Page 40 of Spirit Trials (The Spirit Kingdoms #1)

“I’ve heard that you’ve done well in the first two trials.”

I take in her words. “I hadn’t realized you would be interested.”

She waves a hand at me. “I may not condone the trials and might hate them actually, but I have a reason for being interested in them this year.” She studies me a moment. “You’ve certainly given our kingdom something to talk about.”

Her words give me pause. “What?”

She turns to me and smiles, but it’s not a gentle smile. There’s a coolness to it that makes me uneasy. “Our kingdom is divided for and against the orange-haired girl who’s upending these trials.”

I roll my eyes. “It’s red.”

She studies my hair, but I could care less.

The color of my hair is the least of my worries when she continues.

“This girl that’s caught the attention of an entire kingdom—the girl who keeps saving people.

I’ve heard the stories.” She eyes me like she doesn’t know what to think of me.

“This girl who’s showing our kingdom there’s a different way to win the spirit trials besides killing. ”

I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m not going to take a life just to win a stupid competition, and I’m not going to apologize for it.”

“I don’t want you to.” I look over at her, but she turns her attention back to making her tea, giving me a reprieve from her assessing gaze. When her tea is finished, she carries it over to the fire. “Sit with me, Lady Mercy.”

"Lady Mercy?” I repeat.

“That’s what they’re calling you. My people,” she adds.

I shake my head. “I’m just trying to survive.”

“Mmmm.” Rysden’s mother lifts her cup to her mouth and takes a sip, never taking her dark eyes off me. “I need you to win the Spirit Trials.” I don’t say anything as her words seem to ring in my ears.

“Why?” I finally ask.

She takes another sip of her tea, and I wonder if she’s going to tell me. “My son will take the throne one day.”

I stay quiet a moment but don’t last long. “You think your husband will actually give up the crown?”

“Give up his crown?” she laughs lightly, but there’s no humor in It.

"The crown will have to be pried from the king’s cold, dead hands.

” I stare at her, unsure what to say. “Power has corrupted him.” She looks away, and her gaze seems to see past the stone walls surrounding us.

“He wasn’t always this way. Once, he was a kind, noble king.

” A slight smile forms on her face before it fades completely.

“That man no longer exists. Maybe he never did,” she adds almost as an afterthought.

“The people in this kingdom seem happy,” I can’t help but point out.

“They’re happy because they’re safe, locked behind the walls of this city.

But make no mistake; they’re not free.” Her voice is sharp, and I feel her reprimand.

“And they’re happy because they’ve never lost a family member to banishment.

” She meets my eyes. “I know you’ve seen at least one of the banished camps. ”

“I have.”

“Those are our people. And yet, they perish out there, unable to survive, unable to feed themselves and their children. It’s an atrocity that has gone on far too long.

” She stands to her feet, still graceful; but there’s a new tension in her.

“The people still behind our walls have no idea what it’s like to lose a child. ”

I swallow hard and study her. “But you do.” Somehow, I just know from the sorrow on her face.

She doesn’t face me, but she also doesn’t refute my words.

“Rysden’s older brother, Rygar,” she pauses, taking a deep breath.

A sick feeling begins to form in my stomach.

“He participated in the trials three years ahead of Rysden. He didn’t produce a spirit animal.

” I hardly dare to breathe as I consider what she’s telling me.

“At the end of the trials, he was banished, along with all the others in his trial that didn’t produce a spirit animal.

Normally, the entire family is banished, when one fails to produce a spirit animal.

But,” she swallows hard. “Because he was the king’s son, they made an exception.

They allowed our family to stay, but Rygar was banished immediately.

Because of whom he is...was,” she corrects.

She closes her eyes only a moment and then opens them.

When she does, her eyes are clear, all emotion pushed away.

“The banished community took their anger out on the king by going after his son. They tortured and killed him and dropped his body at the doors to the city.” I feel like I’m going to be sick.

I want to say something, but what is there to say?

I think of Rysden, and everything seems to click into place.

The hate that he has for the banished community, how he killed Maritus when he held a knife to my throat.

My throat tightens when I think of how he’d put his prejudice and hatred aside and sat with Kinsley and Harper and asked them what it was like to live with the banished.

I feel my eyes water, and I blink rapidly to keep the tears at bay.

I feel her gaze on me, but I don’t lift my head.

“I reprimanded Rysden for not doing anything to help the banished,” I admit softly.

She sighs. “Rysden was only sixteen when it happened. He’s carried anger and blame at the banished in his heart for a lot of years.”

“You don’t.” It’s not a question.

“I did,” she admits. “But no longer. Is it painful? Yes. A mother should never have to bear the pain of a child dying before her; it crushes the soul.” She looks away from me.

“But the banished aren’t to blame for his death.

The blame falls solely at my husband’s feet.

Those are our people, and they belong in this kingdom. ”

“Rysden says if they don’t have a spirit wolf, they aren't worthy.” I don’t agree, but I’m curious what her opinion is.

“That’s just prejudice speaking.” I nod, agreeing. “The Jaguar Kingdom allows those who don’t manifest a spirit animal to rejoin their kingdom, if they’re from that kingdom originally. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.”

“I met the Jaguar King; he seemed nice.”

“He is. Much better than his father,” the queen agrees.

“But he doesn’t let others in, the ones from the Wolf Kingdom that fail to produce a spirit wolf?” I ask.

“No. If he did, he’d be overrun. Their kingdom is not as large as ours and wouldn’t be able to handle all the banished from our kingdom.”

“So, the banished here are only the ones from the Wolf Kingdom?”

The queen nods. “Yes.”

“What about the Dragon Kingdom?” I question.

“The Dragon Kingdom hasn’t sent a contestant to the trials in over a hundred years, and there hasn’t been a manifestation of a dragon spirit animal in even longer.”

My head is spinning with all this information. “How come Rygar and Jamik don’t have corporal wolves like Rysden?”

She shakes her head and looks out the window. “The magic of spirit animals is a tricky thing; we don’t even always know how it’s going to manifest. What we do know is that the next ruling king always manifests a corporal animal. In our history, sometimes other siblings have and sometimes not.”

“So Rygar and Jamik always knew Rysden would be the one to rule one day.” She nods. “And they were okay with it?”

She laughs. “It took Rygar a long time to be okay with it, but his love for his younger brother won out. And Jamik’s always known he wouldn’t rule anyway being that he was born of a common woman.”

I manage to keep my cringe to myself; I think. I decide to redirect the conversation away from the king’s obvious transgressions. “Why do you need me to win? I’m not from here.”

“No, you’re not, Farrah Bromean.” She takes another sip of her tea, all without looking at me.

“I won’t manifest a spirit animal,” I feel the need to point out, though it feels rather pointless.

“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 can imagine 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 plenty of 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.