I had no idea what to do with myself. My hands hovered uselessly at my sides, fingers twitching as I watched Amelia step forward. She moved with practiced certainty, as if she had rehearsed this moment long before it arrived. I copied her without thinking, grateful she had shown us how.

  Amelia bowed low, far enough that the back of her neck was exposed. We followed, a heartbeat later.

  “Greetings,” she said as she straightened, her voice calm and measured. “I am Amelia. It is my honour to make your acquaintance. With me stand Rob and Sean.”

  Celeste returned the bow, though not as deeply. It was precise, measured. Calum, by contrast, seemed far more interested in the sky above us than the exchange unfolding at his feet.

  “My name is Celeste,” she said, her voice smooth and composed. “And this is my brother, Calum. I believe we will be staying with you for the foreseeable future.”

  My heart stammered, then picked up speed.

  Celeste’s gaze moved over us slowly, one at a time, taking in details I was suddenly very aware of. When her eyes reached me, they paused. Just for a moment. Something flickered across her expression and was gone before I could place it.

  She smiled and moved on, but my pulse refused to settle. Disguise or not, it felt as though she had looked straight through me and seen whatever I was trying to hide.

  What caught me off guard was not what she said, but that she spoke at all. For as long as I had known her, Celeste had been silent. The sound of her voice landed somewhere deep, stirring something I had not realised was there.

  I remembered her by the old well in Morganvale, kneeling in the dirt with a wounded bird cupped in her hands. She had said nothing then either. Just worked patiently, binding the torn wing with strips of cloth, helping it without words. That was how I had always known her. Present. Quiet. Kind.

  Hearing her speak now felt like stepping into a private room I’d believed sealed shut for the likes of someone like me.

  Brent’s attention shifted sharply to the two guards. “Where is the rest of your company?”

  The men in green exchanged a brief glance.

  “Were you not warned about the trolls?” Brent pressed. “We were warned,” Calum said lightly. “Bringing any more would have been unnecessary. Overkill.”

  My eyes drifted back to the guards. I searched for something obvious, a telltale sign of strength, but they did not carry themselves like Jerald. No weight to their presence. No visible threat. Then again, the most dangerous kind rarely announced itself.

  Calum’s gaze passed over me without slowing, the same effortless dismissal Nick used when he decided someone was beneath notice. He lifted a hand to his chest and drew out a small whistle from the leather thong around his neck. It caught the light briefly as it swung between his fingers, plain and unremarkable.

  I frowned, trying to make sense of it, and met Rob’s eyes. He looked just as lost.

  Amelia, however, went still. Realisation flickered across her face. “Ah,” she murmured.

  Calum’s head turned at the sound of her voice. For the first time since he had appeared something in his expression changed. The boredom drained away, replaced by open curiosity. He took her in properly now, eyes lingering in a way that needed no explanation.

  “Greetings,” he said, stepping closer with clear intent.

  Rob glanced between them and flushed.

  I watched the pair. Amelia held herself easily, chin lifted, her pale hair catching the light as she met Calum’s gaze without flinching. Calum matched her in kind, dark haired and composed, his confidence no longer feigned. They looked, for a moment, like two notes struck in the same key.

  My attention shifted to Celeste.

  She was watching her brother closely, her expression calm and amused. “Dear brother,” she said lightly. “You forget yourself.”

  Calum straightened. “Sister.”

  Her smile did not waver. “Shall we continue?”

  Brent gave a single nod. The siblings turned back toward the wagon, and we returned to our ponies. Brent moved ahead with the two guards while we fell in behind. Rob muttered something under his breath, clearly unimpressed. Amelia, on the other hand, looked thoughtful, her gaze following the wagon as we set off again.

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  I had expected distance. Reserve. Something colder.

  Instead, there was an ease to them, and I wondered if their ties to the druids made them different from the nobles in the city.

  I had known Celeste before this. Or at least, I thought I had. She had always been kind. Quiet. The sort of person who listened more than she spoke. Calum, by contrast, carried himself with the same polished arrogance I had seen in Nick. It made me wonder why Celeste had been raised in Morganvale at all, among people like us.

  I had never even known she was a druid. No one spoke much about them, not openly.

  The wagon’s rear flap was rolled up. “So, we can speak,” Celeste said. Inside, the space looked nothing like a traveller’s wagon. A massive white cushion lined the interior, soft and immaculate, piled high like a bed rather than a seat. Everything about it spoke of comfort and intention, of a journey never meant to be uncomfortable.

  “So,” Celeste said, resting an elbow casually along the edge of the opening beside her brother, “what are you three aiming for in the trials?”

  “Rob wants the barracks,” Amelia answered easily. “And I am hoping for the college.”

  As she spoke, I caught Rob out of the corner of my eye. His jaw was tight, his gaze fixed on the way Calum leaned just a little too close, his attention never quite leaving Amelia.

  “And you, Sea…” Celeste began.

  “The college,” Calum cut in smoothly. “Beauty and brains.”

  Celeste turned on him at once, disbelief flashing across her face. “Seriously? That is the best you can manage?”

  Amelia laughed.

  Rob did not.

  The wagon rolled on, cushioned and effortless, while the space between us felt suddenly far less comfortable than the road beneath our feet.

  “Hey, I am just being friendly,” Calum said lightly. “Didn’t you say we should make friends?”

  Rob let out a slow breath through his nose.

  I almost laughed, but the sound never made it out.

  After a while, I found myself staring. Celeste looked healthy, and she was smiling. Thank goodness my little hero act back in Morganvale hadn’t landed her in trouble. Far from it, she looked like she was thriving wherever she’d been.

  Her green eyes slid to mine.

  I dropped my gaze at once, suddenly very interested in my pony’s reins, adjusting leather that did not need adjusting. When I glanced up again, she was still watching, waiting.

  She smiled.

  Heat crept into my face, and I looked away a second time, cursing myself.

  At my side, the sword gave a faint hum.

  Of course it chose now.

  Silent all day, not a whisper since the memory, and now this. I pushed the thought back at it, sharp and embarrassed. Very funny.

  The hum faded, but the sense of amusement lingered, warm and smug.

  “Well anyway,” Calum said, stepping neatly over the silence, “we would like to visit the college while we are here. Might as well make this whole trial business worthwhile.”

  Celeste turned toward Amelia. “Would that be possible?”

  Amelia did not answer at once. Her grip on the reins tightened, knuckles paling, then loosened again. “We do not go into the city much,” she said softly.

  Celeste’s smile faltered, disappointment crossing her face before she could hide it. “I see.” She glanced away, searching for another angle. “My father intends to meet us at your cottage in a few days. He is staying in the city with the other delegates. Perhaps he could take us then.”

  After that, the conversation lost its footing. Replies came late or not at all, the space between us filling with things left unsaid. I wanted to speak, to offer something to keep the moment from slipping away, but my throat closed around the thought.

  Inside, I scolded myself for the silence.

  At my side, the sword seemed to hum with quiet amusement, as if it found my hesitation far more entertaining than I did.

  A sudden rustle ahead snapped us all back to the road.

  Far down the path, a tree shuddered. Wood groaned. Then the trunk split and toppled across the road with a crack that echoed through the forest. Horses skidded and snorted, hooves scraping as riders fought for balance. The wagon wheels shrieked as they locked.

  “Kiddos, stay together while we…” Brent started.

  The sentence died as another tree shifted aside.

  A massive grey hand pushed through the leaves, bark splintering under its grip. Two eyes, the size of our ponies, peered through the gap.

  “Holy shit,” Rob breathed. “It’s fucking huge!”

  Calum shot him a sharp look that said now is not the time.

  The troll’s mouth fell open as it spotted the wagon, revealing teeth like broken stone. Drool spilled freely as it lumbered forward, each step sinking into the earth, the road trembling beneath its weight.

  Brent moved in a blur.

  His blade was in his hand as he drove his heels into his horse’s flanks. The animal reared, shrill and panicked, the sudden motion dragging the troll’s attention. Hooves slammed back down and Brent turned the horse hard, cutting beneath the troll’s nose and tearing down the road.

  The ground shook as the massive creature gave chase.

  Each step landed like a hammer blow, the earth trembling beneath us as the troll thundered after Brent. The two guards split wide, cloaks flaring as bows slid free from where they had been hidden. In seconds, they were flanking the beast, moving with practiced speed.

  Behind us, Celeste sat upright at once. The white cushions inside the wagon shifted as she moved, her calm replaced by focus. Calum had already pulled the whistle free, gripping it tight in his fist as if it were the only solid thing left.

  “Should we follow?” Rob asked. “Or at least keep moving?”

  Amelia shook her head, eyes scanning the tree line. “We stay here. We watch their backs.”

  “They will be alright, won’t they?” I asked.

  Celeste shook her head. “They’re my father’s men. The troll has no chance.”

  I nodded, though the words did little to settle my nerves.

  So much for my quiet hope that Jerald was somewhere out there, already thinning the herd before it reached us.

  My hand slid to the hilt at my side. I kept my eyes on the tree line, tracking every shadow, every shift of light, my pulse jumping at movements that might have been nothing.

  The tension was not mine alone. I felt it in the way the ponies fidgeted beneath us, in the rigid line of Amelia’s shoulders, in Rob’s breath coming too fast at my side.

  The ponies stiffened all at once. Ears flattened. A faint vibration crept up through the ground, subtle but wrong. My teeth clicked together before I realised, I had tensed.

  Something moved.

  Branches parted where nothing should have fit. Grey flesh slid through the gaps, slow and deliberate. Then an eye emerged, vast and unblinking, fixed on us from the dark.

  My stomach dropped.

  “Shit,” Rob whispered. “I knew it. We’re screwed.”