Eira had woken up not even wanting to come and now she was suddenly competing? She narrowed her eyes slightly, as though she could bring something that was dawning on the back of her mind into focus by sharpening her vision.
“The winner of this game will have a particularly gracious honor. After over a week of being sequestered, the winner will have an opportunity to attend a Spectacle of Twilight in town tonight with another champion of their choosing,” Arwin announced.
The competitors were abuzz with the idea of getting out of the village. That was it.Getting out. They were too watched in the village and there was only one way in and out of the coliseumthat was shut tight at night. Wherever the shift door was, Eira was fairly certain it wasn’t in the competitors’ village. Which meant, they’d have to leave. Since Eira had made it a point not to tell Taavin about her passage, she’d forced him to operate without confidence in her ability to sneak out when needed. Or, perhaps even if he was certain she could, he—and the Specters, likely—wanted the assurance she’d be at the right place, at the right time. They wanted to control it.
Or…maybe they just wanted her to show them how serious and capable she was.
Eira met Taavin’s eyes from afar, remembering what she told him last night—I earned this.
Prove it, this game almost seemed to say in reply. He was giving her the opportunity to earn her way out and the opportunity to see what the shift key unlocked. Eira doubted it was chance that Arwin, another shadow, had chosen this game, set up in this way, and Olivin alongside her. Two chances for them to win. Two chances to fail.
Getting to see the shift door was the flip of a coin.
“Those not competing will be escorted to the spectators’ balcony. The competitors still in the arena, please make your way under the royals’ box,” Lumeria announced.
They did as they were told. Her fellow competitors bid her farewell. Alyss squeezed her hands encouragingly. Cullen and Noelle offered words of support.
After they parted, Eira was ushered underneath the royals’ box. Lop and Graff talked amongst themselves. Harkor kept to himself, off to the side, glowering with intensity. Eira worked her way to Olivin.
“Guess you’re stuck with me these days,” she said.
“The horror.” He kept his eyes ahead, watching the attendants rather than her. Eira followed his lead. They were setting out a strange assortment of objects. There was a pile ofrope, metal rods, wooden planks. “You know what this is really about, right?”
“I know why you and I were selected, yes, that’s obvious.” She had no idea about what trial awaited them.
“Good.” Olivin gave a sharp nod. “One of us has to win.”
“Oh, I will see what that key unlocks.” Nothing was going to stop her. “I’m shocked you’d have any doubt.”
“Doubting you? Never.”
32
“Competitors, this game is straightforward, however, it is anything but simple.” Lumeria’s voice echoed from above them, reverberating through the arena loud enough for them to still hear clearly. “You will be presented with a maze tailor made for you. Within the maze, you will take your team’s stone to the center and place it in the palms of the statue to achieve victory.”
As she spoke, attendants walked between them, tying lengths of ribbon to their wrists. Eira had gold, Olivin had gray. “These are the color of your stone and, when the time comes, will help you find it,” the attendant said.
“Champions, you have all you need for victory in this game,” Lumeria continued. “You may use any means available to you to make your way through the maze. However, you may not climb the walls, or ascend above their tops.”
“So noteverythingis fair game.” Olivin ran his fingers along the ribbon.
“But it sounds like most things are.” Eira glanced back at the other competitors. They were far enough away that if she kept her voice low, they shouldn’t hear. “How do you want to team up?”
He hummed. “However makes sense. It’s hard to plan too much before we get in there.”
“If I see your stone, I’ll take it and throw a spear of ice high above. That way you’ll know to head to the center and meet me there.” If there was a rule that they couldn’t go above the walls, Eira assumed there’d be no roof to the maze. Moreover, a roof would prevent the spectators from watching them.
“Everyone will know we’re working together, if you do that.”
“I can make it look like a coincidence.” She shrugged. “And besides, they said nothing about us not being able to work together.” Eira looked back to the arena. The attendants were finishing their setup. “What do you think?”
He looked like he was chewing on the insides of his cheeks. “We have to win. But we also need to be careful with our associations.”
“Cullen helped Lavette two games ago.” Eira was pleased that she didn’t sound bitter when she spoke.
“They’re engaged.”
“Is that your way of saying you want to be engaged to me?” she dared to jest.
