THE FLOWER CHILDREN

Chapter 30

THERE were only three days left.

It was like Asmeen was going around with a constant pit of anxiety and nervousness in her stomach. Only three days. She, and Wylla, had basically stopped functioning outside of training, leaving Elyn to keep their spirits up.

But today, it seemed like the leaders had noticed. The task wasn't any less gruelling than usual, but it was certainly more fun.

They'd arranged a sort of treasure hunt all over town, where the first clue pointed to a certain location, and once they figured it out and arrived there, they had to do a certain task—a quick potion, or some push-ups, or runes—and then get the next clue, and move on. The quicker you finished everything and arrived back at the field, the better.

The clues were...hard. Some of them were even written in runes, which caused an extra headache. But it was fun, traipsing through the town instead of being stuck in the field for once, especially since Asmeen hadn't been allowed to leave the house all this time.

She and Aven argued about the clues, of course—as was to be expected—but they managed to think of the right places in the end. They even took a detour in the bakery Elyn worked in. It was nice. The owner recognized her, somehow, and even gave her a free muffin. Did Elyn talk about her at work?

They weren't one of the first teams to reach a field. When they started arguing, they had to check both of the places in mind, so that wasted plenty of time. But they weren't last.

Asmeen even spotted Aira, who was handing out one of the clues. Luckily, the Flower Child didn't mention anything about her offer, and neither did Aven. Asmeen might not have been able to handle it if they had.

There was a lot of walking, though. At least it wasn't sunny—it was quite cold, so the walking kept them warm, but Asmeen's ankles were aching by the time they took their break in the afternoon. There was no designated time for eating, so they just ate whenever they were hungry.

By the time they reached the field, it was late evening and Asmeen was thoroughly exhausted from all the running and walking. It was still a bit earlier than their usual ending time, though.

Pairs that had reached the field were supposed to report to Dara and Osoric and show them all the clues that they'd collected, to make sure they'd actually finished the course. Asmeen and Aven had to wait for two other pairs, who'd finished right before them, to get to the leaders.

Asmeen was even more nervous seeing them. In only about two more days, she'd either be a part of Dara's group, or she wouldn't. This was probably the first time she'd really had a conversation with Dara that she could remember. Or Osoric, of course.

A glance at Aven showed her that he was feeling the nerves too. He kept staring at Osoric's face, seemingly thinking her was subtle. He wasn't. He was as awed by Osoric as she was by Dara.

When it was finally their turn, they walked up. This was the first time Asmeen had seen Dara so close, under than the night of the exploding cauldron, when she'd been caught up by somewhat more important matters.

Dara was even more striking up close—perhaps not the most beautiful person Asmeen had seen, but something about her sharp cheekbones and narrowed eyes made her seem alert and wise. Or maybe it was just the way she carried herself, her aura. She really felt like a leader.

Osoric did too, and Aven was certainly more focused on him. Asmeen hoped, privately, that she didn't look as starstruck as he did. Personally, she knew that that was false.

"Asmeen," Dara greeted her.

Asmeen's eyes widened. Dara Segast knew her name. Did Dara know all the trainees' names? Probably. How had she memorized so many names?