‘Whatever this is, we do it together,’ she says, all strained confidence. ‘We can all get to the Ofur. We can all complete and pass all the trials without anybody needing to die, right?’
‘We work together,’ Benny agrees. ‘Until the last one. Then we go for it by ourselves.’
I clear my throat. ‘If I ever become a burden?—’
‘You won’t,’ Llinos interrupts.
‘But if I do, tell me, okay? Tell me and I’ll go it alone. It’s what I planned on doing before I got here.’
‘That’s not going to happen. Not for the first four trials,’ Llinos assures me.
It’s impossible not to notice how quiet both Loch and Jonas have been, and now silence sweeps around the carriage, amplified by our shared tiredness from being woken so early.
‘Maybe we should sleep,’ Jonas suggests. ‘No idea how long it’s going to take us to get there.’
He pulls off his fur coat and folds it in half before laying it on his shoulder. He looks at me. ‘For a pillow, if you want?’
The way his eyes meet mine, I know what he’s actually offering: a truce. An apology for going behind my back to Llinos. When this trial is done – and assuming I survive it – this situation of ours needs clarifying. Not knowing what we are is taking up too much of my mental capacity, and right now I don’t have any of that to spare. For now, the thought of a comfy shoulder and sharing someone else’s body heat is too good to pass up.
‘Just don’t forget to wake me when the trial begins,’ I say before snuggling down and closing my eyes, my head resting against him.
‘West,I’m telling you, we’ve definitely gone further west.’
I’m not woken by our arrival at the trials, but by Jonas and Benny at loggerheads.
‘We’re going westnow,’ Jonas says, ‘but I think we’ve gone north just as much. That would put us in Afaven Forest.’
‘Wewentnorth to start with,’ Benny replies. ‘But while you were snuggling up with Rose, I was awake, and that’s how I know we’ve been going west the entire time. I’m telling you, we’re at the coast.’
Benny looks to Loch. ‘What do you hear?’ he asks. ‘Forest or water?’
‘Right now, I just hear a lot of horses’ hooves and you two arguing,’ Loch replies sourly.
Llin and I suppress a smirk.
As I glance up, I can see the sun directly above us. I’m not exactly sure what time it was when we left, but I must’ve slept for at least six hours. That’s more hours than I’ve slept in my room, and I should feel rested,only there’s a crick in my neck from sleeping against Jonas that reminds me of my bed in the slums.
I wonder what bed Kay is sleeping on. If she’s warm, well fed, happy. With effort, I push my worries down. I can’t afford to be distracted, not now.
It’s only when I go to rub my neck that I realise my fingers are entwined with Jonas’s. I’ve no idea when it happened, but given how much longer he’s been awake, he must have noticed. As subtly as I can, I try to draw my hand away, and as I move, my eyes fall on Llinos. This time I’m well aware that her smirk is directed at me, a smirk that evaporates when Loch suddenly stiffens.
‘Loch?’ she says. ‘What is it? What can you hear?’
The older islander flinches at her voice, blinking and shaking his head.
‘It doesn’t make sense,’ he mutters. ‘I don’t understand. It doesn’t make sense.’
Benny leans forward in his seat. ‘What, what doesn’t make sense? Loch, buddy, what can you hear?’
Rather than reply, Loch continues to shake his head. Jonas and I exchange a concerned look. Loch’s certainly the least sociable in the group, but he’s never been like this before. The only Rettling who can usually lay claim to this kind of incoherence is Seiren.
He rocks a little in the seat. ‘I don’t understand. I should be able to hear them. Why can’t I hear them? They must be lying.’
Benny looks confused. ‘You can’t hear? Is that what you’re saying? Have they blocked our magic?’
My ribs clench around my chest. Is it a good thing or not if the first trial is the one where magic’s banned? It would definitely even the playing field among the other Rettlings, but it won’t make me any stronger or more able to defeat whatever’s waiting for us.
‘My magic’s fine.’ Llinos lifts a hand and conjures a breeze that wafts through the carriage.
