Page 78 of Spirit Trials

“Did you ever wonder why my son tracked you down and brought you here? A girl not from any of the three kingdoms. A girl with no chance of a spirit animal?”

I cross my arms over my chest and sit back against my seat, wondering what it is she’s playing at. “Yes, all the time.”

“I saw you.”

A chill runs through me at her words. “What do you mean?”

She turns towards me. “I saw you.” She cocks her head to the side. “A vision of you, multiple visions.” She looks at my hair. “It was the orange hair.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “What are you talking about?” It hits me suddenly, and I suck in a breath. “You’re a seer.”

“I am.” Her words are soft. My mind drifts back to the woman I met in the banished camp. “I had a vision of a girl with orange hair.”

“Red,” I automatically correct.

“Red hair,” she amends. “In the trials. I knew it was for these trials because I recognized a few of the other competitors. I’ve been having these visions for over two years. So, you canimagine my surprise when I had Rysden search the kingdom, and there wasn’t a single red-head, at least not one that looked like you. I sent Rysden and his team to the Jaguar Kingdom as well. Nothing. The visions kept coming, though. And then when Rysden came back from one of his missions, suddenly, here you were. He found you.”

My mind is spinning in circles, trying to figure all this out. “Why? I’m not one of you.” That’s all I manage to get out.

A small smile curves her mouth. “Not yet, you’re not.”

My eyes narrow. “What else did you see?”

“The images that come to me are difficult to interpret. They don’t come in order, and often, I don’t even necessarily know what they even are. If I try to chase down every image, I would go crazy. And some of the things I’ve seen, I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“Because they could alter your future. The images I see are not set in stone. Nothing is set in stone until it happens.”

“But you’ve seen things about me, things that are going to happen,” I push.

“Maybe.” She doesn’t give me any more than that, and I refuse to get frustrated with her.

She takes another sip of tea, tipping it back all the way and draining the cup. “Win, and then come see me.” I watch as she takes her cup over to the sink and washes it.

“What if I can’t?” I ask quietly.

“You have to. The future of this kingdom depends on it.” There’s a fierceness to her voice now that wasn’t there before. “Your friends’ lives depend on it.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “I can’t tell you anymore. It’s time for me to get back.”

“You can’t go without telling me,” I try. She gives me a look, and I recognize the stubborn look. I’ve seen it in her son plentyof times. I won’t be getting anything else from her. I step out of her way, and she heads to the front door. “Thank you for coming to talk to me.”

“The pleasure was mine, Lady Mercy.”

“Will you be safe getting back?”

She nods. “I have two guards waiting outside to escort me back.”

“I’m surprised the king let you come,” I say right before she opens the front door.

“He didn’t.” She doesn’t say another word as she slips outside and all but disappears into the night. I close the door behind her and head up to my room.

Sleep doesn’t come easy that night. My mind keeps replaying the conversation with Rysden’s mom over and over. Thankfully, sleep finally comes. The next morning, I’m up early, ready to get on with this last trial.

The girls are just as quiet as I am during breakfast. Soon, Hector, Jamik, and the three of us girls are on horses, heading to the meeting point for the third trial.