Gavelle’s cry sliced through the night as he swooped down, landing on my shoulder. His talons gripped the leather, his weight familiar and comforting.
“Yes, I saw,” I said, responding to the impression he sent. We couldn’t speak to each other, of course, but after bonding, we could send images. Impressions. His came through now, tinged with curiosity.
“You’re right. She’s not what she appears to be,” was all I was willing to say even to my bonded companion.
I turned and entered the castle with him.
My councilors were waiting.
Dawn approached.
And with it, the trials.
9
TREW
“The eastern boundary has deteriorated further,” Grayson said, his gnarled finger tracing a line on the map spread out on the table between us. His left eye twitched, a tic that had become more pronounced lately. “Another quarter clik lost to the wasteland since last month. They’re eating away at our borders on most of our sides, and if we don’t stop them, they’ll reach our heart and consume the rest.”
I leaned forward, studying the markings. The corruption was spreading in a distinctive pattern, following ley lines few remembered existed. “And the containment spells?”
“Holding, but weakening,” my Aunt Coralee said, straightening her already immaculate collar. The ermine draped across her shoulders mirrored her posture, its calculating eyes never blinking. My mother’s sister had inherited her penchant for precision but none of my mother, Sara’s warmth.
“Any new insight into the Skathes?” I asked.
“Not yet,” Coralee said. “We hope to have news from…” Her gaze met mine. Only she knew who might deliver such news. “We’re stretching our warriors too thin, trying to cover every border.”
“We need stronger bindings.” Kira’s voice cut through the room. Her death adder twisted on her wrist, the serpent’s blood-red scales catching torchlight. “The old methods aren’t sufficient.”
Sensing my tension, Gavelle’s talons tightened on my shoulder. The wasteland’s growth had accelerated over the past months, consuming fertile land and threatening our boundaries. If it reached the main water sources…
Well, others had thought this court was doomed before, but we’d managed to survive.
“Options?” I asked.
“Reinforce the bindings, of course. I’ll see to it right away,” Grayson said, his owl companion hooting from her perch on the back of Grayson’s chair. “But we’re trying to hold back the sea with a broken wall. Traditional methods are no longer working. Perhaps it’s time to consider more experimental approaches.”
“You mean blood magic,” Coralee said, her long, carefully painted fingernails tapping a rhythm on the wooden table. “King Valdris would never have?—”
“My father is dead.” I kept my face smooth. She’d note my mood well enough by the look in my eyes. Those, I could only rarely mask. “And with him, many solutions that might’ve saved us.”
Silence fell. Gavelle’s wings rustled as he shifted position on my shoulder.
We’d all lost family fifteen years ago, but none of them had needed to bear the weight of the crown afterward. None had been forced to remake an entire kingdom from the ruins while barely more than a child.
“The recruits have arrived for tomorrow’s trials,” Coralee finally said, shifting topics with an ease I’d admired when I was twelve. “Perhaps one of them…”
“We’ll observe them closely,” I said. “Those with particular aptitudes for binding or restoration magic could prove valuable.”
“We’ve been watching them since they arrived, and I’ve reviewed their preliminary assessments.” Kira’s gaze met mine with thecharacteristic directness that had first caught my attention during her own trial. “It’s early yet, of course, but several show promise. It’s difficult to gauge true potential before they’re bonded.”
“And the children?” I asked, turning to Grayson. “They’ve arrived?”
He nodded. “All twenty-three, safely housed now. The transition has been challenging for some. Three attempted to run away last night.”
I kept my face impassive, though sadness twisted through my chest. Children torn from everything familiar would naturally resist, even if that familiarity had been built on lies. “Increase their support system. No restraints. They’ll adjust like all the others.”
“They call for their parents,” Kira said, her tone matter-of-fact rather than judgmental. “Some cry for the reformatory teachers, would you believe.”
