‘If I want to move into her dorm, I’m perfectly capable of asking her myself,’ I snap. ‘And if you thought it was a good idea, why didn’t you say so?’
‘I don’t know,’ he admits. ‘I guess I didn’t want you to feel like I was coddling you.’
‘Like when we fight, you mean?’ I grit my teeth. ‘Jonas, Etta accepted me, and no one has tried to kill me for weeks. I’m fine, okay?’
Whether I will be after the first trial is another matter, though.
Thankfully, Llinos appears before Jonas can continue. Trailing behind her is a tired-looking Caroline. From the way both of them are rubbing their eyes, they didn’t get much sleep either.
Jonas’s eyes widen. ‘She’s not a Rettling. Why is she here?’
Caz’s lips purse slightly, but Llinos doesn’t miss a beat.
‘Library delivery service,’ she says. ‘Now, shall we get going? This damn ringing is driving me insane. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a trial to survive.’
Chapter 26
Over half the Rettlings are already gathered in the dining hall, almost all of them bedraggled and, like me, still needing to draw on their sigils.
‘Do me a favour and try to stay alive, will you?’ Caroline whispers as she kisses Llinos at the door.
It’s not a small peck, either. Llinos’s hands reach around the back of Caroline’s neck as she pulls her in close. It’s the kind of kiss I might do in private if I were in the right mood, and a pang of jealousy streaks through me at the way they press their foreheads together when their lips part. Theirs is the type of love that doesn’t require words, and seeing them together makes it feel impossible that they’ve ever been apart.
‘She’s not actually from the library, is she?’ Jonas whispers in my ear.
‘Oh, she is,’ I tell him. ‘She definitely is.’
Five minutes later, sigils have been painted, the rest of the Rettlings have arrived, and Holden and Zelle appear at the front of the dining room. Speculation has run rife, not just about what the trials will be, but about how we will get to them. Many of the Rettlings are keen to experience portation, but much to their disappointment, we are merely led out into the battle yard, where the same series of carriages used previously awaits us.
‘So what do you think we’re going to face?’ I ask as I pile into a carriage. Estel goes with Kestria and Seiren this time, and without Jai and Coulter, the carriage feels close to empty.
‘It’s hard to guess what direction we’re heading in right now,’ Benny replies, glancing up at the skylight, ‘as we won’t know until we’re out of the city and the sun’s up, but my bet is the forest. Eight Retterhelds have had their first trials in the forest.’
I could cope with that, I think. Lots to climb in a forest.
‘How many trials have taken place in the water?’ I ask, trying to keep my face as passive as I can.
‘In the water or on the water?’ Jonas clarifies. ‘Do you mean on boats or actually swimming?’
‘Either,’ I say, though really, it’s the second possibility that terrifies me. As a child, I learned to swim in the Festroin lakes, a low mountain area about a four-hour carriage ride outside of Wrohelm, but that was a long time ago, and I worry I’ve forgotten.
Benny looks to Jonas as if he’s expecting him to answer, but Jonas stays quiet, leaving Benny to explain.
‘Normally one per Retterheld, though it’s normally only one aspect of a trial. Like swimming down to an underground cave or rowing across to one of the Vypark islets and continuing from there.’
Swimming to an underground cave may feel like a ‘small part’ of a trial to Benny, but unless it’s glassy water and the depth of the cave is no more than ten feet, I’m going to struggle. Hopefully, this year there’ll be some type of rowing involved instead. Ideally, rowing across water so tranquil there’s zero chance of me falling in.
‘I notice you haven’t asked us how many times the first trial has been the magicless one,’ Jonas comments.
‘But I get the feeling you’re going to tell me, right?’
‘Three. If the scribes are right.’
‘Out of how many?’
‘Eighteen documented.’
Is that good or bad for me? I’ve no idea. As I glance at Llinos, she shrugs.
