She liked having the wolves at her side, liked feeling protected, and knowing other wolves were close by. The itch to shift was at the base of my skull, but it was a small, familiar sensation, and one I easily ignored.
We made our way to the solarium, which seemed to act like a central courtyard. It was like a gorgeous, domed greenhouse, with the sunlight falling in through the thick glass panels and snow gathered at the rivets where the panels connected, but the space inside was much warmer than the air outside. Still cool enough that my Daybreak-acclimated self needed my long sleeves, but certainly comfortable.
The space was full of plants that seemed to be adequately taken care of. None of the ferns looked particularly happy and some of the flowers were drooping, but it was overall lush and a clear display of wealth and status. Not everyone had the capacity to keep such aesthetic greenery alive in these temperatures. I couldn’t help but wonder if these were plants my grandfather, Constantine, had brought to this solarium—if they were here before Nightfall took power, and were kept alive only because they were proof of wealth.
The Bloody King didn’t seem like the type to tend flowers. He wasn’t the type to put any restraints on wildness.
The relaxing atmosphere was slightly disturbed by the presence of the Nightfall guards flanking the doors in their leather armor and long fur-lined cloaks. Each of those men had the same rings that the servants wore. I wondered if they preferred to fight as wolves or as men.
A small table had been set up in the middle of the solarium, with another tray of coffee. Two women were already seated at the table. One was obviously from Dawnguard, and I didn’t need to see her tiara to know it. She was wearing a long, practical skirt with a long-sleeved shirt buttoned to the hollow of her throat, both the deep green of the Frasian military. Dawnguard was responsible for training Frasian soldiers, and this woman had clearly participated. She had sharp green eyes and bright red hair, more orange than Griffin’s was, that she wore in a short, functional cut. The style of her shirt made her shoulders look even broader—she looked like her grip could shatter the coffee cup she was holding if she wanted to. My gaze must have lingered too long on her, though, because she caught my eyes and scowled.
The woman at her side looked like a polar opposite. She didn’t look weak, per se, but she looked… luxurious. Like she should be lounging on a chaise somewhere being fed grapes instead of sipping coffee at this table. Her pale shoulders sloped delicately, leading to the low lace neckline of her lavender gown. She even had a fine white fur stole draped around her against the cold. But the strangest thing was her white-blonde hair and her pale blue eyes.
She looked like me.
She was curved where I was a bit narrower, but we even had the same nose. She looked like who I might have been if I’d been raised with the Starcrest pack instead of in Daybreak. It was unnerving, and from the expression on her face, she felt the same way.
I cleared my throat and joined the two at the table. “Good morning,” I said neatly. “I’m Reyna of
Daybreak.”
“Adora of Starcrest,” the blonde woman said as she offered her hand for a delicate shake. Even her hands were soft, like she’d never had to do a chore in her life. She didn’t say anything about our resemblance so I didn’t either. But for some reason, I trusted her tentative smile.
“Wynona of Dawnguard,” the other woman said, offering me a curt handshake from across the table. It was much firmer than Adora’s, with the telltale calluses that only came from hours and hours and hours of sword-wielding. I had them too but mine weren’t nearly as thick. Her attention went almost immediately back to the guards standing by the doors to the solarium, as if she was silently assessing them.
What kind of woman would the king be looking for? Someone strong and capable like Wynona? Or someone more elegant, like Adora?
The door opened again, and the other two competitors walked in. First was a tall, serious-looking girl with dark hair pulled back into a simple, low bun. Her tiara was smaller and lacked moonstone while her gown was simple, dark purple with no embellishments. I stood to greet her, and the other two women followed my lead.
“Rona of Nightfall,” she said curtly. Her dark eyes narrowed with suspicion as we made our introductions.
“Hi!” the last competitor chirped from behind Rona, as if the Nightfall candidate hadn’t brought a storm cloud into the room. She was taller than me, thin as a whip, with a huge smile on her round, friendly face. Her tiara with the Duskmoon crest was tucked into her dark, tightly curled hair, and her silver gown glowed as bright as the full moon on her rich umber skin. “Fina, of Duskmoon!”
“Nice to meet you, Fina, I’m Reyna of—oof!” When Fina took my hand to shake, she locked me into a tight hug. It wouldn’t do to be rude, so despite my surprise, I gently returned the embrace.
When Fina pulled back, her smile was somehow even bigger.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” she said. “I’m really excited to be here. Did you know it’s been nearly a hundred years since there was a King’s Choice? I just think it’s so cool that we get to represent all the packs in once place. It’s such a moment in history!”
She beamed at the other women and got two stern stares - from Rona and Wynona - and a confused look from Adora directed at her in response. Her smile faded a little.
“Have some coffee,” I said, directing her to join us at the table.
We had a cup each and some vaguely awkward chitchat, carried mostly by Fina doing her best to get us all to open up. But the other contestants were either uninterested, or simply anxious, waiting for the official start of the competition.Luckily for Fina, we didn’t have to wait long. The door to the solarium opened. Lady Glennis strode in, her heels cracking on the fine stone floor. Her simple green gown was cinched at the waist, functional, but still elegant. She had a notebook open in her arm and a severe look on her face.My heart dropped. What could an expression like that mean? If the king was already in a bad mood, I certainly didn’t want to be the one to meet him. What happened to make the Lady Glennis look so openly upset?“Good morning, ladies,” Glennis said curtly. “I trust you’ve enjoyed making your introductions.” She peered at us, brows raised slightly. We all nodded and murmured our affirmatives.“Good,” she said. “Unfortunately, there’s been a change of schedules. The
My eyes widened as I peered at the map, drinking in the unfamiliar lines and words. It wasn’t Frasia—it was a region I’d never seen before. It looked mountainous, riddled with winding rivers and small lakes, with a jagged coastline. A few towns were illustrated and labeled, but I couldn’t read the language. Where was this? What kind of people lived here? Were they shifters? Mountainous —maybe dragon shifters? The thought thrilled me. I traced the path of the rivers, imagining I was there charting them myself. I saw it clear as day in my mind, myself in functional pants and heavy boots, standing on the bank of a freezing cold river as I gazed up at the crest of an unfamiliar mountain range. I imagined myself sketching the shapes of the mountains, adding detail to my maps.“What do you think you’re doing?” a rough, unfamiliar voice said behind me.It surprised me so much I nearly jumped out of my skin. I straightened up and whipped around, and found I was staring directly into a broad,
4The richly detailed Frasian maps made it easy to lose the hours. It wasn’t until my stomach rumbled demandingly that I finally was able to pull my attention away from the richly detailed representations of cities and coastlines I’d never seen. With some regret, I rolled the maps backup and slipped them into their leather tubes.Downstairs, I found Fina curled up in an overstuffed chair by the fire, entranced in a novel and already three-quarters of the way through it.“Hey,” I said.She jolted so hard she nearly toppled out of the chair. “Oh!” She blinked rapidly. “Wow! What time is it?”I bit back a laugh. “Looks like you’re enjoying the book,” I said.She brandished it at me. “It’s about a wolf who falls for a dragon shifter,” she said. “Very intense.”“Sounds like it.”“And I thought the king was intimidating,” she said. “Whew. At least he’s a wolf.”“I don’t know,” I said, “I think I might prefer a dragon. At least then you don’t have to deal with the rest of the pack.”“What?
I hurried to the guest dining room, following Amity in her wolf form as she trotted briskly through the darkened halls. When I stepped into the dining room, small and cozy save for the vaulted ceilings and extravagant albeit dusty chandelier, the four women were already seated at the table.“I’m so sorry,” I said as I hurried in. “I was writing a letter and lost track of time.”“No worries,” Fina said with a smile. “We only just arrived as well.”Rona sucked her teeth. “Just like a princess to invite guests and show up late.”I started. Rona said that with such venom it shocked me. “It’s just as I said, I was only—”“Evening, ladies,” Lady Glennis said as she strode through the back door of the dining room. I wasn’t expecting to see her but I was grateful for the interruption. I took my seat at the table and took a quick sip of wine, avoiding Rona’s burning gaze. “I heard you had decided to dine together. I hope I’m not intruding.”“Of course not!” Fina said brightly. “The more the me
“Well, I’d only intended to give you this.” He pulled a small sheet of folded parchment from his pocket and offered it to me.Against my better judgment, I took it from his hand, and inhaled sharply in surprise when I unfolded it. It was a carefully drawn copy of the map he’d snatched from my hand earlier. Smaller, less detailed—but certainly the same. I gaped at it for a moment before I remembered myself, and straightened back up. Yes, I would definitely be spending time reviewing this copy in my room. But that didn’t make his behavior any more acceptable.“Thank you,” I said. “But I would appreciate it if you would refrain from bothering me further.”“Oh, I didn’t realize I was bothering you,” the guard said. He looked so damn pleased with himself, with his eyes flashing gold.“And I won’t be here in Efra long,” I said. “Better not to waste your time.”“And why’s that?” he asked. “You just said you were here for the Choice.”“The king won’t be choosing me,” I said. “I’m here to repr
The manor was quiet as I made my way to the nearby guest quarters. If I was going to get put in the stocks today, I should tell my escort about it. That was the right thing for a lady to do, wasn’t it?I cringed. Not that I knew a lot about being a lady, apparently. It’d taken me a grand total of two days to ruin my reputation with the court.“Barion,” I whispered as I rapped on the heavy wooden door to his quarters. “Barion, it’s me.”From inside the quarters, Barion heaved a great sigh. After a few moments of rustling around, he opened the doors and squinted blearily at me. “What is it?” “I need your help,” I said.A furrow of concern formed in his brow, and he stepped aside to motion me into his quarters. They were much smaller than mine, but the bed was still huge, and coals glowed in the hearth. I sat down at the small table, and Barion sat across from me. He was still barely awake, in a loose tunic and slacks. He glanced around the room like he might be able to will some coffee
My wolf urged me to bare my teeth, growl back, show this woman that I was just as capable as she was. For a moment, my wolf surged dangerously close to the surface—my skin prickled and my adrenaline surged with the desire to show dominance. It was close enough that Rona sensed it. She smirked.But this was exactly the kind of woman I didn’t want to be. Angry and conniving, using my wolf to get what I wanted. I was a lady and I was going to act like one, even when my wolf wanted otherwise. She was so active internally, more demanding than she’d been in years.Efra was bringing out the worst in me.Before I could say anything in response, the door opened, and Lady Glennis stepped back inside. “Ladies,” she said.The air in the room crackled with anticipation. The three other girls hurried to the table, setting their coffees down, and stood near Rona and me. My wolf settled back down, cowed by the knowledge of what was about to happen.Lady Glennis stepped aside. The King of Frasia strod
Rona looked inordinately pleased with herself as she talked up Duchess Alana more—her embroidery skills, her fine tea sets, her knowledge of Frasian civic matters. “The duchess seems to think the Dawnguard pack needs to develop newer training techniques—”“Speaking of techniques,” Wynona interrupted with a cool glare, “Your Highness, how are the affairs of the Nightfall military?”The king hummed thoughtfully. I realized Wynona was the first contestant to ask the king a question. And it seemed like she’d asked the right one, from the way the king began to speak casually about his plans for developing the Nightfall troops. Lady Glennis watched him carefully as he did so, as if waiting for him to let some confidential information slip. But the king was a skilled conversationalist himself—he seemed to be discussing the intricacies of the military without actually saying anything of detail. It was hard to focus on. These were matters I had no hand in within the court of Daybreak. I couldn