“Are you really still mad about that?” I asked.
“Sacrifice?” Aethra asked. “I thought—”
“They will not be killed,” Cerys corrected. “Only those of pure soul would risk their lives to save another. One of you will sacrifice your chance to fight. And perhaps you will be lucky, and your peers will come for you.”
“I’m going to need more details,” Aethra said.
“You will receive no more guidance,” Cerys said. “Only the divines can help you now. You go to Psythos’ trial. Pray to her for guidance.” She lifted her chin. “Choose. Or I will choose for you.”
“Aethra,” Eleos thought.
“What?” I whipped my head around, and the guard sitting behind me shoved it back to the front.
“She can’t fight as well as we can. Think, Seth. If we give you up, we lose our best chance to escape.”
He had a point there. Whoever we picked, it couldn’t be me.
Were Seraphim, Percy, and Phaedrus grouped together? Their choice of sacrifice was easy enough . . .
“We’ll save her, Seth,” Eleos said. “You know we will.”
I’d already tried to save Aethra. My attempt had landed her inmoredanger.
“I’ll do it,” Aethra said, voice wavering.
“No!” I blurted out.
“I can’t fight—”
“Yes, you can. You defeated that guard in Cynthus.”
“I blocked an attack. Eleos took him down.”
“Seth,” Eleos hissed in my mind.
“I pick Aethra,” he said aloud.
Cerys looked at me, waiting for my answer.
Fuck. It was happening again. Bound and useless, I could only watch as I lost her.
Closing my eyes, I ground my teeth. I’d left Aethra at the beach toprotecther. A horrible image appeared in my head, of holding her lifeless body while the light faded from her eyes.
I didn’t have the strength to suffer through that again. Should death find us, it would find me first.
“Fine.” I spat. “But if you aren’t being truthful . . .”
“This is Psythos’ trial,” Cerys said. “It demands our empathy as well.”
Raising her lantern, she turned around. Light shimmered on the river as we approached another dock, its ancient pillars eroded and worn. The boat came to rest beside it, and Cerys stepped off, gown swirling around her feet as she spun to face us.
“When you wake,” she said, “you will find yourselves in the first trial. Pray the divines find mercy in their hearts, for there is little chance you will survive.”
Wake? I shot from my seat and heard a nasty crack behind me. A soldier had smashed his gauntlet across the back of Eleos’ head, sending him reeling. The man holding Aethra followed suit. Her head snapped forward, and her body fell limp.
I reached for her, but her guard stepped between us. A hand grabbed my collar, hauling me back. I looked up to see the pommel of a spear raised above my head, before it plunged.
A note of pain brushed my consciousness, but only darkness followed.
