Faults

Part 2: Tainted -- Chapter 25: Klaus

Today's the Honing.

I've been waiting for this day ever since we learned about it in our first year. When we were just five years old, they told us that there was a special day where we would gain magical abilities. Of course, we all knew about the magic from our parents, but learning about the Honing made it all the more intriguing. It sounded great then and even better now.

Now that this day is finally here, it's not anything like I expected it to be. The walk to the Lifeblood was much longer and a lot more boring than our teacher made it out to be. The ritual has already started, with the kids in my class who are first alphabetically going, one by one.

I watch as each of them press their hand to the enormous tree's bark. Everyone says the same thing, "Tribue mihi benedictiones tuas." Even though I've been watching the ritual closely and paying attention in class when Mr. Mellish explained it, it still dumbfounds me how it all works.

My class has the grace of having the King watch our ceremony, along with the man I always see him with. The man with the abundance of scars. The left side of his face has three slash marks and there's a large burn on his neck. His arms are covered in smaller scars and burns, leaving me to wonder constantly about what happened to him.

I've never seen him without the King, though. They go everywhere together. It's very rare that I see the King by himself, too. The man he's with all the time doesn't talk much and he looks timid.

No time to think about all that now, I'm up next after the girl that's currently at the tree. She utters the phrase to the tree and it glows a pale pink. My teacher calls my name once she returns to the class, "Klaus Murray."

I step up to the Lifeblood and place my hand on the smooth, knotted bark. "Tribue mihi benedictiones tuas," I murmur, staring at the grooves in the bark.

The tree glows yellow and I remove my hand. I walk back to the group, taking my place next to my best friend, Marshall. Mr. Mellish calls his name next and when he puts his hand on the tree, it glows blood red. The colors have always confused me since, from what everyone has said, they don't usually correlate to the abilities.

Once Marshall comes back, we watch the remaining students perform the ritual. There aren't that many left now and when they're finished, our teacher explains when we should get our abilities. Apparently, it's either instantaneous or can take a few days. My mind is just going off the rails with wondering what my ability might be. That, and how long it'll take for me to get it. I'm going to drive myself insane.

※ ※ ※

"You just got your ability, didn't you?" my brother's best friend, Trey, asks me.

It's been two days since the ritual. I glare at Trey and then rummage through a drawer in my desk, looking for a pair of scissors. "Trey, if you don't stop asking me that question, I'm going to chop off your hair," I say, waving the scissors I just found around in the air. "This is, what, the tenth time you've asked me that today?"

He pets his silky-smooth hair and then shrugs, taking the scissors from me. "I'm just curious."

"Go bother Aster or something," I grumble before walking to the front door. When I open it, my brother, Aster, appears in front of me. "What the hell?" I blurt out.

"You're pawning off that bonehead to me?" he asks, pointing to Trey behind me.

"He's all yours," I reply as I step around my brother. No matter how many times he scares me with his ability, it never ceases to freak me out.

Aster laughs. "Gee, thanks."

"Anytime," I say jokingly before running off to Marshall's house.

When I reach my best friend's cottage, I knock on the door. His father answers it and lets me inside. "Hi, Mr. Nicholson. Is Marshall home?" I ask. My guess is no, since he usually answers the door.