Chapter 62
AIMILIA
Prisca had already announced to the crowd at the amphitheater the procedure.
Aimilia stood in the middle of the row of the competitors as Prisca explained to the competitors and the crowd gathered near the start of the route. She bounced in her sandals, stomach in knots.
“As you all are already aware, today is your last and final trial for the judges to determine who will be the new Head of House Mitis. It will involve a race, but this is not just any race. You have a mission.”
Prisca gestured to the handlers, and Aimilia finally saw what they were there for. They didn’t have live animals. They had eggs.
Aimilia recognized the pattern on two of them, a bright, vivid orange with red and gold splattered across the shell. Phoenix eggs. Another one had an electric blue jagged pattern, while another was simply cream with tawny mottling over it.
“You will be assigned at random one of these eggs, and it is your duty to transport it safely from here to the finish line, as quickly as you can. However, your goal is to also keep your competitors from being able to do so. You may use any means necessary. You will be judged on speed, skill and your strategic thinking, as well as the egg’s condition, when you arrive.
It is not simply whoever finishes first, but whoever finishes the best.”
Aimilia held out her hands as the handlers brought her egg to her.
One of the phoenix eggs. Aimilia didn’t know whether she should be grateful she knew the creature inside or more fearful.
Maybe ignorance would have been bliss. Unfortunately, any commander worth their salt knew how to spot a phoenix egg, given how devastating the phoenixes of the Embrai Elemens were in battle.
As soon as Aimilia’s hands touched the shell, she could feel a burning, boiling heat from inside.
It was almost scalding to the touch. Aimilia had no idea how she was supposed to hold this long enough to make it to the end.
Cyprian received the electric blue egg. Each egg was about the size of her forearm. Sizable, but not massive.
She’d heard dragon eggs were slightly larger, but those were even rarer.
Any kind of magical creature was rare in Imperia, mostly because the Runai did an excellent job of finding them.
Magical creatures mostly lived amongst the Elemens and in the Wildlands.
How far had the Runai who’d gotten these had to travel to find them?
But that would have to be answered another day.
Prisca was walking off to the side, and Aimilia spotted Lieutenant Turpis waiting for her, openly glaring at Aimilia.
Aimilia didn’t acknowledge him, and instead she tucked her egg into the crook of her arm and waited. Prisca called out, “On my mark! Three… Two… One—”
Aimilia took off. She very narrowly missed a vitae whip that had been aimed at her ankles by one of her cousins.
Cyprian also had the same idea as Aimilia and had just started running as fast as possible.
Aimilia kept running, the egg tucked in one arm as she began fumbling with her cloak with the other. She was going to need both hands.
She unpinned her cloak with one hand and reached down, grabbing it and pulling it around her until she could let go of the egg and it remained secure in the fabric. She quickly reclasped it with both hands, and picked up her speed.
The egg was practically burning her side, but it was secure.
Now Aimilia could focus on the ground and on the traps most certainly laid for her. And just for good measure, Aimilia threw up a trip wire of vitae behind her. As payback for the cousin who’d tried to take her out already.
Cyprian had pulled ahead of her, but he had yet to cast. He was still holding his egg in one hand.
Just so no one else would steal her idea, Aimilia threw an illusion over her so it looked like she was still carrying her egg in one hand.
The grass crunched under her sandals as she wove around the trees.
She had already narrowly spotted two illusions and managed to avoid the traps hidden beneath them.
Cyprian disappeared from sight. Aimilia picked up her pace.
She couldn’t let him get too far ahead. Aimilia gasped when a blur raced by her. It was the commander with the other phoenix egg. Aimilia had never been the fastest runner. Even though she was tall, she wasn’t as tall as some of the others in her family.
Nikias had been right; she was at a physical disadvantage.
She stomped out the thought. He’d only been saying that because he wanted her to give up. Whether it was true or not was irrelevant.
Aimilia threw up a shield just in time to block the bolt of vitae her cousin threw at her.
It ricocheted off her shield, and he let out a loud curse.
Aimilia spotted another trap up ahead, hidden beneath an illusion.
She curved her path and started moving her hands as if to cast. Her cousin picked up the pace and tried to put distance between them, running right into the rune and activating it.
The second vitae lit up the ground, the plants in the circle began to move as well.
The roots shot up, grabbing his legs and wrapping around them. He pitched forward and the egg slipped from his hands. Aimilia ran by him right as the egg hit the ground, shattering. His scream tore through the air, and Aimilia choked as a molten liquid that looked like fire poured out.
She’d heard of it before. Certain mountains that weren’t mountains at all. Inside them was a liquid fire. Lava. Lava hit his arm, and he screamed again.
Aimilia couldn’t afford to stop. He wasn’t going to be able to finish the race. Aimilia looked down at her egg nestled in her red cloak. If her egg broke, that would happen to her.
Good to know.
Sweat poured down every inch of Aimilia’s body as her lungs burned and her body was screaming at her to slow down, begging her to stop. But she couldn’t. She passed the halfway point.
How far ahead was Cyprian?
Aimilia vaulted over a log, just narrowly avoiding the rune on the other side of it. The back of her heel activated it, but she was out of range before it could get her.
She looked over her shoulder to see a pulse ripple through the air, distorting everything around it. And then she glanced down at the rune, a sound wave meant to disorient or even deafen. Aimilia had no idea which of these runes were meant to be here or which could have been placed by someone else.
Aimilia heard a scream in the distance. One of her other cousins must have been caught in a trap.
Aimilia wasn’t sure how many of them were actually going to make it to the end at this rate.
She had to stop for just a few seconds to catch her breath, and she leaned against the tree.
The sweltering egg against her side wasn’t making it any easier, as she kept sweating.
Something flashed in the corner by Aimilia’s eye.
She reacted instinctually, flinching away, turning on her heel as Cyprian landed on the ground.
A blast of vitae went right toward her side where her egg was, even though it shouldn’t be visible beneath her illusion.
Aimilia wrapped her arm around her egg and threw herself into a roll.
The second her shoulder hit the ground, she was blinded by vitae.
She looked back over her shoulder and Cyprian was gone.
He hadn’t even been real. It had just been an illusion. Aimilia looked down, but it was too late.
A large boom ricocheted through and she was flying through the air.
The ground and foliage went with her. Aimilia flipped and tumbled, getting her arms under her to catch herself. As she began to cast, her egg tumbled out of the sling she’d made with her cloak. Aimilia kept on as they both plummeted back toward the torn-up ground again.
Aimilia had to choose.
What did she save first, the egg or herself?
Easy.
Aimilia chose the egg.
She abandoned the platform she was starting to cast that would catch her, but would shatter the egg. Instead, she switched to a whip lassoing around the egg and pulling it back into her arms. Aimilia twisted, pressing the egg into her stomach and curling around it.
She hit the ground again, and hard. She landed on her back with a scream. Pain shot through her whole spine, but more debris was falling, so Aimilia stayed exactly where she was, one arm and her body curled around the egg.
Small thuds hit the ground, and then Aimilia screamed again as something landed on her left arm, the one not holding the egg.
She blinked her eyes open to see a large rock was the culprit.
Aimilia shifted, wriggling her way out of it, each move causing her to gasp in pain.
When she was finally free of the debris, she looked down to see her egg in perfect condition, even though she wasn’t.
There was a throbbing in her arm. Aimilia wasn’t certain she didn’t have some kind of break or fracture in her forearm. She couldn’t see anything, but with how heavy that rock was it wouldn’t surprise her. Aimilia tried to shift it, and she let out another horrendous scream.
Curse Hypatia and her horrific premonitions.
Something certainly wasn’t right. She wasn’t going to be able to cast like this.
Not well. She wiggled her fingers, and she was able to do that decently, but it would be for the best if she avoided it.
Aimilia knew she was going to be bruised all up her back and legs as well from the fall.
Still, this wasn’t over yet. She just needed to make it to the end and hope she’d earned enough points to put her well ahead of Cyprian.
She staggered to her feet and pressed on. Aimilia didn’t know what else was in store for her. If that had just been Cyprian’s trap, what had Nikias and Queen Clelia laid for her?
Aimilia wasn’t entirely sure how, but she managed to avoid whatever Nikias and Clelia had planned.
Somehow she made it to the end without any other major issues. She burst through the tree line, seeing Cyprian had already finished, and two of her cousins had been transported there, too injured to continue.
Aimilia wasn’t even running at this point. She was staggering, egg still in both arms as she didn’t dare move the broken one. She was sure she looked a sight, filthy in her chiton and cloak covered in dirt and blood.
Still, she made it to the finish line and the Runai in the stands erupted in cheers as loud as if she had run across it first. It wasn’t just about speed. It was also about skill.
Had she impressed the judges enough to award her the win?
Aimilia looked over at her only competition.
There was a crack in Cyprian’s egg’s shell as well as a very small, slight burn on his leg. Prisca walked up to Aimilia, examining the egg as the handlers came up and took it from her. Aimilia couldn’t help let out a sharp cry as it was taken from her.
Aimilia spotted her last cousin coming in out of breath without her egg. And then a few of the commanders emerged from the route as well. She spotted Nikias and his mother coming down from the stands. She could feel Nikias’ eyes on her.
Aimilia ignored them, just pressing her arm into her stomach so she didn’t move it. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the judges exchanged comments and sheets, discussing what each of them had seen, since none of them could have seen everything.
Aimilia had to hope at least someone had seen her deliberately choose the egg over herself. Aimilia watched as Commander Prisca looked over the sheets and exchanged a commanding nod with the other judges.
Queen Clelia’s face was impassive. Nikias was unreadable as well. They were mirror images of each other.
Aimilia exchanged glances with Cyprian. His eyes flickered toward the handlers examining his egg.
The electric blue with a crack next to Aimilia’s spotless orange, red, and gold pattern.
Finally, Prisca took the stage again and said, “The judges have finished their discussion and the awarding of points.”
The crowd fell silent. Aimilia held her breath.
Had she done it? Had it all been worth it?
Was she free? Or was her fate sealed?
“And it is my privilege to announce to you the next Head of House Mitis. This commander showed an extraordinary display of power, skill, and strategic thinking that made them the superior to all the other commanders from House Mitis. This trial only confirmed what we already knew about this mage from the first two trials. There is no better mage to take over this esteemed and noble house. House Mitis, Imperia, I give you Commander Aimilia.”
Aimilia couldn’t believe her ears. Had she been hit on the head? Was she hallucinating? Was this some kind of trick?
The crowd erupted into cheers. As they went wild for her, Aimilia just stared at Commander Prisca. The woman smiled at Aimilia as her words sank in.
She’d done it. She’d won.
House Mitis was hers. Her life was hers.
Aimilia blinked and looked at the crowd. Nikias stood with the other commanders, and to her shock, he was part of the applause, beaming at her. But before she could begin to figure out what game he was playing now, a hush went through the crowd. Everyone fell deathly silent.
Nikias’ smile vanished and his face lost all color.
Aimilia looked over her shoulder to see another rune lighting up the ground. Aimilia had only seen it once in her life before. And even then, she’d only seen it toward the very end of the fight.
On the other side of the rune was Cyprian. His eyes were pure steel as he stared her down.
He was challenging her.