Page 148 of The Amber Sunburst

“I need you to take it. Please, take it.”

He looks at the ring for a long moment, then up to Alexander with a weak exhale. And he’s looking, he’s really looking until, with a resigned sigh, he whispers, “Okay.”

“You’ll take it?”

“Yeah,” Kallias replies, removing his necklace and dropping Alexander’s ring onto the chain next to his amulet. “Happy now?” he asks.

Alexander nods. He likes the look of his ring around Kallias’ neck. And now he knows that everything will be fine because Kallias has no choice but to make it to the boat with that ring around his neck. And Alexander doesn’t have to dread anything because what is there to dread?

44

LAZARUS

Breakfast is a dull affair.

They’ve all been subdued since early this morning when they watched Arete start down the stairs to Arc One with a bunch of cloaks and Zeno’s violin—well hidden because Zeno was especially anxious about it. She was brought in undetected, which makes her the only one who can leave the same way.

Eudoxia instructed her to wait in a designated cafe, but she’s Arete, so who knows where she’ll go. Running into Kleitos on the way back to the dorms didn’t help their nerves either.

Now they sit in the dining hall, picking at their horrifying food. Ophelia is on breakfast duty today and she’s notorious at the Academy for being very beautiful and very bad at cooking.

And she is. Very beautiful, he means. He and Ophelia run on completely different frequencies—she’s ethereal and down-to-earth and he’s a stressed-out crazy person—but, regardless, last night was, perhaps, the best of his life.

It was almost strange to be at the cove with other people and know that, had he sunk to the bottom, someone would have yanked him out. It was… nice.

But the night before feels eons away in the uncomfortably quiet dining hall with his queasy group of outcasts.

Everyone looks exhausted, which does not bode well for the completion of their plans. Lazarus made it back to Zeno and Alexander’s room to sleep on their floor around two in the morning. Zeno got back at three, bouncing off the walls. Alexander never came back. He can imagine the girls did something similar.

Ophelia approaches them from behind to drop off a carafe filled with coffee.

“You guys need to lighten up. You look like shades,” she whispers, tickling Eudoxia on her neck and slapping Alexander on the back of his head.

“Ow, Ophelia,” Alexander whines. She grins in response.

“Today is going to be fine,” she says.

Zeno shoots her a worried look, arm wrapped around Eudoxia’s shoulders. “You can’t be here for too long, people are going to catch on.”

“Loosen up, Zeno.” She rolls her eyes. “But I must return to serving my glorious eggs anyways. Good luck, everyone, and may the Forms watch over us all.”

“Those were eggs?” Alexander whispers as she walks away. Lazarus looks at the mush he’s been choking down and back to Ophelia. Forms willing, she never steps behind a pan ever again.

No one talks for the rest of the meal, and Alexander and Kallias have resorted to their strange nervous tic of tapping on each other’s arms in different beats and increments. It’s getting on Lazarus’ nerves, but there’s no point in saying anything about it—it would probably only encourage them if they knew he didn’t like it.

The loudspeaker in the dining hall eventually—finally—crackles, and the Educator’s voice booms around the room.

“Auxiliaries previously eliminated from the Trials, please make your way to your stations for today. Those forty-seven of you who are participating, locate the Priestess of the Scale in front of the Main Building. She will escort you to your final Trial. May the Forms grant you wisdom in Justice.”

Everyone in the room stands simultaneously and wordlessly falls into a single-file line up the stairs. Lazarus sighs and follows suit. He watches the other four shift uncomfortably against the dozens of jagged mirror pieces stuffed into every pocket, and he’s secretly happy his part of the plan doesn’t involve Ophelia’s invention. It’s brilliant, don’t get him wrong, but it’s also dangerous, and not just because they’re hiding sharp glass right up against their skin.

Lazarus originally dismissed the plan when Alexander and Ophelia pitched it. He assumed that the Guardians would do spot checks to stop people from bringing things into the challenge, but according to Zeno’s dad, they do not. It’s the same logic as the Ring of Invisibility, apparently. If you cheat and win, your success will be null. It’s just another test.

Good thing they don’t care about winning.

Lazarus still feels like a fraud. When the clue was announced, he had to physically pinch himself to stop from sharing what he knows with his cohort. They trusted him to lead, and he lied to them.

He still wants them to succeed. Part of him wants to succeed himself. But the witch hunt for the thief of the Ring of Invisibility is growing more and more pressing every day, and once the Trials end and the Priestesses of the Scale can focus solely on their pursuit, he’s done for.