She felt him lean his forehead against the wood, felt his breath through the thin barrier.
"I promise," he said finally. "But I'm not saying goodbye."
"You don't have to."
“Eliam…”
She thought about telling him the truth, about what Arion was, but she couldn’t. Instead she let her forehead fall to rest against the cool wood.
“I’m sorry.” And shewassorry. Sorry for letting her compassion get the better of her again. Sorry for letting her doubts make their last days spent together strained and distant. Sorry that she hadn’t trusted herself enough to know her own heart before it was too late. “I love you.”
They stayed like that, hands pressed together through the wood, until she heard guards approaching his cell. The wood thickened immediately, her hand meeting solid barrier again, and Eliam's cursing told her they were moving him somewhere else. Probably to prevent exactly what he'd just done.
The rest of the night passed in restless dozing and sharp waking. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the cave, imagined what could kill warrior after warrior without remorse. When dawn finally came, filtering gray through her barred window, she was almost relieved.
Veroc came for her as the sun reached its peak.
"It's time," he said simply.
She stood, legs steadier than she expected. The traditional clothes did make her feel more protected, more capable. Not enough to survive, but enough to walk to her death with some dignity.
They led her through the settlement, and it seemed the entire population had turned out to watch. Drak of all ages lined the paths, their expressions ranging from sympathy to satisfaction to curiosity. The children were the worst, watching with wide eyes as she passed, some clutching their parents' hands.
The others were already at the cave entrance, held back by guards but there. Eliam's expression was murderous, shadows writhing around him despite the bright sunlight. Arion's light was sharp enough to hurt the eyes. Thaine stood perfectly still, the kind of stillness that preceded violence. Even Halian had shed his grief enough to look ready to fight.
Only Karse looked defeated, his shoulders slumped, his golden eyes dull.
The cave mouth yawned before them, a jagged opening in the hillside that looked entirely natural except for the wrongness emanating from it. The air around it was colder, and Briar could smell something sweet and rotten, decay and flowers mixed into something stomach-turning.
Mor'va stood beside the entrance, the other elders arranged behind her.
"Briar of the Forest Court," she said formally. "You stand accused of crimes through the law of life debt. You face the trial of the cave. Enter, survive, retrieve what lies within, and all crimes are forgiven. Fail, and you join those who came before."
"What am I supposed to retrieve?" Briar asked.
"You'll know if you find it,” Mor’va replied. “No one has gotten far enough to see it clearly."
"Helpful."
"The trial begins when you enter," Mor'va continued. "You go alone, with no weapons, no aid from your companions. If you do not emerge by sunset, you are declared dead and your companions will meet your same fate."
"Without completing our mission." Briar looked at the elder steadily. "Without reinforcing the seal that protects you too."
"That is no longer your concern."
Briar turned to look at her friends one last time. Eliam's face was a mask of controlled fury, but his eyes... she saw everything there he couldn't say. Arion was gripping Sian's arm to keep himself from moving forward. Thaine gave her a single nod—warrior to warrior, acknowledging what she was about to do.
"Briar." Karse's voice was rough. "I'm sorry. For all of it."
She met his golden eyes, saw the genuine anguish there. "I know."
She turned back to the cave, squared her shoulders, and stepped forward.
The darkness swallowed her whole.
Not the gradual dimming of walking from sunlight into shadow, but immediate, absolute blackness that pressed against her eyes with physical weight. The cave mouth could have three steps behind her or three miles, the darkness erased all sense of distance, direction, space.
Briar kept one hand on the cave wall, using it to guide herself forward. Her footsteps echoed strangely, sometimes sounding far away, sometimes so close she flinched from her own movement.
