The Royal Trials: Imposter
Page 16
“Excuse me?” I blinked at her in shock. Surely she wasn't serious.
She grinned like a razor-toothed drachen. “You heard me, Callaluna. If you are so confident that her glass isn't poisoned, why don't you drink it? Or were you just lying to make her feel better about impending death?”
“Were you?” the panicked girl whimpered on the edge of another meltdown.
There was no time to argue, though, as the king stood and tapped his glass with a metal teaspoon, calling for everyone's attention. His speech was the same as every night, full of bullshit and thinly veiled threats, so I felt no need to listen.
All the while, Sagen glared her challenge at me.
“Fine,” I growled, when the king raised his glass in a silent command to drink up. Quickly, before I could change my mind, I switched glasses with the girl beside me—whose name I still couldn't remember—and took a long sip.
Several of the ladies who'd been watching in fascination gasped in horror, and even Sagen's brows rose in surprise. Guess she’d really underestimated the size of my ovaries.
Well, that and the fact that I’d had no sparks from my natural intuition when I'd handled the glass to smell it. It was the one thing that had kept me alive this long, so it seemed stupid not to continue trusting it now.
Everyone else drank as they were commanded to, and it turned out to be another girl further down the table who drew the short straw that night.
“I can't believe you did that,” the trembling girl from beside me breathed as she watched the unlucky victim being carried out of the dining hall.
“Neither can I,” Prince Louis snapped from my other side. “Of all the stupid, reckless, arrogant things—”
“Arrogant?” I spluttered, cutting him off and pinning him with a death glare. “Oh, you're a fine one to go throwing that word around, Your Royal Highness.”
“I would save the venom if I were you, Lady Callaluna,” Prince Louis warned me, leaning in close so that only I could hear his words. “You're already walking thin ice after running from the dance the other night.”
I snorted my severe lack of care for what he thought was best and opened my mouth to tell him as much.
“Please, My Lady,” he cut me off, placing a firm hand on my knee under the table. “Just let's suffer through this dinner without any more deaths. Things are depressing enough without you getting dragged to the dungeons for disrespecting your monarchs.”
As badly as I wanted to tell him exactly where to shove his concerns, I really did need to bite back my temper. My new objective was to endear myself to the princes, no matter how palatable I found the task, and my current attitude was far from endearing.
“Of course,” I replied in a falsely calm voice, offering him a tight smile. “Please excuse me, Prince Louis. I think the sight of ladies dying night after night must be affecting my temper.”
The young royal pulled back a fraction, removing his hand from my leg and staring at me intently, like he was frowning under his mask. “Yes, I imagine that's to be expected,” he murmured.
Anything else he might have said was—thankfully—interrupted by Sagen once more. She really was determined to make an impression, and for once, I was happy to let her command attention. I needed the reprieve to pull my shit together, anyway.
Little did I realize just how accomplished she was at keeping that attention once she had it. I found myself not needing to say a single word until halfway through the main course, and even then it was only because Prince Louis turned to me very deliberately and asked my opinion on the subject of discussion.
“My apologies,” I simpered, swallowing the piece of bread I'd just bitten into. “I wasn't listening to a word Her Highness was saying. Can you repeat the question?”
The corners of the prince's lips twitched, like he was fighting a smile, but he politely obliged. “Her Highness was just commenting on the state of some of the outlying townships of Teich and those that border with our neighboring kingdoms. Apparently some have become completely deserted in recent months.”
I blinked at him, feeling like I was missing something. We'd been hearing about these mysterious disappearances for some time in the Pond, where gossip seemed to run more rampant than the palace. Entire towns full of people were just disappearing like they'd never existed, leaving no trace of where they might have gone.
“So, what was the question, Your Highness?” I repeated, failing to see what he was actually asking me.
“Her Highness suggested someone may be forming a people’s militia. It's common knowledge that our rule over Teich is not universally supported, so what do you think?” Prince Louis pinned me with the full weight of his attention, and I ate another piece of bread while I considered a diplomatic response.
“I think it is possible some people may do that, sure. But whole townships? Women, children, elderly... animals? I think that is implausible for this specific discussion.” I shrugged and used the rest of my bread to soak up meat juices from my plate.
The prince made a humming noise, like he wasn't too sure what his own opinion was on the matter.
“Oh, okay. I didn't realize you were an expert in this area, Callaluna.” Sagen snorted an ugly sound and rolled her eyes. “So what is your explanation for it all?”
I frowned at her, considering just how dumb she really was under all that bravado. “Magic, obviously.”
There was a confused silence, as everyone who'd been partaking in the discussion stared at me.
“How so?” Prince Louis prompted me, and I sighed. Conspiracy theories about the balance of magic were not lighthearted dinnertime conversation.
Dabbing at my mouth with my napkin, I collected my thoughts and condensed them. “It's the same as what's happened to the Wilds. The same as the Darkness and the Plague. Our land's magic is still not satisfied with the balance, and it's punishing us.”
“That's insanity,” the girl beside Sagen chuckled. “That stuff is all in the past; the princes fixed it all when they cured the Plague.”
“Are you sure?” I challenged her, and her smile faltered.
“Yes?” she replied, sounding less sure of herself. “Nothing bad has happened in the ten years since then. Isn't that proof enough?”
I scoffed a laugh. “No, nothing has happened here. In Lakehaven. Can you say for sure that nothing strange or unfortunate has happened in other cities? Or other kingdoms?” I raised a brow at Sagen. “Has Asintisch been the picture of health in the past ten years?”
Sagen's mouth tightened so much I worried it might disappear, but she didn't deny my implications.
“Interesting theory,” Prince Louis commented, sipping his glass of claret. “What do you suppose would be the way to fix it?”
Smiling sweetly at him, I took a sip of my own wine. “I haven't the slightest clue, Your Highness. None but the royals possess magic anymore, so how could a mere aristocrat hope to find answers to what may be the death of our entire world?”
Louis narrowed his eyes at me, and I stared back with an innocently neutral expression. It was hard to tell in the candlelight, but his eyes seemed lighter than his brothers. Maybe green or blue?
“Ladies!” a herald boomed, standing beside the king's seat. “We have a special surprise for you tonight. All the way from Her Highness the lovely Princess Sagen's home kingdom of Asintisch, the talented Tanzer and Kunst.”
Everyone applauded politely, and Sagen beamed like they were applauding her and not the two lithe young acrobats who were descending from the ceiling on strips of silk.
Seductive music accompanied their performance, played by two men with cellos in the corner of the room, and the two acrobats held everyone’s full attention. They were utterly mesmerizing as they defied gravity, twisting and spinning, climbing and dropping.
It was when their performance was drawing to a close—evident by the increasing tempo of the tune and dramatic way the young girl paused in her partner’s grip like she was checking to make sure every
one was paying attention—that my scar tingled and my gut clenched with foreboding.
Something bad was about to happen.
All of a sudden, the female performer tumbled from her partner’s embrace. The gathered audience of diners gasped as one, their horrified eyes glued to the girl’s fall, so no one was watching when a dagger whispered through the dimly lit room and flew directly toward Prince Louis's heart.
No one except me.
With no time to think, I simply reacted.
My hand shot out as quick as lightning, and I hissed in pain as my fingers closed around the moving blade. It had been a reckless choice, for sure, but my hand could heal a few slices from a flying dagger. I doubted Louis could heal from four inches of steel through his heart.
Time seemed to slow, and I blinked at my blood dripping onto Louis's dinner plate, scarcely believing it had worked. I'd stopped the blade.
Louis sucked in a sharp breath, staring at the bloody blade in my grip just an inch from his chest. His lips parted to say something, but Princess Sagen's scream drowned out whatever it was he said. All I caught was “...Calla...” before the entire room flew into motion.
In hindsight, it probably didn't look great. Everyone had been focused on the death-defying tricks above the banquet table until the girl landed her fall safely. Clapping and applauding, they'd all looked around the table once more to gush over the performance and found me with a dagger poised over Prince Louis’s heart.
Shit.
“Lady Callaluna tried to murder the prince!” Sagen screeched like a banshee, shoving back from the table and pointing an accusing finger at me. “She's a murderer!”
Other ladies joined in, shrieking and babbling with all the intelligence of a pillow full of feathers, and I really needed to fight an eyeroll that could strain my eyeballs. The whole thing was utterly absurd. For one, I could hardly be a murderer if no one was dead, and for two, I wasn't stupid enough to attempt an assassination in such a public arena.
“She did not,” Prince Louis snapped, scowling at Princess Sagen even as he placed a gentle hand on my wrist to lower it to the table. “Any idiot can see she just saved me. Look.” With strong fingers, he opened my hand and revealed the mess inside.
Until I saw it, it’d been just a dull, burning sort of pain. But the second I saw it, the pain seemed to increase by roughly six thousand times. The throwing dagger had been sharpened to a paper-thin edge and had sliced through my palm and fingers like they were made of warm butter. In some patches, gleaming white bone and cartilage showed through, but for the most part it was just a bloody, shredded mess.
“You need medical attention,” Louis muttered, and I refrained from pointing out how painfully obvious that statement was. Around us, the commotion was only getting worse with the king storming toward us and guards hovering all around, unsure who the hell they should be dragging to the dungeons.
“I'm taking Lady Callaluna to the medical wing,” Louis announced to his father, who had just arrived beside us and was glaring down on me with a face like thunder.
“You're going nowhere until we work out just what in Zryn's name happened here, son!” the king bellowed, and I found myself tensing against the sheer volume he projected.
Prince Louis shoved his chair back and stood toe-to-toe with his king and father. “If she doesn't receive help now, she will lose the use of that hand. I won't reward her good deed like that, sire, nor should you ask me to.”
There was a tense pause before the king grunted and moved back a fraction of a step to allow Louis to help me from my seat. “This isn't over, son. No one brings weapons to my dinner table and gets away with it. Am I perfectly clear?” This question was aimed at me, but I was too dizzy with pain to do much more than nod meekly.
Prince Louis plucked the blade from my bleeding mess of a hand, then wrapped a handkerchief around my palm before leading me from the dining hall.
“You saved my life,” he murmured as we hurried through the silent corridors toward the medical wing. “I didn't think you’d care much if someone tried to assassinate us royals. After all, we're not the rightful ruling family, are we?”
I made a noise in my throat, clutching my hand to my chest. “Like I care who is rightful or not. There was a power vacuum, and your parents stepped in to fill it. Nothing to be ashamed of there.”
“Huh,” he grunted. “So why do you dislike us all so much?”
I gritted my teeth together hard, fighting through waves of agony to keep on my feet and not pass the hell out. “Can we discuss this another time?” I asked him, feeling sweat roll down the back of my neck. “Like when all my fingers are firmly reattached to my body?”
He snorted a laugh, which I found highly inappropriate given the circumstances. “They haven't come off, Lady Callaluna. They're just... less attached than they were.”
I rolled my eyes but said nothing. If that was meant to be a joke, he had a crappy sense of humor.
“I am just curious why you'd take such a grievous injury when you could have just as easily let me die. I didn’t even see that blade coming, so no one could have accused you of failing to stop it.” He turned his head slightly, watching me from the corner of his eye as we walked.
Sighing heavily, I answered as honestly as I dared. “Because unlike you and your royal family, I don't casually discard human life like that. If I can prevent it, I will.” I paused, and he said nothing. “Now please, shut the hell up? I'm really in pain here.”
20
When I woke, I was alone.
Soon after arriving in the medical wing, I had been given a bitter-tasting tea, which saw me lose consciousness mere moments after sitting on the edge of the bed, so I had no idea what had been done to my wounds or what the diagnosis was.
Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes with my good hand, then peered down at the massive ball of bandages around the other.
“Fuck a duck,” I murmured, holding it up to my face to peer at. The gauze was wadded so thickly that I had no idea if I even had a hand left at all, let alone functioning fingers. At least I wasn't in pain anymore, even if the whole room was spinning dangerously.
“Calla!” Lee exclaimed as he entered the medical wing and spotted me sitting up. “Lie down! Damn it woman, you're on some heavy-duty painkillers right now.”
Blinking up at him, it took me a couple of tries to pin down which Lee was the real Lee. “No shit,” I agreed, and it came out slurred like I was drunk. “What happened?”
Lee scowled down at me, his clear blue eyes scolding. “You stopped a thrown dagger from killing Prince Louis by grabbing it out of thin air. With your bare hand.”
I giggled at the horrified way he said it but shook my head. “I know that. I mean, what happened after.” I waved my bandage-ball hand at him. “With this?”
“Oh,” he huffed. “Prince Louis dropped you off here and made sure you were knocked out, then came to get me. I assisted the medic on duty to stitch up the gashes on your palm and across your fingers, while making sure you stayed unconscious through it all.”
Nodding slowly, I tried to get my head to stop spinning but had no luck. “Will my fingers still work?”
Lee raised his brows at me, looking slightly insulted. “Calla, love. I'm the alchemy tutor for a reason. Of course they will work. They might even be fully healed by tomorrow morning, if you're lucky.”
“That's incredible,” I breathed in awe. “You're so talented.” I let my head drop back to the pillows and admired all three of Lee's fuzzy forms. “And so damn sexy. Why are you all so damn sexy? And nice. I wish these trials were to marry one of you guys.” My mouth was just spilling words like vomit, and I couldn't muster the energy to stop it. Hell, I wasn't even embarrassed by what I was saying. After all, it was the truth.
Lee choked back a laugh and sat on the edge of the bed to take my good hand in his. “I think that daffodil-puff tea is hitting you a bit hard, beautiful.”
“Mmm,” I hummed, agreeing with him.
“No,” I disagreed, still sounding slurred. “Just following orders.”
Lee's fingers stilled, and he frowned slightly. “How so?”
“Win the Royal Trials or die trying, that's what he said. But never go back; there is nothing left for me there.” I was babbling now, on the verge of drifting back to sleep.
“Who, Calla?” Lee demanded, giving my arm a little shake. “Who said that? Was it the king?”
I snorted an unattractive laugh. “He wishes. Another bastard who has shown his true soul, and it is black, Lee. Black as tar. People with souls that dark don't deserve power.”
“I agree, Calla. But who are you talking about?” He reached up and brushed some hair off my face. “Who threatened you, love?”
“It doesn't matter,” I told him, dropping my voice to a whisper as I confided, “He underestimates me, Lee. I'll do what he asks, but only as long as it works for my plan. He'll never get what he wants, not from me.” I shook my head firmly, then felt my stomach clench and roll as the room set off spinning again. “I think I might be sick.”
Lee sighed, smoothing his hand over my hair, then stroking my cheek. “You'll be okay, love. Just sleep it off.”
“Sleep,” I murmured, already closing my eyes. “That's a good idea. You're so smart, Lee. Smart and handsome and... nice...” I yawned heavily, and whatever else I was saying trailed off into unintelligible mumbles that even I couldn't understand. But sleep sounded so good.
“Luna,” Zan's velvety-smooth voice cracked through my deep and dreamless sleep. “Luna, wake up.”
His hand was on my shoulder shaking me gently, and I wanted to tell him to fuck off and burn in the fiery pits of hell so I could keep sleeping.
“Such language for a lady,” he chuckled, and I dimly realized I'd voiced my thoughts aloud.