CHAPTER 3 #3
Valhan House. That had to mean… Kilian owned the building we would be living in for the foreseeable future. It had to be massive to accommodate us all.
“You serve us no good if you die before the Trials begin,” Kilian added.
You serve us no good if you die before the Trials begin.
“Why?” I surprised even myself with the question. But my voice was clear and echoed throughout the room. “Why does it matter whether a human turns elven? What do you get out of this?”
It had been nagging at the back of my mind from the time Umma had first told me about the Mortal Trials. I had never voiced it aloud before.
Kilian’s silver eyes gleamed as he narrowed them at me. “That is of no concern to you, mortal. Pass the Rite and you will find out.”
I rolled my eyes with bravado that could only have been sent from the heavens. “Why bother with the Trials at all, then? Just stick us all in the Rite and let’s see what happens. Unless this is all just a game of sport to you? I wonder, do you place bets on our lives?”
Kilian’s gaze darkened and the temperature increased several degrees.
“The Rite isn’t designed for all of you.
Only the strongest are able to enter. We cannot determine who is the strongest if we do not test you.
But right now, you are testing my patience.
And if you continue to do so, you might find you won’t even make it to the first Trial. ”
Lana gulped audibly beside me.
“Question time is over,” Kilian snapped, jerking his head to the doorway. “You’re all dismissed.”
My gaze didn’t leave the upper elven until he and the others had disappeared from the room, anger sizzling beneath my skin.
How dare they kidnap us from our homes, bring us to a land we literally could not leave and tell us that their motive was not our concern?
Threaten to eliminate me from a Trial I didn’t even want to be a part of?
I wanted him to return just so I could throw something at his head.
“Are you okay?” Lana nudged me gently.
“No,” I blurted. “I don’t understand why they’re doing this. How is everyone on all thirteen godsdamned isles just okay with this happening? How do we know the elven won’t just kill us if we pass the Rite? Has anyone ever even seen Augustine?”
Anama shuffled awkwardly beside Moric, then said softly, “I have. He’s visited the Great Library of Kraventhorn on occasion. I am – was – a scholar at the library. I’ve worked there for decades.”
“Of course,” Lana said. “Augustine was the candidate from Kraventhorn during his Trial.”
Anama nodded. “He’s a scholar himself. He’s checked out nearly every book on upper magic. And yes, he’s very much elven.”
I shook my head in doubt. “It still doesn’t make sense to me. It hardly seems like they’d turn us into elven out of the goodness of their hearts.”
“Well, they’re not. Not really, at least,” Moric said. “Nobody else has ever made it through the Rite. So, they’re not actually turning anyone.”
“Anyway.” Lana linked her arm through my uninjured one, tugging me toward the doorway where the other groups had already exited.
“I don’t have the mental capacity right now to dissect whether there’s a nefarious purpose behind the Mortal Trials, when it hardly seems likely I’ll even make it to the Rite.
As it is, I’m struggling to process the fact that I can’t leave this godsforsaken island as a mortal and likely won’t see my family again. ”
“We’ve all got family we’re worried we’ll never see again,” Moric said, not unkindly. “Little brother,” he clarified at my questioning look. “It’s just the two of us.”
I looked at Anama, hoping she might share too.
Her gaze diverted from us and around the hallway as we exited the sparring room.
The hallway branched off into different directions like the veins on a leaf, doors nestled into alcoves which presumably led to bedrooms. The doors were blank and unmarked, yet the others who had left before us seemed to have claimed most of them.
We had almost reached the shared bathroom at the end of the hallway when Anama said, “No family. It’s just me.”
She stepped toward one of the unclaimed bedrooms. “I think I’ll take the afternoon to rest. It’s been an eventful day.”
“Agreed.” Moric stifled a yawn with the back of one hand. “Maybe I’ll see you guys at dinner.”
It was hard to believe that with everything that had happened, it wasn’t even suppertime yet.
“I don’t know if I’ll be up for dinner tonight,” Lana murmured, backing toward the door on Anama’s right. “I seem to have lost my appetite.”
“Me too,” I said. I felt emotionally drained, numb and exhausted. I supposed sailing for over a week, nearly plunging to your death and then being told you had basically zero chance of ever seeing your loved ones again had that effect.
I claimed the room beside Moric and gave the others a slight wave before heading inside. I shut the door and let loose a long breath before turning to survey my surroundings.
I had barely registered a small desk, chair and bed before a tiny black dart whizzed out from the shadows and flew straight at me.