“Then I just have to make sure I don’t die.” Eira grinned but it was short-lived. There was no levity for Alyss. “I’m trying to be better,” she said quietly, staring down at her toes. “I am…I was just so sure it was him. And I thought I could end it. I really believed that, as foolish as it seems now.”
“And that’s my other fear.” Alyss clearly had a lot on her mind. “You leap before you look and land into trouble for a mirage. You want to hunt him so badly your mind is playing tricks on you. You’re going to find clues where there aren’t any. Even if you could catch him, Eira…he’s a dangerous man. Youshouldn’tface him alone.”
“I’ll try—keep trying to be better.” It was all Eira could do, even if she was still figuring out how. “For what it’s worth though, I didn’t charge in immediately when I thought it might be him. I waited and, because I did, I discovered it wasn’t. So that counts for something, right?”
“It does. But I’m still afraid of what you’ll do when you are inevitably certain it’s him.” Alyss sighed and pushed away from the wall. Eira thought she was going to retreat, done with the conversation and done with her. But instead Alyss wrapped her arms around Eira’s shoulders and hugged her tightly. “I just worry about you, is all. You know that, right?”
“I do.” Guilt flooded Eira. “But you shouldn’t have to worry so much.”
“If I don’t, who will?” Alyss pulled away with a smile. “Besides, I’m stronger than I look. I can be useful in a fight.”
“I know you’re incredibly strong.” Eira shared in her friend’s expression.
“Good. You know none of us want to hold you back, right? We just want to be a part of your grand adventure.” Alyss’s smileshifted into a smirk. “Look, I know you’re going to run off. Just promise that, from now on, you’ll involve me, too.”
Eira laughed, breathy and short. “But what if I want to keep you safe?”
“There’s safety in numbers.” Whatever Alyss might have gone on to say next was interrupted with a yawn. “Now, I think Ducot had the right idea. We should get some sleep while we can.”
Eira’s smile slowly faded as Alyss started for her room. Was involving her friends the right decision? She knew it wasn’t her choice to make—it was theirs. But knowing that didn’t make it any easier for her to live with the risk she was putting them in. And, when it came to it, Eira knew she would give everything to stop Ulvarth, but would they? And could she expect them to? Did she even want them to?
She didn’t know the answers and she was afraid that, before the tournament was over, she would find out.
15
Dawn broke and Eira savored the silence. She lay in bed, watching the colors of the sky change through her window. The stars burnt out. Fire red claimed the sky before it exhausted itself into a smoky blue that threatened rain later in the day. Eira hoped that the weather would hold out for whatever awaited them in the arena today. But she wasn’t going to hold her breath.
Their parades had been rained on metaphorically since they’d first arrived in Meru. It was only fitting that, at some point, they were rained on literally as well.
Eira hid under the weight of her duvet—it actually was surprisingly comfortable—until the sun crested the horizon. The attendants hadn’t told them what was coming next, so she wanted time to mentally and physically ready herself for anything. Dressed for the day in a pair of rugged pants and a canvas top, Eira eased open her door.
The door opposite hers was cracked. “Eira?” Noelle said softly from within. “Is that you moving?”
Eira popped her head into her friend’s room. “No, it’s the worst assassin ever.”
Noelle snorted laughter. “You shouldn’t make jokes like that.”
“Then why do you sound so amused?”
“I have a dark sense of humor.”
“So I’ve learned.”
“Alyss, are you up?” Noelle called.
No reply.
“I got her.” Eira stepped away and went to the third door in the hall, left from Noelle’s and next to Eira’s room. She knocked softly, then loudly, then cracked open the door. As expected, Alyss was still sound asleep. Eira let herself inside. She’d done so enough times in the Tower to feel confident that Alyss wouldn’t mind. “Alyss, it’s time to wake up,” she said where she assumed her friend’s ear to be under the mass of blankets. “It’s time to go be champions.”
“Someday, they will begin things at reasonable hours…like after lunch,” Alyss mumbled.
“Didn’t you go to bed fairly early for you last night?”
“Too early; I couldn’t sleep.”
Eira sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry. How late were you up?”
“Not late enough because I am deprived of all things good in the world!” Alyss groaned, throwing off the covers.
