Chapter 29

Aria POV

"Your team will consist of six members. You will select them yourself."

The announcement for the Trial of Leadership had come with a twist. As one of the top-ranked competitors, I got to choose my own team instead of having one assigned.

I chose carefully. Luna, of course. Sera and Willow. And after much deliberation, Vivian.

The fifth spot went to a quiet competitor named Marcus who had impressed me with his strategic thinking during group exercises.

"You're sure about Vivian?" Luna asked skeptically when I announced my choices.

"She needs a chance to prove herself. And I need to know if I can really trust her."

The trial itself was a simulated battle—two teams competing to capture each other's flag while defending their own. It required strategy, coordination, and trust.

Everything I needed to test.

"Here's the plan," I said, gathering my team the night before the trial. "We split into two groups. Defensive and offensive. Luna and Willow on defense—you guard our flag. Sera, Vivian, and Marcus with me on offense. We move fast, hit hard, and don't give them time to react."

"Why me on offense?" Vivian asked, her voice carefully neutral.

"Because you're fierce and unpredictable. Our opponents will expect you to be a liability because of your father. We use that. You become our secret weapon."

Something flickered in Vivian's eyes—surprise, maybe, or gratitude. "You trust me with this?"

"I'm giving you a chance to earn trust. Don't waste it."

The trial began at dawn. The battlefield was a section of forest that had been cleared and marked for the exercise, with our flag on one end and the enemy's on the other.

My offensive team moved out while Luna and Willow established defensive positions. We traveled fast and quiet, using hand signals to communicate.

The enemy team was expecting a frontal assault. Instead, we circled around, coming at their flag from an angle they hadn't anticipated.

"Guards on the left," Sera whispered. "Three of them."

"I'll draw them away," Vivian offered. "Create a distraction."

"Do it."

Vivian slipped through the trees, making just enough noise to catch the guards' attention. They went after her, leaving the flag exposed.

"Now," I said.

Sera, Marcus, and I burst from cover. The remaining guard tried to stop us, but he was outnumbered. In seconds, I had the enemy flag in my hands.

"Move!" I shouted. "Back to base!"

We ran. The enemy team realized what had happened and gave chase, but we had too much of a head start. By the time they caught up, we'd crossed into our territory.

"We got it!" Marcus was grinning, holding up the flag triumphantly.

But something was wrong. Luna wasn't at her post.

"Where's Luna?" I demanded. "Where's Willow?"

Sera pointed through the trees. "There."

I saw them—Luna and Willow, fighting desperately against a group of people who weren't wearing competitor markings. People in dark clothes with covered faces.

Not part of the trial.

"Knox's people," Vivian breathed. "They're here. They're really here."

I didn't think. I ran toward my friends, my power building inside me, light gathering at my fingertips.

The attackers saw me coming. Two of them broke off to intercept me, but I blasted them aside with a wave of white light. They went flying, crashing into trees.

"Aria!" Luna shouted. "There are more coming!"

She was right. Figures were emerging from the forest—a dozen, maybe more. This wasn't an assassination attempt. This was an army.

"Fall back!" I ordered. "Everyone fall back to the clearing!"

We retreated, fighting every step of the way. My power flared again and again, driving back attackers, but there were so many of them.

Horns sounded in the distance. The trial guards had finally noticed something was wrong. Help was coming.

The attackers heard it too. They began to retreat, melting back into the forest.

But not before one of them got through our defenses.

I felt something sharp pierce my arm. A needle. Some kind of injection.

"No!" Vivian lunged at the attacker, but he was already gone, vanishing into the shadows.

I looked at my arm. A small puncture wound, already beginning to burn.

"What did they give me?" I asked, my voice surprisingly steady despite the fear coursing through me.

"I don't know." Vivian's face was pale. "But we need to get you to Seraphina. Now."

My team surrounded me, half-carrying me toward the edge of the trial area. Guards were arriving, medics rushing forward. And in the distance, I saw the kings running toward us, their faces masks of terror.

"Aria!" Orion reached me first, catching me as my knees buckled. "What happened? What did they do?"

"Injection," I managed. "Some kind of... poison maybe..."

My vision was starting to blur. The world tilted sideways.

"Get Seraphina!" Darius's voice seemed to come from very far away. "Now!"

The last thing I heard before darkness claimed me was Vivian's voice, fierce and determined.

"She saved us. She saved all of us. We have to save her."

And then nothing.