Ernaline was drowning herself in every edition ofAn Accumulative Historysince their meeting in the library the night before.
Maybe she’d gotten lucky.
If anyone could find it, Ernaline could.
* * *
When they arrived at the library, Ernaline was bent over a stack of books, her mouth silently moving as she read lines from each one. Skimming between them as her eyes glazed over. Her usual well-managed bun was absent and her curls hung around her head in a tangled mess as though she hadn’t slept at all. Her eyes were bloodshot as she sighed with frustration and threw herself into a chair that looked like it had been her bed for the night. Fingers covered in ink from taking notes of what she thought to be the most useful.
“Find anything?” Ambrose asked as she took the empty seat next to her and nudged her shoulder playfully.
“Nothing!” Ernaline yelled, throwing her hands into the air, face scrunched in pain. “I’ve read every book. Every passage. Scoured every shelf, even asked for any editions that might not be on the shelves. There’s nothing!” She slammed the top book shut and covered her face with her hands, fresh ink from her fingertips smudging her cheeks as she did so, tears running down her face.
Ambrose rubbed her friend’s back. “I’m sure you did your best. You need to get some sleep, you look like the walking dead and I can only imagine how exhausted you are. You did everything you could, there’s nothing more you can do.”
She hoped that would get a hint of a smile from Ernaline, but instead,she scrunched her fingers in her hair and let out a dissatisfied grunt. “How am I supposed to getanysleep when we have no answers?”
“You have to.” Ambrose hugged her. “You’re going to be called into service tomorrow and will be presented in front of the other royalty. They won’t be happy if you show up looking like this, you have to be presentable. The punishment on the day of the ball could be so much worse than a regular day. Please. For me, get some sleep?”
Ernaline looked as though she might protest but in turn hugged her back. “Okay. You’re right. It’s getting late.” She lifted her face, brown eyes glistening. “You know I love you, right? I’d do anything for you.” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “You’re my best friend.”
“Of courseI do,” Ambrose whispered, pulling her in tight. She meant her next words from the bottom of her heart. “I love you too.”
With that, Ernaline reluctantly rose and bade them a good night, tossing nervous glances over her shoulder as she left the library. Hopefully to bed where she’d get a good night’s sleep. Ambrose and Akadian grabbed the stack of books to pick up where she’d left off, lighting a fresh candle as they hunched over the books and began to read.
* * *
“Today was exhausting,” Ambrose moaned as her body collapsed onto her bed. “We read for hours and couldn’t find anything helpful. Just more of the same we already knew. We couldn’t even find information on the trials at the creation of their existence or even a tiny hint of how to win. They just popped up one day and have been running without fail ever since. What are we supposed to do with that?”
Akadian followed her to the bed and sat on the edge of it. “They were specifically designed to be nearly impossible to win. It’s why no one has even made it through the first one. The gods wouldn’t let just anyone into Naenaros. They’d have to be worthy in their eyes.”
“Key word,nearly.” Ambrose rubbed her face. “There has to be some way to win.”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something.” He propped down next to her and brushed a lock of hair out of her face. “You know about every monster that’s been used for the last ten decades now, and you’ve been watching the other Trial Champions train for months. You know their fighting styles, their strengths and weaknesses. You know the weapons they prefer and how they’ll use them. Let the others take most of the brunt and stay out of the way and alive. Don’t engage unless you absolutely have to.”
Ambrose tilted her head back as her thoughts raced inside it. One more day and it wouldn’t matter how prepared she was. It would finally be time.
“I’m scared.” The words left her lips in a whisper before she could silence them. She bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling.
Akadian stared at her, mouth twitching as though he were trying to find the right words to say. She studied the features of his face, the way his mouth curved slightly in a way that made it look like he was half smiling all the time, thinking of something wicked. The way the specks of silver reflected the light in his irises, a sprinkle of moonlight in a deep-blue ocean. The way the muscles in his chest flexed, rising and falling with each breath he took. How his loose curls never seemed to stay out of the way of his face, no matter how many times he pushed them aside. She stared at him until she was sure she burned his image into her memory forever.
He pulled her into his arms and held her against his chest, the smell of roses stronger than the faintness of the smoky scent. She breathed it in like it was the last pleasant thing she’d ever experience.
His heart beat in rhythm with hers.
She wished she could stop the moment and live there forever, tucked safely into his chest and away from the rest of the world. Like two roaming stars that somehow had gotten too close and were now sucked into each other’s gravity until they collided into one cataclysmic show. When they were like this, they weren’t a servant turned Trial Champion, or a prince. They were just… them. She hated Casimir, but a part of her she didn’t know existed would always be grateful to him for the day he charged Akadian to stay by her side.
They stayed like that as he rubbed his fingers over her back, fingers trailing from her shoulders to the small of her waist in slow, deliberate movements.
“If anyone can survive this, you can. In all the years since I’ve been created, I’ve never seen a mage with your talent or a warrior with your quick mind. You have more skill than all of them combined and more heart and compassion than they could ever wish for. You’re better than all of them and that includes the ruling class. Your instincts are unmatched,” he whispered into her hair. “You’re smarter than the best of them and stronger than any mage that’ll be in that arena. I’ve never seen anyone do what you can do. Not even the royals can command more than one Element, thathasto mean something. You just have to believe in yourself, like I do.”
His words hit deep in her core and rattled her chest. No one had ever believed in her that much, not even Adym. She wasn’t sure how much she could return his sentiment. But if he could believe in her like that, maybe she could borrow some of his confidence and survive.
Survive.
How silly it felt.
She’d spent her entire life resenting the fact that that was all she was doing—surviving.
