It was the day after they arrived, the day when Hydro would finally meet Guardian Eska. Hydro made sure he was properly dressed, adorning himself in garbs of rich royal-blue silk buttoned up with polished anthracite buttons and his family's sigil stitched on a field of black.
Hydro was the third contestant to arrive in the lobby patrolled by the old servant. The other prince had already arrived and was chatting with the woman whose name still escaped him. Prince Evber wore a shirt of light yellow with his sigil of a purple owl perched on the branch stitched on a field of gray. His fingers were adorned in emeralds and topazes. The woman wore a blouse as black as her hair (cut slightly past the shoulders) that extended to her skirt of red. A poppy red scarf hung to the breasts near the frilling of her blouse. Stitched in purple and white to the upper right of her blouse was a badge with the word Gracie's next to a circle with a dagger protruding from its bottom. Rather than earrings, she had a pierced lip—its ring ebony black. Bracelets of many colors reminded him of Elias Ward. Is she skilled in the practices of healing?
"The broken tear of House Paen," Cain called to him. "You are Hydro Paen, then, correct?"
Hydro would have corrected any other contestant by demanding to be called Prince Hydro Paen—but he and Cain Evber were equals. He did correct him on one article though. "The second. I am not my father."
Cain chuckled. "My apologies. How was the voyage here?"
"I shared time with a Garian; a huge brute at that."
"Cadmar was his name. . . . I wondered where he was from."
That wasn't interesting. Hydro knew his name. Instead he wanted to learn about the woman next to Cain. He had yet to hear her name. The woman's eyes wandered between the two of them. Was she studying them? Clever lady. Hydro couldn't imagine her to be too large of a threat though. As far as Hydro knew, there were no female fighters on Acquava—only men bred of the sea and salt. Instead many preferred to study adored arts and confront the battle that happened behind the lines—the battle to save lives.
"And how was your travel?" Hydro asked.
"I traveled with the poorer fellow."
"To a prince, isn't everyone poor?" The woman spoke with a slight variant of Common Tongue.
Cain chuckled. "I suppose you are correct, there, Gabrielle. I traveled with the brown-haired fellow."
Hydro eyed her with intrigue before returning his gaze to Cain. "The commoner?" Hydro looked up at the ceiling. He hadn't noticed the painted cupola before.
"I cannot tell you his name. All he did was ask questions."
"And is zat a bad zing?"
"Do you like the man?" Cain raised his eyebrow.
Gabrielle chuckled. "Of course not. But he seems decent, like me. . . ."
Footsteps came from the other side of the lobby. Hydro took his eyes off the cupola and saw Zain enter. He wore a black vest with gold buttons and a crimson, long-sleeved undershirt. On the left side of his chest, there was a red circle with a sword pointing diagonally through it. Embroidered in red stitching was the word Gazo's. Gazo's Academy? That meant something, Compared to Symmetry Academy in Symeria, Gazo's was far above it in caliber.
"Zere are too many unbecoming people out zere." Gabrielle looked at Zain and then back to Cain.
"Your accent tells you are from Empora, yes?" Hydro asked.
Gabrielle furrowed her sleek eyebrows at him and nodded. "What of it?"
"Nothing. I hear people there have taken to prayer quite much."
"We need to. Victor Zigarda is a horrible ruler. Prayer is za only zing zat works for hope to stay alive. . . ."
Hydro looked around and noticed Zain with his head down as he flexed his hand. He had remained silent this whole time; Hydro wondered why. When he heard heavy thuds coming from the staircase, Hydro turned to see a large man in silk. I did not know Eska kept pig pens in his estate too.
"Girl, he is not a horrible ruler. He has just ruled a horribly long time. I find people get restless when one person's reign continues for so long."
"It is Senator Numos, correct?" Cain asked.
"Why, yes, Prince Evber. I am glad you recognize me."
"Well, rumors spread to Epoch that you were the one selected for witnessing this event."
Hydro eyed him in disgust. I'm sure it wasn't by choice.
"Rumors spread as fast as wind." The senator's goatee couldn't cover the three levels of chin that bobbed as he spoke.
Or as wide as your girth. Hydro studied the wooden cane that the man used for support, and he wondered why it hadn't broken yet. Opal jewels adorned the man's right hand; his left hand, gloved in white, held a small glass eyepiece. A white gown with ornate designs—laced in various golds and silvers—tried to cover the man's obesity. It only succeeded in making him look more handsome than any other garment could.
"Senator Numos, if you will join the others in the lobby's circle. It is nearly time for introductions," the old servant directed.
Hydro had not noticed the sapphire circle amongst the tiles of marble. "When can we begin?" He stepped forward, positioning himself beside Cain on the sapphire circle.
"When the other contestants arrive. There is still time," the old servant said.
No less than a few seconds after the butler spoke, the Garian and the commoner emerged out of the hallway talking to one another. Finally. The Garian wore a skin-tight muscle shirt as dark brown as his hair. On his shoulders, extending down to his elbows, were steel armor plates, and strapped to his back was a shield. He carried an axe by his hip. He wore dirty-white breeches on his lower half. The commoner wore a white shirt, which seemed to be large enough for the Garian; upon it was the sigil of Lady Clayse in celadon and brown.
"Please take a spot on the sapphire circle at the lobby's center." Once they took spots near Gabrielle and Senator Numos, the old servant continued, "Please remain on the circle. This is the only way up to Guardian Eska's floor."
After pushing a small button on a device in the man's hand, a low rumbling noise purred from the bowels of the palace. A sudden jolt upwards almost caused Hydro to lose his balance; the collection of tiles underneath rose from the other flooring. Soon they passed the second floor, connected by the spiral staircase, thirty feet above the lobby; and afterwards, a few feet from the chandelier and at least fifty feet above the lobby's floor, the tile stopped. A metal bridge extended from the bottom of the platform to a gap in the third floor that was otherwise barricaded by a marble railing.
Hydro was the first to step over the bridge and onto the circular floor carpeted in a dark amaranthine. Two men waited before aurulent double doors. Are they two of his conseleigh?
Hydro walked closer toward them but stopped as he noticed a portrait of a lady hanging on the wall; next to her was a portrait of a man. He glanced around the walls and noticed that twelve individual portraits were spaced throughout. It wasn't the portrait, though, that got his attention, it was the name—Pearl. Hydro glanced from the nameplate to the portrait of a woman with fare skin and dark hair and the same dark-blue eyes. How is that possible? What happened to her scales and her seaweed hair?
Is Eska how I imagined him to be? His father told him that although Eska was more than two hundred years old, he looked no older than himself. That he was a tall man, half a foot taller than himself. That he was a man who answered to no one besides the Twelve. And that he, too, had an ether blade called Adonis—given to him by the Twelve.
With a hint of doubt, Hydro rejoined the group outside the double doors. A man of normal height with hair as red as fire stood next to a shorter man who displayed more hair on his face than his thick forearms.
The man who hid behind a thicket of hair stepped forward. "Contestants, my name is Ethen Rorum, conseleigh of te planet Myoli. Congratulations on coming tis far. As Guardian Eska will point out, tese next monts will be tough. Good luck to you all."
The shorter man, with hair as red as fire, stepped forward and spoke, "My name is Riagan Inferno, conseleigh of the planet Pyre. Behind these doors Guardian Eska waits to meet you personally. Enter and declare yourselves fully dedicated to these Trials and the events about to take place."
His eyes were a shade of orange Hydro had never seen before, and his skin was the red of Freyr's sunlight. He appeared young though, no older than forty-five—much younger than Hydro would have expected for a conseleigh. A badge of a red circle with a golden C in the center sat pinned to his vest of black, which was layered over a red dress shirt with ornate lines of orange silk.
"Contestants, line up one by one in te order by which you wish to introduce yourselves. Senator Numos, you will be at te end, saving introductions until te rest 'ave finished." Conseleigh Rorum strummed his conical beard, smiling and surveying the contestants. He readjusted his own conseleigh badge, and the smile turned to a grim line. "Line up!"
No one moved. The inaction enabled Hydro to make his way to the front of the line. He would be the first to introduce himself, setting the bar; and the others would fail to grab hold.