Alyss caught her hand, yanking her close. “I swear to the Mother above, if you get the opportunity to sign up early for this competition and don’t write my name down—”
“Alyss.” Eira stopped her friend with a laugh. “This likely has nothing to do with the competition. We don’t even know what ‘signing up’ means yet, or if we can.”
“Minister Fritz said he should have word in a week. I bet he already does,” Alyss whispered excitedly, glancing around. Of course, no one was sitting remotely close to them.
“Even if he knows, I’m not going to get to sign up early. I doubt he’ll tell me anything. You know Uncle doesn’t actually give me that kind of favoritism. Marcus, maybe, but not me.”
“He loves you both, you know.” Alyss gave her hand a squeeze.
“Yeah, I know.” Eira didn’t like talking about her family problems with Alyss. Her friend saw her parents only two, maybe three times a year. Meanwhile Eira had her brother, her uncle, and an aunt, all in the palace. The rest of her large, extended family were all within a day or two depending on how fast she traveled. “I’ll see you at breakfast.”
“See you then.”
Eira left her friend and headed up the Tower for the door right before the minister’s office, and gave a firm knock.
“Come in!” Grahm, Fritz’s husband, called from within.
“Uncles?” Eira poked her nose around the door.
“Fritznangle is getting changed out of his robes.” Grahm sat in a wingback chair by the large windows opposite the door on entry. “I made milk and chocolate, if you’d like some.”
“You know I won’t say no.” Eira went to a table where a large silver kettle was warmed by a happy little flame. She topped off a cup and brought it with her to the sofa opposite Grahm.
“How have you been, Eira?” he asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Excited by the presence of elfin in the palace, I bet?”
“I haven’t exactly run into any elfin.” Eira’s lips quirked into a smile before she took a long sip of the decadent drink. Grahm’s chocolate was one of the few things that could make her feel warm down to her toes. A rare time when Eira didn’t mind being hot.
“I didn’t hear a denial about being excited.” Grahm gave her a knowing smile.
“Well, it is a bit exciting,” Eira admitted, trying not to overplay her hand. She’d taken an extra round of the city with Alyss, passing by notable landmarks, just hoping to see the elfin out sightseeing.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Fritz emerged from a side door in his loose leisure clothes and headed right for the kettle.
“I wasn’t waiting long. What did you want to talk with me about?”
“Well…” Fritz paused, mid-pour.
“Uncle?” Eira said when the silence dragged on.
“I’m not sure how to say this.”
“Your cup, Uncle.”
“Oh, oh!” Fritz quickly mopped up the spilled chocolate. Grahm tried to hide his smile with an expression of annoyance. He failed. Fritz could light his hair on fire and it would only make Grahm love him more. Eira had always admired her uncles’ relationship. “Sorry about that.”
“What’s all this about?” Eira watched him as he came over and sat on the sofa next to her.
Fritz gave her a light pat on the knee. “I wanted to see how you’re doing is all.”
“I’m fine.” Eira glanced between the two of them. “If that’s all—”
“That’s not all,” Grahm interjected with a pointed look at his husband. “Go on, Fritz.”
“We, no, I…I wanted to discuss the upcoming Trial of Five Kingdoms with you.”
Alyss had been right. Fritz had information. Tingling ran down Eira’s arms like a brisk winter wind, chasing away the warmth and bringing alertness. “Go on.”
“I’ll be making an announcement tomorrow morning with sign-ups starting for those interested in being a competitor in the tournament.” Fritz took a sip of his chocolate and Eira remained poised at the edge of her seat, hanging on his words. “I wanted to ask, would you be interested in signing up to be a competitor for Solaris?”
Eira glanced between her uncles. “I… It’s hard to make a decision right now, without all the information.” It wasn’t. Eira already knew her answer. Anything that got her closer to Meru, the elfin, and Lightspinning was something she wanted to do. “Would it be such a bad thing if I did?”
The silence was deafening. Moments like these were the rare times Eira hated the quiet she usually longed for. Fritz and Grahm exchanged a look.
“Well—”
“Fine, I won’t.” Eira finished the last of her cup in a large gulp. She already knew what they were going to say. She didn’t want to endure hearing it. “That’s settled.”
“Eira, we’re just looking out for your best interests,” Fritz tried to placate.
“So you tell me, but…” She now hated the warm chocolate in her stomach, radiating heat and a familial love she wanted to resent in that moment. “What are those ‘best interests’? You give me half the work of Marcus at best. I’m only ever in basic classes and workshops. I know you tell me to take my magic slow but I have been for years. I can do more.”
“We know,” Fritz said calmly.
“And then there’s Marcus being held back.” The words spilled out like chocolate from Fritz’s cup. “He’s still an apprentice when he should be an instructor—or gone from the Tower and out in the world working. If you’re keeping him here just to keep an eye on me then graduate him and give him a proper position in the Tower. He deserves at least that much.”
“Marcus’s status as an apprentice has nothing to do with you,” Grahm said.
“Really?” Eira arched her eyebrows.
“Yes, really.”
She didn’t believe it. Not for a moment. “Look, we all know that I wouldn’t be chosen as a competitor anyway.”
“Eira, that’s not—you see—” Fritz fumbled for words.
“It’s fine. I know I’m not up to par.” Eira set her cup down slowly and with fluid grace. It didn’t even clank against the saucer as she slid it onto the table. The water within her was slowly churning, hardening into ice, and grinding against her chest. It sent cold daggers prickling under her fingers and swirled in her mind like a blizzard. Cold, constant, protected. “But even if I wouldn’t be chosen, I would’ve loved to at least try out for a spot. The Mother knows you could have found a way to eliminate me anyway.”
“I thought you’d prefer I ask you not to sign up directly, rather than eliminate you behind your back.”
Eira pursed her lips. That was true, she supposed. “Well, now you have. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve had a long day in the clinic and I should go rest before classes tomorrow.”
“Eira…” Fritz said in that don’t be mad voice unique to him alone.
She halted at the sound. “Tell me one thing.”
“What is it?” Grahm was the one to ask.