"Of course, you did," Shovia said. "But it wasn't your best performance by a long shot. You could probably do it in under ten if you tried."
"Why waste the energy? What's important is that I won."
"Maybe you're just getting slow in your old age," Shovia taunted.
"I'm twenty-two!"
"Definitely over the hill," Codric deadpanned, earning a laugh from the table.
I watched Kailin as she laughed with them, her face lighting up. This was how I wanted to see her—happy, healthy, and surrounded by friends who would die for her.
If only I could figure out how to keep her safe.
"What about you?" Kailin found my hand under the table and interlaced our fingers. "How did you do on the challenge?"
"I came in second."
"That's good."
"Would have been better if I'd beaten Morek, but since that's probably never going to happen, I'll take second place."
"We need to talk," Shovia said quietly. "We haven't had a chance to discuss what Saphir told us."
After the attempt on our lives, Kailin had been in no shape to discuss anything, and today was the first day that she looked well enough to do so.
"What is there to discuss?" Morek asked in a near whisper. "We're five of the seven. We find the missing eggs, and we save the world. Simple."
I put a finger on my lips. "Not here, Morek."
I pushed to my feet and offered Kailin a hand up. "Let's go to our room."
As was usual lately, our departure was followed by stares and murmurs, but I was adept at blocking those kinds of responses. After years at court, I had developed the ability to filter them out. Kailin, on the other side, walked stiffly beside me, her hand clutching mine as if I were her anchor.
Once the door to our room had closed behind the five of us, Codric sat on the bed and leaned his elbows on his knees. "We don't even know who the other two are. Ravel doesn't think he's the sixth, and I agree."
"Why?" Kailin asked. "Saphir thinks that Ravel is the tracker." She sat next to Codric.
"Because he had to find someone who was already here and matched that description. That doesn't mean it's Ravel. I'm sure many riders are good at tracking."
I wished he was right. Having Ravel as the sixth of the seven meant that he would be spending a lot of time with the five of us, and even though I appreciated his military skills, I didn't appreciate the way Kailin sometimes looked at him.
"I wonder who the seventh is," Kailin said.
"Maybe it's someone from a future pilgrimage." Morek leaned against my desk and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Or maybe someone who is already here," Shovia suggested. "It can be anyone, really. A second-year cadet, one of the riders or instructors, or even a staff member." She smiled. "I vote for Hadrick."
Codric cocked a brow. "The librarian? He's ancient, and he's not a rider."
"So?" Shovia plopped on the bed next to Kailin. "He's a treasure trove of information, and saving the world requires knowledge."
She was teasing, of course, getting a rise from annoying us with her suggestions.
"I'm sure the seventh will be a rider," I said.
"Does it matter?" Morek asked. "I mean, we'll figure it out eventually. Right now, we have more immediate problems. Like the damned Sitorians who somehow managed to infiltrate the Citadel. How could this happen?"
"It could be Elucians who are doing this," Shovia said. "People go insane for a variety of reasons. We might have a killer in our midst that has nothing to do with the Sitorians."
