The Elemental Trial

by J. A. Armitage

  Come to the Goddess of the Moon at midnight. Bring Orin. -Cass.

  That was all it said.

  Outside a bell chimed. I counted the chimes as I had at every hour since we’d collapsed on the bed. Eleven.

  I didn’t want to, but I shuffled out from beneath the safety and warmth of Orin’s arm and headed to the en suite bathroom. I unzipped the oversized FFR hoodie Orin had put on me while we waited on the beach, shivering and numb. I didn’t even know who it belonged to. As I dropped it to the floor, something fell out of one of the pockets. Picking it up, I saw it was a small black leather roll, tied with ribbon. I untied it and found that when the leather lay flat, it formed a black mask, the kind that would go over your eyes for a masquerade ball. And what was more—there were two of them, one laid neatly on top of the other.

  I furrowed my brow, holding them up. Where had they come from? Did they belong to the prior owner of this hoodie, or had Cass slipped these in my pocket with the note? If so, why?

  Too drained to solve the mystery now, I lay the masks on the counter and showered quickly, washing the salt and sand from my body. Then, wrapping a towel around me, I headed back into the bedroom. Orin was still asleep. He was so heart-wrenchingly beautiful with his dark hair falling over his eyes, yet his sleeping face was contorted with worry. I hardly had it in my heart to wake him, but he was finding no peace in his dreams, and there was no way I was going to leave the palace on my own. Besides, in her note, Cass had specifically asked me to bring him.

  I nudged him lightly, and he stirred.

  His black-as-night eyes fixated on mine, and I became acutely aware that I was wearing nothing more than a towel. Orin grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him, bringing me into a kiss that shattered me to my very core. It wasn’t a kiss of passion but of hope, of safety, of comfort. And yet, the touch of his lips upon mine brought tears to my eyes which fell between us, wetting both of our cheeks.

  “Don’t tell me my kissing is that atrocious,” Orin said, rubbing a thumb across my cheek to wipe away the tears.

  “The worst.” I smiled, running a hand through his silken hair. I couldn’t quite believe I got to touch him now, that this was allowed. “It’s eleven.”

  Orin nodded. “I have an idea of how to get past the guards. You get dressed, while I have a quick shower and I’ll fill you in.” He walked over to the bathroom, and a few seconds later, the sound of rushing water hit my ears.

  Padding over to the one wardrobe in the room, I opened it to find a couple of FFR outfits, both in Orin’s size, a suit and a couple of pairs of jeans and t-shirts.

  I guessed that if I’d have slept in my room, my wardrobe would have had clothes tailored to me. But I didn’t want anyone catching me sneaking down the corridor and questioning my motives for being out so late, so I pulled out one of the t-shirts and a pair of jeans and slipped into them. The jeans hung off me, but I found a belt to hold them up. I wouldn’t win any fashion awards, that was for sure, but it didn’t matter what I wore. It only mattered that I was going to see Cass.

  Sitting on the bed, I fidgeted while waiting for Orin. I couldn’t keep still. The minutes were ticking down, and though Orin had assured me he knew exactly where the “Goddess of the Moon” was, we still had to get past the guards and plan or no plan, it would take time. Time I couldn’t afford. When the bathroom door finally opened, I heaved a sigh of relief and stood, but no one came out.

  “Orin?” I padded to the bathroom, sneaking a look inside, but it was empty. “Orin?” I whispered again, the fear beginning to creep up inside me. Had they managed to take Orin somehow? It was impossible. I’d been watching the bathroom door out of the corner of my eye the whole time.

  “I’m here.”

  I jumped in shock at the voice in my ear and turned, throwing an elbow into something solid.

  “Ow! You hit me.” Orin materialized in front of me, clutching his stomach.

  “Sorry,” I said, shaking my head. What the hell had just happened? “You were right there, and I didn’t see you. Why didn’t I see you?”

  Orin’s eyes crinkled at the edges, and a mischievous grin spread across his face. “It was my fault. You didn’t see me because I was wearing this.” He held up one of the leather masks I’d abandoned in the bathroom earlier.

  “You’re a master of disguise,” I countered, still not taking his point. What did a cheesy masquerade mask have to do with this?

  “You don’t get it, do you?” Orin held the mask up and put it back on his face. Within a second he’d vanished completely.

  I stumbled back a step. “Holy shit. You’re invisible.”

  He pulled the mask off, reappearing again. “I found them in the bathroom. There are two of them. I was planning to try to put the guards to sleep, but this is much better.”

  “They fell out of my pocket when I was getting undressed. They must have been with the letter from Cass,” I said, growing excited. “She thought of everything! A way to help us get out of the palace, undetected!”

  Now that the shock of elbowing an invisible Orin in the stomach wore off, and the surprise of the invisibility masks had subsided a little, I grew keenly aware that Orin was completely naked—save for a white fluffy towel wrapped around his waist. His bare chest was lean and chiseled, his abs rippling downward in a perfect V, his strong arms roped with muscle. He probably didn’t even have to do sit-ups, damn faerie metabolism. His pale skin looked like marble on a statue, and I longed to reach out and touch it. But a wave of shyness hit me as I realized how quickly we’d been breaking through the walls between us. It was all a little overwhelming. “You better get dressed,” I managed, clearing my scratchy throat.

  The glint in Orin’s eye suggested that he knew just what my line of thought had been, but he stayed blessedly quiet. He dressed quickly, dropping the towel to the floor as he pulled on his pants. I found myself wishing he was wearing the mask because watching him was almost unbearable. His body was achingly beautiful and I’d finally seen it in all its glory, albeit for half a second while he dressed.

  I needed to get my mind out of the gutter and onto more important things—like getting out of the palace and meeting Cass. I looked at my watch. It was already half past eleven. Sucking in a deep breath, I threw my thoughts of Orin’s naked body to one side and began to pull on my shoes.

  We tied the masks onto our faces, and Orin vanished once more. It was strange, when I looked down I could see myself like normal. “Did it work?” I asked. I felt a ghostly hand fumble along my side, searching for my own.

  “It worked.” Clinging tightly to each other, we headed out of the bedroom door and into the palace.

  30

  Chapter two

  The Faerie king’s palace was a huge austere behemoth filled with long empty hallways. Orin’s room had been sparsely furnished, but there had been a few cozy touches—a plush carpet, a pot holding a strange night-blooming plant.

  The palace itself seemed empty, as if the Faerie king hadn’t taken the time to furnish the cavernous spaces that he lorded over. This was the place where Tristam had grown up? I thought. A pang of sympathy shot through me, which I squashed ruthlessly. No doubt his gilded childhood had been filled with fancy balls and friends and foreign dignitaries. He didn’t deserve me to feel sorry for him.

  It was strange walking through the wide empty corridors as if we owned the place, not needing to sneak or hide. I held my breath and kept my footfalls soft as we padded past two guards in the purple and gold livery that I had come to recognize as belonging to the house of Obanstone and the realm of Faerwild. The king’s symbol—a clenched gloved fist (subtle, that)—was emblazoned in gold gilt across the doors we passed and stained into the leaded glass of the windows. It seemed to be some of the only décor he’d seen to.

  As we continued to walk, I started to realize that getting out unseen wasn’t the hard part here. It was figuring how the hell to get out in the first place. The palace was a maze. We passed a few servants
here and there hurrying quietly, or pairs of guards flanking doorways, but we couldn’t exactly stop to ask any of them for directions. We could hardly even whisper to each other for fear of being overheard. So we threaded our fingers together and walked silently, hoping that the next turn would be the one that would lead us to freedom.

  We turned down a long hallway that seemed promising—at the end of it stood two tall, broad wooden doors crossed with iron bars. A servant turned from a side hall directly in front of us—a lovely faerie female with jet-black hair and arching eyebrows.

  Orin’s grip on my hand tightened painfully, and he let out an audible gasp.

  The faerie woman froze where she stood, looking around, her pointed ears trained for the origin of the sound.

  What happened next was inexplicable. Orin pulled his mask off, revealing himself to the woman.

  “What the hell—” I started, but my panicked whisper was cut off by one wavering word.

  “Mother?”

  Holy shit! This was Orin’s mom?

  The look on her face confirmed it. Her dark eyes went from shock to delight to motherly worry in the span of an instant. “Orin,” she cried. She looked around surreptitiously before hurrying towards us and grabbing Orin’s arm, pulling him back into the side hallway she’d come from. “What are you doing out of your room?” she asked.

  “That’s all you have to say to me?” he asked, hurt playing across his handsome features.

  “Of course not,” she said, pulling him into a tight embrace and burying her face into his chest.

  He wrapped his arms around her, and I looked away, feeling as if I was intruding upon a very important moment. A minute later, I realized the futility of my action. I still had my mask on. They couldn’t see me anyway.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” she said. “Your father and I have been following the race closely. We’re so proud of how far you’ve come.”

  “It’s all for you. If I win the boon, I’m going to free you both.”

  “Oh, Orin.” She pulled back. “You know we’d never ask you to put yourself in danger for us.”

  “You didn’t,” he said. “You didn’t have to. How are you? Are you all right?”

  She nodded slowly, and I thought I recognized the mask that fell over her features, schooling them into indifference. She didn’t want Orin to know how things really were here. “We’re fine. It’s not ideal, but we make the best of it. At least your father and I are together. We had hoped we would run across you while you stayed here, but we feared to reach out directly. The king is very strict, and his instructions were clear. The staff was not to have any contact with the contestants.”

  “Why?” Orin asked.

  She shook her head. “He’s very paranoid. I think…It’s not important. Where are you going?” She changed the subject.

  “We’re going…” he hesitated. “Jacq, come here. Take your mask off and meet my mother, Ramona.”

  I pulled my mask off hastily. “Hello, Mrs. Treebaum,” I said nervously. I couldn’t believe I was meeting Orin’s mother. I felt so unprepared. I hadn’t dated many guys, but usually, parents liked me. This time, I wasn’t so sure. What did she think about her son being with a human? Though…the camera hadn’t caught our kiss, so she couldn’t know we were anything other than teammates. Maybe that was for the best. No need to add potential prejudices related to interspecies dating to the list of complexities we were dealing with today.

  “It’s so nice to meet you, Jacqueline. Thank you so much for looking out for Orin.”

  “Looking out for me?” Orin scoffed. “If it wasn’t for me, Jacq would run into danger any chance she got.”

  “You take care of each other,” Ramona said. “You make a good team. It’s clear to anyone who’s watching that you’re the strongest team.”

  That was nice to hear. We hadn’t been able to see any of the dynamics of the other teams, other than the short time we’d been partnered with them in the Elemental Trial. And then we were all on our guard. It was crazy to think that the public, who had nothing to do with the race, knew more about parts of it than we did.

  “Orin, it’s dangerous for you to be out here, out of your room. The king’s instructions were clear.” It seemed she couldn’t miss an opportunity to mother him. It was kind of sweet, really. “And why the masks? The invisibility?”

  “We’re going to see Jacq’s sister,” Orin said. He looked at me with a questioning glance, and though I appreciated it, I nodded. I didn’t think Orin’s mom was going to spill the beans about Cass. “We think there is something going on. With the race, and a group called the Brotherhood of the Rose and Thistle. We think Jacq’s sister has something to do with it, but we’re not exactly sure.”

  “The Brotherhood?” Ramona’s dark eyes widened.

  “You know of them?” I asked, eagerly.

  “Oh, yes. It’s not common knowledge, but if you pay attention, you see signs of their work here in the palace. The king is deeply involved in the group. There have been humans visiting here for the past few months, involved in clandestine meetings. Shipments of things that are squirreled away under the utmost secrecy.”

  “Faerwild and Earth used to be joined together. We think the Brotherhood is trying to merge both realms again,” I offered our theory. “Do you think the king would support something like that?”

  “Expanding his power over millions of more souls? Humans, who are helpless against magic and could be controlled and potentially used for his purposes? Yes, I think that’s something Vale Obanstone would be extremely interested in. Your father—” She froze as the sound of heels clicking on marble reached all of our ears at the same time. “Hide!” she hissed, and Orin and I fumbled with our masks, tying them back on. Just in time, for around the corner, spun the Faerie King himself. With none other than Patricia at his side.

  “Ah, Ramona. I’ve been looking for you. We have need of your magic.”

  My hand fumbled for Orin’s invisible one, and I found it at his side, balled into a fist.

  “Of course, Your Majesty,” Orin’s beautiful mother curtseyed. Anger lit inside of me at the thought of this beautiful sweet woman being enslaved to that asshole for one-hundred years.

  Patricia gave a fake smile and spun on her stiletto, with Ramona following after the odd pair like a faithful hound. I felt Orin move to follow, and it was all I could do to keep hold of his hand as he moved, towed along in his wake. I couldn’t do anything without risking exposing us to the king, not hold Orin back or hiss at him to stop. All I could do was follow helplessly as we slipped through a set of double doors before the king closed us all in together.

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  About J.A. Armitage

  J.A lives in a total fantasy world (because reality is boring right?) When she's not writing all the crazy fun in her head, she can be found eating cake, designing pretty pictures and hanging upside down from the tallest climbing frame in the local playground while her children look on in embarrassment. She's travelled the world working as everything from a banana picker in Australia to a Pantomime clown, has climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and the bottom of the Grand Canyon and once gave birth to a surrogate baby for a friend of hers.

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  She spends way too much time gossiping on Facebook and if you want to be part of her Reading Army, where you'll get lots of freebies, exclusive sneak peeks and super secret sales, join up here https://www.subscribepage.com/v7o8l

  About Claire Luana

  Claire Luana grew up in Seattle reading everything she could get her hands on and writing every chance she could. Eventually, adulthood won out, and she turned her writing talents to more scholarly pursuits, going to work as a commercial litigation attorney.

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  While continuing to practice law, Claire decided to return to her roots and try her hand once again at creative writing. She has written and published four fantasy series: the Moonburner Cycle, the Confectioner Chronicles, the Knights of Caer
leon (co-written with Jesikah Sundin), and The Faerie Race (co-written with J.A. Armitage).

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  She lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband and two dogs. In her (little) remaining spare time, she loves to hike, travel, binge-watch CW shows, and of course, fall into a good book.

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  Connect with Claire Luana online at:

  * * *

  Website & Blog: http://www.claireluana.com

  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/claireluana

  Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/clairedeluana

  Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15207082.Claire_Luana

  Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/claireluana

  Also by J.A. Armitage

  Reverse Fairytales

  Charm

  Lucky Charm

  Charmed

  Dark Water

  Blue Water

  Breakwater

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  Dragon Slayer

  Slayer

  Warrior

  Protector

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  The Faerie Race

  The Sorcery Trial

  The Elemental Trial

  The Doomsday Trial

  Also by Claire Luana

  Moonburner Cycle

  Moonburner, Book One

  Sunburner, Book Two

  Starburner, Book Three

  Burning Fate, Prequel Novella

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  Confectioner Chronicles

  The Confectioner’s Guild, Book One

  The Confectioner’s Coup, Book Two