting. Soi was only of any interest if he was a broken. He didn’t know if to feel hurt or relieved. Then he noticed that some eyes of the council member still watched him with curiosity from the corner of their eyes. Why would they be curious about him? Ana glanced at him with an expression he couldn’t read, was it nervousness? Harel had kept his piercing eyes on him all this time.
-So, the rumours were true, he said at last with unnerving smile.

To be continued...
By J.L.Frick