“I have.”
She glanced toward the tray of untouched food. “You should eat,” she said curtly, then headed to the back of the room and disappeared through a door I assumed led to the bathroom.
I did as she said and ate. The soup was cold and the bread stale, but I felt much better when I was done. Daciana returned wrapped in a towel and got into bed naked. She pulled the covers up to her neck until all I could see was her shaved head.
“The light hurts my eyes,” I said. “How long will that last?”
Daciana pushed up on one elbow and watched me with interest. “Ferko didn’t explain, did she?”
I shook my head.
She barked a laugh, lay back down, and rolled over to one side. Silence filled the room. Great, I had to share the room with someone who hated me.
“You should be fine tomorrow,” Daciana said. “Make sure you eat. A lot.” She grabbed an extra pillow and put it over her head, signaling that she was done talking to me.
I had left the cheese on the tray, so I picked it up and ate it, wrinkling my nose at its strong smell. Vaguely, I realized that Daciana had acted normal, not picking up any Trove scents from me. It seemed I was truly safe from becoming a blood slave now. At least there was that.
When I was done chewing, I walked to the front door and opened it. It wasn’t locked. I was free to come and go as I pleased where, as a Pawn, I’d been confined to my dormitory at night.
Barefoot, I stepped outside. The stone steps were cold, but not terribly unpleasant as I’d expected. The mid-November night swirled with a chilled wind. I peered up at the clear sky, marveling at its beauty.
At the sight, I nearly fell to my knees again, though this time from awe and not pain. There were a million stars in the firmament. Bright pinpricks of all sizes, dotting the black, velvet sky.
The wind sang against the White Palace’s copper towers. I could almost hear a metallic quality to the sound. The pines swayed, impregnating the air with their fresh scent. It was nothing like I had ever experienced.
Before, my senses had been... deprived.
Nighttime was absolutely magnificent, and I had known nothing of beauty.
CHAPTER 11
“Wake up!” a loud voice pierced through my dream of a million brilliant stars fallen from the sky. My eyes sprang open, expecting to find someone standing next to me. No one was there.
I sat up and glanced around the room. Daciana was sitting up on her bed, getting dressed. “We have training,” she said, without looking at me.
“I thought Ferko was supposed to train me,” I said. The contract hadn’t been specific on this account. It had mentioned training, but not who would lead it. I had assumed it would be Knight Ferko, just like Rooks led Pawn training most of the time.
Daciana pulled up her pants. “She’ll be there. Knight Kelsus, too. You’d better hurry or you’ll be late.”
“But it’s not even four AM,” I said, glancing at the clock on my night table. It read three forty-eight.
She slipped on her tall boots and headed for the door.
“You could have told me last night that I was supposed to be up early,” I said.
“Come in through the palace’s east entrance,” Daciana said as an afterthought when she closed the door behind her.
“Great!” I jumped out of bed, wishing I had time for a shower. Instead, I dressed quickly in the unmarked uniform I’d gotten from the palace and hurried out the door.
It was still dark outside, for which I was grateful. Daciana had said my vision should be back to normal today, but the memory of the lancing pain made me worry. Trying not to get distracted by the star-speckled sky, I kept my head down until I made it to the east palace entrance, which was nothing but a large oak door reinforced with metal.
I pulled the handle and entered into a long corridor with a stone floor. Nothing fancy. It was just simple, utilitarian. Gas sconces illuminated the way. I followed the sound of voices to an open door and walked in.
Kelsus, Ferko, and Daciana were standing around a table, a long paper scroll unrolled in front of them. They ignored me, even as my boots tapped against the floor. I glanced around the large room as I went. In addition to the table, there were barrels strewn all around, ropes hanging from the ceiling, free-standing wooden walls, sacks, carriage wheels, marble statues with missing parts, and more.
The place was in complete disarray, but there also seemed to be some sort of order to the madness.
When I got to the table, Knight Kelsus was the only one who acknowledged my presence with a nod of his head. Then the conversation continued.
The long piece of paper on the table turned out to be a map of Acedrex.
Daciana waved her hand over the middle of the map. “I finished searching this area. Squares E4 and G4. I found nothing. Over the next month, I will focus on A4 and C4.”
“Good,” Kelsus said. “Do we know if Neculai finished searching his assigned area?” He picked up a piece of paper that sat next to the map and read. “A5 and B5.”
“He never indicated he had,” Ferko said. “I’m afraid the search will have to begin again, which will cause delays the Queen will not appreciate. An untrained Rook,” she glanced at me, “will only make it worse.”
Kelsus sighed, looking preoccupied. Was he worried Lovina might try to eat him again? Until this day, I didn’t understand why the Queen had attacked him and nearly drained him of all his blood that day after her visit to Acedrex. Had she known what she was doing? Or had she acted blindly, the same way I had when I... fed on that man?
I pushed the images of his ravaged body away from my mind and told myself it had all been a bad dream. It felt like the only way to cope. Otherwise, I would crumble.
Ferko removed her jacket. “We should get started.” She gestured for me to take off my own jacket and follow her. I did so.
“First things first,” she said as she approached a barrel by the wall. Resting on top of the barrel was a wide-mouth ceramic pot. Ferko picked it up, removed its cork top, pulled something out, and offered it to me.
I put my hand out, curious.
“This is bloodshade,” she said.
I nearly pulled back as she said the word. Two leaves rested on my hand. They were oval-shaped and stiff dry. Familiar.
“Eat them,” Ferko said.
“What?” I blinked and examined her face to make sure she wasn’t joking.
“Eat them.”
I brought them close to my mouth, expecting their bitter scent to hit my nose, but their smell was different.
“They stink,” I said, turning my face away.
Ferko tapped her foot impatiently. “Eat them!” she ordered.
Reluctantly, I held my breath and put them in my mouth. As soon as I started chewing, I gagged, my stomach flipping itself into a knot. I heaved and, despite my best efforts to keep chewing, I bent over and spat the leaves on the floor. I wretched and wretched while Ferko laughed as if it were the funniest thing she’d seen.
“Now you know exactly how to identify bloodshade,” she said. “If I could, I would now let you sniff Varujan’s neck so you could learn what a Trove smells like, but the Queen won’t let anyone near him. I assure you, however, if you ever encounter a Trove who is not on bloodshade, you’ll know. Next lesson.”
She moved away from the barrel and walked to the far wall of the room where a set of cubbyholes were carved into the wall. I quickly realized there were sixty-four of them, a grid of eight by eight, the outside edges of each compartment painted either black or white, just like a chessboard. And tucked inside every cubbyhole were hundreds of rolled up scrolls.
“These are maps,” she said. “Each slot is numbered like a chessboard.” She pointed at a label toward the middle that read D5. “Here, you’ll find all the maps that relate to Square D5. Before you head into any square in search of Troves, you need to study the maps for that area. They’ll show you all the residences, businesses, and their occupants. All maps
are kept up to date by people in charge of maintaining an accurate count of Acedrex’s residents. You’ll notice there are fewer maps in the black slots. Those only depict the lay of the land as, for obvious reasons, we’re not allowed to search for Troves in those squares.”
I blinked at the many scrolls. I’d never known our monarchs kept such accurate records.
“In addition to the maps,” Ferko went on, “there are ledgers that list all the Troves ever found in white territory. Also, there are family trees for all the known Trove families in our squares. You’ll find those at the west wing library. I will show you later. So, as you can see, you’ll have a lot of studying and searching in order to find Lovina a Trove. But, as inexperienced as you are, I’ll surely beat you to it.”
Knight Ferko had promised Queen Lovina to find her a Trove, even though that was not a Knight’s job. Was Ferko serious? Or was she just trying to appear attentive and submissive to her Queen to hide the fact that she wanted to take the throne?
Putting on a satisfied smile, she added, “Once Varujan dies, the Queen will make sure to give her Rooks a nice incentive to hurry up and do their job. So I advise you to get familiar with these maps as fast as you can. You don’t want to find out Lovina’s cruel methods. Trust me.”
“Now,” she turned away from the maps and faced the room. “Let’s test your strength.”
I glanced around looking for Kelsus and Daciana. They were by the hanging ropes, climbing them to the high ceiling then sliding back down as soon as they reached the top. It took Daciana but a matter of seconds to perform the feat while Kelsus did it in half the time. It was astounding.
“How about a race against Rook Daciana to see who can climb faster?” Ferko said, noticing my interest in the pair.
“What? No, I couldn’t possibly...”
Ferko ignored me and joined the others. “Rook Flagfall wants to race your Rook to the top,” she told Kelsus.
Knight Kelsus seemed surprised for a moment, then just shrugged. “Sure.”
I walked to one of the ropes and gave Daciana a sheepish look. She sneered at me and grabbed the thick, rough rope with both hands. I did the same.
“Go!” Ferko commanded.
I awkwardly twined the rope between my legs and tried to pull myself up. I was barely a fraction of the way up—sweat already dripping from every unladylike corner of my body—when Daciana rang a bell at the top and, effortlessly, slid back down, throwing a derisive glance my way as she passed.
I let go of the rope and dropped the two feet I’d managed to climb.
“Again,” Ferko said.
“What’s the point?” I stared at the ground. “I need to practice.”
“No,” Ferko said. “What you need is to climb while you focus.” She pressed a stiff finger to my chest. “Focus on this.”
Her dark gaze drilled into mine as she leaned closer, and I didn’t need to be told exactly what she was referring to. I knew.
I could still feel that droning in my chest, the heat and cold that seemed to fight each other, trying to prevail. It had been there since the moment I tasted Lovina’s blood. It wasn’t as strong as it had been two nights ago, but the sensation hadn’t left me.
Ferko nodded knowingly. “Tap into that. Focus on it.”
Daciana and I took our places once more. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, focusing on the constant unrest in my chest. As I did so, it seemed to roil faster and faster, filling my limbs with energy.
Ferko issued the command. My eyes sprang open. Hand over hand, I pulled myself up. I reached the top, pulled on the bell, then slid down the rope all without thinking. Daciana landed next to me an instant later.
She turned her back on me and stomped away. “She just fed two days ago. Of course, she’s stronger.”
I stared at my hands in awe.
Ferko chuckled behind me and put a heavy hand on my shoulder. “Good job, Rook Flagfall. You learn fast and seem... especially talented. Don’t you think, Knight Kelsus?”
“Indeed,” he said, appraising me as if it were the first time he’d seen me. “Keep up the good work,” he added, then left.
Ferko addressed me again. “We have a few minutes before we need to meet the Pawns for their training. Let’s use them productively. How about we find out how strong you really are.” She turned to a row of wooden barrels in the middle of the room, all marked with large painted numbers. They started at fifty and went all the way to three-hundred in increments of twenty-five.
“Let’s start with one hundred pounds,” she said, pointing at the third barrel in the lineup.
“What am I supposed to do?” I asked, approaching the barrel.
“Lift it.”
CHAPTER 12
I was able to lift the three-hundred-pound barrel. In my mind’s eye, I could see myself bending my knees, awkwardly wrapping my arms around the wide container and lifting it. It had been incredible and oddly satisfying.
I’d thought about it all morning, struggling to focus as Knight Ferko officially introduced me to her Quadrant and informed them I would be conducting their morning training.
They knew me, and I knew them, of course, so it was just a formality.
Yessenia was still the First Pawn since I had pardoned her. She avoided my gaze, seeming embarrassed. Dominik, a bearded man of about thirty, was the Second Pawn. Aurica, a wide-eyed girl with blond hair, was the Third Pawn, and Sorinna, the agile woman who had fought in the first challenge I ever witnessed, was the Fourth Pawn.
Their training, as I knew well, started with running in the woods behind the palace. They went without being told but were surprised when I joined them. I was curious about how my stamina had changed. Besides, I’d grown to enjoy the clarity of mind that running through the woods gave me. I kept up with Yessenia, the fastest of them, without breaking a sweat.
After training, we ate breakfast. I devoured two plates of egg, ten strips of bacon, and four well-buttered rolls. The food seemed to smell and taste better than normal. I also drank five glasses of water and felt much calmer afterward. Finally, the buzzing in my chest had quieted down somewhat.
When I finally took time to breathe, I realized the oddness of sitting at Knight Ferko’s table. Across the way, Vinna watched me over her mug as she drank. I attempted a smile, which felt stiff and forced. She gave me a curt nod. Nothing else.
As we filed out of the dining hall, I followed her to the stable. The day was clear and chilly. It felt great.
I had thirty minutes before I needed to meet Ferko back at the palace, and I wanted to at least talk to her. In a moment of weakness, I had confided in Vinna. She knew my goal, and I needed to know if I could count her as an ally—at least one who would simply keep my secret.
“Hello, Vinna,” I said as I entered the stable, my nose filling with an overpowering scent of manure. She was in front of her horse’s stall, rubbing the black gelding’s nose.
She glanced my way. “Congratulations, Rook Flagfall,” she said stiffly.
“You don’t need to call me that,” I said.
“Yes, I do.”
She opened the door to the stall, grabbed her horse’s reins, and led him outside. I followed. Others from her Quadrant filed in as we exited and gave us sidelong glances.
“I hope that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends anymore,” I said in a jovial tone.
She said nothing.
I glanced down and happened to notice the new insignia on her jacket, a Pawn with two bars underneath it. “Oh, you’re Second Pawn.”
There was a flash of discontent on her face that told me she didn’t think this was a good thing. She’d gone up in rank because I’d become a Rook. That meant that Petru was First Pawn now, and Breen was Third.
“Who will be Fourth Pawn?” I asked, realizing the spot was left empty.
“Two new Challengers are scheduled to fight this afternoon,” she said.
“Oh.”
“Yeh’ve caused a real stir,” Vinna said in a
joking tone, though I felt she meant it in a negative way.
“I’m sorry, Vinna,” I said. “I know you want to remain a Pawn.”
She blinked in surprise, then narrowed her eyes as if trying to decide if my apology was honest.
As she tied her horse to the fence, I took a step closer and spoke in a whisper. “I know your inclination is not to trust me. I’m a Rook, now. I understand. You may feel I would brand you as a traitor for not embracing every aspect of this... system, but I wouldn’t do that. I haven’t changed.” It sounded like a lie, even to my ears. I had changed plenty. My body, at least. Still, I went on because no matter how hard it turned out to be, I was bent on remaining true to myself. “I’m the same Bianca, with the same goals.”
“Yes, Rook Flagfall,” Vinna said, stepping back. “Now, I must tend to my horse. Excuse me.” She untied the gelding and started leading it to the water trough while I stood there like an idiot.
Anger flared in my chest. Hot and cold and swirling.
I snatched her wrist. “Who do you think you are?” I demanded.
Vinna’s eyes went wide and filled with fear as she took in my face. “No one, Rook Flagfall.” She bowed and stared at the floor. “I’m no one.”
I let go of her and slowly stepped back, trying to push down the storm that raged in my chest.
“I’m sorry,” I said, then turned on my heel and walked away, fully aware that I was not the same Bianca Flagfall I claimed to be.
CHAPTER 13
When I met Ferko in the west wing of the palace, I was still upset about my conversation with Vinna. In my mind, I kept going back and forth between being angry and regretful for my reaction.
I understood Vinna’s behavior and realized I must give her time. She was right to be cautious and, after the way I’d acted today, I’d done nothing but reinforce her fears. I didn’t think there was anything I could tell her to make her change her mind. I would just have to show her.
“You’re late,” Knight Ferko said, peering at her pocket watch.
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