by James Tate
"Let's meet back in the sanctuary after Savannah's done with you," Ty suggested, glancing over his shoulder in the direction we'd come. "We can discuss the last trial and come up with a plan for... everything else."
Nodding my agreement, I left him there and went in search of Lady Savannah and the other girls left in the Trials. Which wasn't many.
Chapter 9
"The third trial is the hardest and the most secret," Lady Savannah announced after a serving girl had poured everyone a glass of scarletberry wine. Call us jaded, but no one had accepted the offer of champagne thanks to the first trial.
"This is the one part of the Royal Trials that cannot be tampered with and cannot be influenced because ultimately no one other than the contestants themselves know what it is." She pursed her lips, giving us all a stern look, and I heard her double meaning loud and clear. This was the one trial that technically King Titus shouldn't be able to corrupt. Technically. I'd bet my left shoe he would find a way, though.
"So... what can you tell us?" Lady Agatha asked, looking as confused as the rest of us felt. "How can we prepare if no one knows what the trial is?"
Savannah produced an intricately carved wooden chest from under the table and opened the lid . "As with tradition, you'll each take an item from this chest. On the last day of this week, you'll all enter a chamber in the heart of this palace. The doors will close after you and won’t reopen until the morning. You have the whole week at your leisure to rest and relax... but most importantly, work out how the item you take from this box can help you survive the chamber."
She paused then, her eyes sharp on all of us as we silently processed her limited information. "No one knows what happens in that chamber, only that when it opens, the winner of the Trials will be illuminated."
Illuminated? Like... how the gods sort of glowed a bit?
"What does that mean?" Hazel asked, frowning and rubbing the side of her nose with her forefinger. She did that a lot, and I was coming to see it as her nervous tic.
Savannah just shrugged. "I wasn't alive the last time a Royal Trial was held. I have nothing to base my information off, other than what is recorded in the palace library." She produced a small pouch and handed it to Agatha, seated on her left. "Draw out a stone. Each one is numbered, and that is the order in which you'll select your items."
Agatha did as instructed and handed the bag on to Hazel beside her. Around the table it was passed until I took the last stone out. Number two.
"Who is first?" Savannah asked, and Hazel stood up.
She took her time, frowning into the chest and changing her mind several times before finally settling on a small figurine of a horse. Satisfied with her decision, she sat back down, and I took her place.
The chest was full of what looked like knickknacks. Oddities. As soon as I laid eyes on them, I was confident these were not the original items for the trial. They were beautiful, no doubt, each one carved from precious metals and inlaid with glittering jewels. But each and every one of them was a replica.
"Well shit," I murmured under my breath, and Savannah let out a soft laugh.
"I know, it's hard to choose when you have no idea what they do," she commented, misunderstanding my quiet curse. "But the historians’ records simply state that you need to select the item which speaks to you the most."
None of them will speak to me because they're fakes.
But what good would it do to alert everyone to this fact? If Titus had done this deliberately, then I'd be painting yet another target on my forehead. But the thickness of dust on the lid of the box, marred with only one set of handprints—delicate, female handprints, most likely Savannah’s—suggested the forgeries had been placed there much longer ago.
"Hurry up, Callaluna," Sagen groaned, back in full bitch mode. "Some of us have better things to do this evening."
I gave her a narrow-eyed glare and grabbed an item at random.
The rest of the girls took their turns, and finally Savannah snapped the lid of the box shut and gave us all a weary smile.
"I know these Trials haven't gone quite according to tradition." She grimaced, no doubt thinking of all the deaths so far. "And for that, I'm sorry. Keep your wits about you, ladies. This will all be over in just seven days."
Dismissed, I made my way back through the gardens in the direction of the sanctuary.
"Wait up," Sagen hissed, hurrying to catch up with me, her gaze darting around to make sure no one was watching us.
I paused and arched a brow at her. "What's up?"
She folded her arms over her chest and glared. "Don't pull that with me, Zarina."
"Shh!" I hissed, also darting my gaze around. This part of the gardens wasn't anywhere near as deserted as the area around the sanctuary, and the last thing we needed was for some unsuspecting noble to hear her calling me by my birth name. "Keep it down, would you?"
"Sorry." She shook her head and actually seemed apologetic for once. "I just think that name suits you a hell of a lot better than any of your assumed ones. Anyway, you want to tell me what you know about these?" She held up the item she'd chosen: a little statue of a fox.
"Why would I know anything about these?" I pushed back, unable to help myself from arguing with her. "I'm just a poor orphan girl who knows nothing about the Trials." I whispered that last part. Just in case.
"Stop it." She emphasized her command by poking me in the arm. "You know something. I saw how you looked all surprised, then when I hurried you, you just grabbed any item like it didn't matter."
I rolled my eyes, but also smiled. She really was observant. "Fine, come on. Save me from repeating myself all over again to the guys."
I started back along the path again, taking her with me back to the sanctuary. If anyone had told me a few days ago that I'd be trusting Princess Sagen with our top secret hideout, I'd have laughed in their face. But every time she was real with me, my mother’s mark tingled with certainty that she was someone to trust.
And I needed all the friends I could get if I wanted to reclaim the throne of Teich.
* * *
Lee was awake when we entered the sanctuary, but just barely. His hair was ruffled and his lids were heavy with exhaustion. Poor guy was wrecked from all the healing he'd done in Ironforge.
"You need sleep," I told him, coming to sit beside him on the chaise lounge and leaning into his warmth.
"I just had sleep," he replied, kissing my hair before nodding hello to Sagen. "I see you two have found common ground."
"That doesn't count," I replied, ignoring his comment about Sagen. "You need proper sleep in a proper bed, or you'll burn out."
Lee let out a heavy sigh and tightened his arm around me. "I know. As soon as we come up with a plan."
Sagen had sat herself down on a sapphire-blue armchair—the same one Ophelia had sat in during my vision of her—and was looking around the room.
"So this is the secret lair, huh?" She ran a fingertip down one of the beautiful white Ophelia blooms in the pot beside her chair. "Your work, Lee?"
He snorted a laugh. "It's sure as hell not Zan's."
"You kill one cactus and no one ever lets you live it down," the surly prince in question muttered as he joined us. "Hey Sage."
Sagen gave Zan a smile, moving her knees so he could take the seat beside her.
"Where's Ty?" he asked us, and I shrugged.
"Gone to get us food," Lee answered. "He was worried Zarina would be hungry, before you go thinking he was being nice to us."
Zan's brows shot up, and he gave me a surprised look. "Zarina? Is that what we're calling you now?"
Feeling a little embarrassed at yet another name change, I just smiled. "Um, if you want. Sagen sort of had a point about my identity crisis, so it’s probably not a bad idea to use my, uh, real name. It'd help me get used to it, anyway." I paused, then added, "In private. Obviously. I don't think showing our cards to Titus so soon would be a smart idea."
"Obviously," Sagen muttered i
n a sarcastic drawl. "But if Ty doesn’t bring enough food for everyone, I'm going to have to straight up stab him in the nuts. I'm freaking starving."
Lee laughed. "That's a fight I'd put money on."
Zan snickered, too. "I think the fight I'd rather put money on is between Sagen and our Zarina. From what I've seen, they look pretty evenly matched."
Words stuck in my throat and my heart fluttered. I couldn't respond to his joke about Sagen and I fighting because I was so fixated on what he'd just called me. Our Zarina.
Before I could do anything dumb—like cry—the door opened again and Ty entered, wheeling a cart ahead of him.
"Food’s here!" he announced. "Oh hey, Sage. Good thing I got extra."
The Asintischian princess squinted in the food cart’s direction. "Luckily for you," she murmured. "Your balls were on the line."
"What?" Ty exclaimed, startled. One hand automatically drifted over his crotch, protecting his balls from the threat of Sagen while the rest of us chuckled.
His cart was loaded with plates of food from the palace kitchens, and my stomach growled in an obnoxious way as he dished out plates and handed them over to each of us.
For a while everyone was silent as we ate. It had been a long couple of days, and all five of us were running on empty. It wasn't until the plates were more than half empty that Zan cleared his throat and looked over to me.
"So, tell us about this third trial. What can we do to help you win it?"
Lee made a noise of disagreement, drawing our attention. His cheeks pinked slightly. "Sorry, that was meant to be inside my head," he muttered, then immediately jammed a huge bite of bread into his mouth. Like having a full mouth would stop us from questioning him further.
"Speak up, little brother," Zan drawled, his eyes narrowed. "You don't think we should help Zarina win this stupid game?"
Lee gave a long-suffering eye roll, totally used to his brother’s short temper, and swallowed before replying. "I didn't say that. I didn't say anything. But since you're insisting and I'm too tired for diplomacy, I think you're missing the most important point here." He glared back at Zan, who tightened his jaw. Exhaustion was clear on both their faces, and I sensed we needed to wrap this discussion up quickly or risk more fights breaking out.
"What's the most important point, Lee?" Ty asked, humoring his brother and heading off the inevitable argument when Zan's temper flared.
Lee shifted his glare off the oldest prince and gave Ty a more civil look. "The fact that Zarina shouldn't need to win the Trials at all. She's the rightful ruler of Teich. So why the hell are we continuing with this stupid game and letting father think he can actually win? You remember what he had planned for us, don't you?"
Sagen raised her hand. "I feel like I missed this part. What did he have planned? I thought you guys said he was just plotting to have you all killed?"
"Dear old Dad was plotting to kill these two," Zan said, indicating Ty and Lee, "but he and Taipanus cooked up some potion that would allow him to control me and whoever won the Trials."
Sagen nodded slowly, her brow furrowed as she processed. "So he could publicly step down from the throne, letting the people have what they've been demanding—a new ruler. But all the while, he stays in charge."
Zan nodded. "Exactly. Not to mention, he'd have access to my magic."
Sagen hissed a gasp through her teeth and shook her head. "Shit. That's kind of genius in a scary-ass way."
"So back to my point," Lee said. "Why aren't we plotting the best way to expose him and put Zarina back on the throne? Why do we give a crap about the third trial at all?"
As much as I agreed with him, he was forgetting the oath we'd taken. "We're still magically bound to finish the Trials," I reminded him, indicating to Sagen and myself. "Zan might have survived breaking an oath, but only just."
"And that doesn't mean we can't do both," Ty added, his face somber. "But we can't just turn up in the great hall and be all 'hey, by the way, we found the missing heir to Ophelia's crown. Please hand over the throne and piss off.'"
Sagen nodded her agreement. "Too many aristocrats enjoy Titus's corrupt reign. He still has too much support within court." She paused, thinking. "Zarina needs an army at her back when she makes her move."
This was spiraling way faster than I could keep up. "Guys, hold on a second. This is just..." I trailed off, feeling out of control and a bit panicky. "It's just... I only found out who my mother was yesterday. Now we're talking about challenging Titus and making me queen? This is really spinning me out a bit. Can we just focus on the third trial for now?"
All eyes were on me, and I dodged away from meeting anyone's gaze. Obviously, I knew what needed to happen. Of course we couldn't just leave Titus on the throne doing whatever the fuck he was doing that was destroying the land’s magic. But the logical step of me taking over was crazy daunting. To be totally honest, I'd just assumed Zan would take over.
"Do you want to slap her or shall I?" Sagen stage whispered to Ty, who shushed her.
I rolled my eyes and heaved a sigh. "I know. Can we just deal with this crap one step at a time, please? The oath means Sagen and I have to continue with the Trials, regardless of whatever else we're working on." I waved my hand in Ty's direction—acknowledging the fact that he was clearly plotting, based on his thoughtful expression—and he gave me a small nod.
"So you're okay with us working on things behind the scenes?" he checked, and I gave a hesitant nod back. "Okay. I'll start building an army loyal to the real queen of Teich. In the meantime, you two just need to stay alive. Got it?" He shot a look at both Sagen and I.
"As if Titus's lame attempts to corrupt the Trials will beat us," Sagen scoffed. "Besides, didn't you hear? I now have an estate to run here in Lakehaven. I can't very well go and die now."
Lee wrapped his hand around mine, where I was clutching the edge of a pillow so hard my knuckles were turning white. "I'm sorry; I wasn't thinking about how this must be affecting you. Why don't you tell us about the third trial, and we can go from there?"
I relaxed somewhat under his touch and tried to take a couple of deep breaths. It wasn't just the responsibility of the throne that was doing my head in. It was the fear of how Bloodeye might use it against me.
"I'll start," Sagen offered, her sharp eyes taking in my tension and shifting the focus. "We each selected an item from a box. They’re supposed to help us survive a night in a magical chamber, except the items are bullshit, right Zarina?"
She arched a brow at me, and I gave a small nod.
"They're replicas," I confirmed, taking mine from the seat beside me and holding it up. "Pretty hard to tell, considering they're made with really high quality products and imitation jewels. But they're replicas, nonetheless. I suspect the original items contained magical properties that would have assisted the contestants in the chamber, but these are just pretty trinkets. Expensive, for sure, but totally useless."
"How can you tell?" Ty asked, frowning at the gilt flower in my hand.
I shrugged and tossed it to him. "Can you feel any magic in that?"
He paused a moment but shook his head. "No, but who's to say they were meant to be magical?"
"True, but then why make replicas and take the originals?"
Zan held out his hand to Ty, who gave him the metal flower, then peered at it carefully. As the dim light caught on the fake jewels, they sparkled and my stomach fluttered with excitement—a carryover of spending so many years seeking out and stealing items with far fewer stones and far lower value. Even though they weren’t the real deal, they’d still fetch a hell of a price in Bloodeye’s market.
"It's definitely a replica?" Zan asked, looking up at me from the flower with curiosity. "How can you tell?"
I gave a short laugh. "You heard what Sagen called me back in Ironforge; don't pretend you missed that. Rybet Waise. That was my only name up until two weeks ago, and you know full well that only orphans are given the surname Waise. I grew up in the
Pond, and stealing pretty trinkets was the only way I kept myself out of the whorehouses. I know a replica when I see one."
Lee was the first to speak, after a moment’s tense silence. "That explains how you survived the Red Tide poison. If you grew up in the Pond, you would have had small exposures to it constantly over the years. Your body probably formed some level of immunity to the poison."
"Thank Sal for that, too," Ty muttered, and I cringed.
"Maybe let’s all hold off on thanking the gods for anything right now. I guess I haven't had a chance to tell you everything that happened in Ironforge when Sagen and I went to retrieve the crown." I sucked in a deep breath, quickly summarizing it all in my mind. "After I took the crown, it sucked me into this vision thing that Ophelia had left. The vision gave me a couple of minutes to chat with her, and then it evaporated. Except instead of going straight back to the temple, I got sucked into another vision with—" My words cut off against my will and I made a small scream of frustration.
Lee nodded, understanding. "With the same person who healed you in Wakefield, the one who has spelled you not to speak of your time with him." His lips pursed. "Which I sincerely hope is just a power play and not because anything bad happened."
My brows shot up, and I shook my head. "No. Not that." Because despite feeling utter terror and confusion with the mysterious red-dress-loving god, I didn't think he was all that interested in me sexually. Or maybe I was being naïve. Either way, he hadn't pushed the limits in that way yet.
I closed my eyes for a moment, then tried speaking aloud a few different statements about what had happened in my vision with him to see how far his spell extended.
"Sal was my father," I blurted out, then sighed with relief. The most important takeaway of my interaction with the meddling god could be shared.
"Come again?" Sagen exclaimed, her eyes wide as she stared at me.
Zan frowned. "Was?"
"Was, is, I don't know. He and Ophelia had a thing, and I'm the result of that... thing. I guess. I don't know what that means in terms of all of this. But just let’s all steer clear of swearing to any more gods." I wrinkled my nose. "Especially that bitch Aana."
