But did that really mean he'd passed the test of the trial?
The death of her sapling while his continued to grow could simply mean his answer was more correct than hers...
It didn't mean it was the best answer or even what the trial was looking for…
Thankfully, the Unity tree did not stop. It continued to climb, higher and higher, faster and faster. It was like someone had pressed fast forward on a time-lapse. The bark darkened and thickened. The canopy expanded and burst outward like an explosion of golden light. Dozens of branches, then hundreds, then thousands. In only minutes, the tree was massive, its roots extended beyond the limited patch of land to take up much of the courtyard, even pushing all five pedestals askew by displacing the ground beneath them.
A low chime rang out, no louder than a whisper, but it echoed through the stone walls of the courtyard like the reverberation of a great bell.
