He gave me one more tentative glace before turning back around, looking up at Jocelyn who smiled, and walking into the Chamber. I meant to follow immediately behind him, but paused, glaring at Jocelyn.
“If that thing hurts him,” I whispered, chin up, looking him straight in the eye, “I swear to God, I’ll kill you.” Without another word, I stepped past him and through the door.
Min was already leading Ryland to the table in the center of the room, so I made my way over to where everyone else was standing and took a place by Alex.
“How’s he doing?” he whispered, as I slid in next to him.
“Good. Better than me.” Only after I said the words did I realize how true they were. Ryland was doing well. Nervous sure, but otherwise well. While I, on the other hand, had been putting on a brave face all day, but now that he was finally up there about to do this I was freaking out. What if he got hurt? What if it was too much for his tiny body to handle? What if he touched it and it blew up, or messed with his head, or turned him into some crazy–
The touch of a hand on my back brought my mental panic to a halt. I glanced to my side, though I didn’t need to. I knew it was Alex.
“He’ll be fine,” he breathed, rubbing my back in small, somewhat shy circles, in an effort to comfort me. Had the situation been different, I probably would have melted into a puddle on the floor. As it was however, I was too much on edge. Ryland would be fine, deep down I knew that, but still, as much as I wanted to be calm, and as much as Alex rubbing my back did console me, it was impossible not to be nervous.
I focused my attention on the center of the room where Min was placing the huge Sciath on Ryland’s pencil-thin arm. Jocelyn had locked the Chamber door behind us and was standing beside Min, while the new guy, Cormac, was standing on the other side of the table. Once the Sciath was in place, Min opened the glass case containing the Iris and pulled it out. She glanced first at Jocelyn, then at Cormac, to make sure they were ready. When they both nodded, she looked down at Ryland and held out her hand. The room itself seemed to hold its breath as she slowly placed the Iris into Ryland’s waiting palm, and then…
Nothing.
Or nothing that I could see anyway. I looked around at the others to see if there was something I had missed, but they were all focused on the group in the middle of the room. I saw Min glance at Jocelyn, then at Cormac, then Jocelyn looked at Min. They were all shooting glances at one another, their looks slowly changing from expectation, to surprise, to incomprehension – but no one was saying anything.
What the hell was going on?
Finally I couldn’t take it any longer. “What’s happening?” I whispered to Alex, though I was sure the entire room heard me.
“I don’t know,” he mouthed, eyebrows pulling together in confusion.
“Well?” Taron asked aloud, for once making me grateful for his presence.
“I’m not sure,” Min finally said, shaking her head. “Jocelyn, do you…?”
“No, nothing. Cormac?”
“No,” Cormac sighed, “it didn’t work.”
“What do you mean it didn’t work?” Taron barked, effectively ending my grateful streak. “It has to work. It has to work!”
“How can you be sure?” Mr Reid asked, more pleasant though still with a concerned tone.
“I am positive,” Cormac assured them. “The boy has had absolutely no change in his ability, nor has the general power level of the room altered in any way.
“It’s true,” Min agreed. “His saol is also unchanged.”
“How can that be?” Taron croaked.
“Perhaps there’s been a mistake?” Mr Reid suggested
“Could his Sciath be interfering?”
“He’s too young.”
“Age has nothing to do with it.”
“He should be awakened.”
“What if it’s all been wrong…?”
“Was it done correctly…?”
Everyone was talking at once, yelling over each other, trying to be heard, but I wasn’t listening. What was being said didn’t concern me. All I was concerned with was the little boy still standing in the middle of the room, eyes darting around to all the yelling adults, growing more upset by the second. When his frantic gaze finally met mine, I waved him over to me. He timidly slid the Iris onto the table and ran over, hiding his