The King Trials.

~The Respite~

I nearly burst from the sheets, but the mounting pain reminds me why I should not. 

I yield, falling back down. "This cannot be real...."

"It is, little sister," she says, expanding her arms exaggeratedly. "Behold, for I am truly here." She looks at me and all melodrama drains from her expression as her arms deflate back to her sides. "By the grace of the Almighty," she breathes with unfettered shock. "You look worse than I thought."

I fake a smile. "Why thank you."

"No, it is truly painful to look at you. I can almost feel your agony, every inch of your suffering."

I shake my head, then I nod her over. "Come here already!"

A smile spreads on her face as she scurries over. She plops down on the bed. It barely dips, and she flings her arms around me. Though it hurts. I do not care. With all the strength I can muster, I hug her back, holding onto her as tightly as I can. Fearing that this is all a figment of my imagination, that it is all a dream. One I will soon wake from, and she will just melt from my embrace like smoke in the wind.

"Is it truly you?" I say into the sleeve of her dress. Words muffled.

"Yes, it is." She draws back so that she can look at me properly. There's not an ounce of pity in her eyes.

My mind fills with a thousand questions. "Well, are you going to tell me how and why are you here?"

She flashes me with a smile that I have missed too many times to count. "Apparently it is called a respite. A recess interval in the King Trials. Even though the High King authored new tests, he still abides by the written regulations. Including the respite. A halfway point in the Trials where candidates can meet with relatives and loved ones alike."

A halfway point.

"Word was sent tides ago. The High King had this planned very methodically. Long after, they sent a carriage. Then I boarded one of His Majesty's royal airships, the epitome of luxury, where I spent my time travelling with the relatives of the other candidates." She frees a tortured groan. "The Eilos sisters. Markiveus's siblings. I nearly threw myself overboard on multiple occasions."

A sudden thrill invigorates me. "Father. Are they both here, mother and father?"

Seliah's face is aglow. Then something grim causes it to dim. "We will circle back to that, but first we have important things to discuss."

I dreamed of my Regnum, my family, my sister, and now she's right before me. And it's like not a second of time has elapsed since I first departed.

"First. Why is the dashing, Herem Vince bringing you a bowl of soup?" she asks and flicks her finger at it.

"Because he made it for me, it's actually quite divine," I answer truthfully.

Her brows draw together as her eyes widen. "You mean to tell me that he made you that—" she points at it again, "—bowl of awfully, wonderful-smelling soup. He was the creator?" She nods then walks forward to pick up the bowl.

"What are you doing?"

She troubles me with her innocent smile. "Something that you should have done." She moves past the bed and out of my vision.

"Seliah."

I hear a pane of the glass window opening. She returns. The contents of the bowl have vanished.

"Are you mad?" She is fortunate I am too weak to leave this bed without assistance. "This residence is part of the Xercra Aelemond's palace! You cannot chuck out steaming broth from a window like we are in a peasant village, emptying our buckets unto the pathways like vile animals."