Chapter 59
‘Idon’t have my furs,’ I say to Kyor in a panic as I race to pull on my clothes. I can’t believe I didn’t think to bring them down here with me. I’ve spent every night here after all. But I guess I thought we had more time until the next trial.
‘In the wardrobe,’ Kyor tells me. ‘Benny gave them to me a couple of days ago. I forgot to tell you. Guess he figured it might be another middle-of-the-night thing.’
‘Thank you, Benny,’ I mutter as I grab the clothes. There was a reason the others always looked at him as a leader. He thinks of it all. As I sheath my dagger, feeling the steady cool of the metal in my hand, Kyor is already painting his sigils.
‘You want me to do yours?’ he asks. ‘Etta and Aitara, right? With the Wrohelm rings?’
I nod. ‘Thank you.’
Given his artistic skill, it’s unsurprising that his hand is far steadier than mine and the circles of Wrohelm are actually circular, unlike when I’ve drawn them.
‘I should’ve got you to do them before now. You’ve done a better job than I can.’
‘How about I do it for every battle going forward, then?’ he says, and it makes my heart ache because my father used to paint my mother’s.
‘That sounds like a deal.’ I turn my head up and kiss him gently on the lips.
With our faces painted, we gather with the others in the courtyard, where the carriages are already waiting.
Benny beckons us over.
‘What have you learned?’ I ask.
He gestures to the carriages. ‘Their tyres. They’re the same ones we picked up when we arrived at port. Exactly the same. They need them to go over a very specific terrain so my best guess is we’re heading to the Lueayan Channel.’
Fear flutters through me. I know people have swum the expanse of water that lies between the mainland and the Eastern Isles before, but surely they can’t expect us to do that? If they do, there’s no way I’ll make it.
I gulp. ‘Maybe we have to row across,’ I say hopefully.
‘There’s no point guessing,’ Kyor replies. ‘It’s a waste of energy.’
‘He’s right,’ Jonas agrees.
The comment causes Benny and me to exchange a look.
Jonas has barely spoken to me or Kyor since the incident in the dining room, and he’s normally the one offering the most speculation in these situations.
Maybe he just doesn’t want to go into the fourth trial with bad blood between us.
After all, we’ve lost people in nearly every trial so far.
There’s no reason this one should be any different.
‘Your best bet is to use the journey to get some sleep,’ he continues. ‘Make sure you’re rested. You’ll need as much energy as possible.’
As he finishes, I glance across the group. There are sixteen of us left, and judging by the way they’re already forming pairs, they’ve all had the same thoughts and conversations as we have.
Some of the pairings are obvious. Nessira’s with her aunt, Clade, while two of the remaining three guards are together, and two of the Galreckian Rettlings, Moryal and Del, have formed a pair.
The third Galreckian is with Seiren, and Odetta seems to be with Yeva.
I feel a pang of sympathy for Yeva, given how vile Odetta can be, but the pairing makes sense.
Yeva needs ash, and Odetta burns things.
That leaves Grenda with Zara. They’re by far the oddest of the pairs and, as much as I hate to admit it, having Grenda on her side gives Zara an even better chance of surviving.
‘Do you think we have to travel alone?’ Jonas asks, looking at the carriages. ‘There are enough for each of us.’
‘I’m going with Rose,’ Kyor replies instantly.
I raise an eyebrow at him. ‘If that’s what I want, right?’
‘I’ll make it worth your while.’ He grins and I can’t help grinning back, even as Jonas mutters something behind us.
Given his comment, when Kyor and I climb into the carriage, I expect us to carry on where we left off. Instead, he takes off his fur and bundles it into a makeshift pillow against the wall.
‘We need some sleep,’ he tells me.
‘You’re not serious?’
‘Absolutely. You may have forgotten, but we didn’t exactly get much rest before we were interrupted.’
I frown. ‘Actually, I can’t remember. Were we doing something fun? Perhaps you should remind me.’
His smile is enough to make my insides melt as he leans forward, brushing a kiss against my lips. If I couldn’t see his hands down by his side, I’d swear he was using his static on me. Because the fizz that rolls through my body is unbearable.
‘We can pick it up later,’ he murmurs. ‘Once we live through this trial. Promise.’
I don’t expect to sleep. Not with the bumpiness of the journey, the impending sense of doom, and the fact that just looking at Kyor reminds me of the feel of him between my thighs.
Yet at some point my eyes close, and it’s only when I feel Kyor’s hand gently squeezing my shoulder that I realise I drifted off.
‘Thorn, we’re here.’
I open my eyes and breathe in a yawn. The air is salty, crisp. We’re definitely by the sea, but not the same stretch we used to say goodbye to Llinos. Instead, as Benny predicted, we’re facing the Eastern Isles.
Rather than opening the door and stepping outside, Kyor blocks the way. His brow furrows. ‘Thorn, I don’t mean to sound like Jonas here, but I can get us through this. You know that, right?’
‘You do sound like Jonas,’ I respond through a second yawn.
‘I’m not telling you to sit back or stay out of the way. I’m just asking you not to take any unnecessary risks.’
‘Definitely sounds like Jonas,’ I grouse again, though I can’t help the smile on my lips that only widens as he kisses me. When we break away, he draws in a long, steadying breath.
‘Okay,’ I tell him. ‘Let’s do this.’
We climb out, only to find that the carriages have stopped mere feet from a cliff edge. Had it not been for the last dregs of moonlight shimmering on the water, I might have missed it altogether, and falling off a cliff because I wasn’t paying attention would be a shit way to end the Retterheld.
There, in front of us, stands Mila. I can’t help but wonder how many people she expects to die in this trial. After all, she’s the only one who knows how deadly each round will be.
As the others gather around us, my hand slips into Kyor’s.
When Zara casts her eyes back to me and scoffs, I’m tempted to pull my hand away, but I don’t.
Screw her. Screw anyone who judges me for being stripped.
Or for who I’m fucking. They’ll judge me even if I win this damn thing, and I’ll let them.
It says way more about who they are than who I am.
And so I squeeze Kyor’s hand a little harder and don’t let go.
‘Rettlings, welcome to the fourth trial.’ Mila’s voice is as commanding as always, though my eyes wander to her waist, where a dagger rests at her hip. I press a hand to its twin, hidden beneath the folds of my jacket.
‘Your fourth trial is simple,’ she continues.
‘Tomorrow night, the ball will not be held in Wrohelm, but on the Eastern Isles.’ I glance at Benny and see the flicker of excitement on his face.
‘All you have to do is reach it. At the bottom of the cliff face, you will find four boats. Each boat will hold two people. When the last boat has landed on the shore, the trial is ended. Simple.’
Excitement flutters in me. A cliff climb and a row? I can do those. Yet almost immediately a knot tightens in my stomach. Those numbers don’t add up. There are sixteen of us, and only four boats.
Half of us won’t even be able to attempt the crossing? Fuck. It’s a race against time.
Everyone is looking at one another, working it out. The knot in my stomach turns into pure dread.
We’re going to have to kill one another. That’s what’s going to happen. I can already see it in Zara’s and Odetta’s eyes. They are going to kill whoever they have to if it means they get a boat.
Kyor leans in towards me. ‘We’re fine,’ he says confidently. ‘No one is getting near us. There’s no one faster down this cliffside than you and me, and we both know it.’
He’s right, but my fate isn’t my only concern. I glance at Jonas. I have no fucking idea what he’s going to do.
‘You can’t waste time thinking about them,’ Kyor says. ‘Everyone knows what they signed up for. You worry about yourself, that’s it. Okay?’
I nod. ‘And you.’
‘I look forward to seeing you on the Eastern Isles,’ Mila concludes her little speech, and a moment later, a flash explodes in the sky.
The fourth trial has officially begun.
I don’t need Kyor to tell me what to do. I race to the edge of the cliff and start to scramble down.
‘I know I said I trust your judgement,’ Kyor calls, ‘but you see it’s pretty steep here, right?’
‘I know you’ve climbed worse,’ I call back. ‘And it’s going to stop the others from doing the same.’
‘Not disagreeing. Just a little bit in awe,’ he says, flashing me a grin. ‘My girl fucking owns it.’
‘Damn right I do.’ I’ve come so far, and in this trial especially, I’m not the weakest. I’m one of the strongest.
It’s amazing how at ease I feel in this part of the trial. Not just at ease, but genuinely excited. I almost forgot my love of climbing. The rush and the thrill of finding the best path and pushing my body to follow it through.
In just a matter of minutes, I’m going to be by the water.
But that’s where my advantage ends. There might be boats, but something tells me this isn’t going to be as straightforward as gently rowing across to the Eastern Isles into a warm welcome.
There’s something in the water. I’d stake my life on it.
And unfortunately, I’m going to have to do exactly that.
‘How are you doing?’ Kyor calls again. He’s almost level with me now, giving me a chance to see the way his arm muscles flex and tighten as he stretches for each of the handholds. I can’t help but remember that first night I saw him and the way his eyes fixed in my mind even then.
‘You all right?’ he asks, concern etched in his features.
‘Sorry.’ I shake the moment away. ‘Got a little distracted.’