“You could talk the whole time?” Ahyana asked.
Suri nodded.
Zalira asked the question we all had. “Why have you not spoken before?”
“Because I was afraid that if I did, I would start screaming and never stop.”
That made the rest of us fall silent as she continued to wipe off our hands. Her words broke my heart. I hoped that someday she would be able to tell us what had been so terrible that she was scared to even speak.
Sensing that Suri might not be in a place where she would be willing to share details, Io instead repeated what she’d asked her earlier. “How did you know what was happening?”
“The owners of the orphanage I grew up in worshipped the goddess of discord. I know what to look for,” she said quietly, her voice still raspy.
I’d initially thought it sounded that way because she hadn’t spoken in so long, but now I wondered if someone at the orphanage had injured her and permanently damaged her voice.
“I can’t believe the things we just said to each other,” I said to my adelphia. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean any of it.”
Zalira nodded. “Neither did I. I felt irrationally angry. I was ready to fight everyone.”
We all apologized to one another. What had happened in that room reminded me of how I’d felt when I’d let anger and vengeance control me. I had behaved in ways I didn’t recognize, said things I didn’t mean.
The discord room had been a good reminder of what I had to remember going forward. To master my emotions, as Demaratus had taught me time and time again.
I could no longer afford to let them master me.
A door appeared at the end of the hallway.
I sighed. “I hope this is the last room.”
“Or there might be five tests, and then the greatest weapon is in a room beyond that one,” Ahyana pointed out.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Io said. She walked to the door and read the final sign. “Worthy.”
“I almost don’t want to open it,” Zalira confessed, and I understood completely.
But there was no other option. We couldn’t go back. We had to move forward, no matter what it might bring.
Io opened the door and we stepped into a room lit up by the bioluminescence. The door shut and locked behind us. In the center of the room, there was a squat stone, about two feet tall, that looked like a seat. Were we supposed to sit there?
Over on the left side of the room, I saw a round boulder that looked to be about five feet tall. And in the right corner ...
“A staircase!” Ahyana exclaimed and ran toward it. I was about to tell her to stop, but instead I followed her.
The stairs were made of the same marble as the steps at the beginning of the cave, but these went in a straight line to a landing before veering left. Ahyana went up to the top. A few seconds later she returned, using the long steel handrail attached to the wall.
“There’s no way out,” she said.
Zalira tried to reassure her sister. “I’m sure once we finish the next task, a door will open.”
“What is the task?” Io asked.
“Let’s search the room,” Ahyana suggested. “Maybe there’s something we’re missing. Like a secret door that will lead us to the greatest weapon.”
Everyone spread out and began running their hands along the walls, just as we had at the cave entrance, hoping to find some sort of trick that would help us know what to do next.
Zalira started feeling along the cavern floor. It looked like solid rock, but I supposed a hidden trapdoor could be just as likely as one in a wall.
“The sign said ‘worthy,’ and if this is the last room, then the greatest weapon is in here. ‘Let the flame-kissed savior who is worthy pass the tests of the goddesses to claim the greatest weapon ...’” I was thinking out loud because something was nagging at the back of my mind.
