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I did not know if that was even possible.
“Do you need help, my lady?” Bejde was standing outside Liltra’s room, her eyes wide with shock as she saw me standing on top of Liltra’s bed.
I looked at her. I must have looked like a madwoman.
“Yes,” I said. “Please go and bring Lady Xira to me. Tell her Lady Casja is asking to see her.”
Bejde seemed doubtful about my order, but she could not object to it. Trial champions were considered equal to the nobility in both realms. And although this year’s trials had been somewhat unusual, the same rules applied to us.
She turned around and left.
I jumped from the bed and started to wait.
Thoughts rushed through my mind as I stood there and stared at the hook. The memory of Liltra’s sheet hanging from it was fresh in my mind, and so were the patches of mud all over the floor. Even if the hook could be explained away with fire magic, the mud was still a problem to be solved.
It didn’t take long for Xira to come in behind a wide-eyed Bejde.
“What is it?” She asked as she stepped into Liltra’s room, unaware of its history that haunted the rest of us.
“I need your help,” I said, but before Xira could ask anything else, I turned to Bejde. “Could you leave us alone?”
“Of course, my lady,” Bejde curtsied despite her expression betraying her disappointment that she would not be able to witness the rest of my madness. Before the end of today, there would be wild rumors about the light fae champion who had gone mad.
I did not care.
“Are you okay?” Lady Xira asked once Bejde was gone and we were alone.
She met my gaze straight on. There was no hint of fear in her blue eyes. Her blue hair was tucked to the back of her ears. It was the first time I was seeing her so ruffled, and I wondered where she had been when Bejde found her.
“I am having a thought,” I said, trying to decide how to bring it up to her. “Do you know about the maid who hung herself?”
To my surprise, Xira nodded. “I do.”
“This was her room,” I told her.
Her eyes flickered with sadness for a second. “It was?”
“Yes,” I said.
“And you two were close?” She asked.
It was an odd question. Was there jealousy in her tone? It made no sense. We weren’t friends.
“No,” I told her. “I did not know her. But today, I noticed this hook.”
I pointed at the ceiling, and Xira followed my gaze as her expression softened.
“Liltra was a fire elemental,” I told her. “This hook... It was made by someone who did not know how to make something like this. It’s oddly shaped and...”
“Yes,” Xira said, taking a step forward to get a better look at it. “I can see it. The sides aren’t smooth like they should be, and it's crooked.”
“Can you do something like this?” I asked.
“What?” Xira met my gaze.
“Like a hook? Can you use a piece of iron to change it into a hook using your fire magic?” The words spilled from my mouth excitedly.
Xira seemed taken aback. Her gaze darted between me and the hook.
