The lion gathered itself for a leap, and I prepared to spin and run. Just as I began to pivot, however, the lion crumpled to the ground.
I took a deep shuddering breath and reminded myself that its unconsciousness might not last for long. I hurried toward it.
“That was very dangerous.” Jon’s voice sounded eerie, emerging from an empty patch of air. I shrugged and gestured to my throat as I dropped to my knees. Hopefully he would understand that the normal prohibition on our speech extended to the events as well.
He must have realized my meaning, because I felt heavy material settle over me. He reappeared kneeling beside me, awkwardly holding his cloak over my head.
I tried to ignore the lion’s open mouth and glittering teeth as I picked up the paw it had been favoring. At least I could speak now. “Why are you here? How are you here?” I asked, the curiosity overpowering me.
“I’ve come to save you from yourself.” His serious expression broke for a minute. “And from that lion, too, of course.”
I didn’t smile back, pausing for the briefest moment to glare at him instead. “Don’t you understand the risk you’ve taken? Are still taking. And that’s just for yourself. What about the Tourney? Someone has to win it. Who have you decided you’re willing to sacrifice in my place?”
“No!” He looked like he wanted to shake me. “You’re the one who doesn’t understand! How do you think I got here?”
I had found a thorn in the lion’s paw and begun tugging at it, but his unexpected question distracted me. “I have no idea. It makes no sense. I put a…” I trailed off, not sure I wanted to admit to drugging him. “How did you get here?”
He grinned a little. “You’re adorable, you know that, right? And also that I’m not an idiot? I wasn’t going to drink anything you gave me at that ball. Not after what happened to Gabe. I wasn’t really asleep when you left me.”
I bit my lip, embarrassed and focused back on the thorn. It was long and deep, but I thought I nearly had it free. It was a task I had great interest in completing before the animal woke up.
Wonder filled Jon’s voice as he continued to talk. “I asked you a while ago if you had called on your godmother. It never occurred to me to call on mine. I didn’t even know I had one. But talking to Keeper Albert gave me a sliver of hope along with my desperation. And it was enough to make me try.” He shook his head. “And one actually came. She told me that everything depends on Marin. If Marin falls to the darkness, then eventually the kingdoms will fall, as well. Even Trione. But, if Marin stands, we will have turned the tide. The other kingdoms will have a chance. She gave me this cloak, and she said I’d know how to use it.”
He smiled, his face full of excitement. “I’ve been here with you the whole time.”
Jon’s godmother. The shock made my hands fall still again as I remembered Opal’s comment about something pulling at her gown. It must have been Jon, stepping on it. And the strange noises, they must have been him, too.
Jon, apparently unaware of my distraction, continued his story. “At first, after the godmother disappeared, I felt like such a failure. I couldn’t understand what she wanted me to do. And then, suddenly, I realized. What does every tale tell us? What have the godmothers always fought for? True love! If we’re together, then Marin will survive. And we can help fight the darkness in Palinar. We can help whoever wins. As long as we’re together.”
The thorn popped free into my hand, and I looked down at it and then up at Jon as a chime sounded, and the lion stirred. Jon started and staggered to his feet, pulling me up with him and away from the animal. It shook its head, lumbered to its feet and wandered away. If the chime hadn’t already confirmed the task successfully completed, the lion’s strange behavior would have.
I had completed the third task. I needed to go. I tried to pull away from Jon, but he held me tight, looking down at me, his eyes shining with hope. “Don’t you want to be with me?”
I opened my mouth to tell him no, but I couldn’t speak the lie. “More than anything,” I admitted, my voice a soft whisper.
He leaned down to kiss me, his face alight, but I turned my head away. I needed to hurry, but I couldn’t bear to leave him without an explanation. I spoke quickly. “But I’m the one who’s right. And you’re the one who doesn’t understand. You’ve seen the scores. It’s not just anyone we would be sentencing to the Beast. It’s Sophie.” I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Jon. I love you. But she’s my sister. And I can’t abandon her now.”
I took a steadying breath. “And did you hear that last chime? The third task was compassion, and I think I just finished it.”
I didn’t wait for my words to sink in. Shoving him hard in the chest, I turned and fled back toward the center of the gardens. Three chimes sounded in quick succession as I ran. Had any of them been Sophie?
Just as I thought her name, I rounded a bend in the path and collided with her. We hit so hard that we both fell backwards onto the ground. For a moment we lay there, panting and staring at each other.
I know you want to protect me, she projected. Just like you always have. But I’m not a little girl anymore. Neither of us is. And it’s time for me to protect you. Her eyes met mine, strong and confident.
Have you completed all three tasks? I didn’t see how anyone else could have gotten past the lion. I had only succeeded with Jon’s help.
She nodded wordlessly.
But how did you knock it out? I still couldn’t believe it was true.
Knock it out? She frowned at me. What do you mean? Of course I didn’t knock it out. The task was compassion, and the poor thing was injured. I just approached it gently, and it calmed right down.
I stared at her in shock. I had spent most of my life trying to keep my sister safe, and she had decided to approach a crazed, wild animal gently!
You’re not the only one who’s allowed to sacrifice for the people she loves, she projected, easily reading my expression. And I won’t do anyone any good here. But you can. Together you and Jon might have a chance of saving Marin. You’ve been tormenting yourself over him, don’t think I haven’t seen it. But there’s a simple solution to your problem, and it’s obvious to everyone except you.
It took me a moment to understand her meaning, distracted as I was by the crunching gravel behind me. Jon, once again invisible, had followed my flight.
Sophie had held my eyes the whole time she spoke, her body relaxed against the ground, so I had no warning when she suddenly leaped to her feet.
Sophie, no! I thundered the projection at her, but she had already started running. I scrambled up and took off after her, but we were too evenly matched. No matter how I pushed myself, my lungs and legs straining, I couldn’t gain any ground.
She looked back at me as she approached the fountain, meeting my eyes. This is for you, Lily. I love you.
I screamed a protest, reaching a useless hand toward her, as she snatched the crown from the fountain rim. A loud bell rang through the gardens. She stared down at her fingers, tightly clasping her doom, and then up at me.
Chapter 33
I walked the last three steps to stand before her. Looking into her face, I wondered how my identical twin could seem to tower over me. I had expected to see fear, or perhaps determination, but she looked almost radiant.
“I remember I used to feel so angry at life sometimes,” she said, “when we were children. But you were always there for me. A sister who knew me completely and loved me better than I loved myself. You were always so strong, Lil. You taught me how. And now, finally, it’s my turn to help you.”
Her eyes moved to the empty air next to my shoulder where I could feel the warmth of Jon’s presence. “Both of you.” So she knew everything then. I shook my head at the foolishness of believing I could keep such a secret from her.
“But how can I let you go to face this Beast alone?” I gripped both of her arms. “I couldn’t bear it.”
She tapped her forehead and even managed a
smile. “You’re forgetting that neither of us is ever really alone. You’ll be coming with me, even if you can’t do so physically.”
“Maybe I can.” Why hadn’t I thought of it before? “I’ll come with you, and we’ll face this Beast together.”
The other girls arrived in a rush before she could respond, and I flicked a warning glance at Jon, hoping he knew better than to give himself away at this point. The others looked from me to Sophie and then to the glowing crown she still gripped in one hand. How many of them still couldn’t tell us apart?
“Princess Sophie,” said Emmeline without inflection. “What a surprise.”
I blinked at her. After so many weeks of the Tourney, I still didn’t understand either of the Eldonian princesses. But apparently Emmeline, at least, had been paying attention after all. Did that mean they weren’t as detached as they seemed?
“Sophie.” Celine came forward to embrace her. “I thought…” She glanced at me.
“I know,” I said, still in shock. “So did I.”
An awkward quiet fell, silent tears dripping down several faces. I couldn’t tell if they were tears of relief or tears of sorrow for Sophie. I felt Jon move behind me and remembered we still needed to get him safely away. I didn’t want to take the risk of any of the others seeing him.
“Come on,” I said, my mind whirling. “It’s time we left this place for good.”
We formed a sort of honor guard around Sophie as we made our way around the palace and down to the lake. I let everyone else board their coracles first, taking the last one and watching the disturbed water where Jon slipped into the lake beside me. I could feel his weight dragging down one edge of the small boat, and assumed he had gripped the side and was letting it pull him along.
Now I knew why Opal’s boat had lagged behind on the way over. I only hoped he had the good sense not to let his head go under the water.
The others had waited for me on the other side, and when we resumed walking it was in the same tight huddle. Still no one spoke, so when a crack sounded, like someone snapping a twig, it startled me, loud in the silence. The tremors, which I had almost ceased to notice, picked up and my body shuddered with the vibrations traveling through me from the shaking earth.
No one said anything about it, but we all hurried our pace. We had almost left the grove of gold when another snap sounded, followed again by an increase in the shaking of the ground beneath our feet. Several of the girls staggered.
“Let’s hurry,” I said, and we all took off at a half-run.
As Emmeline, who was leading us, stepped out of the silver grove, a third snap sounded. This time we all staggered as the ground rippled beneath us, and distant crashes began to sound from the direction of the palace. “Run!” I screamed, snatching the final parchment from its customary place and herding the other girls toward the ladder.
Two of them had made it up the ladder before the first of the trees came smashing to the ground. Pearl, on the ladder at the time, slipped and was only just caught by Celine.
“Hurry,” said Snow, her white face stark in the gloom.
More trees fell behind us, and the crashes from across the lake grew louder. Lilac almost propelled Marigold up the ladder, Hazel following on her heels.
I could barely stand from the powerful quaking by the time I was the last one left. Last except for one. “You go first,” I whispered at the empty air, not sure of Jon’s exact location. “It might close behind me.”
A rush of air moved past me, and I followed behind it. My hands, grasping for the next rung, kept colliding with his invisible boots, so I knew he was definitely ahead of me. I crawled over the edge of the trapdoor into the room and spun around, still on hands and knees to stare back down into the hole.
The earth itself was dissolving now. Falling away in great chunks. Several of the others pulled me away as the trapdoor closed with a deafening bang.
Some stood, some sat, but we all stared at each other, loud pants filling the small room as we processed our narrow escape.
“I think that might have been the last Tourney,” said Sophie softly. “Surely there are limits to its regeneration.”
I counted heads for one final time. “I hope so.” I dragged myself to my feet. “Personally, I never want to see this room again.”
Someone, I didn’t see who, pushed open the door and slowly girls drifted out. Eventually only Sophie and I remained.
“Please tell me you weren’t responsible for those snaps we heard.” I addressed the air.
Jon’s head appeared, floating eerily above the ground. He looked guilty.
I sighed. “And let me guess. You took something from the table after we left. When those first tremors started.”
He pulled back his cloak to reveal his hands holding a golden goblet, and three twigs bearing leaves of silver, gold and diamond. “You were in a hurry when we spoke down there.” He paused. “I didn’t get the chance to tell you the whole story.”
I took a deep breath. “Well how about you tell me now?”
“I went down there to save you, to save us. I meant it when I said that. I just had another purpose.” He winced. “I didn’t realize it would happen so fast, though.”
“You meant to destroy it?” I raised both eyebrows. “Isn’t your family tasked with protecting the Tourney?”
“We were. Back when the Tourney was something good. But it’s changed, it’s been twisted. You should know that better than anyone after everything you seem to have experienced. And my godmother explained why. Each Tourney is shaped by the ruler who calls it. When the cursed Prince Dominic called it, he created an opening. A chance for the darkness to infect the Tourney. When I told you that the darkness was already in the heart of our duchy, I didn’t know how true it was.”
I trembled. Nothing he said surprised me. Not really. Not after struggling for so many weeks against the Tourney.
“It wasn’t completely corrupted, though,” said Sophie. “There seemed to be enough good magic left to keep us alive at least.”
“And thank goodness for that,” said Jon, stepping toward me as if to take me into his arms.
I shook my head, and he stopped. “But how did you do it?”
“With this cloak and with these,” he held out the goblet and the twigs. “The Tourney has always operated under a veil of secrecy. My godmother explained it to me. Although she was a little cryptic, and it took me a while to work out what she meant.” He paused and frowned. “Are they always like that?”
“Pretty much,” said Sophie.
I shook my head at both of them. “What does secrecy have to do with anything?”
Jon shrugged. “The cloak let me get in and out, unseen by the magic. And I brought evidence out with me. I made no contract with the Tourney at the opening ceremony. My lips aren’t sealed, like yours are. My presence, and finally my escape, disrupted the very fabric of the Tourney.”
I looked at him and then across at my sister. “So…if the Tourney is destroyed…does that mean…?” I let my voice trail hopefully away.
Jon winced, avoiding Sophie’s gaze. “I wish it did. But while the Tourney has been destroyed, the ancient laws remain. The final task was completed, the betrothal contract stands.” He gestured toward Sophie’s hands. I followed with my eyes and realized she still clasped the crown, as solid as it had been in the underground garden.
“I suspected as much,” said Sophie. “But I, for one, am glad the Tourney is gone regardless of my betrothal. Jon, put that cloak, or whatever it is, back on. I assume you’re safe enough from the magic now, but you don’t want to give the enemies of your family any reason to claim you violated the law.”
He disappeared instantly, and I slipped a weary arm through Sophie’s. “Come on. I’m sure the others have spread the news about your win by now. Everyone will be waiting to see you.”
She closed her eyes, took a breath and nodded. “Let’s go.”
I was right, of course. And it looked like mos
t of the guests from the ball had stayed this time, too. Sophie shuddered once at the sea of gaping faces, but then the baron and baroness surrounded us. The Duchess of Sessily and Celine joined them, and together we formed a small shield around her.
I knew the delegation heads wanted to know what had happened, and I saw more than one surreptitious glance thrown at me, but they knew better than to ask. Helena kept sniffling, but she held herself together when she asked if we wanted her to spend the night in our suite. We both shook our heads. We didn’t want outside company tonight.
I climbed into bed beside Sophie, neither of us wanting to be parted. Surprisingly, she fell asleep quickly. I, on the other hand, lay awake, listening to her breathing. I would go with her. I was determined, now that the idea had occurred to me. We would face this beastly prince together, as we had faced everything else.
I just wished I had such a solution for Marin. Jon had risked everything to help me in the Tourney. I had failed Sophie, I could not bear to fail him too.
But the next day I didn’t even have a chance to speak to him. It seemed the winner of a Princess Tourney needed to begin her preparations for the Betrothal Ceremony first thing in the morning. Jon’s mother had sent a team to assist us, but we turned them away. We wanted Arcadians, our own people, around us now.
Celine slipped in at some point, and we let her stay as well. She felt as much like home as any of our own delegation. Our hair had been arranged and pinned, and our dresses chosen and laid out, before everyone else went for the midday meal. Helena didn’t want Sophie and me to risk leaving the room and being mobbed by curious locals, so she ordered us to stay. Celine elected to keep us company.
“I’ll find something and bring it back for you,” Helena promised.
We had hardly been alone for a minute, however, when the door opened again. I turned around and froze, my mouth dropping open. Millie had stepped into the room, her face downcast, but she gave me a strange look when she saw my open astonishment.
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