“Sophie!” I tried again, and this time she turned to glare at me. A struggle, since her smile kept trying to shine through.
Her projection dropped to a quiet whisper. Aren’t you curious to see if we can break through all that responsibility and restraint? Just a little bit?
I… I had intended to tell her off, but she seemed to take my hesitation as agreement.
“Excellent, then.” She slipped her arm through mine and dragged me toward the refreshment table. “Teddy!” she called as we barreled up to him. “You’re just the person we need…”
When the bell finally rang, I still hadn’t danced with Jon. But I’d danced with five other handsome and eligible young men, and I had been silently complaining to Sophie for the last two. Remember how we still have to compete in an event after this? We should be conserving our strength. I glowered over at her. No, scratch that, I should be conserving my strength. You’re doing just fine.
Sophie had taken a seat against the wall and gathered a small court of admiring locals around her. She had turned down all offers to dance and had kept them busy bringing her food and drink instead. We didn’t even need our feet for the last event. And, anyway, some sacrifices are worth it. Love is pain, and all that.
I believe that’s beauty is pain, sister dearest.
Oh! Is it? Her projection dripped with surprise, but I knew the emotion was feigned.
I didn’t know why I was still arguing with her if she was in this mood. Love is pain. I shook my head and startled my dance partner by chuckling out loud. Sophie was the last person to appreciate pain in any form. She was just being ornery and outrageous on purpose.
Thankfully the bell rang before I had to think of an excuse for my oddly-timed levity, allowing me to excuse myself and hurry away.
We princesses were a silent group as we made our way through the groves and floated across the lake. After the outcome of the second event, I had since made special care not to let even a toe touch the water.
When we arrived in the throne room, everyone seemed equally reluctant to approach the table which once again had twelve chairs. Sophie’s earlier good humor had dropped away. A glance at her pale face made me step forward, ignoring my own nerves.
“There’s no reason to think the chairs are unsafe. The castle was collapsing on our heads in the first event, but I haven’t seen so much as a piece of gravel come away since. None of the events seem to affect future events.”
“Except for this,” Celine grumbled as she pointed at her bandaged leg.
“Well, yes, except for that.” I grimaced at her sympathetically. “But that doesn’t change the likely safety of our chairs.”
When no one else moved or responded, I sighed, and stepped forward to take the chair that had collapsed under Giselle. When nothing happened, I glared at the others and they came over to take seats of their own.
Parchments appeared on all our plates the instant the last princess sat down. Almost as if the Tourney had shared my impatience. I eyed the parchment uneasily, but Emmeline picked up hers with the utmost unconcern. Steeling myself, I unfolded my own.
The first stage of the Tourney has been completed. The second stage will now begin. This stage involves a series of individual challenges where points will be awarded based on success. Each challenge will begin with the sound of a bell, and will only finish once at least one of you has successfully completed the task. Once the bell sounds, your lips will be sealed until the task is completed.
My eyes flew to Sophie. She looked as surprised as I felt. We had only had three tasks, and we were already moving to the individual phase? There must be twelve more still to come before the final group competition on the last night of spring. We had both expected the two stages to be more equal in length. Pearl squeaked, and Marigold looked almost as scared although she remained silent.
I looked at them both uneasily. During the collaborative phase, I hadn’t had to choose between protecting them and completing the task. Things had just become a whole lot more complicated.
“What’s the challenge?” asked Hazel, clearly attempting—somewhat unsuccessfully—to sound grown up and not at all nervous.
Emmeline retrieved the parchment from the middle of the table and read it out. “It is the responsibility of a ruler to see value in her kingdom, wherever it lies, and however hidden the treasure may be. The first of you to uncover the hidden treasure will win the challenge. You may begin the search as soon as the bell rings.”
There was a moment of silence.
“That actually doesn’t sound too bad,” said Celine. “Even I have a chance at winning a treasure hunt. It’s sort of like a riddle without any plummeting trapdoors.”
I nodded slowly. “Just remember your families, everyone. Don’t give in to the temptation to let yourself lose. We all need to at least try.”
Slowly the other eleven heads nodded. No one looked pleased, but they all looked determined. Except for Hazel who leaned over to Blanche, sitting next to me, and whispered, “Maybe you should try to lose, Snow. With any luck, the Tourney will strike down your stepmother.”
“Hazel!” I tried to keep my voice low since most of the other girls were too busy talking amongst themselves, or examining their parchments, to have heard.
She looked over at me guiltily. “I’m just joking. I know Snow would never really do something that might put her father at risk.”
“She’s only trying to cheer me up,” said Blanche. “She’s a good friend.”
I frowned at the parchment in my hand. Just how bad was Blanche’s stepmother? What was it Jon had said about her? An interesting character. I had assumed he mainly meant incompetent, but there must be more to it than that.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I didn’t have time to think about Blanche’s family, I needed to try to win this competition for the sake of my own.
A familiar bell rang through the mostly-empty room, the sound distorted in this strange, mirror world. The scrape of twelve chairs followed, and we all ran for the door.
Chapter 18
I brought up the rear, partly from a lingering protective instinct, and partly because I needed more time to come up with a plan. What do you think? I asked Sophie. Any ideas what this treasure might be?
I thought our lips were supposed to be sealed. Her projection sounded amused.
Do you see my lips moving?
She laughed silently. The only treasure I can think of is the leaves in the grove. I’ve never seen silver or gold, let alone diamond, formed into such delicate shapes.
But it’s not exactly hidden.
No, true. She sighed. And the same goes for our golden plates and goblets.
Apparently we weren’t the only ones whose thoughts had gone to the groves. Almost half of the other girls went straight to the boats.
Should we join them? Or stay here in the mirror palace. Sophie watched them clamber into the coracles.
I considered the question. There must be a clue in the wording of the challenge. Surely we’re not supposed to stumble around blindly until one of us trips over it?
It just said we needed to ‘uncover the hidden treasure’.
Hmmmm. We could check that room with all the cupboards. Maybe that would count as hidden.
It didn’t seem like a great idea, but we both started walking in that direction. The cupboards, not surprisingly, proved bare. I bit my lip and tried to focus.
What about the word ‘uncover’. It could mean simply ‘discover’. Or it could mean it’s actually under a cover of some sort.
I looked around the room. Like all the other rooms I had seen here, it was devoid of decoration. No tapestries, no curtains, nothing that could cover even the smallest of treasures.
Just as I was despairing of coming up with a single idea, the bell’s chimes rang through the palace again. For a brief second, Sophie and I stared at each other. And then we both took off running for the entrance hall. It had only been minutes but, somehow, impossibly, someone else had alrea
dy found the treasure.
Celine had managed to hobble back into the entrance hall ahead of us, along with Blanche, Pearl and Opal. They were all looking around in confusion, though, so it obviously hadn’t been any of them.
I did a quick count in my head of the girls who had already taken the boats. Only one other was missing.
“Hazel,” I said, just as she walked into the entrance hall. She looked up at us, dazed, and then held up a small leather pouch. It jingled as if full of coins.
“I…I won.” She didn’t sound happy.
“Where was it?” asked Pearl.
“It was down in the kitchens. I think it’s full of gold coins…but it wasn’t when I found it.”
“What do you mean?” asked Blanche. “What was in it when you found it?”
Hazel flushed slightly. “It was full of salt. I found it down in the kitchens, and I remembered hearing cook talking about how important it is. We don’t produce our own food in Marin, so our stored food is particularly valuable to us. The bell sounded as soon as I took it out of the kitchen, and then it started jingling. It looks like it’s full of gold now.”
“It was a good idea,” said Sophie. “All of our kingdoms would be lost without salt.”
Hazel smiled slightly at the praise before her face fell again. How had she known to look in the kitchens? Or had it simply been a lucky guess? I bit my lip. Or, rather, a not-so-lucky one. Her face certainly suggested she knew the undesirability of a win.
“How did you know to look in the kitchens?” I asked, wanting to understand.
“It was the words of the challenge,” she said. “And what Celine said about it being like a riddle. Uncover stood out to me, so I kept trying to think of all the possible meanings. There isn’t really anything in this whole place that could cover something else. And then I remembered that when my mother is planning a formal dinner, she and the servants talk about the number of covers.” She looked around to check we all knew what she meant. “The place settings at the table. We’d just come from the only table in this palace, so I thought I would check the kitchens…”
“That’s very clever,” said Sophie.
Hazel nodded sadly. “Nearly falling down that awful hole threw me off the other night. Usually I really am quite good at riddles.”
Celine looked around the large hall and then over at me and Sophie. “It seems hard to believe it could be over already, but I suppose it must be. So, we might as well head for the boats. I, at least, have no desire to spend my whole night down here if I don’t have to.”
“No, indeed!” agreed Blanche with a shiver.
We had all drifted into a tight clump during our conversation, so we moved out the door together. Blanche put her arm around Hazel’s shoulder, supporting her friend, who still looked a little shaky.
Seven of the boats still remained, so we soon reached the other side of the lake. Emmeline and Giselle were waiting for us on the shore.
“We heard the bell,” said Emmeline. “Who found it?” Her eyes darted between me, Sophie, and Celine. She obviously thought us the most likely candidates. Did she care about the results, after all? After her success in the riddles, she sat fairly high on the charts. A less than desirable placement.
“I did.” Hazel held up the pouch.
I saw a shade of surprise on both their faces, but they didn’t ask her where, or how she had worked it out. Maybe they were smart enough not to want to gain even such a small insight into the Tourney. It was a strange dynamic, this competition where everyone had to try their best, but everyone wanted to lose.
In the diamond grove we found Millie and, a moment later, Lilac and Marigold came running out of the golden-leaved trees.
“What happened?” called Marigold as she approached. “Who won?”
“Is it really over already?” Lilac shook her head in wonder. “That was so much shorter than the others.”
“I guess the Tourney didn’t count on Hazel being so clever,” I said.
“H…Hazel.” Marigold turned a horrified face on her sister. “You won, Hazel?”
Hazel nodded wordlessly, and Lilac ran over to give her a comforting hug.
Not exactly normal victory celebrations, are they? Sophie sounded sad and tired, but I still couldn’t help comparing how much less tired I felt than on all our previous trudges back to the trapdoor.
When we reached the ladder, Emmeline and Giselle began to ascend immediately, but the rest of us paused. Everyone’s eyes followed me as I removed the parchment from the branch and unfolded it.
I stared down at the numbers, not wanting to read them out. But I couldn’t delay forever. “Only Hazel scored highly for tonight’s challenge.” I looked up at her. “And since you also did fairly well with the riddles, you’re now in the lead overall.”
Hazel’s face went completely white, and Lilac and Marigold didn’t look much better.
“Don’t worry,” Blanche whispered audibly to her friend. “There are still twelve more challenges. I’m sure you’ll fall behind again soon.”
Hazel nodded and pulled up a tremulous smile just as her knees buckled. Blanche gasped and managed to half-catch her, helping her regain her balance. Hazel still looked unnaturally pale, leaning against her friend, and her sisters rushed over to hover close. I kept back, giving them some space, confident it was just shock and not anything seriously wrong.
Emmeline’s head appeared at the top of the ladder. “Are you coming?”
“Yes,” I called up to her. “Move back.”
Lilac and Blanche supported Hazel as she climbed, and then I ushered all the younger girls up. Sophie, Millie and I helped Celine, so that soon we all stood together in the small room. Normally someone moved straight for the door, but tonight we all paused and stared at each other, thrown off by how differently the event had gone.
“Oh!” A soft gasp from Hazel drew everyone’s attention. She was looking down into her hands.
“What is it?” asked Marigold, crowding in close beside her.
“The pouch. It didn’t disappear.” She opened it and peered inside. “The gold hasn’t either,” she added in an awed voice.
“It must be your prize,” I said. “For winning.”
A murmur swept through the small crowd of princesses. It seemed that lots of things had changed now that we had entered the individual phase.
“I’m tired.” Giselle pushed open the door and left, her sister close behind her.
Slowly the rest of us filed out to be greeted with surprise by the faithful group that awaited us. Of course, none of us could explain anything to them, although Lilac told her parents they needed to get Hazel to bed.
The ducal family moved off together, grouped around Hazel and talking quietly. Jon, however, hung back, turning to meet my eyes. I couldn’t bring myself to smile given his sister’s state, and I couldn’t interpret the turmoil in his gaze. A moment later, he was gone, and Helena was ushering Sophie and me to bed.
We climbed into our nightgowns, and slipped obediently into bed, but as soon as she was gone, Sophie sat up. Lily.
I sat as well, crossing my legs and facing toward her. She mirrored me, and we stared at each other in the near darkness.
Tonight was different. Sophie sounded thoughtful.
Everything’s changed. I paused. At least it seemed a lot safer.
I’ve been thinking about something Marigold said on our first night.
Oh? I tried to remember what the youngest Marinese princess had said after we arrived, but I couldn’t remember much other than her mention of the Beast.
She said how she wouldn’t mind the Tourney if Gabe had called it. I’ve been thinking about how different it would be if it was his Tourney. From what Millie said, even the events themselves would be different.
I thought about it. He’s fun and friendly, but also daring. So there might still have been some scares to deal with. And he’s an excellent archer. Maybe Celine would have gotten her wish and we’d all be shoot
ing targets down there.
If only. Sophie sighed. I just keep picturing Hazel’s face as she came out of the throne room. And when you told us about the scores.
Yes, everyone would feel a little differently about winning if it was Gabe rather than this Dominic. And a pouch of gold as a prize would only excite everyone more.
She nodded sadly. From what you said, her family could do with the gold, too. Everyone would be competing with enthusiasm if it was Gabe…
I bit my lip and closed my eyes. I had known from the second I saw the rankings what had to be done. Had known it from the beginning, really. But saying it made it feel too real. I hesitated a moment longer and then drew a deep breath.
“We have to win.” I said the words out loud, trying to make myself accept the awful finality of them. “We’ve got the younger girls this far, we can’t abandon them now when we know it means facing something even worse than any of these challenges. We should be able to succeed, too. We’re the oldest except for Celine. And, even with all the will in the world, I can’t see her winning at this point.”
I shook my head. “We should have won tonight, though. You were even on the right track. But I don’t think we were truly trying. I guess, if I’m honest, I just assumed we would win, so I didn’t feel any great hurry.”
“You’re right, we should have been able to work it out.” Sophie looked half guilty, half sad. “If for no other reason than that we’re able to talk to each other and work together, when none of the rest of them can.”
“So we just need to try harder next time.” I tried to sound confident for her sake. “Because we’re fighters, and we have each other. Which means we have the best chance of surviving this Dominic. I simply couldn’t bear to send one of those girls off to Palinar alone.”
Sophie sighed again. “Agreed. So it sounds like our goal has changed. We can stop worrying about keeping the others alive in the events, now we need to start worrying about winning.”
“I have confidence in us,” I whispered.
“Yes.” Sophie lay back down. “That’s what scares me.”
Beyond the Four Kingdoms Box Set 1 Page 16
