Trial of Shadows (Order of the Elements Book 3)

by Emma L. Adams

  “Okay, over to you.” They headed down the corridor. “Everyone, get into the main hall. Cal, can you get some heating cantrips to dry them off?”

  The Earth Element grumbled a complaint, but I was already walking back into the hall ahead of the contenders. When the hall was full, I climbed onto the dais, wishing I had a dramatic flourish like the Death King to draw everyone’s eyes.

  “Hey!” I called out, my voice echoing from the high ceiling. “Everyone, pipe down. I need to talk to you.”

  Most of the noise died down.

  “One of the people in this room is responsible for this recent act of sabotage,” I told them. “If anyone would like to make a confession, now is the time to do it.”

  Nobody spoke. Well, it was worth a shot.

  “Your choice, then,” I said. “All of you are going to be questioned by myself or one of the Death King’s Elemental Soldiers. If any of you saw anything that might point to who flooded the hall, then you can tell us that information in confidence and it won’t be held against you.”

  “Wait, who are you?” said a girl with long dark hair plastered to her face with water. She was the young woman who’d survived the first round by hiding behind Sledge. “You’re not an Elemental Soldier.”

  “I’m head of security,” I said. “And I think you’re up first. None of you is to leave this hall until everyone has been questioned.”

  If the Death King decided to show up in the interim, then it was not my problem. He should be doing this himself, but it seemed he had zero intention of showing up. Dex mimed clapping in the background, though, which I appreciated.

  I stepped off the dais and addressed Ryan. “It’ll be quicker if we split the questioning between us.”

  “Sure,” they said, to my relief—I hadn’t been a hundred percent sure on their cooperation. With Felicity occupied with cleaning up the flood and Cal fetching the warmth cantrips to dry everyone off, the two of us would have to handle this ourselves—which was fine with me, because I trusted Ryan more than I did the other Elemental Soldiers. “We’ll use the adjoining rooms over there. The Death King won’t mind.”

  They beckoned to a contender to follow them into one of the rooms, and I took my own contestant into the neighbouring room. Bookshelves and armchairs filled the space within, which would have been downright cosy in normal circumstances. The girl’s distrustful gaze didn’t break, and up close, I could see a pattern of scars on her face which hadn’t been obvious from a distance. I also recognised her as one of the candidates who’d hidden a dozen knives on her person on the first day, which Ryan had confiscated. It seemed she was no stranger to attracting trouble, but then again, that was probably normal for someone who’d grown up in the Parallel.

  I sat down in one of the chairs and indicated to her to do the same. “No need to look so nervous. If you have nothing to hide, this won’t be a problem for you. What’s your name?”

  “Harper,” she said, her hands twisting together. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I just wondered if you were allowed to call the shots here. I mean, you’re not one of his Elemental Soldiers.”

  She wasn’t wrong. “I’m not offended. I’m going to ask everyone the same questions. That okay?”

  She nodded. “Sure.”

  “Do you know who flooded the castle?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “No. I don’t.”

  “Did you see anything unusual while you were in the dungeon?” I asked. “Like someone using a spell, or any magic other than fire magic?”

  Her eyes were on her knees. “I didn’t see anyone else use magic, no. Our magic got cut off when the water came in.”

  I’d assumed so… but that didn’t mean another type of magic hadn’t been used instead. Like a cantrip. Harper continued to fiddle with her hands. She wasn’t fidgeting like Devon did, to occupy her hands. She had the distinct air of someone with something to hide.

  “And did you see any behaviour from the other contestants which implied involvement in the attack?” I asked. “Or any other unsportsmanlike actions? Say, someone attacking the other contenders?”

  “Sledge,” she said. “His friend Bark, too. Don’t tell him I said that.”

  “I think we all saw,” I said. “And what made you choose to try out for this position?”

  “It pays well.”

  At least she’d been honest. “Okay, that’s enough. You can go.”

  I repeated the same questions to the others. After going through enough contenders that I couldn’t put it off any longer, I called on Bria, who came in with her hair newly dried from Cal’s cantrip, wearing a confident expression that suggested she had no fears of being caught out.

  Once I’d got through the usual questions, I asked a new one. “Do you think any of the other contestants have ties to anyone who might have reason to target the Court of the Dead or its members?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I assume whoever did it doesn’t know liches can’t drown, in that case.”

  Hmm. “Perhaps. Or maybe they were trying to cover up another crime.”

  Someone had been up to no good in the castle, and while nobody had targeted the hall of souls, her confidence rubbed me up the wrong way.

  “A conspiracy theory.” Her eyes gleamed. “I like it. Is your job always this exciting?”

  Innocent or not, I could do worse than humour her so that she’d let her guard down. “I’m just here as head of security for the week, so I can’t speak to how it usually is. You might find it dull.”

  “Steady work is hard to find,” she said. “Guess you probably know that, being a spirit mage. Work is hard to come by when people think you’ll set their place of business on fire. I imagine the threat of ripping someone’s soul out is a similar deterrent.”

  My heart gave a jolt at the words, while cold sweat slicked my skin even though it should come as no surprise that she knew. I’d openly used spirit magic in front of her, after all, and she didn’t know I worked for the Order or that I didn’t permanently live here in the Parallel. “You might say that. Do you know many other spirit mages, then?

  “Not personally,” she said. “Ever heard of the Spirit Agents?”

  “No…” The name didn’t ring a bell. “Who are they?”

  “They’re, like, vigilantes.”

  “They are?” I said, disarmed. “Whereabouts are they based?”

  She blinked. “Well, if I knew, I wouldn’t broadcast it.”

  Was she aware that another spirit mage had almost killed the Death King recently? If she wasn’t from here… maybe not. I found it hard to believe she’d heard nothing at all about the recent upheaval in the region she wanted to work in, though. “Just wondering if I need to watch my back for anything other than the usual suspects. You’re not from Arcadia?”

  “Nah, Elysium.”

  “You came a long way.” Elysium overlapped with London, and while it wasn’t impossible to cut the distance by using the nodes, she wasn’t a spirit mage. If she’d never been here before, she must have walked here on foot.

  “I did.” She rose to her feet. “Should I send the next person in?”

  I moved in front of her before I could quite consider what I was doing. “If I wanted to learn more about the Spirit Agents, who would I ask? I’m here working as the Death King’s security, and I need to know if there is any possibility these people might be a threat to the contest.”

  “Nah, they’re not here in Arcadia,” she said. “I haven’t heard any mention of them since I arrived here. I reckon the vampires keep them away.”

  “So you don’t know anyone I can talk to about rogue spirit mages who might target the contest?” I asked. “I don’t know how much you know about recent events…”

  “Nothing, probably. I’ve been off the grid.”

  “A spirit mage attacked the contest yesterday but escaped through the node,” I said. “It’s why I reacted as I did when I found you.”

  “Oh.” Her eyes rounded. “That
explains a lot. I don’t know about any spirit mages who might have reason to target the contest. It wasn’t one of them who flooded the place, I wouldn’t think.”

  She might be lying, but I’d need to spend more time around her to find out if her story had holes in it. Either way, it couldn’t have been a spirit mage who’d flooded the castle. Even if a cantrip had been the cause, a spirit mage could have done a lot worse if they’d wanted to target the Death King.

  I nodded. “All right. That does help. I’m asking these questions because this is going to be a major issue for the person who wins the trials and becomes the next Fire Element, and they’re going to have to work with all of us to keep the Court of the Dead safe from outside attackers. Anything you can tell me, I’d be grateful.”

  She frowned. “The Spirit Agents aren’t local, but if you want to know more about the local mage groups, I’d start out with the Houses of the Elements. There’ll be a branch in Arcadia, no doubt.”

  Houses of the Elements? I’d never heard of them before, either, but you could bet I’d be probing my contacts. The information was golden, and best of all, Bria had no reason to hold it over my head like the Death King. Even if she was hiding something, she was worth keeping around.

  In the meantime, it was time to do a little sleuthing outside the castle.

  8

  The questioning continued, until Ryan and I had covered all the other contenders between us. One by one, they returned to the hall. Ryan took charge of questioning Sledge, which was lucky, because I wouldn’t have been able to resist booting him out for cheating.

  As for the others, nobody gave away anything incriminating which pointed me in the direction of the person who’d flooded the castle. And the Death King still didn’t come back. Either he was hiding somewhere and eavesdropping, or he wasn’t in the castle at all.

  After Ryan and I had dismissed the contenders—all of whom had dried off by now—we met up with the other Elemental Soldiers in the hall.

  “Any luck?” I asked. “How was Sledge?”

  “I gave him a disciplinary warning,” said Ryan. “He’s still in the contest, but only because he has one strike left and the boss has to personally be involved in an expulsion that isn’t for anything too serious.”

  “He’s taking his sweet time showing up,” I remarked. “You’d think he’d want to check up on everyone. Unless the flood washed him away.”

  Which I doubted. The guy was way too well-prepared not to have at least expected an attack similar to this one.

  “Which others do you have your eye on?” they asked. “Did anyone act suspicious in any way which didn’t lead to outright guilt?”

  “Harper,” I said. “She was acting shifty.”

  “What about Bria?”

  “I’m reserving judgement on her.” If the Death King wanted to keep his enemies close, then perhaps I could make use of the same strategy.

  “The trials are on hold for the rest of the day to give everyone the chance to recover,” said Felicity. “Considering half the contenders nearly drowned, it’s probably the best move for now.”

  “Good to know.” It seemed His Deathly Highness wasn’t going to come back and actually check on the damage to the castle… or check if his soul was safe. Weird, but who was I to complain? Now I was free for the rest of the day, I could do worse than check Bria’s claims held any truth in them.

  Dex flew up to me when I left the castle, having also been dismissed. “Someone tried to off you again, didn’t they?”

  “I really don’t think I was the target,” I said. “If they were aiming for the Death King, though, he doesn’t need to breathe underwater. And I’m pretty sure he isn’t even here.”

  “He picked a fine time to go for a walk, didn’t he?”

  “Finally, someone who agrees with me.” I walked out across the swampland and called out to the zombie horse known as Neddie. “Fancy coming with me on an adventure?”

  Dex would likely be reluctant to leave Aria behind, but the idea of staying in a soggy castle with a bunch of shivering fire mages wasn’t exactly my idea of a good time either. Sure enough, he said, “Okay, but I’m not riding on that horse.”

  Dex hovered alongside me as I rode through the swampland. I could have taken a shortcut through the node instead, but I wanted the time to think on my decision. With the rest of the day free, I was determined not to squander my chances to make use of the information Bria had given me.

  Neddie and I parted ways at the edge of the swampland, and Dex and I made our way past the warehouses into the main part of Arcadia. Trix the elf lived in a rough area, but he seemed by some elven fortune to avoid trouble, for the most part. I knocked on his door, and he opened it with his right hand, the left one rubbing his eyes while he yawned. Even half asleep, his hair was silkier than any human’s, his pointed face handsome and eye-catching.

  “Hey, Trix,” I said.

  “Oh, hey, Liv.” His expression brightened. “Sorry, I was napping… what are you here for, a mission from the Order?”

  “Not quite.” I summarised my job working for the Death King, along with today’s incident. “I nearly died at least twice on the job and the boss is out of town.”

  “That’s not good,” he said. “Can I help in any way?”

  “Have you ever heard of the Spirit Agents?” I asked.

  “No, but I can find out,” he said. “Are they who’s threatening the Death King?”

  “I don’t know, but a spirit mage attacked me, and there aren’t that many of us. It makes more sense if there’s a collective, whether they’re based in the city or not.”

  “There’s a spirit mage here?” said Dex. “Another one?”

  “I don’t know if there is, because they could literally have come from anywhere, on Earth or in the Parallel,” I said. “I’m not allowed to go and hunt down rogues while I’m working, so my options for finding them are limited.”

  “So you want me to keep an eye out for spirit mages?” said Trix.

  “Don’t put yourself in danger unnecessarily,” I added. “But if you hear any mention of the Spirit Agents, I’d be grateful if you could let me know. Also, the House of the Elements.”

  “Oh, I know about them,” he said. “They’re magical collectives based in Elysium.”

  “Wait, they are?” I said, disarmed. “Are any of them likely to want to attack the Death King?”

  “I don’t know them personally, but there’s one house for each Element,” he said. “Except spirit, of course.”

  This was news to me. “I can ask the other Elemental Soldiers, then. Maybe these Houses are trying to do what the vampires did and kick the Death King off his throne.”

  “I doubt it,” said Trix. “I heard they have a binding agreement with the vampires not to march on their territory. I don’t see them breaking it and coming here.”

  Hmm. It figured that the vampires would know these mages… and for all I knew, they were well aware about the spirit mage who’d attacked as well. Unfortunately, they were unlikely to volunteer that information to me. Not without the Death King.

  And the next time I’d see them would be during Brant’s trial.

  An idea slithered into my mind. The vampires did owe me for saving their lives… and if I went to them in person, then perhaps I could get through to Lord Blackbourne and his fellow council members before they made up their minds to condemn Brant to death. It was worth trying.

  I headed for the vampires’ council house, guilt gnawing at me. I might have put Trix in danger again by asking him to get involved, but I had no other allies in the city outside of the Death King’s castle. Even Dex was in His Deathly Highness’s employment now.

  “Ever heard of these Elemental Houses?” I asked Dex.

  “Sounds familiar,” he commented. “They run Elysium like the vampire council runs Arcadia, except in four houses divided by magic type. Makes sense.”

  “That I can believe.” The mages held a series of hierarchies a
nd rivalries which made little sense to me as an outsider, to tie in with their general distrust of non-mages. There’d be people among the contenders who’d been spurned by their allies for daring to try out for a job working for the King of the Dead. “I wonder if it was one of them who disturbed the trial and flooded the place. If so, though, it probably wasn’t a fire mage.”

  One long walk later brought me to the vampires’ council house, which stood near the old Citadel of the Elements. Most cities held one, and all of them were empty vessels where ghostly phantoms roamed. Nobody had dared tear them down, even after the spirit mages had died out. Their haunted halls carried as many unsavoury rumours as the Court of the Dead did.

  I found the same kid standing by the door to the council house as last time, pale as milk with needle-sharp bite marks on his neck.

  “Hey there,” I said. “I’m Olivia Cartwright. I met with Lord Blackbourne a few weeks ago, and I assisted in the fight against the Crow and the other vampire traitors.”

  “Olivia,” he said, slurring the words a little. “I’m afraid my master won’t arise until sundown.”

  “That’s okay,” I said. “I’d like you to ask if he’s willing to speak to me at a time of his convenience. It’s about—my friend. The fire mage. He’s due to come here for a trial in front of the vampire council, and I’d like the opportunity to talk to one of the vampires before then.”

  “Council. Fire mage. Got it.” He leaned on the door, and I caught it before it closed.

  “Only tell your boss,” I said. “Nobody else. This is secret council business, do you understand?”

  He nodded mutely. Then he closed the door, while I hoped I hadn’t made a huge error in trying to speak to the vampires at all. If the impossible happened and Lord Blackbourne let me plead on Brant’s behalf, I wouldn’t need to rely on the Death King at all. I wouldn’t have to keep risking my neck while he hid out of sight.

  Now I had several hours to kill until sundown and nothing more to do at the Death King’s castle. It seemed foolish to waste that time, but short of ambushing strangers at the market and asking if they knew of the Spirit Agents or the Houses of the Elements, I was out of ideas on how to find them. The Parallel was full of secret groups and societies and people who’d rip your tongue out for telling tales to the wrong person. Yet another reason I hadn’t set up a permanent base here.