He led me outside, back to my old dormitory building, where all of the other first years were gathered. We met up with Pia and Kohen, who both looked as exhausted as I felt.
“What exactly happens during thesetrials?” I asked, though I couldn't help but notice the wide-eyed look Kohen and Sawyer gave each other.
“Yeah. And why weren’t we told about it?” Pia questioned.
“No one knows when the trials will occur except for King Hawthorne. And we are forbidden to speak of them. The first years aren't allowed to have any time to prepare,” Kohen answered.
“What will we be doing?” I asked, reiterating my previous question through my chattering teeth.Fuck, it was cold for spring.
“Battling each other,” Sawyer replied simply.
“That's it?”
“Well, yeah. Except for the weakest participants will be killed,” he added.
My eyelids peeled from my skull and my blood heated enough to stop my shivering. “You're joking.” I was so weak right now that I could hardly eat, let alone fight for my life.
“Wish I was.”
“How many get killed?”A.K.A., how many would I have to beat to stay alive?
“Five.”
Five. Just five. Okay. Even at my worst, I was confident that I was stronger than the weakest five—I hoped.
“That's so incredibly fucked up,” Pia spat, her skin turning greenwith nausea.
“We should have at least had a warning,” I added with a scowl directed at the head soldiers.
“We can stand here and debate this or you both can shut up and let Kohen and I give you the rundown,” Sawyer said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“I thought you wereforbidden to speak about it,” I mocked, crossing my own arms.
“Do you want to die? Because no offense, Maeve, but you certainly aren't the strongest in your year right now.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I’ve been kicking your ass in our training sessions for weeks. Am I wrong?”
My arms fell to my sides in submission.
Kohen interrupted Sawyer and mine’s bickering. “You’ll each be given a random opponent. You can use your magic and weapons to fight. You win your first trial, you're safe. If you lose, you’ll fight another loser. Win that battle, then you're safe. So on and so forth until only five are left.”
“Why kill the losers? Why not just let them go home?” Pia asked, her worry adamant in her voice. She didn't need to worry. She was one of the best wielders in our class. She wouldn't be killed, I had no doubt about that. Myself, on the other hand…
“King Hawthorne believes they are too weak to be effective soldiers, but still too much of a threat with their jewels to be kept alive.”
“Remove their jewels then,” Pia pleaded.
“That's forbidden. You know that,” Kohen reminded.
“Oh, but killing innocent people isn't?” I jeered, my eyes rolling so far back that I swear I could see my skull.
“I’ll have to have a word with uncle Aldous about this,” Pia complained, her face scrunched into a deep scowl.
“Do they do this in our second year, too? Or can you not tell us that either?” I commented, my tone fairly rude.
Sawyer cut in, “Gods, will the two of you just shut up fortwo damn minutes? We are trying to keep you both from dying!”
