Page 140 of Of Nine So Bold

“Stay close,” Dex murmured. “If anything happens, you know what to do.”

His brief glance went to Casimir and Ozias, both of whom nodded, and I frowned. When it came to protecting Niko, I wholeheartedly agreed. But when it came to risking themselves just to remove me from danger…

Gods, these men had the audacity to callmestubborn?

Shaking my head at them, I scaled the massive stairs. The larger giants were filing inside and staring around themselves in awe at whatever lay beyond the door.

My steps slowed. Sometimes I felt small around my own giants. I felt smaller still around the larger Erenlians. But as I approached the doorway, I felt like a child’s toy come to life, suddenly walking about in a building meant to impress people many times my size.

And impressive it was. My boots scraped on the grit overlaying a white marble floor striated with gold, where the tiles were as big as bed mattresses. My lips parted in wonder at the sculptures towering on either side of the entryway, each of them a hundred feet high at least and depicting wise scholars in robes with books and crystalline orbs held high in their hands. Marble pillars held up a ceiling so high, it felt like it should reach the gods.

An enormous archway brought the entrance hall to an end, its edges lined by the same symbols as I’d seen on Ignatius’s robes. Beyond it, a sprawling central room waited, tiled by the same white-and-gold marble as the entryway. At its center stood a fountain shaped like a stone flower surrounded by a walled basin. Railings lined a gallery level above, though the brass banister was tarnished and sections were broken, left to dangle over the ground floor below. Overhead, segments of the roof were inlaid with thick glass, but some panels were blocked by debris, while others were cracked, affording only a blurry view of the stone waterfall above the temple. Still more had broken entirely, falling to the floor far below and leaving gaping holes where the elements could enter.

And enter they had. Moss grew over the large basin surrounding a fountain at the center of the room. Several trees had started growing between the tiles beneath the biggest breaks in the ceiling. Their roots had cracked and shoved up the marbleflooring, like even those massive stones wouldn’t stop them from reclaiming this building, piece by piece. Sheltered here from the cold winter outside, they thrived, with red berries clinging to their branches and a lush sheen to their dark green leaves.

“So, uh, Niko,” Clay started, eyeing them. “Those aren’t… you know, anything like the fucked-up trees in Aneira, right?”

Niko shook his head. “Just normal ones. Azurine holly trees, I think. They grew in secluded spots in the forest where I grew up too.”

“They’re beautiful,” I said softly, and Niko smiled.

“Well, scholar?” the duke called, surveying the ruins of Syloria with a look like the temple should take care not to fail him. “We are here. Commence the test.”

By the fountain at the center of the room, Ignatius didn’t respond.

Impatience twisted the duke’s expression briefly.“Scholar?”

“The waters have run dry.” Ignatius turned from the fountain, a pained look on his face. “There is so much decaying magic here, I cannot tell what caused it.”

“Excuse your lazy ass?” Norbert demanded. “My father traveled all this way because you insisted these waters had to make him king.”

“Notwhat he said, dumbass,” Clay muttered, rolling his eyes.

“Then I propose we see this as a sign from the gods,” the duke said. “If they wanted the waters of Syloria to speak, they wouldn’t have let them dry up. Thus—” My skin crawled at the cruel look he turned on us. “—I say we do away with this stalling and settle things in the manner of the ancients. Trial by combat. Me versus the dwarf.”

Protests came from Lars and the rest of my men. Near the front of our group, Roan rolled his shoulders like the demon was fighting to get out, while Ozias growled and made several of the nearest giants back away.

“Like hell,” Clay spat. “You come near him, I swear to the gods I’ll?—”

“Before we decide that’s necessary—” Casimir’s voice cut through noise, “—I suggest we check the location of the water’s source. Perhaps after all these years, there is simply a blockage. Unless you think the gods would choose a ruler who would expectthemto do all the work?”

I hid my smile—and my relief. Casimir was impressively good at this. Yet again, he’d backed the duke into a corner.

Duke Ensid turned a look on him that could have poisoned an entire village. He didn’t respond immediately, but I could see his jaw muscles clench beneath his stone-like skin. His eyes flicked to his people and then to the temple itself, skimming over the walls and then the floor as if evaluating the situation.

He paused, his eyebrow twitching upward ever so slightly.

It made me freeze. My father’s tutors had stressed that I should study the faces of nobles to learn all the things they wouldn’t say. Giants were harder to read, it was true. But right now, that skill was telling me the duke was…amused. Intrigued, too.

That couldn’t be good.

After only a heartbeat, he scoffed and buried any trace of that strange reaction. “Zenirya wishes to force the good citizens of Erenelle to labor for the obvious truth, I take it? And so soon after we escaped the Aneirans’ labor prison too.”

Unbelievable.

When none of us rose to the bait, the duke continued, “Or is this merely a cowardly attempt to forestall the inevitable?”

Casimir kept his expression neutral. “How is seeking to aid you in honoring the traditions of Erenellestalling? Unless it is you who fears the truth once it is done?”

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