by Kova, Elise
“Perhaps she was exploring the palace and got lost?”
“Did she look like someone who was lost?” Alyss threw her hands in the air. “She was up to something.”
“Alyss, stop. She’s here as part of the delegation from Meru. They’re friends of Solaris. She’s not a danger to anyone.”
“I asked you not to let your Meru obsession cloud your judgment.” Alyss pointed the wood at her.
“I’m not. I’m just sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation.” Eira shrugged.
Alyss tugged at her braids in frustration. “How did you even find that place to begin with?”
“I…heard a voice,” Eira admitted.
“What did it say?” Alyss had never doubted the voices Eira heard, or her theory on why she could hear them. Eira pursed her lips. “Eira, what did it say?”
“Kill the emperor.”
“Oh, great. This is… Wow, Eira. You.” Alyss was at a rare loss for words. “You followed a voice talking about killing the emperor to find a room with deadly magic, connected to a passage—”
“Yes, I know how it looks now,” Eira cut her off. “Curiosity got the better of me.” She vowed to never bring up the mention of Adela in the ancient halls. It’d just be another log on Alyss’s fiery hatred of that place.
“What else is new?” Alyss sighed and crossed over to the bed, shoved the wood back in her bag, and sat heavily at Eira’s side. “I want you to promise me you won’t go back there.”
“What?”
“There’s nothing good there, Eira. I can feel it. That’s a place better forgotten by time.”
“You’re just on edge—”
“Promise me.” Alyss grabbed both her cheeks, forcing Eira to meet her eyes. “Don’t go back there.”
“I’m not going to lie to you, Alyss.”
Her friend heaved a mighty groan and flopped back. “You are hopeless.”
“I think it’s part of my charm.”
Alyss playfully dug her fist into Eira’s side. “Promise me you won’t go back there alone, then?”
“Fine, deal.” Eira relented. “But that just means you have to go back so I can.”
“Hopefully we’ll be too busy with the trials for that to ever happen. Which, speaking of…we should get ready for dinner.”
* * *
The candidates’ dinner was held in the usual mess hall following the regular dinner hour. Eira and Alyss were some of the first to arrive and Eira didn’t miss a few of the envious looks non-competitors cast their way. A rift was already forming between the apprentices who were candidates to be competitors and those who weren’t.
A rift that would no doubt grow worse thanks to the pins instructors were handing out. They stood on either side of the mess hall entry, giving a single pin to every current candidate, and instructed that it was to be worn on their right breast underneath their collarbone.
The pin bore the symbol of the Tower—four circles interlocking in a diamond shape. There was a triangle in each that corresponded with the elemental affinity from each of the four different regions of the Solaris Empire. In the center of the circles there was a fifth circle that was usually solid and unadorned. But on this pin it had the number 5 embossed into what would’ve been a blank space. No doubt to represent the Tournament of Five Kingdoms.
Eira inspected the shiny gold pin throughout dinner. Its glint caught her eye multiple times and Eira touched it more than once.
“It’s not going anywhere,” Alyss teased.
Eira knew it wasn’t, but she still couldn’t believe it was there to begin with. Even if nothing else worked out for her, she’d made it this far. That counted for something, didn’t it?
Dinner was not made by other apprentices, but catered by palace staff. As such, the quality was leagues better than any of them were accustomed to. Every plate was cleaned, even Eira’s, despite her having a second helping of the largest hunk of cake she’d ever seen.
“You seriously have a gift for packing sweets away. It’s unnatural,” Alyss said, glancing up from the book she was reading. There were two things Alyss was rarely without—some kind of over-the-top romance novel and some kind of clay or wood to mold. It was normal for them to fall into easy silences over meals as Eira got lost in her head, or a book of her own, and Alyss tinkered away making something.
“Maybe one of these days it’ll stick to my hips and make me look more like a woman, rather than a pre-pubescent boy.” Eira scraped icing off her plate.
Alyss snorted. “You’re beautiful.”
“As are you.”
Another snort and a turn of her head. Alyss gazed over to a group of people clustered about. It was obvious that the favorites for the tournament were beginning to coalesce. Marcus and Cullen sat together. Noelle and Adam were at their table, along with a few others that Eira recognized but had never spoken to.
“I can’t believe he’s not sitting with you,” Alyss murmured.
“It’s fine.”
“He’s your brother. He should be celebrating your accomplishments.”
“It’s complicated.” Eira recalled her uncles’ expressions and the uncomfortable conversation with Marcus in her room. She hadn’t told Alyss yet about the letter from her parents, either.
“Is it? It seems pretty simple to me. You’re both great. You’re both talented. Let the best man or woman win. Support each other along the way.” Alyss brought her gaze back to Eira, thankfully before anyone in the group noticed her staring. “You’re happy for him, right?”
“Yeah, I am,” Eira said softly. She was well and truly happy for her brother. “If he’s the one to beat me in the end, I’m okay with that. I just want the chance to put up a fight. To show them what I can do.”
“Well you certainly did that today.” Alyss snickered.
Eira couldn’t fight and win against the grin that spread across her cheeks.
“Congratulations, all,” Fritz said as he walked in. The echo of his voice in the rafters mingled with his applause. “Well done to each of you. You’ve made it through the first trial.” He went to the front of the mess hall, where the buffet had just been cleared away. “I know you all have questions about what’s next. So let’s get right to business, that way you all can get to bed.
“Foremost, the pins you were given are to be worn henceforth. Every candidate for competitor has been given one. Part of being a competitor will be to represent Solaris and that means you will always have eyes on you. Your actions will be judged around the clock.”
Eira grimaced at the notion.
“Consider these pins the beginning of that. Any conduct unbecoming for a representative of Solaris will get back to me and you will have your pin and candidacy revoked.”
“We can get eliminated when we’re not in a trial?” Noelle asked.
“Indeed.” Fritz continued, “Now, speaking of trials, your next one will take place in three weeks, as we will need ample time to set up and prepare. To assist you in these trials, your classes, workshops, and other Tower responsibilities are not mandatory for pin holders.
“For the next trial we will be testing your magic in an obstacle course. The field will be cut by a third after this trial. Those who complete the course with times in the upper two-thirds of the pack will proceed on.”
“Minister—”
Fritz held up a hand, stopping the interruption from a Firebearer. “I know what you’re about to ask. There are fifteen Waterrunners and six Groundbreakers still in competition. These numbers are easy to reduce by a third. But what happens to the Firebearers, who have eleven candidates? We will be rounding down in such instances. So three Firebearers will be eliminated by next week’s course.”
Eira leaned toward Alyss and whispered, “There will be only four Groundbreakers after next week. You’ll have a good shot!”
Alyss shh’ed her. There was a nervous smile on her face. As if she couldn’t believe either how close she already was to being selected as a competitor.
Eira did a quick scan of the room, seeing if she recognized the other five Groundbreakers still in the trials. She knew their faces, but nothing about their abilities. Was one of them the one Fritz had chosen to make the barrier? If so, that was the person Alyss needed to watch. Then again, it was also possible that person didn’t make it past the first trial. They could have been strong, but knew nothing about Meru.
“Minister, are there still to be five trials in total?” Cullen’s deep voice was auditory velvet. He didn’t need to speak loudly to command a room to a hush.
“Yes. The first three trials are decided on by the Tower and Imperial family,” Fritz continued. “The final two will be decided by the elfin ambassador from Meru.”
Murmurs at this. Eira’s heart raced. Even Alyss shot her a knowing grin. If the elfin determined the last two, then she had to have a leg up, right? No one knew more about Meru than her, as was shown by her score today. She must have an advantage on whatever the elfin came up with.
Alyss wasn’t the only one looking her way. Other candidates were casting glances over their shoulders. Eira was forced to wonder if the reason her family had pushed so hard for her not to compete was because they knew it was the only way she wouldn’t be chosen.
“More information will follow in the days and weeks to come. For now, enjoy your celebration and rest well on your laurels.”
The room cleared out shortly after. Apprentices parted ways. Marcus and Cullen headed toward the library. Alyss declared she wanted to focus on “finishing her cat because she actually liked this one”—the one she had started sculpting over dinner—and departed.
Eira returned to her room alone, pin still glistening on her breast. She was so distracted with it that she didn’t notice the sealed envelope on her bed until she was reaching for the book on Lightspinning still tucked underneath her bed frame. She glanced around the room, as if the person who sent the note could be hiding somewhere in a dormitory that was three steps wide.
The wax seal was a deep purple. The symbol was simple—three circles, stacked vertically, with a line drawn through them. It was the symbol of Yargen, and of Meru.
Eira slid her finger under and opened the letter. It was one line long:
Meet me at the Sunlit Stage.
10
The Sunlit Stage at night was beautiful in an unnerving way. The moon turned the marble and alabaster into bone and the gilding silvery. Long shadows clung to the seats where people should be sitting—where they’d watched her test hours ago.
Eira moved silently through the empty hallways and stairwells, emerging onto the lower arena space. She stepped timidly into the moonlight. The letter was clutched in her hand as she spun, searching for a sign of its sender.
“You came.”
Eira nearly jumped out of her skin at the man’s voice. She turned. Even though she’d only seen him four times, Eira knew Ambassador Ferro by accent alone, no pointed ears necessary.
“This was from you?” she asked softly. Yet her words echoed across the empty stage.
“It was.”
“How did you get in the Tower?” Eira doubted an elfin ambassador would be able to sneak in without being noticed. Then again, if he’d used Lightspinning… Or perhaps his guard had been the one to deliver it, through the secret passage Eira knew about, and that was why she’d been there in the first place?
“I have my ways.” He smirked, as if reading her mind. “Let’s sojourn to somewhere more comfortable so you and I might have a word.” Ferro turned, walking under the shadow of the colonnade of the back half of the stage. He didn’t once look back at her.
Eira worried her bottom lip between her teeth. Should she go with him? She could already hear Alyss saying no. Even if the elfin were friends of Solaris and he was clearly a nobleman, she should definitely not sneak off into the night following a stranger.
So, of course, Eira did.
She raced through the moonlight and into the shadow as Ferro opened one of the large doors on the back of the stage. He disappeared inside, leaving her sprinting to keep up with him. He was already several paces down a long palace hall as she closed the door behind her.
Eira had never been in this section of the palace before—she didn’t even know if she was allowed to be—but she kept up anyway. She followed him deeper into the palace, up a flight of stairs, down a sculpture gallery, and through a gaming parlor. Eventually, they came to a sitting room where a fire crackled warmly in the hearth, fighting against the night’s chill.
“You’re bolder than you look,” Ferro said softly as he closed the doors to the parlor behind her. “I didn’t expect you to actually come all this way.”
“Should I be nervous?” Eira was grateful her voice didn’t quiver.
“No, I mean you no harm. Please, sit.” He motioned to the chairs situated around the hearth with a smile.
Eira did as instructed. She bunched her dress in her fists and then forced herself to relax. The new room was filled with sounds she’d never heard before and she had to guard herself against. It was an easy task whenever Ferro spoke, because her focus was solely on him.
“Why did you send me this letter?” Eira asked. He held out his hand and she passed the letter to him. Ferro cast it in the fire. Eira barely resisted the urge to snuff the fire instantly with her magic. “I’d been meaning to save it as a keepsake.”
“Were you?” He chuckled. The sound made her toes curl. “Why is that?”
“Because…” She hated every way the truth could be phrased. She’d wanted to keep it because he—an elfin—had written it. So, instead, she lied. “Because I’m trying to save everything I can to commemorate the trials.”
“Is that the reason? Or is it because someone from Meru gave you that letter?” Ferro sat back in his chair. She pursed her lips and that only made him laugh. “Your curiosity about my homeland is no secret. If you’d intended for it to be, you would’ve intentionally thrown at least one question during your examination today.”
Eira sighed and admitted, “I am fascinated with Meru, yes.”
“I’m flattered.”
“What?” She met his amethyst eyes.
“So many of Solaris take a stance of begrudging acceptance toward what you once called the Crescent Continent. To know that there are those who wish to learn about us with a genuine interest warms my heart.”
“I see.”
“Where does your fascination come from?”
Eira shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She didn’t want to keep lying to the man. But she also hated feeling bare and exposed. Her curiosity surrounding Meru hadn’t earned her a good deal of favor from her peers. At best, it’d earned her teasing.
“I think I’ve always thought it was fascinating. I grew up in Oparium—it’s the closest port to Solarin in a valley to the east.”
He nodded. “I’m familiar with it.”
“I grew up seeing the ocean and all its vastness every day. It seemed to beckon to me. I wondered what was out there. Then, when I was twelve, I learned the crown princess was speaking with the Crescent Continent—as I knew it then. In the years that followed, there was an explosion of information in Solarin about a wide world we never even knew we were a part of. Who wouldn’t be excited?” Ferro smiled a little at this and Eira returned the expression. “And then…”
“Then?” he encouraged.
“Then, when I was fifteen, I was privileged to attend the ball where our princess announced her betrothal to the Voice of Yargen.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I saw him.”
Ferro chuckled. “Taavin has made quite the impact on our world, as has your princess. It’s fitting they have ended up together.”
“That’s what I say! But you’re right. Most people in Solaris don’t seem to grasp how perfect they are for each other.” The engagement had been met by resistance, to say the least. Which had prompted their marriage to be postponed longer than normal by royal standards.
“So, a young girl’s
fascination, fueled further by a romantic whim on meeting a handsome elfin—”
“I said nothing about romantic,” Eira interjected, a flush rising up her neck.
Ferro ignored her. “—turned you into one of the leading experts in Solarin on the subject of Meru…if your instructor Mister Levit is to be believed, and as your test scores support.”
Eira wondered what Mister Levit had said. Perhaps the kind man had been the one to help arrange this meeting for her. She didn’t dare let herself think that Ferro had been interested in her of his own accord. “I just try and learn what I can.”
“How would you like to learn more?”
“Are you offering?” There was no way she could say no.
“I admit, I am just as much fascinated by you as you are by me.” Ferro’s eyes roved across her. Eira fought a shiver. No one had ever stared at her so intently, with so much focus and fascination, void of any judgment or harshness. It was a little uncomfortable, but not entirely in a bad way. “I worked hard to ascend to the rank of ambassador as quickly as possible so that I might come and explore this previously closed-off land I now know as Solaris.”
“It never occurred to me that Meru might be as fascinated by us as we are by them.”
“Your island—no, continent, you call it, correct?” Eira nodded and he continued, “Your continent has a storied history in both our records and lore.”
“It does?”
“Indeed. A fascinating place where the legends say the gods and their champions once walked.” He chuckled and Eira followed suit. “Of course, such a thing is ludicrous. But I imagine the stories were grounded in some truth surrounding the now-gone Crystal Caverns.”
“Perhaps.” They had been a mysterious place of even more mysterious powers.
“In any case, I think that we could help each other.” Ferro’s smile was dazzling. “If you are open to it, I would love to have these little chats with you as we’re able. You can tell me of your life here, and I’ll share with you my life on Meru.”
“That sounds wonderful.” Eira didn’t see any reason to refuse. There was no harm in merely talking. Was there? “If you don’t mind, I’d love to hear more about these legends—”