The Phoenix People

Chapter Sixty-Two

"Yellow," A suddenly called out, and Griffin's face went momentarily slack. Without hesitation, Theo pulled him into a lingering kiss. When Griffin broke away, some color had returned to his cheeks. He glanced around at all of us once more before turning and working his way towards the front of the room. Theo sighed, running a hand over his face.

"Can I braid your hair?" Anna asked me suddenly. She was fidgeting, full of nervous energy, and had already pulled her own hair back into a simple style, keeping it in place with a bit of decorative leather taken off of her boots. I nodded in agreement and knelt to make her job easier.

Once the crowd had stopped shifting, having expelled all the yellow soldiers, the next color was called: "Blue."

I breathed a sigh of relief - none of my friends had been handed blue cards, after all. When I saw tall August's head bobbing above the crowd, however, I felt a pang of sympathy for Melody. Anna tugged particularly viciously at a snarl in my hair and I winced.

One by one, the colors were called. Anna finished my braid and began on her own. At one point, Theo slipped into the crowd, barely murmuring a farewell. I didn't blame him.

We waited.

Melody eventually found us once more, her expression tight and worried. She did not say a word.

And finally, the fated word was spoken.

"Red."

All of the remaining people - of whom there were few - stepped forward.

"Wait," A called out. We all stopped, confused.

"You are arguably the most important group," A explained. "Ultimately, the goal of the other colors is to get you safely into the palace so that each of you may have a chance to kill the king. There is a hierarchical system for assassin candidates, so some of your entrances will be prioritized. We don't want to lose any of you, so we do ask that women take a precaution before we leave. If you have long hair, it could be used against you. Unfortunately, you must cut it off."

My hand flew protectively to my recently braided hair. No. I remembered Aria running her fingers through it as she looped and worked it into intricate styles, and before her, my mother, brushing it softly and lovingly. As foolish as it sounded, my hair was part of me.

The council members walked around, handing out shards of glass. Anna accepted it wordlessly, turning to me. I took a deep breath and turned my back to her.

Anna took my braid gently in her hand, the other pressing the sharp edge of the glass against the thick strands. I squeezed my eyes shut as if anticipating pain.

It was over within seconds. The glass sawed relatively easily through my hair. My braid fell to the ground with a quiet thump and my head fell forward slightly at the sudden loss. It felt odd - too light. I raised my hand slowly and ran it through my newly cropped hair.

When I turned back around, Melody and Anna were staring at me, wide-eyed. I held out my hand wordlessly for the sharp glass, trying not to feel stung.

There was something strangely satisfying about chopping off Anna's braid. Her hair ruffled into its new position, jaggedly cut and an utter mess. I didn't even crack a smile, though - I knew that was what my hair looked like as well.

I moved on to Melody's head as Anna raised a hand to her hair in a daze. Melody didn't even hesitate. She gathered her hair in one hand and extended the other for the blade. I gave it to her and watched as she smoothly slid it through her hair. The untied strands drifted to the floor much more slowly than our braids had fallen.

Soon, all of the women had messily shorn hair. The council members collected the glass, and that was that.

"Please get into a single file line and proceed out of the room," A called. We did as she asked, quietly and without fuss. Our obedience must have been part of why we were chosen, I thought as I took my place behind Anna. The other groups had been far less orderly.

The line was moving slowly, causing me to wonder what the holdup was. When we got closer to the front of the line, I realized that we were all being given detailed tasks.

Anna stepped up to A. "Your father will be waiting for us in the wagon," the woman told her quietly. Anna nodded, murmuring, "Thank you."

"You are part of the team surrounding Alexia. You are higher up in the hierarchical order, so please do not take any risks. You will also be in charge of helping your father to remove Audric's closest guards if need be," A told her. The preteen nodded once more and moved out of the room, pausing just outside to wait for Melody and me.

I stepped forward, anticipating my task. A, however, took my shoulder and pulled me aside. "Wait here," she murmured as Melody shuffled forward, looking just as confused as I felt. "You will be in charge of protecting Alexia," A told her gravely.

I felt a flare of annoyance. I had been training for days, not to mention having escaped the Outlanders and killed an Eyeless One. Did I truly need a babysitter at this point?

Melody's thinly pressed lips hinted at her own displeasure at the role, but she nodded curtly and joined Anna outside.

Finally, the rest of the red group had filed through the line. A turned to me.

"We need to know that we can trust you, Alexia," she said without any preamble to soften to blow.

I gaped at her. After all I had sacrificed for the People, she still doubted me?

"You misunderstand," A said in response to my expression. "We need to know that we can trust you to kill your brother."

Suddenly, I understood what task they intended for me.

My voice was clear and steady as I spoke. "He has mutilated children. Forced the union of married Highborns and suffering Lowborns." I took a deep breath, my hands clenching into fists. "He banished my sister. He banished me." I stared unflinchingly into A's eyes.

"I will do whatever it takes to bring him down."

A nodded slightly. "Alexia, you are at the top of the hierarchy. Your task is to make it to the king and stab him through the heart," she said, her voice low and quiet.

I inclined my head and left the common room.

I would right my brother's wrongs. I would kill King Audric.

Anna and Melody swarmed me as soon as I was outside. "What's your task?" they both demanded.

"To kill the king," I replied. They both gaped at me.

"Well, that explains why I have to guard you," Melody finally muttered.

Anna patted my shoulder gently. "I know you can do it," she said comfortingly.

My attention was dragged from her to the council, who had just appeared at my shoulder. They moved through the crowd, which opened up around them. They continued to walk, and like a herd of sheep, we followed them.

It was eerie, being in the empty base. As we walked through the echoing hallways, I recalled mere hours earlier, when Phoenix People had been rushing through the base, looking for their loved ones and getting their final affairs in order.

Now, some of them were marching to their deaths.

And it was my job to ensure that those sacrifices would mean something.

For the first time, I truly felt the weight that had been placed on my shoulders. I ignored it and kept my mind focused, for the moment, on marching.