In front of them, the door to the main chamber, the one that had conveniently disappeared when they’d entered the room, sat open.
For a moment, Cedric and Elyria stood there, as if neither of them could quite believe that it was over. That they’d survived another trial. That they were one step closerto the crown.
Cedric opened his mouth. He closed it. He knew he should say something. Hewantedto say something.
He just didn’t have a single fucking clue what to say.
Not as his pulse was still a staccato beat in his veins, a stuttering reminder of everything he’d just been forced to witness—and all that happened after.
Should he be thanking her? The thought gnawed at him, bitter and relentless. He was supposed to be the strong one, the one blazing through these trials on his own merit. He’d trained for this. He wasmeantfor this.
Yet, here he was, all too aware that if it weren’t for Elyria, he might still be trapped in that nightmare.
This didn’t feel like a victory. It felt like he’d cheated, like he’d been carried to safety while the others faced their demons alone.
If Elyria shared his concerns, she certainly didn’t show it. She was already in motion, her hand slipping from Cedric’s as she scooped up her weapons and strode confidently toward the door.
He flexed his fingers against the absence of her.
Pushing what happened during the trial to the back of his mind, Cedric forced his feet to move. He couldn’t name the emotions rolling through him as he strapped his gauntlets to his waist alongside his sword and dagger after donning his armor once more. Armor that felt somehow both heavier and lighter than it did before.
His eyes widened as he took in the scene in the Sanctum. The gilded table that spanned nearly the entire length of the room. The sumptuous display of roasted meats, ripe fruits, goblets brimming with wine and tankards full of ale. His fellow champions settled in large velvet dining chairs along both sides.
Flickering candles cast a golden glow over the tablescape, but the atmosphere was far from celebratory. Kit, Zephyr, and Thraigg had commandeered a corner at the near end of the table. Gael and Cyren sat across from them, exchanging stilted words. Tenebris Nox was by their lonesome, unsurprisingly, a few seats down.
Cedric found Belien and Leona at the other end of the table, scowls of disappointment evident on their faces as they muttered to one another under their breath.
The champions sat mostly in silence, poking at the food on their plates or taking long, deep drags from their cups. All except for Thraigg, who seemed entirely delighted as he tore into a dripping drumstick with gusto.
Elyria stood at Kit’s side. It had taken Cedric a few minutes to get his armor back on, so he hadn’t witnessed their reunion. But from the soft expressions on both their faces and the way their little fingers remained affectionately hooked together, it wasn’t hard to guess what they were both feeling. Relief, joy, perhaps the lingering hint of fear. It radiated from them both, like neither of them fully believed the other was there. That they’d both made it through.
Cedric’s chest tightened as he watched Elyria murmur something to Kit, too low for him to hear. Kit nodded vigorously before wiping at the inner corner of her eye.
Cedric looked away, suddenly feeling like he was intruding.
“There he is!” boomed Thraigg, his words garbled in his full mouth as he waved Cedric over.
“Here I am,” Cedric replied, exhaustion carrying him into an empty seat beside the dwarf.
“Took the two of ye damn well long enough. We’ve been waiting forages.” Balancing the drumstick between his teeth, Thraigg stretched across the table and grabbed a flagon of ale. Swaying slightly, he attempted to fill Cedric’s empty tankard for him.
“Here, let me.” Cedric reached for the flagon just as Thraigg jolted from a whole-body hiccup, sloshing ale over Cedric’s outstretched hands.
“Whoopsie,” slurred the dwarf, and Cedric couldn’t help but grin at the juxtaposition of a word like that coming from someone who looked like him. He turned toward Elyria, curious to see if she’d heard the dwarf’s unexpected exclamation. For some reason, he just knew she’d find it hilarious. But she was facing the other direction, having slipped into the chair next to Kit with a goblet of wine in one hand and an entire loaf of bread in the other.
A petite green face popped into Cedric’s line of sight, cutting Elyria off from view. He couldn’t tell if the reflexive emotion that flared in his chest was one born of gratitude or irritation.
Zephyr held out a cloth napkin.
“Ah, thank you,” Cedric said. He took it and wiped the liquid from his hands. “I’m relieved to see you made it through.”
She smiled, though it didn’t quite meet her eyes. Cedric wondered what past horror she’d been forced to relive during the trial.
“I, too, am very glad to see you,” she said quietly.
“Aye. We had a grand old time fighting our demons though, didn’t we, Zeph?” Thraigg said. “I must admit, though, she made for piss poor company in there. All that pacing and wringing of her little hands. She seemed far more worried about ye than about the two of us getting through the trial.”
Cedric swore the sylvan’s cheeks turned a darker shade of green.
