Chapter 36
Iassess what to take with me as we dress hurriedly. Do I want to take my entire bag? I’ve got Estel’s sword, as well as my daggers, but that’s a lot to carry. Then again, is being without weapons a risk I want to take?
Last time, a few swords against the giants would’ve helped.
But are we likely to be fighting again? Surely it will be something more strategic …
but what? Several recent evenings have been spent discussing past Retterhelds, and despite everyone’s best efforts, it seems almost impossible to deduce a pattern in the trials.
We know that a magicless trial and likely a water trial will both come at some point, but in what order, no one knows.
Sometimes the frozen lakes in the north of the territory have been used, but other years, multiple trials have taken place in the Sunken Temple.
I’m not sure how staying silent while fighting would pan out, but maybe the priestesses don’t count screaming as a word.
Hesitating, I force myself to take a calming breath and clear my thoughts.
I definitely need to be armed, so I grab Estel’s sword and the blade I used to slit the jotunn’s throat, then hesitate again.
I still know next to nothing about the blade from Dinah, although there seemed to be a theme with the Rettlings that it harmed significantly.
The knighted guard who was killed in the same way as Jai had been rumoured to have assaulted one of the maids on the night of the first ball, and while no one had anything specific to say about the Galreckian who died, no one had a single pleasant word to say of him either.
But maybe the fact that Dinah gave me the blade is all I need to know. With a sudden spur of decisiveness, I take the knife out of its box and slide it next to the other in my belt, then follow Llinos out of the room, downstairs, and into the courtyard. Once again, the carriages are waiting for us.
We move to go together, but a priestess steps between us.
‘You will travel alone to this trial,’ she says.
Llinos and I exchange a look. That’s not what either of us wanted to hear.
‘It’ll be fine,’ she says, offering me a swift hug. ‘I’ll see you at the end.’
Assuming we both survive. That’s the thing neither of us says.
I’m just about to step inside my carriage when a voice yells from across the courtyard.
‘Rose! Hold on!’ Jonas is sprinting towards me. When he stops, he grabs my hands and pulls me in towards him.
‘No risks, I know.’ I roll my eyes at him.
A smile flickers on his lips before he leans in and presses them against mine.
The kiss catches me by surprise. So much so that my body turns rigid until he steps away.
‘I’ll see you afterwards. At the ball. With Kay and Will and everyone else.’
I nod, still in shock at the moment I didn’t see coming.
‘Just friends, hey?’ Llinos smirks from the carriage beside me. ‘You’d better survive this because I’ve got some serious questions.’
She’s not the only one. As I stand there in confusion, I feel a scalding glance on me, burning my skin. I turn to locate the owner, and I meet Kyor’s glare. Jaw tight, he turns and gets into a carriage of his own.
The moment with Jonas isn’t enough to bury the anxiety I feel at being in the carriage alone.
I need someone to talk to. To distract me.
To tell me which direction we’re going in or repeat how important it is that we work together to get through this.
Talking helps alleviate my fears. Being stuck in my head does not.
The night sky is dark overhead, meaning it’s impossible to get my bearings once we leave the last ring of Wrohelm.
I try to listen for clues, but all I can hear is the howling of wolves.
The sound causes a churning dread to fill me.
I don’t think they’d expect us to fight wolves …
would they? No, that’s ridiculous. Wolves are sacred in Morathka. Though people aren’t …
I’m expecting the journey to take as long as the one to the beach did, so I’m surprised when the carriage trundles to a stop while it’s still dark out.
Checking that my weapons are firmly in place, I step out and scan the area for the other carriages, but there are none.
Instead, I’m on the edge of a forest, and waiting for me is a lone priestess.
No, not just any priestess. Dinah. My heart lurches as I rush towards her.
‘How?’ I say, enveloping her in my arms. ‘How are you here?’
‘I may have pulled a few strings.’ Her smile highlights the lines at the corners of her eyes. ‘How are you doing, Rose? I’ve heard wonderful things about your first trial.’
‘Well, I survived it,’ I say. ‘That’s definitely good.’
‘From what I heard, you did more than just that.’ She brushes a strand of hair behind my ear, the way my mother used to do. ‘Have you brought the knife with you? The dagger? The one in the box?’
‘Yes.’ My pulse soars as it dawns on me that the answer I’ve been searching for might be standing right here. ‘It’s the same as the one High Priestess Mila used at the vows. It’s magic, right?’
‘I don’t have time to talk about that right now. I have to give you the rules.’
‘But it did something—’
‘We don’t have time, Rose. If you don’t start with the others, you’ll be at a disadvantage. Listen.’ Her expression shifts, her voice lowering. ‘They have Kay.’
My stomach drops as ice floods my veins. ‘What?’
She shakes her head quickly. ‘She will be fine. But she is in the forest. You must retrieve her before dawn. Do that, and you will proceed to the next trial. If you don’t reach her in time, you will be out of the competition.
’ She pauses. ‘There are threats here, Rose. Very real threats. Do not let your guard down.’
I’ve barely registered any of the words after Kay’s name. My little sister is in the forest and I have to find her. If ever there was something to spur me on in a trial, this would be it.
‘There’s one other thing.’ Dinah’s lips twitch into a smile. ‘There will be no use of magic in this trial.’
My breath stills. No magic. I lock eyes with her and her smile broadens, though she tries to hide it.
‘They have no advantage over you, Rose,’ she says. ‘And you and Kay could find each other even if the world cracked apart.’
She reaches out, pressing a hand briefly to my shoulder.
‘Go now. And I will see you when I can.’
Fuck me, it’s dark.
That’s all I can think as I enter the woods. My feet crunch on the ground beneath me, though on leaves, twigs, or crunchy insects, I’ve no freaking idea. All I’ve got to do is find Kay. That’s it. Find Kay and don’t get killed.
Two very straightforward aims, I’m sure.
I turn around and assess my surroundings.
The track leading here stretches behind me, and I’m willing to bet I need to travel away from it to find Kay, heading deeper into the trees.
A flood of memories sweeps through me. This could be the very same part of the forest that my father used to bring us to.
The very same area where I would scour the ground for tracks and broken branches, any sign that someone may have come through that way.
I recall the desperation I felt in those times.
The desperation not only to get out of the forest, but also to prove to him my proficiency.
‘Cornelia?’ I hear someone shouting into the night. ‘Are you there?’
I’ve no idea who would be searching for someone of that name, but it’s not as though I know the intimate details of many of the remaining Rettlings.
I’m not even sure who would be there at the end for Jonas to find.
Still, rather than focusing on that, I think strategy.
If there are tracks here, it’s either too dark or they’re too subtle for me to see, which means I need to think of another option.
However spread out the Rettlings are, if we can hear each other, that’s a good sign.
It means the geographical boundaries of the trial are limited.
As long as I move swiftly, I shouldn’t have any problems finding Kay quickly.
And then there’s the bonus that I don’t have to worry about magic.
If I run into Zara, she will actually have to fight me for once.
And after all of my hours with Zelle, I’m betting that will end differently than our last two encounters.
Shit. Zara. The infusion. Well, it’s not as though I deliberately sabotaged the trial for the Rowells and Kyor. But maybe Etta’s even more on my side than I’d hoped.
My feet get snared on a low branch, but as I try to pull myself out, my trousers snag too. By the time I’m free, I’m completely turned around and unsure which direction I came from.
Benny’s words filter unbidden into my head. You can climb.
Trees are my bread and butter. They’re what I learned to climb on.
Though I did learn in daylight, when I could see the branches and the dangers.
Climbing when you can’t see anything is risky.
Then again, so is wandering aimlessly around a forest where dire wolves prowl.
Stretching my hand out in front of me, I find a tree with low-hanging branches and begin to ascend, feeling my way.
It’s a massive use of energy. The leaves and branches snag at my hair and shoulders, and catch on my boots and elbows, clawing at every part of me.
I find climbing trees fairly straightforward, but trying to push through a canopy of twigs and dried leaves when you can’t even see where the gaps are is a whole different feat.
At some point, the branches start to thin, but I keep moving until I’m at the top. Stars glint above me and a white moon gleams down in bright rays, washing me in some much-needed light.
It’s a stunning sky. An entire universe is at the edge of my fingertips. If ever a sight made me believe in the presence of the Gods, it’s this. But I am not here to worship. I need to find Kay. I draw my gaze down and across the forest.
I twist around, starting to wonder if I’ve made a mistake, when I spot several concentrated glimmers on the forest floor.
It’s the only area of the forest that appears to be illuminated.
That has to be where Kay and the others are, and judging from the position of the stars, it looks to be to the east and no more than a mile or two away from where I am.
It’s definitely walkable before dawn. Assuming I don’t get attacked.
Or get knocked off course, which would be incredibly easy to do, considering how dark it is.
I go to descend the tree when I hear sounds below me.
There’s a deep retching, followed by the unmistakable, liquidy splash of vomit hitting the ground.
My muscles tighten. It could be a random sickness.
There’s no reason to assume the person vomiting below me is one of the people I poisoned, but if it is, I’ve definitely got a list of the order in which I’d want to bump into them.
I should sneak down and move away from them as quickly as possible, but as I lower myself onto a weaker branch, it snaps beneath my feet.
‘Who’s there?’ Fuck. It’s Zara’s voice that calls out. ‘I heard you. I heard you, and I’m armed. I’ll kill you.’
I don’t doubt she’ll try, but the words have barely left her mouth when she starts retching again.
I use the moment to make the final descent.
Fast. Even when I hit the ground, she’s still heaving.
I know that staying silent is the sensible thing to do right now, but this woman has made my life hell, so I can’t help a little dig.
‘It doesn’t really sound like you’re in much of a state to kill anyone.
’ A slight chuckle leaves my lips. Bitchy? Yes. Deserved? Absolutely.
She spins towards me, her hands rising by instinct, only to find they have no effect.
My smirk widens into a grin. ‘Surely your priestess told you that this is the trial without magic. Did you forget?’
‘Fuck off,’ she groans. ‘I know you did this. I don’t know how you did it, but you did. You made me feel like this.’
‘Really?’ Another dry chuckle resounds from my throat. ‘How would I do that? I’m a powerless runt, remember? Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a trial to complete.’
She lunges at me, waving her arms wildly, but I knock her aside. It’s the easiest I’ve ever disarmed anyone, and a clear sign of just how exhausted she is. I feel the tiniest pang of guilt.
It wasn’t my intention to affect her ability in the trials, and I sure as hell hope Etta knows that and doesn’t hold it against me. Still, I’m not going to hang around and give her time to put a dagger through my heart.
‘What did you see up there?’ she asks. ‘Do you know where they are?’
As if I would ever help her after all she’s done. ‘I don’t know anything,’ I lie, turning off in the wrong direction just to throw her off. A few metres away, I double back on myself towards the lights.
As I walk stealthily through the forest, I hear people calling for their loved ones.
Whoever was calling for Cornelia shouts several more times. Another man, with an older-sounding voice, calls out for a Mara. But I don’t hear Jonas’s or Llinos’s voices. Nor do I hear Kyor.
I’m surprised by the depth of guilt that strikes me when I think of him, though I tell myself I shouldn’t feel bad.
It was an accident that he drank the poisoned water, and he didn’t even have to be in this trial.
He could’ve chosen to skip it altogether, the way Benny has. His pride is the only reason he’s here.
I’ve been walking for about fifteen minutes when I find another tree that looks good to climb.
When I’m sure I’m on track, I drop back down and continue on foot.
My focus now is on moving forward, on getting there before dawn.
With every footstep I push myself to go a little faster, growing less and less concerned about the delicacy of my feet on the forest floor or the occasional yelps that break free from my lungs when I snag my hair on overhead branches.
When I next stop to test another tree, something causes me to freeze.
The forest is silent. Absolutely silent.
Not so much as a scuttle in the undergrowth.
My pulse hitches as I strain to hear something.
Anything. Yet there is not so much as a single flutter of a wing.
My skin prickles. Why the fuck did I become so complacent as to think I didn’t need to listen?
My father told me often enough that your ears are always your first warning in the forest, and when it’s as dark as it is tonight, they’re pretty much the only sense I’ve got.
I could kick myself for letting something so basic slide.
With my throat growing dry with every shallow breath, I turn slowly away from the tree, my heart hammering against my eardrums, and I see the reason why the forest is suddenly so silent.
A pair of amber eyes glint at me through the darkness.
A dire wolf.