“Ask, listen and do what you wish. You have one hour.”

That was all that Mairaela had been told of her task on her journey into the third and final Trial. She was grateful that it sounded as though it would be nothing like her other two Trials. She was half grateful that it didn’t seem to have anything to do with Joyona. She couldn’t go through that again. She couldn’t watch another death. She couldn’t watch Joyona’s death. The other half of her had been hopeful that her third Trial would be a way to revive Joyona. She should have known better.

Whatever the Trial was, it couldn’t be worse than the last one. Watching that giant crush so many of her friends. So many of her fellow Fey. Watching Mormerilon sacrifice himself. Watching Evig pick him up in a giant fist. Hearing Mormerilon’s scream as Evig-… No.

“Don’t think about it,” Mairaela told herself, “It doesn’t matter how it happened, only that it happened. That’s why you’re here, to kill the Black Sun. To bring peace to Mormerilon’s soul.” She shook the thought from her mind as the white flash faded and she found herself in a dark chamber. The ceiling was too high to see through the darkness—the walls too expansive. Dozens of evenly placed columns, sturdy and bulky, rose up from the floor into the abyss above.

In front of her was a simple wooden chair. On that chair, Miren was bound and gagged, watching Mairaela with fear and realization. She shook her head, muffled cursing and screaming made behind the gag.

Gods, not again. She couldn’t deal with the Winter Fey again right now.

“I’ll get you out,” Mairaela said, approaching Miren. She slipped her bow over her shoulder and untied the gag from the Winter Fey’s mouth.

Immediately, Miren shouted, “Do not untie me!”

Mairaela stood up straight and asked the obvious question, “Uh… why?”

“It’s a part of my Trial. Untie me and I fail it.”

Mairaela patted down her crotch, wondering for a brief moment if Miren was to return the favor for the first Trial. There were only her usual parts. “Shame,” Mairaela thought with a disappointed sigh.

“Yeah,” Miren said, eyes flicking up from between Mairaela’s legs that jutted out from that short skirt, “That isn’t what this is.”

“What is this? What were you told?”

Miren ground her teeth, squeezed her eyes shut, held her breath.

“Are you okay?” Mairaela asked, holding a hand out, ready to aid.

Miren shook her head before she gasped for breath and spoke in a clear voice, “You can ask anything you want and during that time I am forced to answer honestly. If I try to block you out, ignore the questions, or in any way get free from my bindings, I will fail. I have to do this for one hour.

“And yes, I am alright, physically, but mentally I am coping with my imminent death and my emotional state is in full panic,” Miren concluded.

“Oh,” Mairaela said, taking a step back and looking Miren over. Her emotionless mask was gone. She was struggling against what power forced her to tell the truth. This was the most uncomfortable spot that a Winter Fey could be put in. No possibility of deceit.

Mairaela hummed, “Can you withhold information? Twist it to take a different meaning?”

Miren squeezed one eye shut and growled out a strained and angry, “No.”

“Might as well not fight it, Miren,” Mairaela advised, looking a bit sympathetic, “Don’t want your head to explode.”

Miren sighed, “I do not enjoy being forced to do anything.”

Mairaela asked, “Why were you cursing when you saw me?”

“Because I had hoped to not have this Trial with you. Anybody but you, really,” Miren sneered.

“Because I’m a Summer Fey,” Mairaela sighed disappointedly, “You know, for a second I was really hoping we got past a little bit of that.” She tapped her foot for a moment, deep in thought.

Mairaela pondered questions that she would like to ask Miren. There were a lot. So, so many. However, Mairaela pondered the ethics of such a thing. There was a reason that Miren didn’t want her to know these things. There was a reason that Miren didn’t want to do this Trial with her, specifically. Did she have a right to pry it out of her with some mystical force holding her mind wide open, like a book to read?

Miren settled in the seat, slumping back a little, “Ask your questions, Summer slut.”

Mairaela furrowed her brow, “Are you just trying to piss me off?”

“No. I’m terrified right now, and I’m turning that fear into aggression,” Miren said, letting out a scream once her sentence was done with.

“Why are you so scared?” Mairaela asked, almost out of pity.

Miren gritted her teeth, shaking her head before she gasped and shouted worriedly, “Because I have secrets that will make you want to harm or kill me, and I do not want to die!” Miren let out a choked cough and screamed, “Fuck you, cat! Fuck you to the hells and back for this!”

Mairaela frowned, “Miren.”

Miren hung her head, going still in her seat as though she’d lost all hope.

“I don’t have to ask anything, Miren,” Mairaela said softly, “We can just wait for an hour. Don’t even have to talk if you don’t want to.” In truth, she didn’t want to talk or do a Trial right now anyway. She would be grieving Joyona for a long, long while, and she needed that time right now, especially. The novelty of her surroundings was wearing off and the pain of losing her dear companion, the one in the party that she’d known the longest, was beginning to squeeze at her heart once more.

Miren let out a sigh, lifting her head to look at Mairaela, “You would do that?”

“Of course,” Mairaela replied softly, “I don’t want to force out your secrets, even if they would upset me. I’m sure some of my secrets would be the same.”

Miren exhaled in relief.

Mairaela turned around, stepping away while she added, “Besides, that’s what you prefer, right?”

Miren nodded her head in relief, but much to her own surprise, she spoke, “No, it isn’t.”

Turning around, Mairaela’s eyes widened, “...what?”

“It isn’t what I want,” Miren shook her head, stomping her feet, her words having betrayed her.

“What do you mean? Why not?”

Miren grit her teeth, but halfway through, she gave up fighting it, “Because I have something I want to tell you. The guilt is killing me. I want to tell you something, but I cannot tell you on my own. I am too afraid.”

That same fear began to crawl up Mairaela’s spine. Whatever this was, it was important. It was big. It would change something.

“What do you want to tell me, Miren?”

Miren was completely still except for the subtlest movement of her lips. Her words were clear, however. Indeed, they changed everything.

“I killed Joyona.”