‘I like the sentiment,’ I tell him. ‘But there’s one big problem. Exactly how many times have you felt safe since you got accepted to the Retterheld?’

‘Good point,’ he concedes with a half grin. ‘Let’s look through the book.’

Benny’s fingers start flicking through the pages like he’s riffling through a deck of cards, and I can’t help but laugh.

‘You know, the point is to read the pages, not just flick past them.’

‘I am,’ he says, rolling his eyes. ‘My magical sight is handy for more than just spotting tells.’

I draw in a long breath as jealous understanding dawns. ‘You could read an entire library in a week.’

‘Three,’ he tells me. ‘That’s how long it took me to get through the ones in Brandish, anyway.’

‘Wow.’

He grins. ‘It has its uses. But on the battlefield, people don’t really care about reading speed, so my talents are disparaged.’

‘That’s a mistake,’ I murmur.

He grins. ‘I know, but let’s not tell my enemies, hmm? It’s useful to be woefully underestimated.’

I mime buttoning up my lips.

I thought I knew all about Benny’s powers, but there’s so much more to magic than what you see on the outside.

The smile on his lips fades as he scratches the side of his cheek, and I can tell there’s something he wants to talk to me about, but I’ve no idea why he’d be having difficulty saying it.

‘Do you really trust him?’ he asks finally.

‘Kyor? Yes,’ I say without hesitation. ‘He’s known about me since it happened, and he’s not said a word to anyone. I know he made some mistakes when he was younger, but he wants to put them right.’

Benny’s only reaction is a single nod. ‘Okay, next question: do you think he’ll be a good king?’

I shrug. ‘Honestly, I don’t know. But I know he’ll try to be. Is that the same thing?’

‘Maybe,’ he says wistfully, offering me another smile.

‘Sorry, but there’s nothing in here that sounds like what you’ve been able to do. No creating ice or talking to krakens. Seems like you’re even more special than we thought, Rosey.’

My disappointment is palpable. Still, I go to thank Benny for his help, only for my words to get lost in a yawn.

‘Maybe it’s time we head to bed?’ he suggests.

‘It’s probably a good idea,’ I agree, rising to my feet. ‘See you at breakfast in the morning.’

‘See you at breakfast.’

Given that I’m now a familiar face to the kitchen staff, there’s no real need for me to go upstairs for breakfast, other than the fact that I don’t want to leave Benny on his own. However, five minutes after tucking into my pastries, I thoroughly regret my decision.

‘Any chance one of these seats is free?’ Jonas asks.

Given that the only reason they are is because our friends are dead, I don’t bother smiling at his attempt at a joke.

‘I think you’ll find there are plenty of other seats,’ Benny says. ‘Might even find one or two where you’re welcome.’

‘Benny, it’s fine,’ I say. ‘If this is where he wants to sit, then I’m not going to stop him. I’d hate him to feel pressured to do something he really doesn’t want to do.’

My less-than-subtle dig hits exactly as I hoped it would, and Jonas inhales stiffly.

‘How much did you tell him?’ Jonas asks, nodding at Benny.

‘Everything,’ Benny replies for me. ‘She told me every part. And guess what, I didn’t try to blackmail her because of it, because that’s not what friends do.’

‘I wasn’t blackmailing her,’ Jonas hisses back as he sits down. ‘I was trying to help her. Long term. My proposal would keep her safe.’

‘Well, your proposal sucked. And it sounds to me like you were trying to get one over on the prince by, well, literally getting one over on Rose.’

‘This stops now, guys,’ I say, looking at them both. ‘We can’t do this. The only reason we’ve got this far is because we’ve worked together. All of us. I don’t care that only one of us can win. We’re not going to end this thing by tearing each other apart. Not after everything we’ve been through.’ I turn to Jonas and lock my eyes with his. ‘It may have escaped your memory, but the only reason you’re still here is because Benny and I went back onto the ice to get you to the end of the third trial.’

‘Not to mention Rose saved our arses against that kraken. Otherwise, neither of us would be here,’ Benny interjects.

I shoot him a quick smile. While I’m grateful for his support, there’s still more I’ve got to say to Jonas.

‘Jonas, I know, or at least I hope, that what you said to me yesterday was purely out of concern.’

‘It was⁠—’

‘I’m not done. As I said, I’m sure it came from a place of concern, and I am grateful that you worry about me. Truly. But like I’ve been saying since the beginning of the Retterheld, either I deserve to be here, deserve to earn the gifting, or I don’t. It was my decision to enter. My decisions that got me this far. If you don’t want to work together anymore, I understand, I really do, but if you do want our help, you don’t get to dictate to me anymore. That’s not how friendship works. And if you can’t honour that, then I guess I got it right yesterday, and there was never friendship here at all.’

He exhales. ‘I know we’ve worked together this far, but now it’s the Ofur, the final task, where only one person can be gifted. That’s the whole point of the competition. I’m not going to turn on you, Rose, I promise that, but I think we should make an agreement now that this is where we stop actively helping each other. It’s the right thing to do.’

Benny looks at me. ‘Yep, do not accept the proposal.’ He turns his attention back to Jonas. ‘Of the people who die in the Ofur, eighty percent of them are killed by other Rettlings, not by the trial itself. You know that, right?’

Jonas grits his teeth. ‘Yes, I know that.’

‘So why the hell would you not want to work together?’

‘Because I want the gifting!’ Jonas nearly shouts. ‘If we work together, then how do we decide who gets it? We can’t, and that’s the truth.’ His chair scrapes against the floor as he stands up. ‘I can’t keep going around in circles with this. You two do whatever you want to do. But I’m out.’

His footsteps echo across the dining hall as he marches outside and towards the battle yard.

‘You know, there was actually a time when I thought that guy was hot,’ Benny mutters. ‘I really do have shit taste in men.’

‘You really do. I’m going back down to the kitchens,’ I say, standing. ‘Catch you later.’

With Jonas heading out to train, I decide to go back to Kyor’s room. It’s not that I don’t feel safe – with so few of us left, Roderick has no issue siphoning everyone’s powers at once, meaning Zara can’t strike me with her magic. No, the reason I don’t want to train is something else entirely. I don’t admit as much to Benny, but the magic I used in the fourth trial took more out of me than I expected, and I’m still worn around the edges. I could do with at least another hour of sleep.

Given how few of us there are to feed, I expect the kitchen to be empty. But instead, Leilah is still there.

‘Rose,’ she says. ‘Everything all right?’

She offers me a sad smile. It’s pretty much the only expression she’s offered me since telling me that the plans to get food out to the slums didn’t work. Of course I had to pick the ball when the rebels attacked to arrange my gift. She’s tried again since then, but apparently it’s been impossible to get permission for carriages to move between here and the slums. Clearly Korvane thinks the rebels all came from there.

‘Yes. Yes,’ I tell her. ‘Everything’s fine.’

‘Good. I kept a couple of extra pastries for you.’ She gestures to a plate by her side. It’s piled high, the same way she always did for Kyor.