A Trial of Sorcerers: Book One by Kova, Elise (universal ebook reader .txt) 📕

“It’s no trouble,” Vhalla said warmly. She crossed the threshold and placed a heavy tome on the table. Windwalkers of the East was its title. “Are you certain, Cullen?”

“Yes. I was inviting Eira to court tomorrow. Since she accepted, we were just wrapping up,” Cullen said smoothly.

“Oh, you will be a delight at court.” Vhalla beamed. “The emperor and I hope for more and more sorcerers to be around the nobility.”

He involved the empress, the bastard. There was no way Eira could back down now. “It’s my honor,” Eira forced herself to say. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

She had to go and use every hour to mentally prepare herself for the viper pit that was the Solaris Court.

11

That night, a courier arrived in the Tower with a box for her. Inside was an impeccably tailored gown of a deep blue velvet and sea-foam satin trim that Eira hated herself for admiring. Especially given who sent it.

She marched straight to her brother’s room, box and letter in hand. The moment Marcus opened the door, Eira launched into him.

“It’s one thing to sign me up to do something with Cullen, of all people. It’s another for that thing to be going with him to court. But did you have to give him my measurements?” Eira pointed accusingly to a section of Cullen’s note that smugly read:

I do hope the color pleases you. I tried to find something that matched your personality. Based on the numbers I was given, it should fit. Luckily, things only needed to be taken in since you don’t have much in the way of hips or bust.

Marcus burst out into laughter.

“Marcus, this is serious!”

“Eira, it’s fine. Come in and sit.”

Marcus’s room was identical to Eira’s and every other apprentice’s dormitory. She sat on the bed in a huff, the box a whisper of rustling fabric beside her.

“Listen, he’s doing it as a favor to me. I knew you were free tomorrow, I’m not. Uncle has me still going to the clinic despite being a candidate. He says they need me there and that it’ll help my overall prestige and appearance as a candidate. I would’ve gone if I could.”

Eira still chose to ignore that her brother was so important he wasn’t getting time off like the rest of them. “Why don’t you go to court the next day?”

“Because the court only meets once a month, usually. We’re lucky the timing works at all. We might not have had a chance to catch a glimpse of the course early otherwise.”

Eira stared at her toes. That was the real reason why she’d come. “You know you’re talking about cheating, don’t you?”

“It’s not really cheating.” Marcus rolled his eyes.

“You’re going to know elements of the course before anyone else. How is that not cheating?”

“But we won’t know how they’re going to make us run through those elements. And it’s only partway built; they might change something. So it’s not really any kind of leg up.”

“If it’s not a benefit to you then why am I doing this at all?” Eira stared him down. “And if it’s not cheating, why am I sneaking around to do it?”

“Eira…” Marcus grabbed her shoulders. “Please? As a favor to me?”

“Why are you stooping to this level?”

He released her with a sigh. “I need to win.”

“You don’t need to cheat to do that.” Eira stood. “Marcus, you’re the best Waterrunner I know. You’re even better than Fritz,” Eira echoed Cullen’s words. Maybe if enough people told her brother, he’d believe them. “I’m sure that’s part of why he’s allowed you to stay in the Tower as an apprentice. You can learn more without all the limitations of an instructor on your time.” At least, she hoped that was part of the reason he was still here. It couldn’t all be because of her, could it?

“I’m not as good as you think I am.” He looked at her with weary and sad eyes. Eyes Eira didn’t recognize from her brother.

“Yes, you are. I’ve spent my whole life looking up to you. If anyone knows how great you are, it’s me.”

Marcus pulled her in for a tight hug, one Eira returned. “You really are the best sister a guy could ask for.”

“You’re an okay brother, I guess.”

“Okay? You guess?” He pulled back in mock offense.

Eira laughed. “Fine, you’re pretty great.”

“I thought so.” Marcus shared her laughter. “So, will you do it? Please? For me?” Eira bit her lower lip. “I also thought…it’d give you a chance to see the course, so you could see when you’d throw your run and how to make it look believable when you did.”

“Throw my run?”

“So you wouldn’t keep being a candidate for competitor?”

“Oh, right,” Eira murmured. The levity in the room vanished and was replaced with a lead weight on her shoulders.

“Mom and Dad are coming to watch the second trial, remember? They’ll be watching for you to fail like they asked.”

Watching for her to fail, while he succeeded. Their letter still had yet to sit right with her. The words became harder to bear by the day.

“Yeah…right.” She sighed heavily, but no amount of exhaling could relieve the pressure growing on her. It felt like two separate weights were on different halves of her body and if she kept trying to hold them steady they’d rip her in half. “Fine, I’ll do it for you. But think about if you really want to know any information I gather. You don’t need to cheat.”

Eira collected the dress box and left him to think about what she’d said.

* * *

She paced the hallway Cullen had instructed her to wait in, her ankles getting tangled in the tailored skirt of the gown. Her usual hems were looser-fitting pieces that actually gave her room to move. This clung to her frame, giving her shapes that Eira hadn’t realized were there.

Ah, the illusions that could be wrought with good tailoring.

The door on the