Chapter: 38: Unfamiliar Darkness

Piper had been right.

We were called to the battle arena a few days after Payton’s party.

“What do you think they planned for us?” Calla whispered, grabbing my hand as we stepped into a very different room than we were used to.

Caiden was standing on a new platform raised above the ground, his father standing beside him and a black curtain hiding the wall behind them.

He’d been formally dressed the past times he’d officially presented himself before us. Today was different.

Today, he wore a white shirt with a folded collar and a simple dark-blue tie hidden beneath a gray waistcoat.

I couldn’t see his shoes because of the fence Caiden was leaning on, but I imagined they were black, possibly decorated with a golden pattern.

Cameras were filming us from every angle, monitoring every move we made, every direction our fluttering eyes gazed, but not the sound of our voices—at least.

“Good morning, suitors.”

Caiden stepped forward, and the suitors stepped closer to his platform, curious about what he would say next. I didn’t follow Piper and Calla when they stepped farther into the crowd.

Piper looked back at me. I gave her the faintest hint of a smile, and she returned it with arched brows before she continued her expedition toward the front rows.

We’d been sitting in front of Art’s door for more than an hour that day. She knew the dreadful feeling of homesickness wouldn’t disappear from my numbed heart anytime soon.

Piper had convinced me to come here—in the battle arena—and use this space to vent.

Surprisingly, I’d subconsciously memorized Art’s obstacle course, so it had been easy for me to imagine the obstacles despite their invisible nature.

Training on my own had been more amazing than words could describe. It had made me forget every worry, every doubt, and every problem, constantly poking my troubled mind. It had been pure relief.

I’d tried accessing the secret tunnels that Caiden and I had used a few weeks ago, but I hadn’t been able to activate the illusion without Caiden present.

Instead, I’d spent the evenings doing Qigong at sunset in my room. It had helped a bit, but not close to enough.

I’d planned to use the battle arena this morning, but Caiden’s ~surprise~ had forced me to cancel. So, now I was stuck in the place I wanted to be, among the people I least wanted to be with.

“Thank you for your patience,” Caiden said and ripped me back to my senses. “However, I can finally reveal what the king and I have been working on these past weeks.”

I’d expected the suitors to start whispering or giggling, but none of them did. Instead, their backs were straight, chins slightly raised as if they were preparing to fight. It disturbed me a little.

“I am honored to welcome you to the first of three trials,” Caiden finally said and pulled the golden rope next to him.

The black curtain fell and exposed an ebony wooden door, strokes of golden paint forming the number one on its facade.

The cameras turned their lenses from the prince to us, probably to catch the expression on our faces as the reveal was made.

Whispers finally swept across the expectant crowd like a flood. Opinions and debates spread like a faint, toxic mist. Everyone had a different idea of what was waiting for them behind that door.

I craned my neck to get a better view of the giant door, but there were too many people.

A door was not what I had envisioned for the first trial, but it was mysterious, which intrigued me as much as it scared me.

Some believed it would be a trial similar to how they were tested during their examinations, while others believed it would be a trial arranged to assess whether we were mentally prepared for the role awaiting us.

I didn’t think this trial had anything to do with their prior exams. Why would Caiden want to put them through that test again when it had already been done?

There has to be a greater purpose behind this trial—it had to be something grand.

“You will be sent through this door one by one, in no particular order. The only advice I am legally allowed to give you is to always stay on the path,” Caiden explained, nodding politely.

That wasn’t a lot of information.

I’d come to know that Caiden enjoyed riddles, so defining a ~path~ was vague advice when it came from him. It could be a literal path, or he could be referring to resisting temptation.

“So follow your instincts, and good luck.”

Everyone raised their hands to clap as Caiden wrapped up his motivational speech, but a loud creak from the wooden door opening made them freeze.

“When the first suitor is ready, please step forward,” the king said.

I gulped when a darkness darker than oblivion emerged before us. No light from out here could penetrate it, and we couldn’t see farther than a few feet inside.

A few minutes passed, where silence haunted the room. Then Arisu stepped forward, volunteering to initialize the first trial.

“Whenever you are ready, Miss Mays,” Caiden said, smiling reassuringly.

We all watched in suspense as she entered the darkness, her body merging with the shadows before the door closed behind her like a menacing omen.

Some of us may even have held our breath, hoping to hear something that might reveal additional details about what was happening on the other side.

There were no sounds to be heard—just silence. Then the door opened again, anticipating the next suitor to challenge fate by entering the jaws of the first trial.

Alia stepped forward, her expression as ruthless as a fearless warrior as if she now had something to prove after Arisu took the first step.

She entered and was absorbed by the darkness as Arisu had been before her. Then the doors closed again.

Alia’s minions were next.

Nervous voices and rapid heartbeats soon urged the prince to step down from his tall pedestal and join us in an attempt to calm the girl on the verge of losing their sanity.

“How are you feeling, Miss Aldwyn?”

Caiden’s breath warmed my ear just as I saw Calla being consumed by the never-ending darkness.

“Conflicted, Prince Atlas,” I said with a smile as I identified the tie squeezing his neck from the corner of my eye.

“Is there truly nothing more you can reveal about what is hiding behind that sinister door?” I whispered, leaning backward to make sure he heard me. “Not even what this trial is supposed to test us in?”

It wasn’t that I was about to choke up in tears as I imagined the horrors behind the door. However, not knowing allowed my fantasy to run wild with no boundaries to limit it.

“Unfortunately not,” Caiden said, chuckling with a voice so low that goosebumps rose where his breath hit my skin. “But I’m sure you’ll manage as long as you follow my advice.”

Comforting.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen you,” I said to avoid the beginning of awkward silence between us.

“Yes. I apologize for the sudden interruption of our sessions; organizing this trial required my undivided attention. However, if you wish, I would be happy to resume our studies.”

I smiled but didn’t look at him, painfully aware of the cameras waiting to catch the slightest whiff of their next great story.

“I thank you for the offer, Prince Atlas, but Master Art has already approved my progress. So, I wouldn’t want to break more rules than absolutely necessary.”

A dumb lie.

I would have broken a thousand rules if it could accelerate my training and get me home to my family faster.

However, I was afraid of what would happen if anyone ever saw me alone with Caiden—rules or not.

“Are you sure?” Caiden whispered, leaning closer to my ear. “If I remember correctly, you barely managed to keep yourself in check the last time.”

The hairs on my arms stood on edge as his heated breath caressed my neck. I shook it off before I allowed any unnecessary thoughts to occupy my mind.

“But I managed, didn’t I?” I said, chuckling as I swung my hand backward, aiming to slap his arm lightly. He caught it before I could hit his body.

I was about to turn around and tell him to let me go when the black door opened again, awaiting the next victim to walk through its gates.

Curious to see who was brave enough to step forward, I twisted my head only to see the cameras instead.

They weren’t pointed toward the door, seeking the brave suitor. Instead, they were carefully watching the crown prince, and right now, my hand was caught in his.

~What am I doing?~

Why was I laughing and playfully conversing with Caiden, surrounded by eyes that stretched far beyond this room? They could get the wrong idea.

I wrenched myself out of Caiden’s grip. Then I stepped forward without looking back at him, afraid to see his confused expression after my unanticipated rejection.

Unfortunately, the suitors interpreted my action as an indication that I wished to be the next to gamble with the unfamiliar darkness.

The dwindling group split into two, forming a path that gave me direct access to the enormous door.

I hadn’t planned to be the next suitor through that door, but my careless actions had left me with no choice. The cameras were rolling, and every person in the room was looking at me.

Only the spirits could save me now.

So, I stepped forward and entered the veil of black mist.