Shock ripples through the room.

"What intel?" I ask through my bewilderment.

Tyne shrugs. "We don't know yet."

"How would we get in?" Jace asks next. "Will the Elite Guards help us?"

"Absolutely not. In fact, they know nothing about this mission and will do as they're ordered to keep all intruders out. Or eliminate them by all means."

“Wait, let me understand this.” Savannah raises her hand. “You want us to somehow sneak into the castle, protected by both the Northern Guards and Southern Knights. Then you want us to go into the wing where the Pangeans are staying somehow bypass their plethora of likely advanced security systems some of which we’ve never encountered before, and their magic, and steal information that we’re not even sure they have?”

“Yes,” Tyne responds without missing a beat. “Is that going to be a problem?”

Savannah glances at me and when I shrug she turns back to Tyne with a sharp grin. “No, just making sure."

But the unease doesn't leave her face, and it's likely reflected in all our faces too.

“Let me guess,” Jace drawls. “You're also not going to give us any weapons or intelligence that could help us, are you?”

Tyne smiles like the toad he is. “Look at that. You’re a lot smarter than you look, boy.”

Jace bites his lip and grins back but I can tell there's insult dancing right on the base of his tongue.

“Any further questions?” Tyne asks.

“Yes.” My response instantly draws eyes to me. “What counts as information?”

He raises an eyebrow. “That should be obvious shouldn’t it?”

“It should be but it isn't. You haven't given so much as a hint of what it is we're looking for. I mean I could find a map and it could be a planned siege or the girl's coloring book and both those things are technically information. We know almost nothing about these people, we don’t know how they communicate or anything. We’ve been set up for failure."

“We could simply decide not to do this,” Tia suggests to the group. “And just forfeit our point. Most of the other teams don't have a point and if we simply win the next stage, we can still get into the academy."

“No.” Savannah shakes her head. “I can’t afford to lose another point. I already have none and this is near the last challenge. We have to win.”

“Your decision to not participate automatically disqualifies you from the Elite Soldier Trials," Tyne says. “It also carries quite a hefty punishment from his majesty for not following orders, and also because you have possibly, needlessly, taken a spot from another hopeful who may have had more loyalty to the King. It's one thing to fail. It's another to not try."

“So in order words, we have no choice,” Jace concludes.

“Precisely. Now to answer your question, Adria, you will have to prove to us that whatever information you have is valuable enough to earn the point. That's all I can tell you. However, I will give you a piece of advice. Do not get caught under any circumstances." He starts toward the door in the middle of the sentence but then stops to throw us a smile. "Oh and if you want someone to blame for giving you this delightful little task, you can thank Miss Adria for it. After all, she was the one who brought it to our King’s mind.”

And with that, he flounces away.

Once he's gone, all eyes turn to me again.

“What is he talking about, that we have you to thank for this?” Savannah asks, and then I massage the base of my nose. Damn Tyne for that final comment. That was wholly unnecessary.

“I had a vision that I informed the King about,” I tell them. “I think he’s making us do this to confirm the vision.” Our torture is probably only the icing on the cake. The King's true mission is to see if the Pangeans truly are plotting to betray him and kidnap Errila.

“Damn it, that sly man,” Jace murmurs and Tia kicks the back of his seat, likely to warn him that we're in the King's castle, where an Elite Soldier can hear him.

“You couldn’t just not tell him the vision?” Savannah asks with a resigned sigh.

I shake my head. “I needed to. I didn't know he would do this but I had to tell him what I saw. It was important.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Of course, it had to be for him to send us on this fool's mission,” Jace says

“Why would he do this?” Tia murmurs. “This isn’t like the Dark Forest where it’s just our necks on the line. If we're caught by the Pangeans, it could be framed as an assassination attempt. It could trigger the Pangean army to attack, and the ripple effect won't just be on Accacia but the surrounding villages and allies." Her eyes are wide as the full magnitude sinks in. "If we fail this mission, we could cause an outright war.”

“We won’t,” I say.

“Your vision tell you that?” Paisley speaks up for the first time, mocking in not just his tone but in his gaze, as he lounges back on the seat.

“No, my sense of observation does.” I jab my chin to the people in this room. “Look around. What do you notice about the people on this team?”

Paisley glances at them briefly and shrugs. “I don’t know. You all look equally unimpressive to me. “

Tia and Savannah narrow their eyes but I begin to spell it out for him.

I point at Jace. “Foreigner.” Tia. “Woman and half-Westerner.” Savanah. “Another half-blooded woman.” Myself. “Foreigner and woman. Do you see the trend?"

When they still don't get it, I sigh. “When it comes to becoming Elite Soldiers, we're the undesirables. The expendable.”

I can see the idea dawning on Jace first. “So if we’re caught…”

“The King is going to wipe his hands off it completely and pretend that we were simply rogue kids trying to cause trouble. The Southerners don’t know about our Elite Soldier training and even if they do, it’s easy for the King to simply behead us and pretend that he had no clue that this was ever happening. The rest of the teams likely got better assignments than this one, because they're the ones he actually wants in his army."

As understanding finally dawns, my teammates react in a variety of ways.

Jace’s jaw tightens to the point of snapping. Savannah’s face turns red and even Tia, who up to this point had remained calm, looks furious.

“So what is he doing here?” She jabs her finger at Paisley whose expression has still not changed from that strange combination of amusement and annoyance.

“That part I haven’t figured out yet,” I say. I glance at Paisley hoping he'll give me a clue.

“Maybe he was sent to watch us, and ensure we don’t give away any secrets to the Pangeans,” Tia ponders.

“Or maybe he’s here to kill us if he thinks we’ll fail," Jace says. “Maybe he’ll sabotage us so we do fail and then he can kill us anyway."

Paisley gives him a droll look. “Does that even make sense to you? Or are you going to rely on her to do all the thinking around here?

“Then what do you think it is, pretty boy, since you're so smart.”

"I'm smart enough to know that I don't need to sabotage you. You'll fail anyway." Paisley sighs, shakes his head, and rises.

“Where are you going?” Savannah asks.

“Well, I’m not going to sit here and watch the four of you talk about ways to get rid of me,” he says. “I figure you would want to do that in private. Word of advice, I’m extremely allergic to most types of fish. That would be the quickest way. ”

He throws us a mocking salute on his way out. We watch him go and then turn back to each other.

“Well, since that idiot doesn’t plan on being helpful,” Tia says. “What do we do now?”

Jace chews his lip and then glances at me. I notice the other two, in between bouts of thinking, eye me too.

“Give me till the end of today,” I tell them. “I’ll think of something.”

Jace breathes a sigh of relief and the other two also visibly relax.

I blink in surprise.

They trust me so much that just saying I'll think of a plan has them feeling relieved?

“You’ve saved my life twice now,” Jace says as though he can read my thoughts. “And I've seen the way your mind works. Plus, thanks to your abilities, you know things the rest of us don't. If you say you’ll think of a way for us to succeed, I know you will.”

My heart is already warmed by the statement, and I'm internally preening like a bird when Savannah adds to it. "I agree with Jace. The way you approached capturing the Shrewk was quite intelligent if I do say so myself, and you going after Jace to save him means that you're able to put your team above yourself. I, for one, would be very happy to assign you as leader."

“Me too,” Tia says and I feel so full of...something. Something so strong I could burst.

I turn my face away so they don't see the raw emotion trying to escape.

“Is she crying?” Tia whispers.

“No," I lie then clear my throat. “Anyway, thank you all for the vote of confidence. I’ll make sure I come up with a plan and then we can meet at..." I try to think of a place that's secretive enough, that we can commune in peace.

“How about at Wolf’s cottage?” Jace says. "That worked last time."

“Wait you've been to his cottage?" Savannah asks Jace.

“Of course. Adria is living with him.”

Savannah’s head spins to me and my face heats. I feel the need to clarify. “It’s only because I have nowhere else to go. There's nothing else to it."

“I didn't think there was, I'm just in shock. Wolf has never been the hospitable type. I’ve only been to his cottage a few times when his mother was there and even then, he made sure to disappear soon after I came over."

Ah, so he did the same thing to her that he does to me. I wonder if that proves anything, like maybe he was shy around her.

But then, he's not shy around me so I don't know what it is.

“He must be warming up to people,” Savannah says, thoughtfully. “Perhaps you’re a good influence on him.”

“Well I wouldn't say that–“

“Let’s meet at Wolf’s cottage then.”

I hesitate, thinking about it. "I'm not sure. I'll have to ask Wolf. He may not be okay with it."

"Nonsense," Savannah says. "I’m his childhood friend and the two of you are acquainted with him already. I'm sure he'll welcome the visit."

Welcome might be a strong word, but I can't figure anywhere else for us to meet, so I say, "Fine. Wolf's cottage it is."

"Where is this Wolf’s cottage?" Tia asks.

"I’ll take you when it's time," Jace says. "You stay near the inn, right?"

She nods.

"I’ll come for you in the evening."

Tia smiles and gives him a look from under her eyes and he winks at her.

Odd, I thought they hated each other.

I give them both a disapproving look.

Fraternizing would make our task much more difficult than it already is.

Then again, who am I to judge, considering I've been more than fraternizing with Wolf this whole time?

Either way, I don't have time to think about it, or the fact that Savannah is still staring at me with that vaguely questioning look that makes me uncomfortable.

I need to get a plan ready by tonight.