Fireblood (Frostblood Saga #2)(65)
If I failed the third trial, I’d have to leave Sudesia empty-handed. Even without the book, the knowledge of the masters could have helped me defeat the Minax; otherwise it would remain free. I had to weigh the cost of preserving my principles—following the path my mother and grandmother would have wanted me to take—against saving a kingdom.
I hoped the queen wouldn’t ask me to kill. I’d had to make that choice in the arena, and I didn’t want to make it again.
Master Dallr once again took me up the hill to the temple of Sud, where I said a brief prayer. Then I followed a somber procession of masters trudging on foot over the barren lava fields in the general direction of Sud, the belching volcanic monster named after the goddess of the south wind. I kept looking back as I walked, hoping to see Kai loping behind us to catch up. He didn’t appear.
We came to the ruin of walls, what might have once been a dwelling. Inside, a stairway led to underground tunnels. They sent me in alone.
Torches showed me the way, and as Kai had described, it felt like a long time before I arrived at the end: a wide, echoing chamber carved from black stone, a river of lava dividing the two sides like a bloody gash. My pulse played an irregular beat in my neck. A bead of sweat trickled from my hairline down my cheek.
The river was only a few feet across. With a running start, I could probably jump the distance. But I doubted that was the point.
Only the glow of lava lit the cavernous space. Then suddenly, there came a blinding flash of light. On the opposite bank of the river, two masters made fire blaze in their cupped hands, brightening their orange robes and giving them the appearance of living torches. Light and shadow trembled over their solemn faces.
In the center, between the masters, a figure materialized from the dark, her gold filigree crown shining with reflected firelight like an underground sun. She wore an orange-and-red gown that flared into a train, the edges cleverly sewn to mimic flames. Jewel-laden gold chains hung from her neck and wrists, and each of her fingers winked with rings. She moved gracefully, appearing almost to float over the coarse floor, a crimson fog filled with a swarm of glittering fireflies. She halted at the edge of the river.
“You stand at a crossroads,” Queen Nalani said in a melodic, ringing voice. “Behind you, your lonely past. Born isolated and cut off from your people, you were forced to rely on your own strength, your own counsel, your own solitary power—your life as easily extinguished as a single candle. Your very survival is a triumph.”
I swallowed. I’d expected her to say something by rote, but it sounded as if she’d composed the speech especially for me. Or perhaps she hadn’t, and I just felt she had. Either way, I felt each word deeply, as if she had pulled thoughts and impressions from my very soul and spoken them aloud.
“Ahead of you, your future.” She gestured to the masters. “The chance to join your strength with others, to live among those who would die for you, to be embraced by a tradition that is much greater than yourself, to join your fire with a conflagration, consuming your enemies even as your old self is consumed, laying down your petty striving and meager aspirations in favor of a larger cause.”
She paused. Anticipation and dread wound my nerves tight. I became aware of my breath, which was coming too fast, and felt the pain of my nails biting into the tender flesh of my palms.
“Should you pass,” she said, “you will become a Fireblood master. Once you cross that threshold, there is no returning to your previous existence. You will be altered, transformed—your old self discarded in favor of a stronger self. You will be born anew.”
She gestured, and the masters extinguished their flames. The room was again lit only by the glow of lava.
“You have accomplished much,” the queen continued, “but a vital step must be taken to reach the final prize. There is no improvement but through sacrifice, no gain but through loss. To form a new self, you must discard what is worn and broken. You must kill those parts of yourself that diminish you. And in so doing, you will rise higher than you imagined possible, become a vital facet of a priceless gem. You will join a legacy, one of the kingdom’s most revered protectors, one of my most cherished servants.” The firelight flickered. The queen’s expression darkened. “But first, you must earn my trust.”
She made a small gesture and the masters stepped back into the shadows in perfect accord, as if she held strings that controlled them.
“The test is simple: Obey me and pass. Deny me and fail. The choice is yours.”
She moved to the side. The masters relit the fire in their hands and moved forward, a figure between them.
My heart sank. I had hoped for a different test of obedience that wouldn’t involve anyone’s death, but this was exactly as Kai had described. Some unfortunate prisoner was being hauled before me and the queen would order me to execute him. Could I do it? I’d killed before to save myself, but this was entirely different. This prisoner would be helpless, unable to fight back. Even if I was doing it to try to save Tempesia from the Minax, did that goal justify killing an innocent person? Was it worth becoming a murderer?
The glow from the masters’ hands caught the prisoner’s hair, which was like fire on its own: tawny chestnut and auburn with streaks of bright orange. I stared in shock and disbelief. He stared back at me, stony-faced and silent.
“Kai,” I breathed. I immediately faced the queen and said very clearly, “No.”