Aimilia pressed on. She took her forces and with a few careful maneuvers, got them sheltered, so they weren’t out in the open and at the phoenixes’ mercy. As she climbed to her nextscenario, she locked eyes with Cyprian. It was the first time she’d seen him since he’d tried to poison her.
She froze, holding his gaze. He held hers.
Did he suspect that she knew? Or did he think she was completely unaware of what he had attempted?
Aimilia broke away first, reaching her next scenario that would inevitably only make things worse. Cyprian might have attempted to knock her unconscious, but for all that they’d fought about over the last few months, he didn’t hate her enough to want her dead.
No. He needed her alive. The cerberus had been Clelia beyond all doubt.
Aimilia continued to progress on her tower, faring worse than everyone else. Despite her certainty she was making the best moves, she knew something was wrong. Something was off about her tower. And with two enemies, Aimilia had to be even more careful.
Another one of the commanders fell. She heard a scream. She looked over her shoulder, and it was clear his leg was broken.
Aimilia glanced down at her tower.
It was rigged.
It had to be. Aimilia looked up at how much she had left. No matter what she did next, she wasn’t going to win her simulated battle.
Hypatia’s voice struck her.
A no-win scenario. Maybe… Maybe all of Hypatia’s premonitions had just been about this tournament. She hadn’t yet gotten to the fall or the explosion, but if both the dog snarling and the no-win scenario were about this, then the trap would have to be as well. Although the likelihood of this being the fall were high given Aimilia’s precarious position.
If this wasn’t also the trap… Her gold ring caught the light. The necklace bearing Nikias’ name was heavy on her even though it was hidden away in her room.
She didn’t know where that left her for Hypatia’s second premonition. Aimilia couldn’t do anything about it except try to minimize her losses as best she could in this scenario.
She wasn’t going to win this battle.
When she reached her second to last scenario, her tower shook. Aimilia gasped as she saw cracks start to form at the base. It was clear. Clelia had had her hands in rigging this tower.
“When I see your future, Aimilia, it is set. There is no changing it.”
Which meant there was nothing Aimilia could do. She was going to fall.
Aimilia scrambled—even if she was doomed, she was going to at least finish the task. She wasn’t going to let it be easy for them to eliminate her. She read the final scenario and her troops had been truly and thoroughly beaten.
Aimilia chose to retreat.
The illusion of her troops fleeing cut through her chest, but she knew that if she had attempted the attack suggested to her, it would have ended in them all being wiped out.
Her tower swayed. She could hear gasps in the crowd.
Cyprian was at his second to last scenario. And then the tower fell out from beneath Aimilia.
Chapter 55
AIMILIA
Aimilia jumped off the tower, hands flying as she cast. She flung a vitae whip around the tower closest to her, Cyprian’s. Wind whistled in her ears as she fell, and Aimilia wasn’t going to doubt Hypatia’s horrifying abilities ever again.
Her whip locked tight, and Aimilia’s arm jerked as it caught her. But her hand began slipping, and she wasn’t going to be able to hold onto it much longer. She was still going to fall.
Right before her grip gave out, a hand sank into her cloak. Aimilia looked up to see Cyprian holding on to her. Aimilia quickly scrambled to grab onto the holds of the tower, and Cyprian let go.
She let out a whispered, “Thank you.”
Cyprian nodded and pressed on while Aimilia climbed down. His actions only proved her point. Cyprian didn’t want her dead.
