Chapter 8 · The Body Under the Ice

"All fighters down!" The Trial Master's voice cracked through the smoke. "Nobles east. Move."

Valen's blade was still at Gareth's throat. One push. That's all it'd take. Ten years of ghosts, gone.

Gareth smiled up at him. Blood between his teeth. "Guess you get to live a little longer, Carlos."

Valen pulled the blade back. Didn't say a word. The seal was right there, swinging from Gareth's neck on that leather cord. His father's name stamped into the silver.

He should've cut it free. Should've run.

He didn't.

Guards shoved him toward the tunnel. He looked back once. Gareth was standing, brushing dust off his knees like nothing happened. The Trial Master was staring at Valen. The kind of stare that meant questions. A lot of them.

Eliza's seat was empty.

She'd been in the third row. Hands locked on the rail. Face white. Now she was gone.

Smoke thickened. Someone screamed about the beams.

Valen let the guards push him into the dark and disappeared with the crowd.

---

Eliza didn't go east.

Nobody stopped her. They were too busy not dying.

She ducked under a torn banner, slipped through a service door, hit the back stairwell.