XXXVII

The cuffs were cold and sharp, digging into my wrists through the bandages. My hands were so small that the Dauntless couldn’t keep the regular adult handcuffs on me, so they had to fetch a pair of special “child cuffs”. I wasn’t sure whether I was more concerned that the child handcuffs were as uncomfortable as the adult ones, sharp enough to break the skin if you pulled too hard, or if I was concerned that they had child handcuffs at all.

It was eight in the morning. The Institute halls were bustling with people, all stopping to stare at us. I was flanked on both sides by Dauntless soldiers. My hair was matted from a sleepless night in a Dauntless holding cell and my rose tattoo was exposed; they hadn’t even allowed me the dignity of changing. My Dauntless persona was on display for all of Candor to see. As we passed the dining hall, a group of initiates were just entering.

“Phoebe?” Ravi called, the only one to speak. But I didn’t respond. I locked eyes with Oona. Her face didn’t change. She didn’t even seem surprised to see me like this.

They took me upstairs to Judge Morris’ office. I had not been inside his office before, but for how morose and cold the man was, I had imagined it was probably a dark, dreary place. It was not. It looked more like an Erudite library than anything, white and pristine, the walls and furniture all cold glass. The light was blinding, and Morris, in his black suit, stood out like an ink splotch as he sat at his desk. He was reading from a silver tablet.

“Sit,” he said, not looking up.

The Dauntless guards led me to the chair in front of Morris’ desk. He slid a small black device to them, which they clipped around my ankle. Once the device was on, they unlocked my cuffs.

“Leave us,” said Morris.

I was almost sad to see them go. I did not want to be alone in this room with the man. Shivering, I wrapped my arms around myself. The white bandages covered both of my arms from my wrists to my elbows, but I could still feel the hairs struggling to rise from the chill.

Morris set the tablet down, folded his hands, and looked at me.

“Miss Prior,” he said.

“Your Honor,” I replied.

His gaze traveled down. Taking in my scar, my rose, my black tank top, my alcohol-stained pants, my spray-painted shoes, my white bandages. Among the Dauntless, the clothes were comfortable, even liberating to wear, but now, in Morris’ office, I was reminded of the self-conscious Abnegation girl who was frightened of showing skin. I clenched my hands in my lap.

“I’m...shocked,” said Morris finally. “I had expected you to cause trouble, but this much—well, I don’t know what to think.”

I was silent. He tapped a button on his tablet and a transparent screen slid up from the desk.

“As I understand it,” he began, “you chose to give an unverified original testimony to the leaders of Dauntless before requesting to return to Candor.”

“Yes,” I said.

“This testimony was forwarded to me by Dauntless leader Eric Coulter... at your request.”

“Yes.”

“In your testimony, you said that you have been trespassing into Dauntless since two Mondays ago, right after midterms. Before last night, you visited three times on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, accompanied by Institute head of security Ace of Dauntless.”

He paused to look at me, doubt on his face. For a while, he watched, as if waiting for a tell that would say that the testimony wasn’t right, but I just stared. Then he continued.

“You used information about Ace’s past identity, Abigail Eaton, to force her to help you. You recognized her from service retreats in Abnegation and told her that unless she helped you train like a Dauntless, you would bring the evidence to Major Crimes. You wanted a risk license, but you couldn’t file for one until after initiation. So you blackmailed her. According to Eric, Ace covered for you and gave you the name Tris McCandless, claiming that you are related to the McCandless family in Dauntless.”

“I am,” I said.

Morris raised an eyebrow. “And are you aware that Irene McCandless is from the same family?”

“Yes.”

“Did Irene tell you?”

“No.”

“Then who did?”

“I already told the Dauntless. It should be in the testimony.”

His jaw tightened. There was no way he wouldn’t notice that I was refusing to give information that wasn’t in the original testimony.

“It says here that you figured it out yourself. You noticed the marks of healed piercings in your mother’s ears, and you once found an old ID card with your mother’s maiden name, Natalie McCandless. You used your connections with the McCandless family to deceive Eric, as well as other members of Dauntless. The artist of your tattoos, Tori Wu, provided the consent forms where you wrote your name as Tris McCandless and age as seventeen. Ace told Eric you were fifteen. You admitted to forging a fake identity and withholding information about a crime to maintain said identity. Is this correct?”

“Yes.”

“This week, you decided not to return to Dauntless until last night, when you overheard Aletheia Albright mourning the death of her ex-boyfriend, Albert Madsen. You convinced her that you could get her into Dauntless and again threatened Ace to get her to shut off the roof cameras. After taking Aletheia to Dauntless, you left her with a group of the Candor transfers and tracked down your brother, Caleb Prior, an Erudite initiate and delivery boy. According to Caleb, you asked him several invasive questions about the nature of his delivery, then threatened him not to tell anyone of your presence there in Dauntless. When you fled, he informed Eric Coulter, who sent out a search party for you.

“The next time you were seen, it was by Aletheia. However, this cannot be verified, as she was, quote, ‘black-out drunk’, and doesn’t remember most of last night. The next person of interest is Ace. Ace claims that she found Aletheia while you were in hiding. Aletheia escaped and Ace was unable to find her for several hours. According to your testimony, you found Aletheia hiding behind a barrel and took her to Tori Wu’s tattoo shop, where you hid under the claim that you were only there to get a few tattoos. The search parties would assume that the shop was closed for the day of mourning. However, Ace also came to this conclusion, and at two thirty this morning, she arrested you and Aletheia. Again, you threatened to reveal her identity, but she took you directly to the Dauntless council, a number of whom were already aware. The Dauntless council asked Candor for permission to take your original testimony for their own records, and permission was granted.”

He paused, a look like disgust passing across his face.

“Is there a problem?” I asked innocently.

“Eric told me that, for a Candor, you were unusually tight-lipped,” said Morris. “When you were arrested, you said they would have to kill you before they got another word out. Then you offered them—how do I put it—an ultimatum. You would let them have the original testimony...as long as Dauntless posted your bail and requested specific legal proceedings on your behalf.”

“Did I now?”

“You requested that your verification hearing be next Saturday at the convenience of the court, conducted with 46% veritarbital.”

“Yes.”

Morris’ gaze met mine. I have often said that some people’s eyes can feel as cold as ice, but this time, I actually shivered again.

“Just to be perfectly clear,” said Morris, “you requested to be put under truth serum on the same day as your classmates’ Full Unveilings.”

“Yes.”

“I have not yet revoked your privilege to take the Full Unveiling, Miss Prior. You assume that you are already ineligible. Would it not be simpler to proceed with the verification before the Full Unveiling?”

I swallowed. “No,” I said. “If I gave my full testimony now, ineligible wouldn’t be strong enough of a word to describe what I am.”

Morris’ hands tensed. “That statement can be probable cause to overturn Dauntless’ request.”

“No.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Then beg,” I said. “Dauntless has original jurisdiction over any trespassing violations in their territory, whether committed by a member or nonmember. They’re unique among the factions for that, actually. Overturning their request would mean sending the leaders of all involved factions to mediation in the Abnegation council.”

“I am aware—”

“But I’m sure that can’t be squeezed into today’s docket; the Abnegation council is very busy. The council doesn’t meet on Sundays, so that’s out. And the leaders of Candor, Dauntless, and Abnegation all have more important things to do in the final week of initiation. Especially since the Merciless Mart will be closed on Saturday for the Full Unveiling. Six days of justice crammed into five. You could try to ask Jack Kang to take a day off, but you might also get laughed at.”

I was so terrified that my hands hadn’t stopped sweating since I’d entered this office, but for the first time, I actually felt like I had played my cards right. I even gave Morris a bittersweet smile.

“In a way, I might have saved you time on my case,” I said. “And a verification hearing with 46% concentrated truth serum, well, no better way to ensure that I don’t leave anything out—”

Morris slammed his fist on the desk. My heart nearly stopped. When I looked, hairline fissures had spread through the glass. The man was livid, red creeping above his white collar, and in the next heartbeat I felt—for the second time—what it was like to know that someone wanted you dead.

Then the wild fury cleared from Morris’ eyes and he drew his hand back, shaking.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing, Beatrice Prior,” Morris said quietly, “but it is over. There will be powerful people on the judges’ panel, and you’ll never fool them. You’ll fail initiation, you’ll become factionless, and this whole Dauntless ruse will be dissected in a court of law. You will be locked up until you forget the light of the sun. And when—”

“That’s enough, Lysander.”

I turned. Irene stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. I hadn’t heard her open the door, which was a strange habit of hers that normally alarmed me, but I had never been more relieved to see her black glasses.

“You can’t be here,” said Morris.

“Agree to disagree.”

“Academic Integrity has been forbidden from touching this case—”

“—Because of a conflict of interests,” Irene finished.

“Good, you understand. Get out.”

Irene did not move. Slowly, she lifted her thermos to her mouth and took a long sip.

“I’m not here as a director of Academic Integrity,” she said. “I’m here as a defense attorney. Come along, Miss Prior.”

She waved her hand to me and I stood, my knees still like jelly. But suddenly, I felt a great weight lift off my shoulders. As I followed her, I couldn’t resist turning around, smiling at Morris, and flipping him the bird.

Whatever happened to me, the bird alone made it worth it.

+ + +

Irene took me back to my apartment, which was empty except for Aletheia. Her door was cracked open and I could see her passed out cold on her bed, so I draped a blanket over her and closed the door.

“Aletheia’s been cleared of all charges,” said Irene. “Suppose there’s benefits to your father being third chief justice of Candor. Her only use to the prosecution is as a witness. Which she isn’t very good at, since she was blackout drunk last night.”

She sat at the kitchen table as I made tea and a breakfast sandwich for myself. I was starving. “That’s all you have to say?” I asked.

“About Aletheia. Why?”

“I was expecting a lecture in greeting. You know. About how deep a hole I’ve dug for myself.”

“I considered it. But it almost seems like a waste of breath nowadays.”

“Thanks.”

She inhaled and paused. “I wanted to tell you that I know what you’re planning. And that—I’m going to help you.”

I stared. Then I carried my tea and breakfast to the table and laughed.

“Okay, that’s where you’re wrong, because if you knew what I was planning, then you wouldn’t want to—”

“I spoke to my sister.”

Again, I went quiet. I had never heard Irene refer to my mother as her sister.

“Mom?” I said softly.

Irene nodded. “She woke me up at five this morning, broke into my apartment, even. Very rude and frightening. I know where you got your bad manners from. She told me what had happened to you.”

“How did she know?”

“I believe she’s in contact with Ace, as well as the—rest of our family, back in Dauntless.”

Uriah must have told her.

“She had a copy of your testimony,” Irene continued. “She sat me down and said, ‘You’ve failed.’ That’s when I knew what you were going to do.”

“I have to, Irene—”

“I know.”

“You said that you’re acting as my defense. You can’t defend what I’m going to say without getting trapped in the same boat.”

“I know that too. But if this is going to work, you need help.”

“But you—”

“I have a lot to lose. Yes.” She inhaled, then placed her hand on the table, palm up. Tentatively, I put my hand in hers. “All my life...I’ve been a liar. I cheat. I steal. I charm. I teach others to do the same. I fly under the radar, I bury names and results, I hide behind injured eyes and error screens and office miscommunication. I’m the worst Candor to ever exist, and I don’t even do it for a cause worth calling good—there’s a hundred Divergents living my lies, hoping to be good cogs in the grand machine.”

“They’re alive because of you,” I said softly.

“And more are dead for the same reason,” said Irene. “How Candor would break down if it found that so many of its members were pretending—it scared me. It’s scared all of us, for too long.”

Her lip twitched. Her hand squeezed mine.

“It’s about time someone started telling the truth.”