“Not strong enough.” Alyss clicked her tongue. “Interesting. I wonder who’s making that fire.”
“Does it matter?” Eira asked, watching the next young woman approach.
She was a little older, and far more confident. She raised her hand and the flames parted, shrinking to a dull smolder around the board at their center. The apprentice passed over them, unharmed, and wrote her name on the list. From where Eira was standing, she counted about ten Firebearers’ names.
“Of course it does.” Alyss frowned. “Because it means they already have front-runners for competitors.”
“How do you figure?”
“Think about it. Someone is making that flame that they’re using as a benchmark for power. Who? Likely the person that they think would be strong enough to represent the Tower.”
“So that’s it then. We have no shot.” Eira wanted to feel relieved. But the fantasy of being a competitor and going to Meru clung to her with determination.
The young woman left the circle of flames to a small round of applause. She bowed with a flourish and then stepped aside for the next person to try.
“Of course that’s not it.” Alyss glared at her. “We’re going to be competitors, you and I. You have two days to practice for whatever they’re going to throw at you. I only have one.”
“Right…” Eira murmured. But her mind was already on what would block her sign-up board in two days. No…her mind was on who was behind it. Was it Fritz? That was the likely choice. But Eira had a nagging feeling deep in her gut that she knew who would be making the barricade for the Waterrunners. She pushed away from the wall.
“Where are you going?” Alyss called up after her.
“To see my brother.”
Marcus was with Cullen in the library. They sat facing each other, each on a different sofa, huddled around the fireplace on the right-hand side of the room. Eira could see them well before they would see her. Perhaps because of the bookshelves. Most likely because she was an unwanted person and they were too engrossed in each other’s conversation to notice her.
“…I’m just not sure if my parents will really let me go,” Marcus said quietly.
“Of course they will,” Cullen whispered back. “Look, you said you wanted to make a name for your family, right? This is the chance of a lifetime, and a supreme honor. You’ll be representing all of Solaris. This is what you’ve been waiting for.”
“But my sister… I told my family I would—”
“Your sister can look after herself.”
Eira never thought she’d find herself agreeing with Cullen. But it turned out impossible things were happening left and right.
He continued, “You can’t keep letting her hold you back.”
“She’s not.”
“She is. That’s why you’re still here, isn’t it?”
Eira crouched down, creeping the long way around and stopping behind a bookcase. From this vantage she could peer over the tops of the books to spy on the small sitting area. She barely breathed so she didn’t make a sound.
“I’m here because I want to be.”
“And you ‘want to be’ because you feel like you have to look after her because she’s not all there and you’re worried that if you’re not looking after her then she’ll do something that hurts her or others…again.”
“It’s not just that—”
“Look, it’s admirable.” Cullen continued to prevent her brother from getting another word in. “You really care for her. You love your sister. That’s a wonderful thing and I’m not trying to discourage you from doing so. But you can’t let her keep you from looking after yourself and doing what’s best for Marcus.”
Marcus was silent for a terrible amount of time. Eira wished she could see his face, but she didn’t dare move. Finally, he said, “I know.”
Her brother grabbed his head with both hands, ruffling his hair with his fingers. A searing needle inserted itself into her gut at his tortured motion. He was hurting. Not that she didn’t see it—hadn’t seen it. But he’d never let her even try to make it better. He’d always seen her as a pitiable thing, too helpless to even share some of his burdens.
“It’ll be you, me, and Noelle. We already know who over half the team is based on who Minister Fritz asked to create the barriers.”
Well, now Eira had the question she’d come to ask answered.
“We don’t know that.”
“Oh, he asked you and Noelle specifically just because he thought you both had free time on your hands?” Cullen rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He propped one knee on the other, spreading out and dominating the space. Cullen could fill a room with his presence alone. “Be serious about this. We have an incredible opportunity and we would make a stellar team no matter who the Groundbreaker is. I will be the leader and you will be my second; we’ll run the show. Think of the glory.”
Cullen’s hazel eyes glowed almost orange in the firelight—almost like a Firebearer peering into the future. They were alight with ambition and a pride that was almost frightening. Eira didn’t entirely disagree with what he was saying. She wanted the best for her brother and certainly didn’t want to be the cause of him holding back.
But she didn’t fully believe Cullen was acting in Marcus’s best interests either. The only person Eira could be certain Cullen stood for was himself.
“I already told Uncle I’d sign up. We’ll see if I get past the five trials.” Marcus shrugged.
“We know you will. No Waterrunner is better than you in this Tower, not even Fritz himself.”
“Don’t insult my uncle.” Marcus stood with a stretch and a yawn.
“I’m stating facts, not making insults.”
“You’re just buttering me up because you want to make sure I go to Meru with you.”
“Can you blame me?” Cullen paused and there was a brief moment of vulnerability that Marcus seemed to miss as he turned. But Eira saw it. She saw his tired eyes and the brief slump of his shoulders. She saw something underneath the “Prince of the Tower” that he projected to everyone. “I need this, Marcus. It’s victory or nothing for me.”
“I know.” Marcus wrapped his arm around Cullen’s shoulder. “You’ll triumph. You always have; so no matter what, I’m sure of that much.”
As the two men started out of the library, Eira retreated into the shadows on all fours. She pressed herself against the back wall and felt her magic condense in the air around her. Invisible water droplets—present everywhere—grew fat with her power. They shimmered, changing the way the dim light was refracted, bending it to Eira’s will.
An illusion surrounded her. If either young man were to look her way, they would only see wall and shadow. Neither did. They were too engrossed in continuing their discussion.
Eira dropped her magical shield and sat in the darkness. Whispers drifted around her from the books and shelves. Some spoke of love, some of sorrow, most of nothing important at all. Ever since she’d stopped trying to completely shut out the voices, they’d grown more articulate.