Chapter 30 #2
It was not the silence of confusion. Everyone in the courtyard knew the phrase, although none of us had understood it until now.
The headmaster allowed the silence to hold.
“No victor has been named,” he said. “No crown has been awarded. The five of you entered the Academy Trials as heirs. You emerge from them as the Crown Wing.”
His gaze moved across all five of us.
“Until the full history of the Crown Wing is restored, every heir retains equal claim.”
Equal claim.
Not one winner and four defeated heirs.
Not yet a queen and four subjects.
Five heirs who had entered the Trials together and survived because none of us had accepted victory at the others’ expense.
Leander stepped forward. “Then the Academy Trials are concluded?”
“Yes,” the headmaster said. “Whatever laws must now change, you have completed every Trial the academy requires.”
* * *
The healer examined me in the Fifth Wing and declared that I had exhausted my magic but suffered no lasting injury. He ordered bed rest, warm broth, and no further shifting for at least three days.
Torren asked what would happen if I shifted sooner.
The healer told him not to let me.
That was a mistake.
Torren took the instruction as a formal appointment.
By midday, he had followed me from my chamber to the common room, from the common room to the bathing alcove, and from the bathing alcove to the study door.
“I’m not shifting,” I said.
“You might.”
“Accidentally?”
“It happened once.”
“The Trial forced it.”
“You nearly shifted last night without a Trial.”
“I experienced a magical surge.”
Torren folded his arms.
Rafe occupied the sofa with both boots on the low table. “You’ve used that distinction before. It remains unconvincing.”
Sebastian sat beside him, examining the recovered Keeper seal. “Her power is stable.”
“Thank you, Bastian.”
Torren looked toward him. “You’re encouraging her.”
“I stated a fact.”
Leander entered from the communication alcove carrying a tray. He placed a bowl of broth and a cup of tea on the desk in front of me.
“I already ate.”
“You had six spoonfuls.”
I looked from him to Torren. “Are all of you going to monitor my food now?”
“Yes,” Leander said.
“Absolutely,” Torren agreed.
Rafe considered the question. “I’d prefer responsibility for desserts.”
Sebastian did not look up from the seal. “You would eat them before she received any.”
“That accusation relies on past behavior.”
“It relies on this morning.”
The familiar argument settled around me.
I had entered the Fifth Wing believing I was the mistake wedged among four rightful heirs. Now their familiar argument sounded like home.
Warmth moved through the bond.
It was weaker now that we were no longer inside the Trial, but it had not vanished.
I could not hear their thoughts. I felt the general shape of their emotions when they were strong enough: Torren’s vigilance, Rafe’s affection beneath his amusement, Sebastian’s concentration, and Leander’s quiet concern.
They felt me too.
When I smiled, four torcs answered with faint light.
The Fifth Wing’s runes joined them, filling the common room with red, silver, violet, blue, and clear gold.
The wall behind my crystal chair opened.
All five of us went silent.
A narrow doorway appeared where solid stone had stood moments before. Unlike the hidden passage to the garden, this opening revealed no welcoming path.
A staircase descended into darkness.
Ancient runes lined both walls.
Sebastian rose first.
“The wing waited until we completed the Trial.”
“Or until Talia shifted,” Leander said.
Torren stepped between me and the stairs. “She is not going down there today.”
“I agree.”
He glanced back at me, suspicious.
“I’m exhausted, not unreasonable.”
Rafe left the sofa and approached the doorway. “Can I go?”
“No,” four of us said.
He sighed. “This bond has disadvantages.”
Sebastian brought a crystal lamp close to the first set of runes. Light moved down the staircase, activating one symbol after another.
A map appeared across the wall.
Crown Wing Academy occupied its center. Seven paths extended beyond the mountains toward elemental seals cut into the distant edges of the stone.
Fire.
Frost.
Forest.
Storm.
Shadow.
Stone.
Sky.
Fire, Frost, Storm, and Shadow glowed in answer to the men’s torcs.
Forest, Stone, and Sky remained dark.
“Four have already answered,” Leander said.
Sebastian studied the runes forming beneath the map. “Because their heirs completed the Academy Trials.”
Below the seven seals, five empty impressions appeared in the stone.
One for each heir.
A second inscription emerged above them.
THE ACADEMY CHOOSES THE WING.
THE ELEMENTS FORGE THE CROWNS.
The words faded. Three shorter lines replaced them.
FIVE BEARERS.
FIVE CROWNS.
SEVEN POWERS.
No one spoke.
The academy had taught us that four heirs entered the Trials so one could take the crown.
The Fifth Wing showed us something else.
The four men had not been chosen to lose their claims to one ruler. I had not been chosen to defeat them.
Five crowns waited for five heirs, but only when all seven elemental powers had answered.
At the bottom of the map, one final message appeared.
THE ELEMENTAL TRIALS AWAIT.
I placed my hand over the clear impression.
Torren covered the Fire mark. Rafe touched Storm, Sebastian touched Shadow, and Leander pressed his palm to Frost.
All five impressions ignited.
The four awakened seals blazed brighter. Clear lines traveled from them through the academy and into the three dark paths.
Forest pulsed once.
Green light traced a route westward across the map before stopping at the edge of an ancient wood.
Rafe leaned closer. “I think it wants us first.”
“Not today,” Torren said.
I rested one hand against his arm. “No. But soon.”
The Academy Trials were over.
Beyond the mountains, the Forest Trial was waiting.
When it called, five of us would answer.