He clapped Collin on the shoulder. “If I don’t make it out, you can have Amare. Just don’t name your next goat after me. That’s all I ask.”
Laughter died in Collin’s throat. He wanted to throw up more.
The rest of the names followed—Uriah, the twins, River. Every name carried weight, each one a reminder that no one was safe.
When the last name echoed out across the square, silence once again descended.
For a full breath, no one dared to move.
And then, “Get moving!”
Captain Eric’s voice cracked through the air like a whip. Collin flinched, along with everyone else. The crowd scattered in a sudden rush of limbs and stolen breath, wordless and wide-eyed. Heading to their faits.
Nic caught up beside Collin, sword in hand, whispering in a rush, “This better not be one of those tests where they ask if you’d run over a goat to save a princess. Because I’m going to have questions.”
Collin didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He just clutched Lumen with sweating fingers and followed the others into the unknown.
Inside the cavernous meeting hall, the stone walls swallowed their footsteps. Lekyi was already there, pacing near the long table where a row of weapons gleamed faintly in the dim light. A minute later, two others arrived—James of Greenswood, the immaculately dressed son of a steward, and Tym of Chroma, who looked one startled breath away from fainting.
No one spoke. They stood in a loose ring of uncertainty, shifting quietly, eyes flicking toward the stone floor or the sealeddoors. The guard who’d followed them in gave no instructions. He simply stood watch, arms folded, gaze like frostbite.
Collin studied him briefly—did men become guards because they were born joyless, or did the uniform slowly strip the warmth from their bones?
Minutes dragged like hours.
Then, at last, Captain Sol entered. He crossed to a list tacked by the double doors, scanned it, nodded once. The hardness of the move settled like a stone in Collin’s gut.
Sol turned and shut the doors behind him.
Thethudechoed like a closing tomb.
The dread wasn’t loud. It didn’t scream. It crept, slow and deliberate, cinching around Collin’s ribs like a belt pulled taut by an unseen hand. The windows were locked—tight, expressionless panes—and the exits sealed with a kind of finality that made his breath feel borrowed. He wasn’t one to fear closed spaces, not usually. But this wasn’t just closed. It wascut off. The air had a strange weight to it, heavy and unmoving, as if time had stopped to watch.
Then it stirred—the old shed. That forgotten corner of childhood. The slap of cold against his skin, the dark pressing in, the door stuck, and the silence stretching. Hours spent wondering if anyone would notice he was gone.
Sol paced slowly across the vast room. His boots struck the stone with unhurried weight. No one breathed too loudly. And then, without a word, he vanished through a narrow door at the back of the hall.
“What do you think they’re going to do to us?” James asked under his breath, voice hoarse with worry. His white-blond hair and sharp green eyes gave him a patrician air, but just now, he was simply a scared boy hoping someone had answers.
“No idea,” Clive whispered. “Whatever it is... I’m hoping it doesn’t involve running. I haven’t done laps since winter.”
James opened his mouth again, but the guard’s voice cracked through the air like bone snapping. “Silence.”
James flinched like he’d been slapped. Clive stiffened but said nothing.
Niall sank into a wooden chair with a sigh meant for quieter rooms. The scraping sound on the stone made Collin’s skin crawl. Every noise felt amplified—as if the building itself disapproved of them.
Collin leaned back against the wall. His palms were slick with sweat. He shoved them into his pockets and closed his eyes, counting his own breaths. It didn’t help. His heart thudded like it wanted out.
Ten agonizing minutes passed.
Then the door at the far end opened with a flood of sunlight, a golden blade slicing into the gloom.
Dust swirled in the air like tiny fireflies.
“Lekyi of North Town,” came the voice—deep, resonant, final.
Lekyi grabbed his sword, Solus, from the table and strode forward, expression hard as cut stone.
