Act II, The Free LandChapter 27
Chapter 27: Missing
A word on a board, a whisper in the halls, and one gold star that will not go dark.
Guinevere searched every sector she was cleared for. On the fifth night she climbed the fence of one she was not.
A Shield sergeant caught her by the collar. “No pass, no entry, miss.”
“I will find her, no matter what.”
“Then do it with a pass.”
The Academy had listed Vexana as missing. The word sat on the board outside the Combat office, in the same type as a roster. Guinevere read it and touched her collar.
Her Emblem was lit. It glowed whenever their powers were in sync, near or far. If Vexana were dead, it would have gone out. It had not. Somewhere, Vexana was alive and still answering.
Then the first raid came, and the Academy had a record. A tower camera had caught it. The teachers played it for the Combat Division on the briefing hall’s big screen.
Smoke. A street. A column of Enders. At its head, a flash of purple hair and a staff with something round and dark at its tip. Then the camera cracked.
“That is all we have,” said the teacher. “A girl our size, with a staff. We have one missing Aspirant. The Academy’s finding is that this is Vexana, and that she is corrupted.”
Corrupted meant the Enders had bent her to their side. Nobody knew how. Nobody had seen it done.
The staff looked like Vexana’s. Guinevere did not say so. She stood up.
“Her hair is black. You can’t see a face.”
“Hair can be changed.”
“Not hers.”
Lesley spoke from the wall, arms folded, her eye on the screen. “No face, no finding. Her file says Missing. It stays Missing.”
The teacher looked at his tablet.
By lunch the word in the halls was traitor.
“I’ll say it,” said Layla, at the long table. “The record’s bad. She’s gone over.”
“It happens.” Fanny looked at her tray. She did not sound as though she liked it.
“No.” Angela put down her spoon. “I came back once. People come back.”
“It’s a circuit, Guinevere,” said Layla, not unkindly. “Circuits glitch.”
Guinevere held the Emblem out on her fingers, glowing. “I soldered every seam myself.”
“The Aspirant spirit never lies.”
Nobody argued. Behind her, as she left, someone murmured, “The traitor’s partner.”
Guinevere turned and looked at them. “The great lady Guinevere, if you please.” She walked on with her chin high.
Hester was waiting at the gate in her gray coat.
“Miss Guinevere. Your father sends word.”
Guinevere’s heart jumped. He sent word.
“The House cannot stand beside a scandal. You are to come home. If you do not, your place in it is gone.”
“Is that all he said?”
“That is all.”
“Then tell him he’ll see.” Guinevere’s voice held. “Once I bring her back.”
Hester inclined her head a degree. As Guinevere passed, she spoke very low.
“Hands home after every punch, miss.”
For once she did not follow. She stayed where she was.
Each morning Guinevere stopped in the courtyard under the billboard. Two girls back to back, one with a pink ponytail, one with long black hair. THEIR UNDEFEATED RECORD HAS MADE THEM LEGENDS EVEN AMONG THE ASPIRANTS!
She touched her collar. Lit. She went in.
At the end of the week she unhooked the black-haired chibi keychain from her belt and clipped it to her arm guard, where her fist would swing. It clicked into place.