The Man In The Midnight Blue Suit

Chapter Twenty-One

Tobias's apartment isn't flashy, like mine. The walls are blue, with shining silver streaks that are only seen from the corner of my eye. There is a small space that I would call a kitchen, filled with simple benches with cupboards below, except for the lack of cooking appliances. There is only a wide steel sink, shining like the silver streaks. A small wooden table fills one corner and leathery black couches take up the other. Floor to ceiling windows reveal the same view of a large, maze-like courtyard as I have, except instead of lush green covering the trees, they are coated with white. It takes me a moment to realise its snow. I rush to the window, staring down at the treetops dusted with snow so fine it could be icing sugar, and the delicate snowflakes falling past. The snow miraculously avoids the pathways, leaving them in stark contrast to the wintery wonderland. But even pressed up against the window, I don't feel cold.

"You like snow?" Tobias throws the question casually, but there is a hint of strain in his voice.
"It's the first time I've seen it," I answer. "My older brother always said he'd take me to see snow, but... things got in the way." I'm not quite ready to reveal Jonathans' part in my training, not yet. Something tells me the others were trained alone, without anyone else.
"Knowing it's only an illusion puts me off," I say.
"What? You mean that it's not real?"
"The view from my window is of the same courtyard, but the trees are lush and everything is in full bloom, unlike your winter wonderland. And no snow falls on the pathways, which is obviously impossible. Never mind the lack of cold near the window. It's the Elites work."
"Thanks," Tobias says sarcastically, but in a joking manner, "You've just ruined my winter view for me."
"The truth hurts," I say, grinning back at him, but words dig deeper than the illusions. I can't tell if he notices the reference to the Elites, how the training and now competition hides truths that can cut like knives. I've had my fair share of truths, beginning with the knowledge that I'm capable of more than the average person. Knowing that I could never go back to my old life. At least I had Jonathan – for Tobias, Gin, Katelyn, and the others, it must have been worse. They were alone.

Tobias is staring at the snow, his eyebrows slightly creased.
"I have a theory," He starts.
"Go on," I prompt.
"I don't know about you, but my tutor loved to be in control. I think these Elites don't just love control, but they relish their ability to control us, their little subjects. They take pleasure in playing mind games with us – almost ironic, considering our minds are what makes us their subjects. This snow is just that – a mind game. I grew up around snow and white winters, you see. Some of my best memories are surrounded by snow. My tutor, Alatar, knew this. He wants to agonise me with thoughts of home, the sadist."
After a moment, I reply. "I know what you mean, about mind games. I know to the Elites, we are nothing. We're their subjects, as you say, here for their own purposes. For now, at least."
He smiles at me. It's small but genuine. "I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks so."

Silence covers the room for a moment. I stare at the snow outside Tobias's window, still in awe at the beauty of the illusion. I want to fill the hollow silence, but my thoughts are too frantic to put into words.
Tobias, however, leans forward, eager to ask and find out more, just as I am.
"This is going to sound weird," He says, the silence finally filled with his words, "But I've been wondering about it since the ceremony. Your fire – it's white, right?"
I ignite a flame in my palm, moving closer to show him. The bright white fire casts light over our faces, making shadows long and drawn. Dusk is approaching.
"Sure is," I murmur, my voice sounding softer in the presence of the flame. "Now you have to show me yours."
A lime green flame ignites in his palm. It's smaller than mine but perfectly controlled. We sit quietly for a moment, watching the two flames gleam.
"Your tutor was lucky, finding you, wasn't he?" Tobias breathes.
"Maybe. Or maybe it's the opposite." My white flame dances in my palm, a tiny hint of danger. I close my hand, and the bright white flame is gone.
"I despise Lucian," I say, my face gravely serious. "And I'm not here to play their game."

Tobias's lime green flame flickers.

I get up from the black leather couch and head towards the door. "Thanks for talking with me, Tobias."

"Casey?" He is standing, one arm resting on the couch. "Let's be friends, rather than competitors. Especially since we're competing for an invisible prize."
I smile at him, before opening the door and leaving the winter wonderland apartment.

Thoughts swim through my mind as I enter the apartment that will be my home until this is over. And then I don't know what will happen. Dusk has fallen outside, and only a trickle of light comes through the window. Long shadows sweep across the room, creating dark corners where secrets hide.

My thoughts scamper as my gaze lingers on a source of light I hadn't seen. Like in the mansion, intricately carved scones sit upon the walls, waiting to be filled with fire. There is one, above the bedroom entrance, that already casts fragmented shadows over the floor. Midnight blue fire is trapped in the scone, flickering madly, ferociously trying to escape.

So Lucian understood my display today. Maybe he thinks that I'm only trying to frighten him. Or, he finally understands that I won't be his tool. Either way, here is his warning. Do what we say, Casey dearest. This is what I've trained you for. Do not fail.

But the competition has started, and an unknown outcome is already in the making. That silver bonfire prevents him from doing anything until it has finished.

Bright white flames begin to fill the wrought iron scone. The midnight blue fire fights for space. But the white keeps growing, dominating. The midnight blue flames are smothered. White flames glimmer in the sconce, held together by a tether of control. The apartment is filled with light, banishing the shadows.