Chapter 86: Are You Giving Me Advice?

The selected competitors gathered outside the trial village early in the morning, the air still cool and faintly blue with mist. Roxanne stood beside Elias while the four Moonstones arrived with Serena and Jace trailing behind them, both of whom had come along only to see the group off before their own scheduled duties.

Liam took one look at the expedition packs lined up on the grass and groaned loudly. "Tell me we’re not expected to carry all this," he said. An instructor glanced over. "You’re welcome to leave it here," she said. "Wonderful," Liam said. "I love a challenge that offers alternatives." Roxanne laughed as he reluctantly swung the pack over his shoulder anyway.

The instructor explained that this was an advanced navigation expedition. The group had to reach three checkpoints, record their findings, and return before nightfall, with limited supplies and no access to the camp’s usual assistance. The exercise would be supervised from a distance, which was the only thing keeping it from feeling like a genuine disappearance into the wild.

The instructor divided the twelve into smaller teams for different sections of the route. Roxanne was paired with Elias for the first leg, while Kai was sent with another group and Lucien and Roshan were assigned to a separate path entirely. Liam ended up with two competitors who already looked like they regretted letting him pick the walking pace.

Before the groups split, Kai came over to Roxanne. "Don’t rush the descent," he said. "The ground gets loose after the ridge." She raised an eyebrow. "Are you giving me advice or issuing an order?" she asked. "Advice," he said. "Then I’ll consider it," she said. His mouth twitched. "That’s all I’m asking," he said, and he walked off without arguing, leaving her strangely pleased that he trusted her to decide what to do with the warning.

Roxanne and Elias followed a narrow trail through towering trees and loose rock, their partnership easier now than it had been during their first competitive session months ago. Elias spotted a marker pointing toward a steep dead end, but Roxanne found a second one half hidden behind a tree, showing the actual route.

"You always look for the thing everyone else misses," Elias said. "Someone has to stop you from walking into obvious traps," she said. "I wasn’t going to walk into it," he said. "Of course not," she said, and they exchanged a look full of easy amusement before continuing on.

The teams met at the first checkpoint, a clear pool beneath a waterfall, and for a little while the whole expedition felt more like a school trip than a competition. Liam pulled off his boots and sat at the water’s edge, and Tessa splashed him without warning. Jace joined in immediately, and within minutes half the group was arguing loudly over who had started it.

Roxanne tried to stay out of the chaos, and she failed the instant Liam flicked water at her face. "Moonstone," she warned. "Silver," he shot back, grinning. She splashed him square in the face, and the whole clearing erupted into laughter. Even Lucien, hunched over his route notes a few feet away, looked up with an unmistakable smile. For a few minutes Roxanne wasn’t performing or competing or defending anything. She was simply having fun.

At the second checkpoint, the marked route was blocked by a fallen tree and a washed-out section of trail. Several competitors began arguing over whether to backtrack or risk a detour, and Lucien started assessing the terrain himself. Roxanne noticed a narrow path running above the obstruction and suggested using the exposed rock to avoid the unstable ground entirely.

Lucien studied it and asked her two practical questions, and she answered both without hesitation. "Then that’s our route," he said, turning to the others. Later, as they walked, she asked him why he hadn’t just decided himself. "I didn’t let you do anything," he said. "You assessed the situation. You had a plan. I agreed with it." The matter-of-fact answer stayed with her longer than a compliment would have.

The path narrowed along a rocky slope a while later, and Roxanne’s group caught up with Kai’s team at a ledge where students had to cross one at a time. She stepped out first, and Kai waited on the far side, ready but not reaching for her.

Halfway across, a loose stone shifted beneath her boot, and she caught her balance on her own. His hand stayed out anyway, offered rather than imposed, and she took it for the last step.

Once she was safely across, neither of them let go right away. "You were waiting for me," she said. "You were taking your time," he said. "You could’ve gone ahead," she said. "I could have," he said, and his thumb brushed her knuckles before he finally released her hand. Neither of them said anything more, but the brief contact stayed with her for the rest of the trail.

At the final checkpoint, Roshan noticed she had barely touched her water and passed her his spare bottle without breaking stride in their conversation. She drank, then noticed his own bottle was nearly empty. "You gave me yours," she said. "I have another," he said. She checked his pack and found that he didn’t.

"Roshan." He looked entirely unbothered. "You’re thirsty," he said. "So are you," she said, handing the bottle back and insisting they refill both containers at the checkpoint spring.

He watched her for a moment, his expression softening. "You don’t have to keep track of me," he said. "I know," she said, and it felt like a quiet reversal of everything between them so far.

They reached the final marker with time to spare, and their instructor recorded strong results, praising their navigation, communication, and ability to adjust when routes changed. There was no grand prize, only the satisfaction of finishing something difficult together.

On the walk back, Liam insisted the waterfall stop should count as official training, since he had burned considerable energy being attacked. "You started it," Tessa said. "I was creating team spirit," he said. "You were screaming," she said. "Enthusiastically," he agreed, and Roxanne laughed so hard she had to slow down.

Back at camp, the instructor pinned the expedition results to the noticeboard, and Roxanne expected nothing more than times and checkpoint scores. Instead, a new section listed students recommended for the next stage of Advanced Training, and her name appeared alongside all four Moonstones and Elias. Beneath it, a notice read: Advanced Training Phase Three, beginning after the Lunar Trials.

Liam read it over her shoulder. "More training? I thought we’d earned a holiday." "You earned a shower," Kai told him. "And you earned my resentment," Liam said, and Roxanne shook her head, smiling, as the group headed toward the cabins. For once, the next challenge didn’t feel like something waiting to take her place away from her. It felt like somewhere she might choose to go.