Crown of Flames and Ash (Courts of Aetheria #2)

Chapter 46

Chapter Forty-Six

A elia

The whispering forest of darkwood trees loomed only yards away, their leaves a deep, almost unnatural shade of green. It was surreal finding myself once again at the foot of the Feywood Forest for the third Umbral Trial, only this time with my entire first-year class, along with the horde of Arcanum students standing just behind Malakar near the foot of the Luminoc.

One familiar presence was markedly absent within our squad of initiates. Heaton.

It had been more than a week since the Royal Guardians came for him, and we had not heard a word since. He had promised Rue he would be back by the end of the term, and I prayed to all the gods he would keep his word. After this trial, only one more remained, and then within a few weeks, we will have survived our first scholastic year. I still couldn’t quite believe it.

You still have this trial and the last to conquer before you can begin to celebrate, little Kin . Sol’s voice streamed through my subconscious.

I glanced over my shoulder to the edge of the forest where he and the other skyriders were gathered. Thanks for the vote of confidence .

I do not wish to dishearten you, only to remind you that there is still much more you must overcome .

I’m well aware, Sol . As if the trials weren’t bad enough, a void had opened up in the center of my sternum. It was a constant, living, breathing source of emptiness. I pressed my hand to my chest and rubbed a small circle. It appeared the morning after that incredible night with Reign and seemed to only grow larger and more painful every day.

It’s the cuorem bond. It desires to be completed . Sol’s voice was low, filled with anguish. As if he knew exactly what I was experiencing.

When will it get better ?

He chuffed, the gruff sound echoing through my mind. It will be appeased only when you’ve completed the bond, or eventually go silent if severed .

I was afraid that was what he would say. Reign is trying to find a way to dissolve it . He says it’s the only way to survive our current predicament, but I refuse to give up.

I assumed as much. The connection will go quiet in time if left unbound, but it can take years.

I love him, Sol. Gods, I sounded so weak and pathetic.

I know, little one. Even in my mind, his words were like a gentle caress.

I don’t want to give him up. There must be some other way for us to be together without causing the utter destruction of our realm. I had confessed everything Reign and I had discussed to Sol once I’d stopped crying that next morning—not that I’d needed to, as I was fairly certain he’d heard it all.

I wish I had an answer for you. What I do know is that an incomplete cuorem bond can have terrible side effects. It is wise for Reign to consider other alternatives. Then again, severing the tie forcibly can also prove quite uncomfortable for both parties .

“Wonderful,” I grumbled out loud. So we’re doomed either way .

“What’s wonderful?” Rue appeared beside me, drawing me from our mental conversation. Symon moved into step beside her, along with the rest of Flare Squad who had assembled along the northern side of the Feywood Forest while I’d been otherwise occupied.

“Nothing,” I muttered. “Sol and I were just strategizing.” Lie .

“First, we must win this trial before we start preparing for the final, aerial one.”

“You’re right, Rue.” I nodded and focused on the line of Shadow Fae assembled across from us. Then I searched the mass of bodies surrounding me for the one that made my blood sing, but Reign was nowhere in sight.

I faced the dark mass across the way once more where another pair of equally disarming orbs found mine and latched on. Ruhl. My heart leapt up, a twinge of fear and something else I refused to name, escalating my pulse. A predatory smile curved his lips, stealing the air from my lungs. I had thought his brother was mercurial, but the young prince was as unpredictable as they came.

Draven clapped his hands and sparks of luminescence rose high into the air, illuminating the murky sky and tearing my gaze free of Ruhl’s invasive stare. Now, so close to the border of Feywood, Raysa’s blessed light would no longer prove eternal, giving way to inky darkness once the sun set. A part of me looked forward to the moon-drenched, starlit sky, until I reminded myself we’d be spending the night in the dreaded forest.

“Students,” the headmaster droned, “welcome to the third Umbral Trial, the Veil of Echoes.”

Hushed murmurs rippled across the crowd of first-years.

“For today’s event, you will navigate the Feywood Forest, where the boundaries between the past and present blur, and voices of the past guide or deceive. You have until morning to retrieve one of the sacred relics. As in the gauntlet, there are fewer relics than participants.” A devious grin curled the corners of his trailing white mustache as he paused. “And this year, in an attempt to foster unity, each of you will be coupled with a student from the opposing academy. Unlike the Mirror of Illusions, you will be forced to work together.”

“Oh, gods, not again,” I muttered.

“At least you were already paired with the prince,” Rue whispered. “What are the chances you’d get stuck with him again?”

“Stuck with who?” Liora poked her head between Sy and Rue, flashing perfectly white teeth. Gods, I hated how beautiful she was.

“Prince Ruhl,” Symon replied.

Her lavender irises flicked across the line of Arcanum students to the prince. He stood tall, muscled arms pinned across his chest and clad in all black, much like the other initiates, and still, he stood out. The waves of nox leeching from his form so powerful, they reached across the divide.

“I wouldn’t mind being paired up with him.” A smile stretched across her face, lighting up the brilliant lavender flecks in her eyes.

Of course, she wouldn’t. Clearly, she had a thing for Shadow Fae. I’d already witnessed her tireless flirtations with Reign. If she only knew they were brothers… I pushed the dangerous thought to the furthest recesses of my mind and locked it up tight.

Draven had continued to speak during our hushed conversation, but his speech seemed to be coming to a close. Malakar moved beside him and cut off his final words. “As always, there are no rules, other than to survive. The first-years who fail to retrieve a relic, will find themselves guests of the opposing academy for the next week until the trials end.” With a dip of his head, he revealed a scroll from the inner folds of his onyx robe. “And now, the pairings…”

A thick silence descended over the crowd as names were called and students emerged from their respective groupings to join their new teammate.

“What is the point of this, anyway?” Symon hissed. “As if it’s not bad enough that we have to watch our backs against other Light Fae, now we have to worry about a Shadow Fae partner?”

“I agree. It makes no sense.” Not for the first time, I wondered what the headmasters were truly plotting. Or did this go beyond the academies, to the kings themselves?

“Aelia Ravenwood,” Draven shouted, “And…”

I froze as the headmaster spoke my name, and my pulse thundered across my eardrums, drowning out all else. Somehow, I knew. I knew whose name would come next before he finished speaking the dreaded words.

“Prince Ruhl of Umbra.”

Despite suspecting, my stomach still plummeted to the soles of my boots.

“Oh, Aelia,” Rue grumbled.

“That cannot be by accident,” Symon interjected. “What are the chances you’d be paired with the prince twice?”

My thoughts exactly. For once, I was relieved Reign wasn’t here to witness this. He would have likely lost his temper in front of everyone, which would have done nothing to help our cause.

“Stay strong, little Kin.” Symon gently caressed the rounded curve of my ear. I shot him a scowl, though my heart wasn’t quite into it. “Just for luck.” He smirked.

Rue spun me toward her, hands squeezing my shoulders. “You’ll do just fine in there, A. Ruhl is the strongest Shadow Fae of his class, and Draven said you had to work together. This could be a good thing.”

Rue was right, but she didn’t know the whole story, and as always, I couldn’t reveal it without putting her at risk. “As long as he doesn’t try to stab me in the back with one of his umbral blades,” I muttered.

Again, Reign had forced me to keep my daggers hidden in the safety of the dormitory, leaving me to wield unfamiliar short blades which I’d strapped at my hips. Either way, I’d need to count on my rais to win the trial. Searching for my necklace beneath my tunic, I rubbed at the worn medallion. Raysa, protect me.

Ruhl stepped forward, a trail of shadows surrounding him, and I forced my feet to follow. As I passed the row of Light Fae students, Liora popped out once again. “You’re so lucky,” she whispered. “With the prince as your partner, you’ll surely win.”

I wished I shared her enthusiasm. Instead, I only mumbled a weak, “Cheers.” The female wasn’t completely awful, and the only reason I truly disliked her was because of these uncontrollable feelings of jealousy. “Good luck to you as well.”

And with that, I marched on and joined Ruhl at the foot of the ever-darkening forest. A line of other initiates had already assembled, most standing in silence beside their life-long enemies-turned-new-partners.

“Well, hello there, Miss Ravenwood.” Ruhl dipped into a mocking bow. “Fancy meeting you, yet again. It seems as if fate is drawing us together.”

I tensed beside him, curling my arms across my chest. “Fate or you? It seems like too much of a coincidence, wouldn’t you agree?”

His dark brow arched, lifting the corner of his lip. “What can I say? The gods work in mysterious ways.” That smirk, stars—it reminded me so much of Reign’s my chest tightened at the sight.

“Why would you want to be paired with me?” I blurted. There was no point dancing around the topic. If it wasn’t Ruhl who’d requested it, then Draven or Malakar were pulling the strings. And if it was the young shadow prince, did he already suspect I was the child of twilight, or was he only trying to get close to me to irritate his elder brother?

“How very arrogant of a simple little Kin to assume such a thing.”

“You know very well I’m not a Kin,” I growled.

“No, you’re not, but you were raised here. I imagine of everyone assembled, you know these woods better than any other arrogant Fae here.”

A surge of relief crashed over me before a hint of satisfaction seeped in. “So you did arrange for us to be paired together.”

“Maybe, maybe not. I suppose you’ll never find out.” He smirked again, but this time, a hint of mirth lit up the cold darkness of those piercing orbs.

“Initiates, take your places.” Malakar’s voice boomed across the gathering crowd.

I glanced down the line and found Rue standing beside a willowy Shadow Fae female, and Symon farther down peering up at a towering male. I only hoped we’d all make it out of this forest alive.

While Ruhl was correct that I’d grown up nearby, what he did not know was how little I knew of the forest. I’d spent most of my life avoiding it at all costs thanks to Aidan’s terrifying bedtime stories. In addition to the echoes of the past we would have to battle, we would also have to avoid a variety of blood-thirsty creatures, if the tales were true.

The sharp buzzer rang out, tearing my thoughts away from the grisly images my imagination had conjured. I swallowed hard, my pulse skyrocketing.

Ruhl extended a hand, dipping into a bow, and motioned toward a break in the thick foliage. “After you, duskling.”