CHAPTER 30: ROUND ONE

SERICA

"That’s long enough," Aureli’s voice reverberated through the auditorium, "Whoever has the first pick, please report to the stage."

I recognized her as she approached; it was the girl with the half-moon glasses who had apologized for Chechele’s actions at the lost-and-found. She had a detached air about her, hands clasped at her front as she ascended the steps.

"Margot Still, lucky you," Aureli said, patting Margot’s shoulder. Deneel sat with the list we’d prepared, ready to cross off whatever name she provided.

Margot puffed out her chest and belted out, "Averiq Torell."

I pointed the name out to Deneel and told her, "You can also cross off Quinn Devell." Both would have likely gone in round one in a normal draft, but Quinn’s name ending in N was problematic. There wasn’t one on the list I’d want to take above the eighth round, which made me second-guess any plans of drafting Reilin.

In doing so, she’d effectively trashed her third pick, but I thought it a clever ploy since she’d likely end up with two first-rounders.

Margot left the stage to meet Averiq in her assigned section, and the next tacticienne took the stage immediately. Things proceeded at a brusque pace, which was necessary given there were four hundred and forty names to call. The tacticiennes began to form a queue stageside based on their assigned numbers. Deneel knew what to do: grab our highest name available ending in C. We passed the twenty-fifth pick when I waved her off to join them. Vic and Lyric were already claimed, which sucked, but wasn’t surprising.

Deneel got in line behind Cechele, who shooed her back a step. I couldn’t wait for the chance to rub her nose in her earlier defeat. The two finally reached the front of the line; it looked like we’d wind up with Aifric, an infirmière with a solid reputation.

As she made her way over to Aureli, Cechele turned and shot me an evil eye.

"Oh, go fuck yourself," I mouthed back. Then she spun to the crowd and declared, "Aifric Geret!"

What? Did she just-

My gaze turned to Deneel, and my face went white. There in her hands, in plain fucking sight, was our list. It took her a moment to realize what had just happened, then she went back to it, frantic to find the next name.

You just let that cunt snipe us!

"Unfortunate," came Illia’s voice at my side. I was livid. Ainset chimed in, "What a sore loser, do we need to smack her again?"

"Yeah." Another girl was peeking around Deneel’s shoulder, "Oh, for fucks sake, put that up!" She walked onstage, looking squinting into the crowd, and called, "Lilac Picard."

"Alright," Aureli said, "If your name starts with C, don’t get too comfy in your seat." I looked to the stands, trying to pinpoint Lilac. She was a cartomancienne, a tarot reader of the Département Arts Sensoriel. One rose, a thin girl with super-short dark-purple pigtails in an inky-blue uniform. She looked surprised. A cartomancienne going round one was basically unheard of.

"That was unlucky..." Deneel said, sitting down beside me and looking unsure of herself.

Luck had nothing to do with it.

I held my tongue, opting for gentle instruction, "You’ll want to keep that list out of sight."

Her face went pale, "Did, oh my gosh, she stole our pick?" She handed me the list, and I started crossing off names. "Serica, I’m so sorry..."

At least I didn’t have to spell that out.

"It’s okay." I feigned a smile, "Who knows, a strong reader could be a real boon, and we’re still set up for Cora in round two."

That’s if...

If Cechele didn’t poach her before we got the chance.

Fuck.

She was set up perfectly for it. Through the rest of the evening, she would be making her choices directly before mine, and she’d already seen my playbook. The cunt had long boasted of having an eidetic memory. I held my doubts despite her high test scores.

"Hey kids," came a gritty voice from behind me. It was Lilac, approaching Deneel, "Thanks for the pick..." she said awkwardly, "Why’d you take me round one?"

"Oh, uhm-" Deneel took a step back, said "That was her..." and pointed to me. Lilac ran her dark-painted eyes over me, and I her. She leaned into her hip, asking, "And who are you?"

"Your tacticienne. Deneel’s filling in for the moment," I said, wanting to hurry the conversation along and sort out our next move. If Cechele had plans for round two, I needed to address them.

"You got a busted leg or something?" Lilac had wide, expressive lips. I half-expected a forked tongue to flick from them.

"No. Full disclosure, I’m under academic probation." I stood up, looking over her shoulder.

The first round’s final tacticienne had just finished, and Aureli stood alone on stage, "We’ll take a five-minute break between each round. Don’t squander it."

I sought out Cechele and found her in the stands, chatting up a girl I assumed was Aifric. "The hell are you up to?" I said under my breath.

"Huh?" Lilac said, following my gaze, "Her?" She flipped a lace pocket cover on her skirt and withdrew a deck of silver-backed tarot cards, giving them a dextrous shuffle. "Give me a question."

Quick to action, that’s a plus!

"Alright, Lilac-"

"Lily."

"Lily. She planning on pulling some more shit?" I asked. She manipulated the cards in both hands with showy movements that were at the same time delicate.

"Eyes on her," she said, and I turned to Cechele. Drawing a card between her pointer and middle fingers, she licked its back and slapped it to my forehead, where it stuck.

A cringe ripped across my face. Was that necessary?

Lily placed herself in front of me, pressed her thumbs to the base of the card, and squinted. "Yeah, she’s being shitty. Prepare for the worst." She let me go, and the card kept its place. I pulled it off and handed it back to her without peeking,

"Alright, let’s go have a word."