Despite collapsing on the bed as soon as I returned to my room, the next day was not separated by sleep, and even dishing myself a plate of eggs on toast at the dining hall, my final breakfast of the sort, did little to stir me up.

  Rolene sat eating her own plate alone, so I decided to join her.

  “Morning,” I said.

  I didn’t dare say good morning as for Rolene it seemed to very rarely be good.

  “Morning,” she said, at least deigning to reply. In all fairness she did appear happier today, scoffing herself with the biggest forkfuls of food she could from her plate of ham and pineapple.

  “I can’t believe it’s the final trial,” I told her, “It’s gone so quickly.”

  “Not quickly enough,” she answered, cutting up another piece of ham. “Imagine eating anything you want for the rest of your life. I can’t wait.”

  She took another bite.

  “What’s with the face? Aren’t you excited?” she asked.

  “I am,” I started, and almost told her the whole story of how I joined the Lion Legion and how the pressure to make sure no Relegate suffered again was crushing me, in addition to my run in with Galton, but decided against it, “I am.”

  She shrugged.

  “In any case, when I’m a Custom the first thing I’m doing is getting as far away from here as possible and travelling the globe. If I’m lucky I might even get as far as the Hotlands.”

  “Is anything even there anymore?” I asked her. The Hotlands were the first to burn when the world’s weather started going crazy all those years ago, and had since become a desolate wasteland.

  “Probably not but can you imagine how peaceful and quiet it would be?”

  “I can’t remember the last time I heard quiet.”

  “Neither can I, kid. Neither can I.”

  The rest of the morning passed by in a flash, as if I was a spectator at a show, not one of the actors.

  And before I knew it, I was standing on the precipice of time itself, for the final trial. Once again we were lined up like sitting ducks, not knowing what awaited us on the other side of the portal. My peripheral vision faded as I stared into the portal, like watercolours running off a page. Everything was dampened except the beating of my heart.

  No one could be eliminated this trial, not after the failure of last time.

  Plush red chairs had been set up for all the noble families, each seat named with gold lettering, reserved for one recipient and one recipient only, almost taking over the whole room as they ascended up the wall like in the movie theatre.

  Not that we needed much floor space. There really wasn’t that many of us left.

  One of the guards blew a trumpet and announced families one after the other, while Maddox circled around us like a cattle-herder, keeping us in check while everyone found their seats. Last but not least entered the Chancellor and his family, commanding attention with their every step.

  The hush died down as Elian and Shirley sat, leaving the Chancellor to stride to his podium in the centre of the room and face his audience.

  “Welcome, welcome,” he said into his microphone, ever the showman, “Today is the final trial of my Relegate Project, and I’m very excited to unveil the outcome of this endeavour at tonight’s ball. However, for those of you who could not wait, and that seems to be all of you…” He chuckled to himself, a sound closely echoed by the rest of the nobles. “I’ve arranged this viewing so you may all get a sneak peak at what’s to come. What else is there to say except, enjoy.”

  He ducked his head to applause and took his seat with his family.

  Elian met my eyes and smiled, his hands still clapping although it felt like he’d shifted the subject of his applause. I didn’t want to think about it, mainly because Ariadne sat next to him, wrapping herself tightly around his arm. Despite the spectacle she’d made about wanting us to be treated more fairly, she sat on the edge of her seat, eager to watch us all risk our lives. Maddox stood to attention and shouted.

  “Well Relegates, this is it. After this, your lives will never be the same. Your mission for this final trial is simple. Our intelligence has uncovered the meeting point and time several Lion Legion members are expected to gather and it’s up to you to find them and kill them. If you successfully kill a member of the Lion Legion you pass the trial and will be saved from conversion. And join us as Customs.”

  A guard handed out a gun and instructions to each of us.

  The weight was foreign and familiar at once, fitting into my hands way too comfortably. My hand tightened on the smooth grip as a shuddering breath escaped my lips. Did Daniella and Briar know what was coming? Were they part of the meeting themselves?

  I had to find a way to warn them but the device they’d given me lay in a drawer in my room, much too far to go and fetch now.

  I looked across the hall to Elian, hoping to catch his attention but he was already staring at me, his face a couple of shades paler. He seemed to swallow something in his throat before excusing himself quietly to Ariadne, who didn’t look happy about it. No one paid much attention to him as he walked out, leaving me to hope he found a way to warn them before it was too late.

  Without Niva, one of the other scientists turned on the machine, and the guards herded us into its cold glow one final time.

  I was prepared for the landing now, and landed solidly on both feet in a strange dark alleyway.

  The others followed and we walked together into the main road, overflowing with people screaming and cheering.

  Several women in floral dresses and red lipstick danced with soldiers in muddy green uniform, all waving flags of red, white and blue, to a jazzy, fast-paced song I briefly remembered hearing before. It seemed all the world had come to wherever we were and collectively decided to cast out any bad feeling.

  The other participants blended into the crowd though I tried my best to keep up with them, firstly to make sure nothing happened to them, but more importantly to make sure I could stop them if the Lion Legion decided to make an appearance. I couldn’t rely on Elian alerting the rebels in time. If he’d failed I had to be ready to stop the Relegates making the biggest mistake of their lives. Many of them would probably have no problem killing people for a chance at a better life but if the Lion Legion was destroyed, the Relegates still in the institutions would never even come close to such a thing and all hope of freeing them would be lost.

  Distracted by concern, I accidentally bumped into a woman with hair in a similar style to Daniella’s, although after a doubletake realised it was a much darker brown.

  “Sorry,” I said a bit too quickly, “I thought you were someone else.”

  “Not to worry,” she replied, waving a hand with a beaming smile, “We’ve just come out of a world war, I’m not about to start another fight anytime soon.”

  “Right.” I put a palm to my face. “Of course, the war.”

  Was this the first or second world war? I didn’t know enough about history to tell the difference, though I certainly knew it was not the third and last.

  One of the many soldiers gracing the streets overheard and came over, putting an arm around the woman’s shoulders that hung on her like a snake.

  “Hello there,” he slurred, “Fancy dancing with me tonight?”

  I could smell the alcohol on his breath from where I was standing.

  The woman looked at the ground, doing her best to avoid his gaze.

  “No,” she answered quietly, “No thank you.”

  “Come on cookie, you just said you didn’t want to fight, so let’s love instead.”

  “I think she said no, sir.” I stared him down, and he gave a long sigh, leaning on the lady so much I thought her back would snap in two.

  “Fine. A bluestocking like you wouldn’t be any fun anyway.”

  He marched off, stumbling into almost every person in his zig-zagged path until the crowd sheltered him from view.

  “What was his problem?” I winced.

  The woman sighed, her floral dress barely catching in the wind.

  “All these soldiers coming back expecting things to be how they were before… God, I hope we never go back. Would you like to join me and my friends for a bit? Spend some time in civilised company?”

  I wasn’t going to find the Lion Legion standing around doing nothing so I might as well mingle and find some of the project participants in the process.

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  “I’d love to.”

  She led me by the hand through the crowd, trying to find the familiar faces of her friends among all the hubbub.

  “There they are.”

  She pointed to a group of three, two men and a woman, waving toward them when they spotted her. They stood outside a domed building, towering higher than all the others on the street.

  “Hello you lot. Getting started on the booze already, Alan?” she asked as we joined them.

  Alan chuckled, indeed holding a half-full bottle and handing a full one to the lady. “After the couple years we’ve had I think we deserve it, Joan. Who’s your friend?”

  “This is…” Joan turned to me.

  “Ayla,” I answered, “I’m just passing through town.”

  “I hope you’re making the most of our celebrations then. It’s not every day the world celebrates peace.”

  The other woman of the group chimed in, “I’m just glad we’ll never have to experience such evil in the world ever again.”

  “Let’s not talk about evil, Betty,” scolded Joan, “There’s a party going on. Perhaps now there’s finally a large enough sample size to find a woman to tempt Alan.”

  “Good luck with that,” said the other man, whom I hadn’t noticed until just now, “There’s not a woman on Earth who can compete with machines for this one.”

  He ruffled Alan’s middle parting, frizzying his previously immaculately combed hair.

  “John Cairncross. Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand, and I shook it.

  “It’s funny, you’re the second John I’ve met in three weeks.”

  Smooth as butter, he quipped back, “But I’ll bet I’m the more interesting one, eh?”

  “That’s one way to put it,” I allowed, then turned to face the man all decked out in black. “Do you work with machines then, Alan?”

  “He’s only shortened the war by years cracking Nazi codes!” cried Joan.

  “I had help, obviously.” He shuffled uncomfortably. “It wasn’t all me.”

  “Stop being modest!” She ordered, the drink starting to get to her. “You’re too modest. This is why we broke off our engagement.”

  “You were engaged?” I asked.

  “There were other reasons too, if I remember correctly,” said Alan, and Joan’s mouth zipped tight. “Anyway, like I was saying, we never would have broken those Nazi codes if it wasn’t for that odd group that helped us, what were they called? The… the Lion something… The Lion Squadron? Patrol? I can no longer recall.”

  If I had been walking I would’ve stopped dead in my tracks.

  “The Lion Legion? Are they here now?”

  Alan took a step back.

  “Yes, my dear, I believe they meant to stay for a while. Why? Is it important?”

  He looked to the others for a hint of explanation but they were as confused as him.

  “Excuse me,” I said to the four of them, “You’ve all been lovely but I think I need to leave.”

  “Is everything alright, duck?” Joan inquired.

  “Yes, thank you, I hope I see you all again.”

  I ran before they could ask any more questions.

  The whole main road was blocked with people, a sea going the length of at least ten buses. Finding anyone here was like trying to find a grain of salt in sand and it didn’t help that the Lion Legion’s clothes were just similar enough for them to blend in. Then again, if I struggled to find the Lion Legion, so would the other Relegates, which could prove to be a good thing.

  I scanned the crowd at ten faces per second, sure that I could find them in time to warn them away from the oncoming danger. Well, not exactly sure, but that’s what I kept telling myself, even as the minutes passed with little success, without even the glimpse of a lion pin or teleportation watch.

  A glimpse of Estate clothes did bring me to Rolene though, who was staring out into the crowd almost as desperately as me.

  “Rolene!” I shouted across the cheers and she turned to look, something like relief washing over her face.

  “Hey kid, any luck?

  I shook my head.

  “Yeah, me neither, though I’ve been thinking…” she began, looking towards one of the side streets, “Langlia’s got those old tunnels, hasn’t it? Wouldn’t they be in use nowadays?”

  I thought back to Daniella introducing me to her hideout. Of course they’d be in the tunnels.

  “No!” I almost shouted, “I mean… if the tunnels are in full use for underground transport and stuff why would they hide there? They’re probably packed with people.”

  “It’s still worth investigating. Come on.”

  She ducked down a side street at speed and I ran to keep up with her.

  “Wait Rolene! What if we’re wasting our time? What if they’re hiding in plain sight? Like up here somewhere?”

  She remained unpersuaded and forged ahead.

  “We’ll be quick. In and out. If we find anything then we’ll kill them. If not… we keep looking.”

  She kept walking until she came to an opening with stairs leading into the dark underground. It was weird seeing the tunnels in their prime, knowing hundreds of years later they would fall into disrepair. The tiling on the walls wasn’t cracked and it was much better lit. Totally different to the abandoned hideaway adopted by the Lion Legion.

  Rolene jumped down the stairs and all I could do was follow into the long tunnel, a perfect arch going the length of under the city. It was less crowded here but people still marched in and out, either going to or coming from the festivities above, their faces brimming with joy and talking excitedly to each other.

  I almost believed it really was too busy for the Lion Legion to try and hide here until I saw a door broken at the hinges saying ‘Danger! Keep Out!’ It caught my attention as I tended to read those kinds of warnings as invites, and if that was the case for me, it was plausibly the case for other rebellious Lion Legion members.

  “What’s that over there?” I asked Rolene, pointing in the opposite direction, pretending to have just spotted something suspicious.

  “What? I don’t see anything.”

  As she turned back I positioned myself away from the door so she wouldn’t see the sign.

  “Then let’s keep looking. Here, what about this way?”

  I pointed further down the tunnels towards the sound of the trains that acted as the veins bringing life to the heart of the city.

  “Fine, be quick about it though.”

  We continued on our way and were almost home and dry until a man walked past with a futuristic looking watch, or normal watch for our time. Rolene and I noticed it simultaneously and I had to stop myself from facepalming.

  “Let’s follow him,” Rolene brilliantly suggested. I tried to come up with a persuasive reason not to and failed.

  If we hadn’t been watching him we never would have seen him duck into the broken door, but unfortunately we had, and to my absolute delight Rolene trailed right behind him so I had no choice but to trail her.

  We quietly walked up to the door, getting a few odd looks for standing around a bit, and when we were sure no one was looking, risked dashing inside.

  “Rolene before you go any further I think you should know–”

  She cocked her gun.

  “It’s them.”

  I followed her gaze to where shadows flitted behind wire boxes.

  “Wait,” I begged, “You don’t understand, you can’t do this.”

  “Why not?” she asked.

  From out of the shadows, faster than I could blink, someone lay the barrel of their gun against Rolene’s head, and I felt the weight of cool metal settle against mine.

  “Yeah, Ayla, why not?” Daniella purred behind me.

  Rolene’s head shot back and forth between me and Daniella.

  “How do they know your name?”

  “Please, you have to understand, the Lion Legion’s fighting for Relegates, we can’t kill them.”

  Something new and ugly twisted in her face.

  “If they’re truly fighting for us they’ll have no problem sacrificing their lives for us, will they?”

  “Try it and see what happens,” warned Daniella, and I could feel the two women staring each other down, waiting to see who backed off first.

  Neither did.

  “Rolene, listen to yourself. Don’t you see what the Estate’s done to you? This is exactly what they want you to think, what they want you to do. Don’t fall for their traps, don’t play their games. There’s a way we all get out of this, I know it.”

  She just scoffed.

  “I heard what you said in the first trial to the pirate captain but screw our common enemy. This is my life, and I’m tired of the lot I’ve been given. If you want to slum it with some over idealistic juveniles who think they can change the world with a couple of bombings be my guest but I’m doing what needs to be done to get what I deserve.”

  Her teeth clenched even harder as a gun clattered to the floor behind me and Daniella stepped forward, cracking her knuckles and neck.

  “Go on then. If you want to kill one of us to become a Custom, fight for it the old-fashioned way. No weapons, just fists.”

  Rolene took the tiniest, almost unnoticeable step back but kept the gun firmly in her hands.

  “Drop it,” Daniella instructed, and the person still holding the gun to Rolene’s head tightened their finger on the trigger.

  She took a deep breath and finally dropped the gun, squaring up against Daniella and mimicking her stance.

  “Alright, girl, I look forward to swiping that lion pin off your corpse.”

  “Best of luck to you,” said Daniella, “I grew up in my parents’ underground boxing ring.”

  “Yeah, well, I grew up in an institution.”

  “And I had a normal childhood,” yelled a voice from the gathering Lion Legion members which was distinctly Briar’s, “In case anyone wanted to know.”

  I was not the only one to stare at him blankly.

  Daniella spat on the floor.

  “Let’s do this.”

  The first punch came flying straight across Rolene’s cheek, knocking her back for a good few seconds that allowed Daniella to get in a handful of punches, each sending Rolene further and further towards the cheering Lion Legion. She backed against the wall but managed to dodge the next incoming hit just in time, making Daniella hit the wall straight on. The crack shuddered through the room but Daniella only groaned in pain for a second. But a second was too long. Rolene tackled her to the floor, jumping to put all her weight against Daniella and pin her down.

  I cried for them to stop but clearly the time for peaceful negotiation was over. I weaved my way towards where I’d heard Briar’s voice ringing from, eventually finding his tall blonde frame grinning wildly.

  “You need to stop this,” I shouted at him.

  “Why would I do that? We haven’t had a proper fight in ages.”

  “This is serious! The Estate wants you dead and if we don’t kill you guys it’ll be us instead.”

  “You’re right, this is pretty serious. Twenty Sterlings on Dani!” Briar cheered to the people next to him, who each shook his hand to accept the bet.

  “You can’t gamble on their lives!”

  “Relax, no one’s dying today.”

  I turned to where Rolene was currently choking Daniella with her hands gripped so tightly around her throat her knuckles turned white, not relenting no matter how much Daniella clawed at her.

  “Are you sure about that?”

  Daniella lifted her knee and turned her body, shoving Rolene off and getting back on her feet, kicking Rolene square in the chest. Rolene stumbled back which was enough for Daniella to swing her into the wall face first. As she held Rolene against the wall, she pinned her arms behind her back so she couldn’t move at all, and with that, it was clear who the winner was.

  Briar looked smug, crossing his arms as he accepted the money from those around him.

  “What? But I thought it was to the death,” I puzzled.

  “Nah, Dani just needed to make a point in front of these guys. She was always going to help you, she just couldn’t let threats go unanswered.”

  Smoothing down her uniform, Daniella heaved a breath.

  “If you want to stay at the top, you’ve got to fight for it. So, about your Estate problem, here’s what we’re going to do. Take enough Lion Legion pins for all the Relegates back to the Estate as proof of our death. That way everyone will survive and the Estate will believe we’ve been defeated. It’s a win-win.”

  Rolene wiped the sheen of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

  “That’ll work?” she asked.

  “They’re not going to assume we offered it to you.”

  True, they wouldn’t count on us working together. They still thought we’d turn against our own side for a chance to join theirs. Never mind how close they’d come to being right.

  Rolene narrowed her eyes. “What’s the catch?”

  “No catch, just don’t mess it up.”

  I swallowed the bubble in my throat as one of the rebels lifted a dark cloak to reveal a box of Lion pins. Rolene nodded grimly and scooped them up in her hands.

  “To freedom for Relegates and the Lion Legion,” she said, stuffing them into a leather pouch. She walked to the door, paused and looked back between me and Daniella, about to say something but thought better of it.

  I gave a two-fingered salute to the Legion and made to follow her out.

  “Your work’s still not done, little butterfly. You won’t be safe, even if you win,” Daniella called after me, blood dripping from her nose. I let her see the fire in my eyes, the fire that would rise up to meet what the road ahead entailed.

  “I know.”

  The work wouldn’t be done for a long, long time. In fact, it had barely begun. But I was ready for it.

  I walked back out into the bustling train station.