She knew what her uncle and brother thought she should do. Her parents were likely on their side. Alyss and Gwen were on the opposite side.
But what did she want?
Taking a deep breath, Eira sat up and crossed to the desk with a step. She opened her tinderbox, lighting the candle on the desk. There was enough wax to get her through the night; tomorrow she could look into procuring a flame bulb for the room. Or at least a better stock of candles.
Eira flipped open the journal and began reading. Alyss was right. If she wanted to make herself a contender for the tournament then she should start practicing now.
6
The next day, Eira watched as Alyss waited her turn in line. The sign-up board was completely encased in a thick, granite cube. The walls were unnaturally smooth—which indicated they had been made by magic, and not human hands.
One by one, Groundbreakers approached. They would plant their feet and shove their palms into the granite. Most of them did nothing at all. The rock was unforgiving. For some, it cracked under their hands. Or it wobbled, as though the rock had turned into gelatin, but the stone ultimately didn’t yield.
But a rare few approached the stone and parted it like a curtain, then slipped inside to write their name before reemerging. Alyss was one of those few.
“I told you,” Alyss said proudly as she sauntered up to where Eira was waiting, “it would be no problem.”
“You were nervous at breakfast this morning,” Eira pointed out with a grin. “But congratulations. I never doubted you.”
“Tomorrow is your turn.” Alyss started up the Tower, Eira following silently. Alyss glanced at her from the corner of her eye. “Don’t tell me you’re going to back out.”
“I’m not,” Eira said with more confidence than she felt.
Two factions had been warring in her since the night prior. One said to follow the path people were laying out for her—to not let her family down and to step away from the trials. She’d already seen what happened when she tried to make waves. She wasn’t designed for the greatness that Cullen, or the mysterious Waterrunner who had found a secret Tower room to make their own, or anyone like them, so clearly sought.
But the other side of her spoke with Gwen’s voice. You were made for this. The trials were hers for the taking. No one was better suited to go to Meru—no one would want it more than her.
That night, she returned to the hidden room when everyone else in the Tower was asleep. Eira practiced her magic into the small hours of the morning and crashed on the bed, not even bothering to go back to her room. She was jolted awake a short time later by the sound of someone rummaging through the storeroom.
Eira held her breath, fully expecting whoever it was to finally see the hidden door. But they didn’t. The sounds stopped and the rumble of the storeroom door closing resonated through the castle stone to her.
She raked her fingers through her hair on the way to breakfast and tried to beat the dust out of her clothes.
The dining hall for the Tower was in the center. Apprentices took turns cooking, so the food was always different…and of varying quality. This morning was cuisine from the western portion of the Empire—a tomato-based stew with an egg poached in it, served with two points of toast.
“You weren’t in your room this morning,” Alyss observed, situating herself across from Eira at a long table. No one else dared to sit near them. “And you look a mess. Did you sleep in your clothes?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“I was practicing all night.”
Alyss’s face lit up. “I knew you had it in you.” She leaned forward, her braids slipping over her shoulders. “I don’t see your brother this morning. I think you were right. He is the one making the barrier today.”
“Have you gone and seen it yet?”
Alyss shook her head. “I’ll go when you sign up. Want to do it on the way to the clinic?”
“I’ll do it after the clinic.”
“Sign-ups are only until sundown,” Alyss needlessly reminded her. “Be sure you’re not out too late.”
“I should say that to you. You’re the busy one who always holds us up.”
Alyss stuck out her tongue and made a face.
It turned out that Eira’s jest had been wrong. Alyss only had a few patients to help the clerics with. Meanwhile, Eira’s list had tripled.
Fritz handed over the list as though it were nothing. There was no mention of her brother from either of them, but Eira knew. She had this list because he wasn’t going out today. He couldn’t go attend the clinics if he was making the barrier. And if she was kept busy until sundown as a result, likely all the better as far as her uncle was concerned.
“There’s one more thing,” Fritz said before she left his office.
“If I’m going to get through all of these I’d better start now.” Eira waved her list through the air.
“In a rush?” His words held an accusatory tone.
“Just want to make sure that I don’t besmirch the Tower by being late or not getting to see everyone.” Eira pressed her lips into a thin smile.
“Well, here. You can read this on the way.” Fritz passed her a folded letter, sealed with a familiar glob of wax. “It arrived this morning.”
“Thank you,” she murmured and excused herself. Eira flipped over the letter. Her name was written in her father’s handwriting on the front with the words “Apprentice of the Tower” scribbled beneath it. She slipped her finger under the seal, but instantly
