‘Then perhaps we can offer you a truce,’ Soturi says quietly. ‘We don’t come after you in the next Trial; you don’t come after us.’
I tilt my head, then nod. ‘Seems fair.’
‘You’re an islander, aren’t you?’ Fey says suddenly. ‘Your watch and ruling council, they do not treat you well.’
‘They’ll get what’s coming to them,’ I say fiercely. ‘Just because I’m an islander, does not make me – or mypeople – any less. It does not mean we deserve to suffer under their rule.’
‘You misunderstand,’ Fey says, taking a step closer. ‘In the Spines, we overthrew our rulers. We are from the most northern town of the Spines, and they did not treat us well either. They despised how rural we are, how we value community over profiteering. They called us backwards. Now we fight in the Trials to honour our people, out of choice, not under duress. We fight to show all those who sided with our past rulers that we are stronger without them. That our way of life matters more than greed and power. If you need an ally beyond the Trials, if you and your people choose to fight for your islands, look to the Spines. Wechosenew rulers to represent us. Now we vote and interrogate every new law that is passed. We chose rulers who outlawed the hunting of our drakes.’
A slow smile spreads across my features, even as my throat thickens at the thought of my friends, my people, still sheltering on Ennor, with Rosevear destroyed. With each day that passes, my fear grows for their safety. With Eli and Lowri in another world, Agnes and I trapped here, and who knows where the rest of the crew of thePhantomare now, they’re more vulnerable, weak – even with the ruling council’s focus here on the Trials. But I can’t show it at a brunch surrounded by delegates and contenders from other territories, where enemies could be hiding in plain sight. Not if I want to save Agnes and myself. And to hear that they did it, thatthe Spines overthrew rulers just like our ruling council, gives me hope when I need it most. ‘We will call on you if you will stand with us. You have my word.’
There’s a shift among the crowd and as I glance around me I notice a few men being led out of the garden, and through a side door back into the court. The door snicks closed behind them, and I bite my lip. Gazing over the crowd, I feel a pair of eyes on me and find Sember, champagne flute in hand, sipping slowly as she raises her eyebrows. So she saw them leave too. I raise one eyebrow back in silent challenge and she nods before beginning to stroll around the crowd, pausing to admire a flowering plant. I move idly past the buffet table, rounding a group of grinning Leicenans discussing the first Trial with their contenders. A shudder eddies down my spine. It’s a game to them, a diversion. The Leicenan court, I’ve heard, is very fond of games and intrigue, and their relationship with Arnhem serves them well, for now. A stab of envy pierces my heart. If only my life was a series of diversions. How different everything would have been.
Sidling up to the door, I furtively check no one is watching us as Sember draws a coin from the pocket of her dress. I blink, and it’s suddenly slender and key-shaped. I frown, wondering if I imagined the coin in her hand completely. She winks at me as she turns the handle, the lock clicking. Then she pushes me through first, whisking the door closed in our wake. I hear voices further along the dimly lit corridor and hold a fingerup to my mouth. Sember pinches her lips and we slink towards the voices, stopping short outside what must be a servant’s entrance into a main palace reception room. In a crack between door and frame, I spy a group of merchants with jowls and bulging waistcoats, and a man I know all too well: Otho, one of the ruling council. The man who sat in the watch’s keep at Penscalo, toasting a victory with Captain Spencer Leggan before I was taken.
‘I must say, Otho, you did promise us more of a show. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.’
‘I agree entirely,’ another merchant says, helping himself to a handful of grapes. ‘What is she going to do that’ll make the Straits so impassable? Really, it’s hard to believe.’
‘I concur,’ the jowliest merchant of all says, before tipping a glass of blackcurrant-coloured wine between his fleshy lips. ‘Didn’t kill that morgawr either, did she? It snapped that metal bar in its mouth like a toothpick. We need proof.’
‘Proof? Was it not enough to see her in the arena? I’m a man of my word and so are my brothers. The Straits will be impassable.’
‘When?’ another merchant asks. I’m sure I recognise him from the trip I took with Eli to Hail Harbour. He’s one of the men we overheard talking when we took tea. Eli’s features, the memory of his calm reassurance, is suddenly with me. And I wish, more than anything, that he was here now, listening too. He would know exactly who these merchants are, what they deal in, if they ownmines in Valstra and why the ruling council want them on their side. But he’s not here. And I must gather the information that could turn everything round for us, for his sake, for Ennor and Rosevear. Even if, at times like this, I feel his absence more than ever.
‘If you’re asking us to sign up to a trade route that has been impassable for decades, and to break our contracts with Skylan,’ the man continues, ‘we need to know when.’
Sember stiffens and I glance at her. I wonder, not for the first time, what her role back in Skylan really is. And why she was chosen to accompany Heath in the Trials.
‘Soon,’ Otho replies, leaning back to sprawl in the armchair he’s sitting in. ‘Soon, my friends. When the Trials are over, when you’ve seen what our little champion is capable of, you will want to be the first to place your assets on the ships embarking from Lorva. Space will be limited and if you want the most competitive prices …’
‘Show us what this storm bringer can do, Otho. Then we’ll talk.’
I step away, avoiding Sember’s gaze, and tiptoe back to the brunch. But, as Otho’s words sink in, everything clicks into place. The ruling council haven’t brought me here, forced me to compete, as a general show of might. It’s a calculated move to elevate Arnhem.
They want to use me to destroy the Straits.
Perhaps they never intended to allow Agnes to leave. Maybe they’ll hold her life over me for the rest of ourdays. Back outside, I pick up a flute of bubbling orange juice and gulp it down, my mind on fire. I’ll be used for every voyage to ensure the Southern Ocean is safe. I’ll have to bring storms so fearsome that they’ll kill everyone and everything up and down the Straits.
My blood turns to ice as I realise the full extent of their plans. They don’t just want Arnhem to be great. They want to control the entire continent.
Hira is waiting for us in the disused hall the next day, arms crossed, an uncharacteristic smile on her face. ‘You both survived the first Trial – well done.’
I shrug, as if it was nothing, as if I haven’t been awake all night, discarding plan after plan, trying to find a way out of what the ruling council is going to force me to do. ‘You delivered our messages?’
‘I did. And my Malefant was pleased to hear word of this law before any other coven.’
Trying to hide my relief, I catch Kell’s eye and find he’s doing the same. ‘So, they know we are here?’
She nods. ‘And now we must prepare for the second Trial. I know now what your limitations and your strengths are.’ She points to Kell. ‘I know you’re not a coward, so why did you linger at the edge of the arena? Can’t you swim?’
He grimaces and shrugs. ‘Never learned. Is it likely to be flooded again like that?’
‘No,’ she says, beckoning us to a table where she’s placed her research of past Trials, underlining all thosewith a flooded arena, which have been few throughout the past decades. ‘There has never been more than one water-based arena in each set of Trials. They don’t like to repeat any. It would show weakness or at least a lack of creativity and ingenuity. And, as you know, these Trials are political and Arnhem cannot be viewed as a weak host. So, unless they have come up with something entirely new, we can narrow down what type of Trial might be next.’
‘Can we rule out sky-based?’ I ask, poring over the list.
Hira wrinkles her nose. ‘Not entirely … but if you’re talking about drakes or wyvern, the spectators would still have to be able to see the action. And so the covens would need to safeguard those in the stands with wards. And remember what I said about capture the drake egg? They won’t want all of you to die before they can crown a victor.’
