She pauses mid-bite, nearly dropping her toast. “Oh,oh,no. Thal’s joining, then, too.”
“There usually has to be an induction trial. I’m not sure if I could get youandThal a pass from—”
“I survived Ravin and came back from the edge of insanity; I think that counts as my ‘trial.’ ” She licks her fingers in a very matter-of-fact way. “As for Thal, they helped pull me back. If they haven’t proved themselves, then I have no faith in the Worldkeepers’ ability to recognize talent.”
“You…have a point.”
“Of course I do.” Arina rolls her eyes as if it should be obvious. She takes the last two bites of my toast without asking, no doubt assuming I was finished. I was not, in fact, finished. But I don’t object. There is a fee to having a good sister, and that is never getting the last bite of your meal.
“As for this.” I return my attention to the ring, turning it around.No more secrets; time is too precious for it.“I’ll tell everyone this morning—if they ask, that is.”
Surprisingly, none of them do. I know they notice the ring, just as they notice how much more open Kaelis is being with putting his hand on my hip, or the small of my back. But no one asks or says anything about it. Perhaps because it’s what they already expected.
I don’t bring it up, content to leave it be. And because my mind is somewhere else entirely.
After Arina, Sorza, and Thal are inducted, I must put the finishing touches on my wish.
The academy feels different after break. But I eventually settle on the fact that it’smewho’s different. The world moves on around me—students meander to breakfast, rush to classes as the bells ring, gossipin the halls about what happened over break, and anxiously await what’s to come with the trials.
Life continues…and yet I feel like an outsider to it. Everything has a distant, hazy quality. Like it’s a dream that I know isn’t real, but a part of me can’t help but indulge. It comes from knowing that all of this is temporary; soon it’ll all be gone.
Refining my wish is heavy on me as I prepare students for their Three of Swords Trials. It weighs as I go to Kaelis simply for the excuse of his company and to admire how good my ring looks in the firelight as I scratch Priss between the ears.
The exact wording I’ll use and intention I’ll picture when I cast the World lingers in the back of my mind as I work with the Worldkeepers—organizing, preparing, and attempting to sort out a way to induct them. Eventually, it’s agreed to treat the font of the World like the altar of the vessel and see if it works. Vaduin makes the induction cards and repeats the process of taking Sorza, Thal, and Arina there during the apex of the Season of Swords.
I am excluded since they believed my lie that I was successful the first time. Luckily, they all take my word for it and no one demands proof. In the eyes of the Worldkeepers, I’m one of them—that’s all that matters for now.I’ll do it in the new world, I tell myself.
Arina’s shoulders tremble slightly as I pull her in for a tight hug on the threshold of the apartments the Worldkeepers turned into their secret base.
“You don’t have to do this,” I whisper in her ear. My instinct to always shelter my sister from hardship worms its way out of me even when we both know this has been decided.
“We both know I do,” she replies, and I can hear the slight smile in her voice. “Because it’s the right thing to do. And because fuck Oricalis—except Kaelis,I guess.” The last two words are said with mock annoyance.
When I pull away, I see that what I imagined to be a little smile is a full-blown grin, and I can’t help but smile as well. She goes first and returns triumphant. Then Thal, who is of much the samemind about all this as Arina. Sorza practically vibrates with excitement.
We all toast with cider in the apartments deep in the academy celebrating their success.
The days slip by like snow clouds over the mountaintops, and finally Luren finds me after class, apologizing for not coming sooner.
She locks the door of the classroom behind her and approaches the front of my desk. My heart is pounding; thanks to our scheming, she went to Clan Star over the break. Without fanfare, she pulls out a small bundle of letters that are worn and creased. Letters I know all too well.
“It was easier than expected. Sending Liam letters gave me the opportunity to see how things were processed and I found half—ones from him to you—in a locked drawer in the mail-processing room dated and labeled by their particularly fastidious steward. Another half in his desk. I recognized your handwriting on the outside of the envelopes,” she says, affirming Liam’s and my unspoken suspicion that someone was conspiring to keep his letters from me. “But I didn’t read any of them.”
I take them from her and unfold one of Liam’s. With one glance I see my real name at the top and a wave of relief instantly crashes over me to the point that I nearly collapse onto my desk just to breathe. Luren continues to hover on the other side of my desk.
“I did something for you…Now I’d like something in return.”
I pause. This isn’t like her. Especially since part of what she was getting was a clan interested in her. “Go on,” I say cautiously.
She shifts, and the hesitation instantly brings back the woman I remember. “I…I think Dristin might have feelings for me.”
“He absolutely does.” I nod, not playing any sort of coy game. I’m pretending less these days, ignoring less.
Blushing, she tucks her hair behind her ears. “He got so strange before I left…and he said something that made it obvious. I don’t want to lose him, Clara. And I think I might because of helping you. He seems to think I don’t want to be a part of Clan Chariot anymore.”
I reach out with my other hand, grabbing hers. She takes note of my ring, as many have, but doesn’t ask. “I’ll absolutely help.”
“Thank you.” She nods and turns for the door.
