A Trial of Sorcerers: Book One

by Kova, Elise

  “Of course it does.” Alyss frowned. “Because it means they already have front-runners for competitors.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “Think about it. Someone is making that flame that they’re using as a benchmark for power. Who? Likely the person that they think would be strong enough to represent the Tower.”

  “So that’s it then. We have no shot.” Eira wanted to feel relieved. But the fantasy of being a competitor and going to Meru clung to her with determination.

  The young woman left the circle of flames to a small round of applause. She bowed with a flourish and then stepped aside for the next person to try.

  “Of course that’s not it.” Alyss glared at her. “We’re going to be competitors, you and I. You have two days to practice for whatever they’re going to throw at you. I only have one.”

  “Right…” Eira murmured. But her mind was already on what would block her sign-up board in two days. No…her mind was on who was behind it. Was it Fritz? That was the likely choice. But Eira had a nagging feeling deep in her gut that she knew who would be making the barricade for the Waterrunners. She pushed away from the wall.

  “Where are you going?” Alyss called up after her.

  “To see my brother.”

  Marcus was with Cullen in the library. They sat facing each other, each on a different sofa, huddled around the fireplace on the right-hand side of the room. Eira could see them well before they would see her. Perhaps because of the bookshelves. Most likely because she was an unwanted person and they were too engrossed in each other’s conversation to notice her.

  “…I’m just not sure if my parents will really let me go,” Marcus said quietly.

  “Of course they will,” Cullen whispered back. “Look, you said you wanted to make a name for your family, right? This is the chance of a lifetime, and a supreme honor. You’ll be representing all of Solaris. This is what you’ve been waiting for.”

  “But my sister… I told my family I would—”

  “Your sister can look after herself.”

  Eira never thought she’d find herself agreeing with Cullen. But it turned out impossible things were happening left and right.

  He continued, “You can’t keep letting her hold you back.”

  “She’s not.”

  “She is. That’s why you’re still here, isn’t it?”

  Eira crouched down, creeping the long way around and stopping behind a bookcase. From this vantage she could peer over the tops of the books to spy on the small sitting area. She barely breathed so she didn’t make a sound.

  “I’m here because I want to be.”

  “And you ‘want to be’ because you feel like you have to look after her because she’s not all there and you’re worried that if you’re not looking after her then she’ll do something that hurts her or others…again.”

  “It’s not just that—”

  “Look, it’s admirable.” Cullen continued to prevent her brother from getting another word in. “You really care for her. You love your sister. That’s a wonderful thing and I’m not trying to discourage you from doing so. But you can’t let her keep you from looking after yourself and doing what’s best for Marcus.”

  Marcus was silent for a terrible amount of time. Eira wished she could see his face, but she didn’t dare move. Finally, he said, “I know.”

  Her brother grabbed his head with both hands, ruffling his hair with his fingers. A searing needle inserted itself into her gut at his tortured motion. He was hurting. Not that she didn’t see it—hadn’t seen it. But he’d never let her even try to make it better. He’d always seen her as a pitiable thing, too helpless to even share some of his burdens.

  “It’ll be you, me, and Noelle. We already know who over half the team is based on who Minister Fritz asked to create the barriers.”

  Well, now Eira had the question she’d come to ask answered.

  “We don’t know that.”

  “Oh, he asked you and Noelle specifically just because he thought you both had free time on your hands?” Cullen rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He propped one knee on the other, spreading out and dominating the space. Cullen could fill a room with his presence alone. “Be serious about this. We have an incredible opportunity and we would make a stellar team no matter who the Groundbreaker is. I will be the leader and you will be my second; we’ll run the show. Think of the glory.”

  Cullen’s hazel eyes glowed almost orange in the firelight—almost like a Firebearer peering into the future. They were alight with ambition and a pride that was almost frightening. Eira didn’t entirely disagree with what he was saying. She wanted the best for her brother and certainly didn’t want to be the cause of him holding back.

  But she didn’t fully believe Cullen was acting in Marcus’s best interests either. The only person Eira could be certain Cullen stood for was himself.

  “I already told Uncle I’d sign up. We’ll see if I get past the five trials.” Marcus shrugged.

  “We know you will. No Waterrunner is better than you in this Tower, not even Fritz himself.”

  “Don’t insult my uncle.” Marcus stood with a stretch and a yawn.

  “I’m stating facts, not making insults.”

  “You’re just buttering me up because you want to make sure I go to Meru with you.”

  “Can you blame me?” Cullen paused and there was a brief moment of vulnerability that Marcus seemed to miss as he turned. But Eira saw it. She saw his tired eyes and the brief slump of his shoulders. She saw something underneath the “Prince of the Tower” that he projected to everyone. “I need this, Marcus. It’s victory or nothing for me.”

  “I know.” Marcus wrapped his arm around Cullen’s shoulder. “You’ll triumph. You always have; so no matter what, I’m sure of that much.”

  As the two men started out of the library, Eira retreated into the shadows on all fours. She pressed herself against the back wall and felt her magic condense in the air around her. Invisible water droplets—present everywhere—grew fat with her power. They shimmered, changing the way the dim light was refracted, bending it to Eira’s will.

  An illusion surrounded her. If either young man were to look her way, they would only see wall and shadow. Neither did. They were too engrossed in continuing their discussion.

  Eira dropped her magical shield and sat in the darkness. Whispers drifted around her from the books and shelves. Some spoke of love, some of sorrow, most of nothing important at all. Ever since she’d stopped trying to completely shut out the voices, they’d grown more articulate.

  She blamed Alyss. The Tower was becoming so noisy she could hardly hear herself think.

  There was one place that was quieter than the rest. And, shortly, Eira found herself in the Waterrunner storeroom, pushing on the hidden door and slipping into a forgotten Tower room. She hadn’t visited the mysterious place in days, but it was exactly as she left it. The journal she’d been reading was out on the table, moonlight striking it in a thin line. A candle she’d lifted from the servants’ storerooms in the palace was set out alongside it, half-burned.

  “What would you do?” Eira whispered to the journal.

  Silence was her only reply.

  She knew the answer though. Whoever had written these journals and occupied this room had been someone bold and powerful. Someone who didn’t care about what the world said they should or shouldn’t do. Someone who, at some point, had said the words, Kill our sovereign.

  They’d obviously failed. Emperor Aldrik was still alive and well. And his father had died at the hands of the Mad King Victor. So whomever this woman had been, she hadn’t murdered any emperors.

  Unless… Eira shook her head. The thought was too impossible to entertain. There was a woman made of pure evil and wrath who had been in the Tower of Sorcerers many, many years ago. At least, so the rumors claimed.

  But she was more lore than fact. A ghost whose name was bad luck to even think.

  Eira sa
t on the edge of the bed. It creaked underneath her, but held her weight. She lay back and stared at the ceiling, trying to envision herself as this woman. As someone bold enough, crazy enough, to say the words…

  “Kill the emperor,” Eira whispered aloud, trying it on. The words were uncomfortable, sending tingles up her arms. But there was bravery in them. They were dangerous and wild. They weren’t something people who acted appropriately said or even thought.

  She shook her head, casting them aside. Eira wasn’t winning any awards for patriotism. But she also didn’t wish the emperor dead.

  Still, the boldness those three words flushed her with remained.

  Eira turned her head, coughing as a plume of dust escaped the pillow. Her eyes watered and the desk came back into focus. She had two choices. One was to continue lying there, doing nothing. The other was to get up and defy all odds. To reach and try for something that the world didn’t think she should have.

  She knew what her uncle and brother thought she should do. Her parents were likely on their side. Alyss and Gwen were on the opposite side.

  But what did she want?

  Taking a deep breath, Eira sat up and crossed to the desk with a step. She opened her tinderbox, lighting the candle on the desk. There was enough wax to get her through the night; tomorrow she could look into procuring a flame bulb for the room. Or at least a better stock of candles.

  Eira flipped open the journal and began reading. Alyss was right. If she wanted to make herself a contender for the tournament then she should start practicing now.

  6

  The next day, Eira watched as Alyss waited her turn in line. The sign-up board was completely encased in a thick, granite cube. The walls were unnaturally smooth—which indicated they had been made by magic, and not human hands.

  One by one, Groundbreakers approached. They would plant their feet and shove their palms into the granite. Most of them did nothing at all. The rock was unforgiving. For some, it cracked under their hands. Or it wobbled, as though the rock had turned into gelatin, but the stone ultimately didn’t yield.

  But a rare few approached the stone and parted it like a curtain, then slipped inside to write their name before reemerging. Alyss was one of those few.

  “I told you,” Alyss said proudly as she sauntered up to where Eira was waiting, “it would be no problem.”

  “You were nervous at breakfast this morning,” Eira pointed out with a grin. “But congratulations. I never doubted you.”

  “Tomorrow is your turn.” Alyss started up the Tower, Eira following silently. Alyss glanced at her from the corner of her eye. “Don’t tell me you’re going to back out.”

  “I’m not,” Eira said with more confidence than she felt.

  Two factions had been warring in her since the night prior. One said to follow the path people were laying out for her—to not let her family down and to step away from the trials. She’d already seen what happened when she tried to make waves. She wasn’t designed for the greatness that Cullen, or the mysterious Waterrunner who had found a secret Tower room to make their own, or anyone like them, so clearly sought.

  But the other side of her spoke with Gwen’s voice. You were made for this. The trials were hers for the taking. No one was better suited to go to Meru—no one would want it more than her.

  That night, she returned to the hidden room when everyone else in the Tower was asleep. Eira practiced her magic into the small hours of the morning and crashed on the bed, not even bothering to go back to her room. She was jolted awake a short time later by the sound of someone rummaging through the storeroom.

  Eira held her breath, fully expecting whoever it was to finally see the hidden door. But they didn’t. The sounds stopped and the rumble of the storeroom door closing resonated through the castle stone to her.

  She raked her fingers through her hair on the way to breakfast and tried to beat the dust out of her clothes.

  The dining hall for the Tower was in the center. Apprentices took turns cooking, so the food was always different…and of varying quality. This morning was cuisine from the western portion of the Empire—a tomato-based stew with an egg poached in it, served with two points of toast.

  “You weren’t in your room this morning,” Alyss observed, situating herself across from Eira at a long table. No one else dared to sit near them. “And you look a mess. Did you sleep in your clothes?”

  “I did.”

  “Why?”

  “I was practicing all night.”

  Alyss’s face lit up. “I knew you had it in you.” She leaned forward, her braids slipping over her shoulders. “I don’t see your brother this morning. I think you were right. He is the one making the barrier today.”

  “Have you gone and seen it yet?”

  Alyss shook her head. “I’ll go when you sign up. Want to do it on the way to the clinic?”

  “I’ll do it after the clinic.”

  “Sign-ups are only until sundown,” Alyss needlessly reminded her. “Be sure you’re not out too late.”

  “I should say that to you. You’re the busy one who always holds us up.”

  Alyss stuck out her tongue and made a face.

  It turned out that Eira’s jest had been wrong. Alyss only had a few patients to help the clerics with. Meanwhile, Eira’s list had tripled.

  Fritz handed over the list as though it were nothing. There was no mention of her brother from either of them, but Eira knew. She had this list because he wasn’t going out today. He couldn’t go attend the clinics if he was making the barrier. And if she was kept busy until sundown as a result, likely all the better as far as her uncle was concerned.

  “There’s one more thing,” Fritz said before she left his office.

  “If I’m going to get through all of these I’d better start now.” Eira waved her list through the air.

  “In a rush?” His words held an accusatory tone.

  “Just want to make sure that I don’t besmirch the Tower by being late or not getting to see everyone.” Eira pressed her lips into a thin smile.

  “Well, here. You can read this on the way.” Fritz passed her a folded letter, sealed with a familiar glob of wax. “It arrived this morning.”

  “Thank you,” she murmured and excused herself. Eira flipped over the letter. Her name was written in her father’s handwriting on the front with the words “Apprentice of the Tower” scribbled beneath it. She slipped her finger under the seal, but instantly thought better of it. This wasn’t something she wanted to read in the middle of the Tower’s main hall.

  Retreating to the Waterrunner storeroom, Eira gathered the things she’d need for the clinic, her bag three times as heavy as normal. Taking a breath and hoping everyone was already focused on their classes or the barrier, she opened the letter.

  It read:

  Eira,

  Word of the trials has reached us and we couldn’t be more excited! This seems like an incredible opportunity, one that shouldn’t be missed.

  She smiled, but the expression slipped from her face as she read on.

  As you know, your brother has dutifully looked after you for years. He’s supported your time in the Tower from a very young age. Now, we would like to ask you to support him.

  These trials will mean a lot for him.

  “Mean a lot for him…” she read out loud, seeing if the words felt any better when heard. They didn’t. They felt as bad as they were to read.

  Please make sure you give Marcus space to shine. Your uncle tells us that you’re eager to prove yourself. But now isn’t your time. Support your brother as dutifully as he’s supported you.

  We’re planning on making the journey to Solarin to see him compete in the second trial. We can’t wait to cheer his success alongside you. Listen to your uncles and focus on your studies.

  We love you,

  Mother & Father

  She read the note twice, willing the words to change. Support Marcus. Step aside. Wait your turn.

&nbs
p; “When will it be my turn?” Eira whispered, her voice thin with a pain she couldn’t quite describe. Eira shook her head and shoved the note in the bag. The words were becoming blurry, and if she looked at it any longer the letter would tear her up into smaller pieces than she could hope to put back together.

  Trying to put it from her mind, Eira started back down the Tower. But the trials lived on the tongues of every excited apprentice. And the barrier she saw on her way out was yet another weighty reminder.

  The Groundbreaker’s cube had been smooth and polished. Her brother had gone for a more…organic approach. Spears of ice wove together into a wicked-looking cage. It radiated plumes of frost. The whole lobby was frigid with its presence.

  She had to admit, she was impressed. It looked formidable. And it seemed to be effective at keeping most of the Waterrunners out. Two attempted as Eira wound down the walkway and out of the Tower. Neither could make a single blade of ice budge.

  The day dragged on, and on. Yet, somehow, it was over all too soon.

  The sun hung low as Eira made her way back to the Tower. She was breathless by the time she arrived, winded by a light jog, determined to beat the sun. As Eira entered the Tower she saw Alyss seated in the back corner, waiting. Fritz had taken up a position by the cage of ice.

  Eira froze. She hadn’t accounted for an audience. Alyss, maybe. But not the twenty others who milled about. And certainly not her uncle.

  Fritz didn’t notice her. He was focused on his timepiece—no doubt counting down the minutes until the barrier fell and he could collect the board and be done with the sign-ups.

  Alyss rose to her feet, summoning Eira’s attention. Do it, she mouthed. Eira swallowed hard. Do it, Alyss insisted silently.