All That Lives Must Die - Eric Nylund [20]
Fiona and Eliot obeyed, taking the only two unoccupied desks halfway to the front, on opposite sides of the center aisle.
The woman walked to the lectern. “I am Miss Westin, the Headmistress of the Paxington Institute,” she said. “I wield absolute authority here.”
No one spoke or shifted in their seats.
“You will find today’s placement exam in your desks,” Miss Westin continued, “along with three pencils and an eraser. See that you have these materials now. Do not break the seal on the examination.”
Every student opened a rolltop desk.
In hers, Fiona found a stack of twenty pages secured with a cardboard band. All three pencils had been sharpened to a deadly point.
Miss Westin waited as the students settled down, keenly observing all. “I am delighted that you can follow instructions.”
Fiona swallowed and heard the collective inhalation of the other students.
“You will find,” Miss Westin said, “that at Paxington, we take our rules seriously. Last year, two students prematurely opened their examinations and were expelled.”
Fiona felt like she was going to faint or throw up. Had Miss Westin briefed everyone on other rules before she and Eliot got here? What if they made a mistake?
She caught a motion in the corner of her eye.
The boy on her left waved to her. He was cute, with brown curly hair to his shoulders, and expressive eyes. He flashed a smile, nodded reassuringly, and then turned his attention back to Miss Westin.
Those simple gestures eased her fear. Fiona wanted to thank the boy, but thought better of doing so while Miss Westin spoke.
Miss Westin produced a silver pocket watch and flipped it open. “We shall begin the examination in sixty-four seconds. You will have one hour twenty minutes—which is four minutes per page—to finish. Budget your time accordingly.”
One boy near the windows raised his hand. “If I break one of these marvelous writing implements?” he asked, brandishing a pencil.
Fiona recognized the Scottish accent. She squinted against the glare. Yes . . . it took a second for her to be sure . . . the blond hair, the roguish grin: it was Jeremy Covington, the boy she and Robert had found in the Valley of the New Year. He had escaped with them.
But the Valley was part of Purgatory. That meant Jeremy had been dead, didn’t it?
“You have two spares, Mr. Covington,” Miss Westin told him. “I suggest you break no more than three.”
“And if I need the little boys’ room, ma’am?” There was an undertone of smarm to his question.
Miss Westin stared him down. “Then I shall escort you myself to the urinal.”
Jeremy’s head dropped, and Fiona saw his ears redden.
“Hey,” Eliot whispered. “Good luck!”
You, too, she mouthed back.
Four other older students entered the room.
Miss Westin nodded to them as they took positions in the corners. Miss Westin then glanced at her watch. “Begin . . . now.”
A hundred-some cardboard bands ripped, and a multitude of pages turned, sounding like a flock of birds taking wing.
The first section was on history. That should be a breeze. Fiona and Eliot had studied all of history from Earth’s formation to global warming.
There were questions on Egyptian pharaohs, the reasons for the American Civil War, and influences on the Industrial Revolution.
She answered them all—could have done it in her sleep.
She turned to the next page, and there was a list of events to be chronologically ordered: Sargon and the formation of the Akkadian Empire . . . the discovery of the Americas . . . the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus . . .
But Fiona froze when she got to, King Arthur dies/departs for Avalon.
The tales of King Arthur had been banned by Audrey. “Too many fairy tales and lies,” she had told them.
Fiona scrunched her lips in irritation. She marked this with a question mark and moved on. She’d have to come back later and figure it out.
The next section was on mathematics.
She blasted through geometry and algebra problems, and slowed only a little on the trigonometry.