Page 41 of Once the Skies Fade (Immortal Reveries #2)

Chapter 41

Matthias

A t least Calla hadn’t killed me when I touched her.

I’d known better, yet I’d done it anyway, driven by some bizarre need to comfort her. I was growing as soft as Connor. If I wasn’t careful, I’d become a damned romantic before I knew what had happened.

Rising to my feet, I watched her standing at the window. She had her arms wrapped around her middle, her fingers clutching at the fabric at her waist as if she were trying to hold herself together. In the deathly silence, her heartbeat pounded feverishly, nearly as fast as my own.

In any other circumstance I might have been offended at a female fleeing my touch, but I’d been utterly relieved when she did. I couldn’t want her, let alone care for her. I had a singular mission, and that wasn’t to make her feel better. I simply needed to learn the truth, and now I was no closer to meeting that objective. This was as close as I could hope to get to her, and I’d fucked it up.

Without a word, I retreated from the room and closed the door as quietly as I could. In the hallway I slumped against the wall, leaning my head back on the hard stone, trying to recall everything I had gleaned in the short half hour I’d spent with her.

The queen had good taste with that brandy, not that that mattered so much with regards to Brennan’s death, which she was clearly distraught over. She’d controlled her shadows, holding them at bay when she became visibly angry. She’d actually remained far calmer than I’d expected at the mention of her parents’ and Brennan’s deaths.

While nothing I’d witnessed supported Hilde’s accusations, I couldn’t ignore that someone had possibly lied to Connor about Brennan being poisoned. Of course, Hilde might be the one lying. Either way, something wasn’t adding up, and I’d need more information before I could come to any definitive conclusion.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t likely to get much more from Calla directly, especially now after I’d crossed the line. I needed to speak to someone closer to her. Isa was out, of course. She was too loyal and too smart to ever incriminate the queen, even unknowingly. I needed someone who had been with her before and after Brennan died, who knew her well, but who cared more for themselves than for her.

I needed Graham.

The next morning, I reported to the courtyard as directed by Giles and found the other survivors standing silently about the open space. Only Korben was missing, and I was confused for a moment until I remembered Isa’s promise to punish him. Before I could approach Graham, a valet entered the courtyard and ushered us all out to the front steps of the castle, where four carriages waited, their doors held open by a guard. Without a word, the valet pointed to me and then to the second carriage in the line. I settled myself on the plush black leather of the seat and waited, my heart thumping with excitement and anticipation over whatever this next trial would be.

The carriage shifted as someone climbed the steps, and I nearly laughed at my good fortune that the valet had sent Graham to share a ride with me. Graham, of course, refused to acknowledge my presence as he lowered himself to the seat opposite me, even when I offered a friendly “good morning.” He simply stared out the window in silence.

I wasn’t one to give up easily, though. I’d charmed one of Calla’s friends—and a dragon shifter, at that. How hard could it be to do so again, even with this jealous prick?

Resting against the tufted back wall of the carriage, I crossed my arms loosely in front of me and tried again.

“I never got the chance to thank you for helping me out in the forest,” I said.

Graham’s eyes flicked my way, but he refused to look at me directly, immediately shifting to watch the guard close the door and rap lightly on the roof. As the carriage lurched forward, Graham’s lips twitched, like his voice was trying to break through his stubbornness. Swallowing hard, he finally slid his gaze sideways at me.

“You’re welcome,” he muttered, the muscle along his jaw pulsing.

I lifted my brows in feigned shock. “That sounded almost genuine, Graham.”

“It is genuine. I don’t say things I don’t mean,” he said, his expression as flat as his tone.

“Never?” I asked. “Not one lie? Not even when you were younger?”

“You don’t get to be the royal advisor by being dishonest.” He shrugged as if this answer was obvious.

“I thought dishonesty was a requirement in politics.”

“Maybe that’s how you do things in Emeryn, but not here.”

I smiled politely and changed the subject. “I do want to apologize for yesterday though.”

“For what?” Graham asked.

“For interrupting your time with Her Majesty. I shouldn’t have barged in as I did, even if it was truly my time.” Graham’s features twisted with surprised confusion. Leaning forward, I extended my hand to him. “I’d like to put all this animosity behind us, if you’re willing.”

His dark eyes darted down to my hand, regarding it suspiciously. “I don’t like you,” he said.

I chuckled lightly and lifted a shoulder. “I’m not asking you to be my best friend or anything. Just think it’s a waste of our energy hating each other like this.”

For several breaths he simply stared at me, looking like he wanted to take all that hatred out on me right there in the carriage. Then he cocked his head to the side.

“You think I hate you?” he asked.

“A bit.”

“You’re right, just a bit. Are you saying you hate me?”

I frowned and rocked my hand back and forth in the air. “Just a bit, but I’m willing to set it aside. After all, when I win?—”

His sharp glare cut off my words, forcing me to amend them.

“I mean, if I win, it would be nice to not have to replace the Vael’s trusted advisor. And I don’t know. If you win, maybe?—”

“I’m not choosing you to replace me, general.”

Lifting my palms to face him, I laughed. “Of course not.”

When the carriages finally came to a stop, we stepped out to find Isa standing in front of a large lake. Korben stood beside her, cradling his bandaged left hand. His right eye was so swollen it couldn’t open, and a laceration across his eyebrow had been sewn closed, but looked far from healed.

Isa gestured to him as she spoke. “Before we dive into the second trial, I need to make something quite clear to all of you. Korben, here, chose to attack one of the other competitors outside of the official trials, as well as injure a dear friend of Her Majesty. For that, he has been punished accordingly. A finger for a finger. A beating for a beating. And a small dose of poison to keep his wounds from healing immediately.”

At this she caught my eye and dipped her chin crisply before continuing.

“He has not been stripped of any points earned in the first trial, but his punishment will put him at a significant disadvantage for the next one.” She paused for a long moment, studying each of us in turn. “Let this be a warning to each of you. Whatever happens among you during the trials is fair; expected, even. Attacking one another outside of the trials will not be tolerated. Do you understand?”

Beck nodded silently. The rest of us voiced our assent, albeit mostly in whispers.

“Very well,” Isa said, pulling her shoulders back as she clasped her hands behind her back. “Today’s trial will test strength in all its forms. Behind me lies Lake Vestia. Two hundred fifty meters across. Three hundred meters wide. One hundred fifty meters deep. At the far end, it feeds the Veslane River. Your task is to swim out to the buoy in the middle, dive to the bottom, select a rock, and bring it back to me.”

Korben scowled at his wounded hand. Beck laughed, albeit nervously. Seb shot Phillip a haughty glance, but the Arenysen native didn’t share his cocky demeanor. Phillip’s face drained of all color, a stark contrast to Graham’s stern, calculating expression devoid of fear.

Isa didn’t seem to notice anyone’s reactions as she continued. “The points awarded for this trial are not as clear-cut as for the last one. Part of your score will be determined by your stone’s weight. The one to retrieve and deliver the heaviest will earn fifty points. Next heaviest, forty points. Third, thirty points, and so on. Should you return empty-handed, you will receive no points for that portion. However, you can earn—or lose—points by how you demonstrate strength of mind and spirit as well. Those points are awarded at my discretion. You should know, these waters harbor many dangers, not the least of which is the possibility of merely drowning. Any questions?”

Beck lifted a tentative hand. “What are the other dangers?”

“They are for you to discover on your own,” Isa said, smiling kindly. “Anything else?”

“What about weapons?” Korben asked, avoiding me as I smirked at his question.

Isa regarded him, her brows lifted high. “Thank you for the reminder.” She paused to snap her fingers toward one of the carriage drivers, who hastened to retrieve a box from his seat. “As we did in the first trial, everyone must relinquish their personal weapons and choose one we provide. Everyone except you. You will be competing with no weapon today.”

Korben’s features twitched as he silently fumed. Before he could make the mistake of arguing with the general, Graham spoke up with his own question.

“Are we all going in at the same time or individually?”

“For the sake of time, you will all go in at once. While this is not a race and points are determined solely on the weight of your stone, we will not wait past sundown. If you are not back by then, we will assume you did not survive.”

“So when do we start?” I asked, my nerves thrumming with the same excitement that hit before a battle.

Isa looked at each of us in turn, as if she were committing our faces to memory should we not survive, and then stepped aside as one of her guards stepped up beside her holding several daggers.

“You will be issued one sheathed blade and gauntlet. Once you’ve received yours, you’re free to begin.” She swung her gaze to Korben, a warning bite entering her tone. “The trial does not officially begin until you hit the water. Attack a fellow competitor before then, and you will be disqualified.”

Seb was first to rush forward, request a weapon, and take off running ahead of us. Kicking off his boots and leaving them in the grass several meters from the lake’s edge, he stripped down to his skivvies—his clothes discarded in a hapless pile—strapped the gauntlet to his wrist, and dove into the water before anyone else had even moved. All five of us watched as he swam out further. When he was about a quarter of the way across, he turned and waved back to us.

Cupping his hands to his mouth he yelled something that sounded like “What are you waiting for?”

We all seemed to hold our collective breath, waiting to see if one of those mysterious dangers might claim him, but he was soon turning away from us, taking a deep breath, and diving below the surface. Korben nudged Beck with his elbow, nodding to the guard. Once the smaller male had received his dagger, they went on toward the lake. Graham followed close behind them. The three of them each left a pile of garments behind on the beach, and, with blades in place, dove into the water.

I stole a look at Phillip who was still as pale as before, his head shaking slowly from side to side. Reaching forward, I accepted my weapon from the guard and tossed my head in Phillip’s direction. “I’ll take his to him, if that’s okay.”

The guard looked to Isa, who offered a quick nod.

Tapping Phillip’s arm with the sheathed blade, I tried—and failed—to get his attention. He didn’t seem to notice me until I snapped my fingers in his face and held the dagger in his line of sight. Even then his stare remained blank.

“You okay?” I asked. “You can swim, right?”

Phillip blinked a few times, as if just now realizing where he was. “Huh? What? Oh, yeah. I can swim.”

“Then what’s got you so nervous?”

“The Vestiliaga.”

“The what?” I asked, wondering how many secrets Arenysen had effectively kept from my scouts and me.

Phillip seemed to be choking on his own breaths, and then with wide eyes he whispered, “The monster.”

I peered up at Isa, but she didn’t appear to be listening, having fixed her gaze on the water where the other three swam away from the shore.

“What is it?” I asked, more curious than anything else. Most of these lake monsters were pure myth meant to con travelers out of coin, but Phillip had survived the forest, so seeing him so spooked was off-putting.

“They say it has a snake’s body with the head of a dragon. And it’s massive.”

“You haven’t seen it before?”

Shaking his head, he gawked at me. “Not personally, but my cousin used to live in a nearby village. He saw it.”

I tapped a finger to my pursed lips before asking, “And how much had he had to drink?”

Phillip’s face fell a bit. “Go ahead and make your jokes. No one ever believed him.”

“Okay, okay. Well, you could always leave the competition,” I said.

The male’s vision glazed over again, his mouth forming the word “no” before he found his voice and explained. “The Assembly would kill me if I quit.”

I froze, briefly remembering how the original five Arenysen competitors had all been forced to enter. At the time I had assumed it had been their villages as a whole who had made them step up. Had it really been the Assembly members?

“Well, then,” I said and started to reach for his left arm. “Which is your knife hand?” I asked. When he lifted his right hand, I snatched his left and promptly bound the gauntlet above his wrist, sliding the blade out and back in to test it slid well enough. “You’ve got nothing to lose, right? So come on. I’ll go with you.”

Phillip’s eyes locked on mine, focusing on me for the first time this morning. “Why would you do that? Why are you helping me?”

Shrugging, I pulled my mouth into a frown. “Maybe to make up for not believing you about the vestigli-whatever-it-is.”

“Vestiliaga,” he corrected.

“Right, that’s what I said. We can watch each other’s backs out there.” As I fastened my own gauntlet into place, I shifted my attention back to the water to see Graham dive beneath the surface. Beck and Korben were nowhere to be seen.

“Alright,” Phillip finally replied.

With our boots and outer garments discarded in the grass, we silently made our way into the water. Surprisingly enough, Phillip didn’t hesitate, keeping stride with me all the way out to the buoy.

“Ready?” I asked Phillip, whose eyes constantly scanned the clear water below him and all around. He said nothing, but nodded shakily. “Remember. We dive, get a rock, then swim out.”

Catching Phillip’s eyes, I took a couple deep breaths before signaling to descend. Thankfully, I didn’t have to hold his hand the whole way down; he stayed beside me as we dove toward the lake’s rocky bottom. We didn’t have many lakes back home, and the couple we did have were murky, not like the crystalline water here. Sunlight streamed in easily, and while it did get darker, the bottom was visible already. Off to the right I spotted Beck and Korben each hovering upside down, kicking their feet to stay low enough to choose a stone.

Phillip hit my arm a couple times and pointed off ahead of us to where Seb appeared to be swimming upwards, but in the entirely wrong direction, away from the shore where Isa waited with the carriages. I shrugged to Phillip and pointed back down to the stones, but his eyes went wide. I spun my head around in time to see Seb being whisked away, as if an invisible hand had snatched him up and dragged him off, leaving nothing but clear, open water where he had once been.

Before I could stop him, Phillip was madly kicking for the surface.

Stars-damned fool of a male.

I took off after him. I’d already let down Oryn by not sharing the vial in the first trial. I wasn’t about to go back on my word to Phillip that we would do this trial together.

Perhaps I was the fool.

When I broke the surface, Phillip was gasping and wheezing for air, barely keeping his head above the water as his limbs fatigued. Reaching a hand out, I helped lift him up enough for him to catch his breath.

“What was that?” he asked, fresh panic in his eyes.

“A current, I imagine. Isn’t that where the river starts?”

“A current in a fucking lake?” He sputtered out the question.

I wrinkled my nose. “Or it’s an invisible vestiga.”

“Vestiliaga,” he whispered, as if the name of the supposed monster actually mattered in this moment. “And thanks for that. As if I needed more reasons to fear the beast.”

“Use that fear then,” I suggested. He lifted a brow, his expression twisting with confusion. “Let the fear spur you on, keep you moving, push you to finish. If we wait much longer, we’re not going to have enough strength left to swim back to shore.”

Nodding silently, Phillip took several steadying breaths before drawing in one big one and flipping himself back under. I lifted a hand to block the splashes of water from his feet, and then froze. On the surface about fifty meters away, a dark shape slithered. It wasn’t coming toward me, but rather it was swimming off to my left where Graham had just surfaced, facing the opposite direction.

Cupping my hands to my mouth, I shouted, “Graham! Behind you!”

The male spun around quickly just as the darkness reached him, and with a jerk, he disappeared into the water.