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"The bracelet says we've entered a chamber." Nyra says.

"Can anyone see anything?" Rowan asks.

"No."

Not even vampire sight. Whatever magic built this place was designed specifically to strip away our greatest advantages. A new voice fills the darkness. Not the bracelet. Older. Clearer. It echoes from everywhere at once.

"Truth requires no witness." A pause. "Each student will answer one question."

Rowan groans quietly. "I preferred bridges."

"Lie." The word strikes like a bell.

Rowan jumps. "What?"

"The Trial knows."

None of us speaks after that. Nyra's bracelet glows. "It says I'll go first."

The chamber falls silent. Then the voice asks:

"Nyra Valenne." A pause. "What do you fear becoming?"

The question hangs between us. Long enough that I wonder whether she intends to answer. Finally—

"My mother." Silence. Then, quickly— "No."

She exhales. "I fear becoming someone who never disappoints anyone because she never says what she truly wants." My chest tightens. The chamber remains still. The voice says only— "Proceed." No judgment. No praise. Just... Proceed.

Rowan is next. The same voice. "Rowan Hart." She mutters something I can't quite hear. "Why do you laugh?" She answers immediately. "Because people are frightening." Silence. "No." Longer silence. "When I stop laughing...I usually start worrying." The admission surprises even her. "So I keep laughing." The chamber waits. Then— "Proceed."

Cassian. The voice speaks his name with the same impossible calm. "Cassian Solmere." A pause. "What have you not forgiven?" His breathing catches. Not dramatically. Just enough that I notice. The silence stretches.

"Cassian?" Nyra whispers.

He doesn't answer her. Only the Trial. "For a long time..." His voice is quieter than I've ever heard it. "I thought I hadn't forgiven someone else." Another pause. "I was wrong." The words come slowly. "I hadn't forgiven myself for believing love could be enough." No one moves. No one interrupts. "I kept wondering what I should have done differently." His laugh is almost nonexistent. "There wasn't anything." Another breath. "The decision was never ours."

My throat tightens. He isn't looking at me. He can't. None of us can see. Yet I know exactly who he is speaking about. The voice waits. Then quietly says— "Proceed." No accusation. No comfort. Only acceptance.

My bracelet burns. "Eirea." The voice no longer needs to announce my name. It already knows. The question arrives immediately. "Who do you obey?" My answer is automatic. "Myself." Silence.

The chamber waits. I know that isn't true. Not entirely. I swallow. "My duty." Still wrong. The Trial knows it. I know it. Another long pause. Then...

"My father." The words taste unfamiliar. Not because they are false. Because I have never admitted them aloud. The chamber remains silent. I continue before I lose the courage. "I obey him even when he isn't there." Everything inside me stills. The darkness seems to lean closer. "I hear his expectations. I imagine his disappointment. I make choices because I already know what he would demand." My voice drops. "So sometimes I don't know whether a decision belongs to me...or to him." The silence afterward feels endless. Then— "Proceed."

Nothing else. No explanation. No one speaks. The Trial moves on. The warmth returns to our bracelets.

Nyra inhales. "I have another instruction."

"What is it?" Cassian asks.

"Walk."

Rowan laughs once. "I was beginning to miss that word."

We continue. The chamber disappears behind us. No footsteps follow this time. Only our breathing. Several minutes later, Nyra suddenly stops.

"Eirea." She says.