I SPENT THE NIGHT IN A GUEST ROOM decorated in blue and gold, with beaded throw pillows, painted vases filled with hibiscus, and lamps made of colored glass. The bed frame was heavy and intricate, with four polished wooden posts at the head and four posts at the foot, all rising to meet elaborate woodwork that ended in a sort of square border, draped in cream silk, at the top.

I lay on the bed but didn’t sleep. My thoughts raced.

Despite the shocks and disappointments of the past day, not much had changed. The absence of the throne didn’t alter my primary mission. I needed to find the book. It would reveal how to destroy the Minax, and I had to believe there was more than one way to do so. Finding the book meant gaining access to the Fireblood school, which meant taking the trials.

I might actually become a Fireblood master. Whether I was strong enough and powerful enough remained to be seen. But I couldn’t fool myself any longer: On some level, I wanted this. I wanted to test my abilities and master them. To prove myself. To be more than I was.

The excitement lasted for a few seconds until I remembered what passing meant: pledging my life to the queen. Giving up my freedom. Following her orders.

I might never see Arcus again.

The Fireblood school was a squat, pillared building made of sun-burnished yellow stone. Vivid pink and red flowers in clay pots softened the linear facade with delicate leaves and round blooms. A gracefully arched doorway led into a courtyard where pairs of students moved in and out of view, their grunts and exclamations mixing with the dissonant music of wooden wind chimes trembling in a light breeze.

A tall man stepped through the doorway and bowed. He had a crooked nose that looked as if it had been broken and healed more than once, rounded cheekbones, and deep grooves carved between his brows. A streak of reddish orange ran through his dark hair, while a sprinkling of gray touched his temples. His hair had been scraped back and secured at the nape of his thick neck.

His eyes moved over me with a kind of focused assessment I’d seen on the faces of hostlers evaluating horseflesh. It was impossible to tell from his closed expression whether I passed muster. At least I’d braided my hair neatly, and a maid had washed my tunic and leggings before laying them out on my bed that morning.

“This is Master Dallr,” said Kai, the first words he’d spoken since coming to fetch me for a tense and silent carriage ride. “He is the senior master and in charge of this school.”

Master Dallr merely nodded and turned, leading us in. He and Kai exchanged pleasantries while I glanced around. Students from about ten years old to young adulthood were sparring in the large open courtyard, using only their hands and feet as weapons: kicking, punching, blocking, and flipping their opponents. They didn’t use fire. After a few minutes, one of the masters—you could tell by her bright orange tunic, while the students wore sunny yellow—gave a loud whistle. Everyone moved back, forming a circle that left the center of the courtyard empty. Another master called out names and two students stepped forward. They bowed, took their positions, knees bent, fists at the ready, and at a command, began to move.

The opponents clearly weren’t novices, but they weren’t perfect. Some movements were quick and well executed, while others were ill timed or poorly aimed. The master in charge barked corrections and the students made the appropriate adjustments. Then the master said a word I didn’t recognize and bolts of flame issued from the students’ hands, meeting in the center and flowing toward the sky.

“What did he say?” I asked Kai, who sat to my right, cross-legged on the packed earth. In my curiosity, I’d forgotten I wasn’t speaking to him.

“The commands are given in ancient Sudesian,” he whispered, only a slight curve of his lips betraying that he noticed I’d broken my silence. “The first word meant ‘release.’ That next word meant ‘spiral,’ and this move now is called ‘flick.’”

“It looks similar to Tail of the Dragon.”

Kai looked intently at me. “That is the combination of spiral and flick. You know it?”

I nodded, absentmindedly making the motions in the air. Brother Thistle had taken great pains to teach it to me those many months ago when I’d struggled to gain even a basic command of my gift.

I noticed someone watching me and turned my head to find Master Dallr staring. “Perhaps our guest is keen to show us her skills in a practice match,” he said. Before I could answer, he stood and whistled. The students immediately ceased sparring and bowed before running to sit at the edge of the circle.

“Prince Kai, if you would, please,” the master said.

Kai glanced down at his red silk doublet and pristine black leggings.

I snorted. “Worried I’ll ruin your pretty clothes?”

He sprang to his feet, his mouth assuming its typical smirk. “Not at all. I merely hope my skill doesn’t blind you.”

“Your doublet is doing that already.”

His eyes crinkled, the gold flecks standing out against the brown, his irises carved from tigereye agate. “If only your attacks are as sharp as your tongue, Lady Ruby. Why don’t you show us all what you can do?” He walked backward into the circle, arms spread wide in challenge, and raised his voice. “Behold! The girl who melted the frost throne will honor us with a glimpse of her greatness.” And he topped the speech with a sweeping bow.

I looked around anxiously. I’d learned to fight from Brother Thistle and Arcus, matching their frost with my fire. I had no idea how to combat someone who shared my gift. But something about Kai’s cocky grin made me determined to surprise him.

“All right. But what if we hurt someone?” I gestured to the spectators.

“We are all Firebloods here,” Master Dallr replied. “And we will protect our students.”

There were several masters spaced out at intervals in the circle, gazes alert, hands ready. I took a breath and returned Kai’s bow before raising my fists.

“Begin,” said Master Dallr.

The word still hung in the air as Kai punched out an experimental tongue of flame. I ducked and returned the favor, but missed him by inches. He had already swept a gout of fire at my feet. I jumped over the sheet of flame and sent my own at his chest. He ducked and somersaulted backward, his fists thrusting out twin jets as he regained his stance. One caught my sleeve, setting it alight. I dropped to the ground to put it out, then dodged another attack.

Kai’s movements were fast, agile, and unpredictable. I found my mind shutting off and instinct taking over. Attack, jump, twist, duck, counterattack.

I threw out a wide swath of stinging flame. Too late, I realized my attack was curving toward the students. The masters positioned their palms facing me, their fingers pointed at one another, and redirected my fire in an arc around the circle, all hands receiving and shaping the flow of it. I hesitated, marveling at the way they had worked together, the fire controlled so neatly, when a burst of heat crashed into my shoulder, nearly knocking me down. I twisted and whipped out a spiral of flame, twitching it at the end like a whip.

“So you do know Tail of the Dragon,” Kai said with a grin, even as a red welt bloomed on his cheek. “But do you know Sud’s Hammer?”

A roughly hammer-shaped swirl of flame formed in his hand and came bearing down on me. I leaped out of the way as it slammed the ground, sending up a cloud of white dust.

“Or Fire Blade?” He swished twin razors of flame at me from both sides. With nowhere else to go, I threw myself on the ground, hands over my head. Kai’s laughter drifted over me.

“Or Sud’s Bowl?” he taunted. Heat surrounded me. I uncovered my head to see myself trapped under an inverted bowl of flame that burned so hot its center held tongues of blue.

It wasn’t the blue of frostfire—not nearly so bright. But any hint of blue meant it was hot enough to injure me. Grandmother had once told me that blue flames meant burns even for a Fireblood. Kai’s fire was strong, maybe stronger than mine. I needed a way out.

I gathered my heat and threw both arms up, punching a column of fire through the bowl. As I leaped out, Kai twitched to the right—I had noticed that he had a tendency to dodge that direction—and blinked in apparent surprise, giving me a moment before his hand came up to attack.

I sent fire arrows at his face. He turned nimbly and met my arrows with heat that sent them off course, then clouted me in the chest with a thick bolt of fire.

As I flew backward, I fisted twin vortexes at him, not at where he stood, but curving toward where I anticipated he would move. To his right.

I heard the attack connect, and Kai fall, just as my back met the packed earth, the air leaving my lungs.

“Enough!” Master Dallr shouted. His shadow fell across my face as I gasped for breath. “You are untrained,” he said quietly, “but you did not disgrace yourself. Your gift is strong.”

It took me a second to realize that the master’s hand was held out. I let him pull me up, just as Kai stumbled upright a few feet away, wiping his brow with his sleeve.

“I call this match a draw,” Master Dallr said to the crowd. Young faces beamed at us, some of the students whispering and elbowing each other. It looked as if they’d enjoyed the show.

“Prince Kai,” said the master, “if you and your guest would both follow me.”

Kai was brushing dust off his now-ragged-looking doublet, his brows drawn tight.

“Are you more upset that you lost,” I asked, gleeful that his cocky grin was finally missing, “or that I ruined your clothes?”

“It was a draw,” he corrected as we followed Master Dallr through a shaded walkway and into the school. “And yes, I am upset that you ruined my doublet.” He leaned toward me, his breath warm on my ear. “What are you going to do to compensate me for my loss? You don’t have any Sudesian coin yet, so…” His smile and the twinkle in his golden-brown eyes suggested several alternatives.

“Why did you wear it here if it’s so precious?” I turned my gaze ahead, fighting the heat that rose to my cheeks. It was annoying how easily he could make me blush.

“I didn’t expect to fight you. And when I did agree, I didn’t expect you to be so good.” There was unmasked appreciation in his tone. I smiled at that.

“You underestimated me.”

“It won’t happen again, little bird, I assure you.”

We passed a black lacquered door with two burly masters positioned on either side. “What’s in there?” I whispered to Kai.

“The masters’ library,” he whispered back. “Where all the secrets of the universe are found, or so they say. More likely it’s full of rotted parchment. Master Dallr wears his key around his neck, the show-off.”

My heart did a little reel in my chest. I was so close! Pernillius’s Creation of the Thrones might sit only a few yards away, holding the answers to the Minax’s destruction. Part of me wanted to rush the guards and break through the doors. But I’d likely just end up in prison. No, I needed to become a master so I had access to it for as long as I needed to find the right information.

At the end of the corridor, we entered a spacious room with arched openings to the corridor, the structure reminding me a bit of Forwind Abbey. But whereas the abbey was bleak and gray, the school’s warm yellow stone seemed to soak up and reflect the slanting sunlight.

Master Dallr gestured for us to sit on jewel-bright cushions on the tiled floor as he took his seat in an upholstered chair with gilded armrests. It was clear from his saturnine demeanor that the school was his kingdom and this was his throne.

He studied me for a few moments before speaking. “The queen sent a message that you wish to take the trials.”

“Yes.” My pulse, just calming from the fight, picked up speed again.

“And you want this of your own free will?”

I met his eyes squarely. “Yes.”

“Why?” he shot back, the question almost a command.

I paused. “I want to learn the skills you can teach me and gain control over my gift.”

“And what will you do with that control and that skill?”

That was a harder question. I glanced at Kai, but he just looked forward resolutely, calmly. As if it was obvious. As if he’d been born knowing the correct answer to that question.

“I will use those skills to serve the queen,” I said, aware of how vague that sounded.

“Forgive my candor, but you were not born here. Why do you wish to serve the queen? What would make you want to dedicate your life to serving her?”

Reasons flitted through my mind. What would convince the skeptical master? After a few seconds, he shook his head. “If you are to take the trials, you must know the answer deep in your bones. If you must think before answering, you are not ready.”

The walls and floor radiated stored heat from the sun, and my nerves further heated my skin. I hooked a finger around the damp strands of hair that had come loose from my braid and pushed them behind my ear. As I did so, Master Dallr’s eyes fixed on the left side of my face.

“Where did you get that mark?” he asked abruptly.

Instinctively, my fingertips moved to cover the heart-shaped mark.

Dizziness hit. Everything slowed, sight and sound fuzzing, a tingle sliding up the back of my neck. As I blinked, the world shifted.

My hands gripped the railing of a ship as I stared into the churning froth that slid against the hull. My stomach roiled. I was so ill. So tired. Tired of fighting the impulses, the urge to hurt people around me, which stole my sleep and made me shut myself away for hours at a time until the feelings were under control. How much longer could I survive this? How much longer could I pretend? I swallowed and gripped harder, closing my eyes. I had to make it to land, at least. But even then, I had to hold on until I could—

A warm hand on my wrist made the image blur. A soft voice said my name. I blinked and shook myself. Master Dallr regarded me intently, his brows slightly furrowed. He had asked me a question. About my scar. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. His frown deepened. Kai watched me, too. I knew they were waiting for a reply. The Minax marked me and told me I was its true vessel. It promised to return when I was filled with despair. I am the Child of Light or the Child of Darkness, or neither, and no one knows and I don’t want to know. I never want to know.

I couldn’t say any of that. I could barely admit it to myself.

I was suddenly furious, with the Minax who kept sending me these bizarre visions and with myself for being unable to control them, to shut them out. This was my chance to enter the trials, and I was ruining everything, making the master doubt me. I needed an answer and it had to be the right one. The scar was from… from…

“A birthmark,” said Kai smoothly, snapping time back into place. “She doesn’t like to talk about it. Something about superstitions in Tempesia.” He waved a hand as if dismissing the northern kingdom and all its silly beliefs.

I expelled a breath, grateful for the easy lie. “Yes. I was born with it. And you asked me why I would dedicate my life to the queen. I was never accepted in Tempesia.” That much was true. “My true home is here, and my place is serving her. I want nothing else.” I made sure to meet the master’s eyes, unwavering.

His expression darkened and he went silent. “Very well,” he said finally. “You may take the trials. You have a week to prepare.”

Kai made a strangled noise. Master Dallr turned grim eyes on him.

“Master,” said Kai respectfully. “A week? Most students have years.”

“Indeed. And that is the challenge you have been set by the queen, Prince Kai,” the master said. “You will train Ruby, and you may use the school as often as you wish. If she passes, you will be allowed to take your final trial a second time. I don’t have to tell you that getting a second chance is unprecedented. The queen has been very generous.”

I sucked in a breath, looking quickly at Kai to gauge his reaction. So this was the reason he’d made the long voyage to Tempesia and risked the Frost Court: to trade me for a second chance at the trials. And he was getting what he wanted. I expected to see satisfaction, maybe elation, on his expressive features.

But if he was happy, it was hard to tell. He didn’t move or speak for several seconds. It was unlike him to be at a loss for words. I touched his shoulder and his lashes fluttered as if he were coming out of a trance.

“I trust this is to your satisfaction?” Master Dallr asked drily, his mouth curving ever so slightly as he watched Kai’s reaction. I wondered if it was the closest thing to humor that the master ever allowed himself.

A telltale pulse beat in Kai’s neck. He stood and bowed low. “Extremely generous. Thank you.”

We left the school, skirting groups of sparring students in the courtyard. Kai’s hands were balled into fists.

I tilted my head up to speak in his ear. “You’re pale as death. You look like you’ve eaten a bad fish.”

Even my insult didn’t jar him from his unaccustomed silence. He seemed to relax a little, though. By the time we reached the carriage, he’d regained his color along with his usual arrogant strut. When I was seated across from him, he knocked on the roof and we rolled away from the school. He stared at nothing in particular.

“What’s wrong with you?” I leaned forward. “If I’m not mistaken, you were just given your second chance. I would have thought you’d be… oh, I don’t know… happy?”

“I am happy,” he bit out.

My eyebrows rose. “You seem like it.”

“Conditions.” He frowned. “I should have known she would add conditions.”

“Why is it so important to you? Passing the trials?”

He shot me a burning glare, as if I knew the answer and was merely baiting him.

“What?” I gave him an open-palm gesture. “I wasn’t born here. I don’t know these things.”

“Only a master can rule an island. Without passing the trials, I won’t be able to succeed my father as ruler of our home.”

“Oh.” The pieces fell into place. “When did you take the trials the first time?”

He didn’t bother looking at me as he answered. “Almost two years ago.”

“What happened?”

He grimaced. “Revealing details of the trials is forbidden.”

“So how are you supposed to train me if you can’t tell me what to expect?”

He waved a vague hand. “I’ll figure it out.”

He was beyond frustrating. “Well, at least I know why you lied to me, essentially kidnapped me, and handed me to your queen like a wrapped present.”

“You agreed willingly enough.”

“Yes, we need to talk about all the lies you told to secure that agreement. For the record, I haven’t forgiven you. I just put it aside because we had more important things to worry about today.”

“Fine. I admit that I lied. But in the end, you’re getting what you want, aren’t you? The chance to learn how to master your gift? You were eager enough when you asked the queen to give you a chance at the trials.”

“I don’t like being lied to. Besides, she may be letting me take the trials, but I’m still under her control. I would rather have come here secretly.”

He snorted. “Nothing happens on Sere without the queen knowing. You’d have been worse off if you’d tried to sneak in.”

I folded my arms.

He stared at me for a few seconds. “All right, I’m sorry. I was desperate. And I didn’t know you.”

“You know me now.” I stared at him. “Don’t lie to me again.”

“I promise,” he said, fighting a smile.

“I don’t trust you when you smirk at me like that.”

“My enjoyment has nothing to do with whether or not I’m telling the truth. It’s just that you’re rather adorable when you’re annoyed. Am I forgiven?”

The answer was easy. “No.”

“You’ll have to forgive me once you pass your trials,” he said with confidence. “We’ll train every available moment until you’re as prepared as I can make you. Be warned, though. It won’t be easy.”

“I’m not scared of hard work.”

“Good.” He settled back and folded his arms behind his head. When he started to put his feet up on my seat, I knocked them off with my knee. It wouldn’t do to let Kai have his way all the time. He would become truly impossible.

As we passed the wharf, my nose wrinkled at the scent of hundreds of sweaty fishermen and laborers and ten times as many dead fish being gutted or dried or piled into baskets. In between shacks and fishmongers’ huts, the sea sparkled with flecks of sunlight that winked like a thousand cold diamonds. It reminded me a little of Arcus’s eyes when he was angry: sun-bleached blue lit with white sparks.

The bobbing ships made me think of the vision I’d just had in the Fireblood school. Whereas previous visions had been some form of memory—aside from the vision in the throne room, which was so strange it had seemed more like a nightmare—this recent one had felt real. Like a glimpse through a spyglass, as if I’d been watching something that was really happening. I had the sense I’d fallen into the Minax’s mind for a few minutes. If that were true, it had found its way to possessing some hapless sailor and was currently on a ship.

What if it was on its way to Sudesia? Would it come all this way to find me, its true vessel?

If so, it only made my mission more vital.

I couldn’t help but wonder what might happen to Kai once I escaped Sudesia. Would the queen turn on him and punish him for my disloyalty? Imprison him? Judging by our interaction in the throne room, she seemed as mercurial as the sea, capable of anything.

I watched Kai as he lazed on the carriage seat, staring out the window with a placid expression, as if he hadn’t a care in the world. The only detail that belied the studied picture of ease was the hand resting on his knee. It was curled into a white-knuckled fist.