Page 75 of House of Marionne

“Help me with these, would you?” she asks, finally unloading the bags draped over her arms. Shoes tumble out. I take out an armful of bedazzled shoes from her bag only to find she has three more full bags.

“How many of these things do you have?”

“A lot. A few of those samples Mom custom ordered. I have to narrow these down tonight.”

“Geez!”

“I make a big deal, but it’s sort of nice. She’s usually drowning in work. Now I can’t get her off the phone. Did honing go all right?”

“I think so. Jordan’s making me take the exam Friday.”

“As in the end of this week? Quell, are you going to be ready? You don’t get a second chance, you know that?”

Wait, really? I join her on the bed.

“You can’t fail, Quell.”

Oh, I know.

“In fact.” She takes her shoes out of my hands. “I can do this.”

“No, I want to help. We’re friends, right?”

“Yes, silly. Go study. I have fittings all day Thursday, you can help me with that.”

I sigh. She’s making sense even if I don’t want to listen. “Only if you’re sure.”

“And try to talk to Jordan about sitting a different exam date.”

Grandmom knows, and she’s already told Council. There’s no way that’s changing. The expectation has been set . . . etched on my tombstone. “I’m not getting out of this exam this week, Abby.”

“Then be ready.”

TWENTY-THREE

Despite fatigue, I was first in my seat in Dexler’s in the morning. She fawned over my blade, praising me for how good it looked. Then dumped a bag of thirty-two more enhancers in my lap.

“These need to be done before your exam,” she said, and I died a small death inside. Still, I somehow managed to fold in three during class, but Jordan wasn’t kidding when he said each subsequent stone gets harder to fold in. Thankfully the Purifier he folded in doesn’t seem to be giving me any trouble. However, I fought with a translucent gray one for an hour before my toushana flared up and rendered me useless for most of the day. Then I went back to the gray stone only to realize it required four specific enhancers to be folded in first before it could bind with the metal. What a headache. And it’s already Tuesday. Three days left.

I grab my book as Dexler’s class wraps, shoulder my bag of stones, and make my way to a full day of specialty classes that have cropped up on my schedule: Latin, Knowledge-Strand Location, Body Binding, Elixirs 101, and Magic Exhaustion and Rejuvenation. I was hoping to get into Advanced Paths of Change, but no luck.

My brain is mush by the time I stumble into etiquette. My toushana lurks beneath my skin, and I wrap myself tighter in my sweater. I glance at the pile of stones in the bottom of my bag. I’m so close.

“Quell.” Casey and several others say hello, wrapping me in their small talk.

“How’s it going?”

I update him on making headway toward the exam.

“Any tips you can give? Like, what’s on the exam exactly?” I’ve been studying everything, all my notes.

“You’ll figure it out. It’s tradition.” He winks. “Just remember, stay calm. That’s key.”

Has he met my mentor?!

Casey’s Cotillion partner hooks her arms around his waist, and they take their places. “Good seeing you, Marionne.”

I can’t let Jordan frazzle me today.