Page 15 of Their Trials

“That kind of control is usually more advanced. Most younger fae can only manage one magic at a time. I didn't think you'd be able to do that already.”

I couldn't say anything, this information rocking me.

“Maybe because she's older, she's able to have more control,” Arryn offered up as an explanation.

Before any of us could dig into this new development further, the ground rumbled again.

“Fuck my life,” I groaned as the now familiar sign of the walls moving made itself known. What fresh hell was waiting for us now?

Chapter Six: Lennox

Rhowyn's words rang out in my ears even though they were spoken softly. Her face fell at the thought of facing another beast, dread and weariness expressed clearly until she hid them away. We knew the trials would be hard, but we hadn't expected them to ramp up so quickly. We should have known better than to try and predict the tests. Avalonia always made her wishes known in one way or another.

I took the hand that Arryn offered me, standing and brushing the sand off my pants. Despite being unconscious for the entire ordeal, I was exhausted, as if the Loathly Worm had drained me in some way. I could see the same tension through Rhowyn's body, only able to persevere through sheer force of will.

I couldn't keep the awe from sweeping through me. She had jumped in after me without thought. Without hesitation. For me. She hadn't done it to garner favor in the court. She hadn't done it for any other reason except that she had wanted to. That thought shook me to my core. No one had ever done something like that for me before, and I didn't know how to cope with that information.

I knew I had said I was all in before the bonding ceremony, but I still hoped that, eventually, I might find some way to escape all the responsibilities and guilt that weighed on me. That someday I might actually be free.

Now, I knew that I was only fooling myself. The more I learned about Rhowyn, the deeper into this well I tumbled. She was so much more than I had originally thought, constantly showing me another facet about her that made me realize how perfect she was to be the next queen.

She was so different from anything here in Avalon, a breath of fresh air, a new start for our lands after the tyranny of my mother. She had the strength of will to do something that I hadn't allowed myself to hope for. Before, if I had tried and failed at enacting change, I would have been devastated in ways my mother could only dream of delivering to me. Because she certainly wouldn’t allow me the escape of death, intent on allowing me to suffer in my despondency, knowing that I had failed. So, I had never attempted anything more than survival.

But with Rhowyn, I was beginning to think that maybe we might stand a chance, and I still wasn't sure if that was something I could allow myself to feel. I was torn between wanting to chase her to the ends of Avalon and wanting to hold myself back out of habit. It was what I knew. It had kept me safe this long. Eventually, though, I’d have to make a decision, and there would be no going back. If I allowed myself to fall, I’d never be able to go back to the way things were.

Arryn led us away from the water, back into the maze now that the walls had finished shifting. Our group was silent as we walked, each of us lost in our own thoughts. I could feel Rhowyn's fatigue, the aches in her muscles with each step.

She might have said she was okay, but I could tell she was reaching the end of what her human body could handle. Sometimes, it didn't matter how much the mind wanted to fight, the body still had its limits.

My eyes kept darting over to her while we were walking as if she was a magnet drawing me into her field. Entranced, I couldn't stop watching her gait, waiting for her to stumble or give way, but as time continued, she kept going.

As we reached an intersection, a feminine scream cut across our silence, coming from the right of us. “Help!”

We all tensed at the sound, us consorts meeting each other's gazes over Rhowyn's head, holding a silent conversation. Whatever caused the other Chosen to need help, we needed to avoid it. Rhowyn couldn't take much more.

Callum turned to the left. “This way. Hurry,” he urged Rhowyn, reaching out to grab her arm in an attempt to get her to follow.

She jerked away from him, stepping backward into the path on the right, in the direction of the cries. “What are you doing? We need to help her!?”

“No. We don't,” Callum growled out, his teeth clenched in frustration. “We need to avoid any more trouble.”

Rhowyn stared him down, her expression somewhere between anger, betrayal, and disappointment. “You're more than welcome to go that way, but I won't.”

“You're barely standing. You're no good to anyone if you're dead,” he argued, trying in vain to convince her to leave.

“It's not the right thing to do,” she murmured, softly. Her words made me proud to call her my Chosen, but my survival instinct was screaming out against the idea.

Callum snarled, glancing away from her, his jaw grinding. “Fine,” he spat out. “But if we go, you stay behind me and try to keep out of trouble.”

She nodded, agreeing without much of a fight. She might have intended to stay behind him and safe, but I knew without a doubt that she'd throw herself into a fight again if she needed to.

Callum stomped off to the right, following the cries for help through the maze as best we could. Rhowyn stood straight, more alert than before, the rush of adrenaline and anticipation reinvigorating her to a degree.

We rounded a corner to find Charity, the fae girl that Rhowyn had spoken to before we started the trials, sitting on the ground, tears streaming down her face with her consort’s head in her lap.

Callum and Arryn both had their hands on their swords, ready to draw them at the first sign of trouble. Rhowyn tried to run to the girl, but Callum's big arm dropped into her path, effectively stopping her from passing him. His eyes cut to her, reminding her of their agreement.

Taking that moment, Baer approached the girl. “What happened?”

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