Elara can’t keep a surprisingly girlish giggle from bubbling up. “I feel like we’ve learned a lot about all of us in the past month. I always thought you were a prim and proper princeling, Rurik.”
He sits up a little straighter. “I am. When I’m at court. But we aren’t in a ploughin’ court right now.”
Isola grins. “Who’d have thought that I’d be laughing with a Stormbringer prince in a cave in the middle of a trial?”
Darian’s still pacing, still thinking, but he needs his time. “The real question,” I say with a smile, “is who’d have thought you’d be laughing beside a human?”
And even grumpy Isola’s eyes sparkle a little when she says, “I have to admit, you’re growing on me, Fiona.” She looks around at the rest of the people in the cave and says, “I’m sure that if I’d joined a different team, I’d probably have had a lot better chance of winning, but it’s been a long time since I laughed. Dying and Returning might not be the worst price to pay for having a reason to laugh.”
There’s a strange quiet amongst the group as they all think about what Isola just said. We live in a hard world where very little is anything but pain and struggle, but here in this cave for the past three days, we’ve had none of it. We’ve been safe. We’ve played games and talked. It may have been boring, but it wasn’t nearly as dark, and we weren’t alone.
I look from one person to the next, and finally, my eyes fall on Darian, who’s still not done thinking. I can see the wheels turning in his mind, and that spark of genius is working harder than normal as he stares past us all. Yet, he doesn’t speak.
“So that’s the plan?” I ask, breaking the silence. “The four of us attack the door. If other teams come up behind us, we let Rurik play diplomat for us. Whatever we do, we keep Serica’s team’s focus on us constantly. Once we get closer to the appointed hour, Darian and Elara swoop in and attack from their backside. When we hear the scuffle, we rush in from below.”
One by one, everyone agrees. Everyone but Darian, who’s still staring at the wall. Finally, after several minutes have passed, he says, “Yes. That will work perfectly.”
Chapter 42
Names have meaning. Truly altering one’s name changes them in irreversible ways. Therefore, I have become Adelyth. Adelynne was a mother, a Countess, and a leader of the Fae. I am a goddess. That name and this new life could never reconcile their differences.
~Edicts of Adelyth
Fiona
No one is in the clearing when we get there. It’s four hours from the official midnight cut-off based on Isola’s supposedly perfect ability to mark the time, something I hate to have to trust. The forty-foot-tall tower looms above us, and we can make out the black and silver flag that flutters on the flagpole that’s most likely bolted into the stones of the roof. Shadowy shapes move along the battlements. Sounds of rustling movement come from within it.
Elara and Darian are next to us, but they’ll stay behind for several hours while we distract Serica and her team. Everyone is watching the tower, trying to guess who and where the surviving membersof Serica’s team are, and Darian pulls me away from the group for a moment.
“Fi, remember that unlike the rest of this group, you won’t Return. If you die…”
“I know,” I say in a whisper. “I’ve been human my whole life. The idea that dying is the end for me isn’t really a new concept.”
He grits his teeth just a little. “Yes, but for them, death is painful and Returning is even more so, but it’s not the end. You have to survive. Even if it means losing. Remember that all of this is a game, Fi. We’re all just pieces on a board, and the ones pulling the strings don’t give a rat’s ass if any of us survive. They don’t care if we’re happy or ever find peace. We’re just pieces on a board.”
He takes my hand in his and squeezes it. “The others don’t see it like that. They think they’re doing noble things. They think they’re bringing their gods and champions honor or some shit. Honor’s just some non-existent point system that doesn’t matter in the least. See the bigger game, the board beyond this battle. Don’t put yourself into situations you won’t get out of. Do you hear me?”
The way he’s saying all of this makes me nervous. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because people are going to die today. You need to understand that. I may be one of them. If I die, it’ll be a month before I come back. You’ll be alone in a place wherethis teamis going to try to kill you. They can’t truly imagine you’ll be gone forever. We live in a different world where death doesn’t matter so much as it once did.”
I swallow hard and glance over at Rurik, Elara, Isola, and Jorren. “You think they’ll double-cross me in the trial?”
Darian shakes his head. “No, they’re not willing to lose any strength while we’re here. But when we win, when we get back to Castle Lachlan,those four peoplewill be your enemies. And they will kill you if they can.”
I nod to Darian. “Maybe you should try not to die,” I say.
He chuckles. “I’d prefer my unbroken streak of not dying to remain whole for a very long time, but that doesn’t mean I won’t. The people in that tower are the meanest and strongest people in the competition, and no one’s going to show you any mercy just because you’re human. You should know that by now.”
“I do.”
There’s a lingering moment of silence, and I wrap my arms around the only person I’ve come to trust implicitly. Darian Emlyn was an ally from the beginning, but he’s become more than that. He’s become a friend. Not because we share goals, but because I genuinely care about him. Before I allied myself with him in these trials, I’d thought Rhaskar was the person I trusted most in the world.
Unlike my adoptive father, Darian’s never lied to me. Darian’s always cared. He helped me smile when I was more terrified than ever before. He helped me understand that this world I’d thought was full of monsters might be more than I’d been taught. My heart is fuller because of him. I may not have any blood family, but I know that even after these trials, he’ll be family. By choice.
“Stay safe,” I whisper in his ear. “You and Elara will be doing the hardest job out of everyone. I’ll try to help even the odds a bit when we attack.”
“I’ll be fine. Don’t forget what I said, Fi. We need you to survive and to win. I’ll do what needs to be done to make sure that happens.”
