Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 7

Corin's arm with his elbow in the process, and he froze, his eyes snapping open. "Oh."
    Corin smothered a smile, amused by the startled expression on Rafferty's face. "Morning."
    Rafferty grunted, his eyes slipping half closed. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, but after a moment, he shoved the blankets away, letting cold air sneak under them. He slid out of bed, stumbling a bit but catching his balance on the bureau.
    "You need to get down to the dining hall before you're missed," Rafferty said, mumbling the words tiredly. "I'll pull you out of dinner tonight to do something for me, and we can do the ceremony then."
    "My roommates will already have noticed I'm gone," Corin said, sliding out of bed and moving to grab his boots. "I won't tell them I was here, though."
    Rafferty nodded, watching Corin for a moment. He had a strange expression on his face, but in the next second it cleared. Corin pulled on his boots quickly, nearly tripping over his feet when he stood before the left one was fully on.
    "Um, I'll see you tonight, then," Corin said, hesitating a moment. Rafferty only nodded though, turning towards his bureau with a clear dismissal. Corin lingered a moment more, then turned and left the room. The hallway was empty, thankfully, and Corin hurried down it, not really wanting to explain what he was doing in there.
    The hallway was much less spooky than it had been the previous night when Rafferty had led him down it just barely before full dark. Sunlight spilled down it from the windows at the main corridor, and it was hard to remember that there were shadow demons and sacrifices and binding ceremonies in the works in the face of the bright, cheerful weather.
    Corin made it downstairs without running into anyone. It was about the time the servants were allowed to leave their rooms. They usually didn't see any of the priests until a while after that. Corin was willing to bet they were still sleeping, taking their time in waking up. He reached the dining room without incident as well. It was half-full, and no one seemed to notice when he slipped in and headed for the sidebar to grab some breakfast.
    Settling in the back corner of the room, Corin started eating that morning's breakfast. It was some sort of tasteless stew, probably leftovers from the previous night's dinner, but it filled Corin's stomach well enough. He was starving, having eaten only Rafferty's dried fruit the previous evening. The dining hall filled slowly, and Corin stifled his nerves. Only Alan and Mavir had likely noticed he hadn't made it to his room, and he didn't think either of them would care enough to make a big deal out of it. They liked ignoring him; Corin liked ignoring them.
    Corin fetched a second bowl of the stew when he'd finished his first and ate it more slowly while he waited for Rafferty and Tennyson to show up and select the people they were going to test that day. Alan gave him a curious look from across the room, elbowing Mavir and gesturing in Corin's direction. Mavir shrugged, apparently unconcerned, and it seemed that was that.
    Stifling a sigh, Corin glanced towards the door when Rafferty and Tennyson entered. Rafferty looked deeply unhappy about something, and Corin frowned, wondering what had happened. Rafferty had been tired that morning, but not upset. Corin set down his half-empty bowl as Rafferty started listing off names. His stomach flipped worriedly, and a knot of dread settled firmly in the pit of his stomach when Rafferty spoke his name, the last of nine people selected.
    Corin's blood ran cold. Rafferty had said he'd keep Corin away from the testing. Why had he been selected? Rafferty wouldn't have changed his mind, not with the plan to do the ceremony later that day. So someone else had picked him—maybe Tennyson? But why? Corin hadn't done anything suspicious, unless staying in Rafferty's room for the night was suspicious. Even then, Corin would have sworn no one had seen him leave.
    Standing, Corin nearly tripped over the bench he'd been sitting on. He picked up his half-full bowl and cup of tea, heading over to the sidebar to deposit them for collection by whomever would be assigned to dishes duty. Then he followed the eight others who had been selected from the room. Rafferty didn't look at him, but he wouldn't want to raise suspicions now.
    He didn't know the names of anyone else in the group. They all looked familiar, but Corin had never been good with names. There were