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 king isn’t able to meet with you, so you will have the day to yourselves.”
“The king won’t be at dinner, either?” Adora asked.
“Not this evening,” Lady Glennis said. “He has urgent court business.”
Wynona stood up briskly. “Does Nightfall maintain a training facility?”
“Of course,” Glennis said. “One of the guards will escort you.”
Wynona nodded in thanks and went to the door. My wolf perked up with curiosity—was the guard about to shift the way my maidservants had? However, all he did was step across the threshold behind Wynona.
“Lady Glennis,” Fina chirped, “is there a library in the manor?”
“Oh!” I said before I could stop myself. “Yes, milady, is there—”
Lady Glennis shot us both a knowing smile. “Yes, girls, there is a library. I’ll have your maidservants escort you.”
Fina caught my eye, and I couldn’t help but return her grin. It seemed like Fina and I could become fast friends. Wynona certainly wasn’t interested in friendship, nor it seemed was Rona. They wanted to win. I didn’t know what Fina’s goal was, but I had no interest in winning, and having a companion to explore the library sounded like more fun than holing up in my room for the afternoon.
Despite the circumstances, I wanted to enjoy this brief taste of being out from under my father’s thumb. Back home they called me Ice Princess, but here, I could—sometimes—try to be someone different. Someone more like my true self instead of the role I usually had to play.
Amity and Rue escorted us out of the solarium and towards the south wing of the manor. Again, they were in wolf form, and I glanced at Fina to see her reaction, but she seemed to think nothing of it. She’d sent away her own maidservants, saying we didn’t need four escorts, and hadn’t appeared to notice the slightly downcast looks her servants had gotten in return. It was none of my business, though—and I had a library to explore. Fina hooked her arm in mine and chattered away merrily as we strode through the halls.
“I’m so excited to see this library,” she said. “My quarters had a small library of its own, I can’t believe there’s more!”
“Mine as well,” I said. “I hope there are archives, too.”
“Archives!” Fina laughed. “I hope there are novels. The good kind.”
“What do you mean by the good kind?”
She lowered her voice. “The romantic kind.”
I gasped in faux-horror and swatted playfully at her wrist. “You devil,” I teased. “You read those things?”
“I’m addicted,” she admitted. “The books in my quarters are too high-brow.”
At the door of the library, Amity and Rue both shifted back into their human forms—dressed in their uniforms, courtesy of the rings, I assumed. They nodded to us and then each pushed open one of the great wooden doors.
“Wow.” I dropped Fina’s arm, eyes widening as I drank in the library.
It was enormous. The ceilings were so tall that there were two staircases on either side of the space, leading to a wraparound balcony with shelves and shelves filled with books. A hearth was already burning in the center of the room, flanked by overstuffed chairs and stacks. There were tables scattered around, well-lit, and everywhere I turned were shelves and shelves and shelves of books.
“I can sense the romance novels,” Fina said. She closed her eyes and placed her forefingers to her temples. “They’re calling me.”
At the higher level of the library, a shelf caught my eye. It wasn’t packed with books—it looked like it was packed with scrolls. “Enjoy them,” I said. “I’ve got some exploring to do.”
I hurried up the narrow staircase to the wraparound balcony. It didn’t look like anyone came up here often—a thin layer of dust had built on the wood shelves, and the lighting was dim. Between the shelves, there was a narrow, closed door. Likely to more archives, I assumed. I tamped down my curiosity about the door. First, scrolls.
And were there ever a lot of scrolls. The shelves were unlabeled, so I pulled one out at random, coughing at the sudden explosion of dust. I pulled it carefully from its leather tube and smoothed it out on the nearby table. Text only—and not in a script I knew. I returned it to its holder. I pulled a scroll from another shelf—same thing. Unfamiliar text. After pulling the third text-only scroll, I moved to a different shelf, closer to the door in the back.
This shelf was slightly less dusty, but still unlabeled. I pulled a scroll from one of the shelves and removed it from its leather casing.
Finally! I bounced on the balls of my feet with excitement at the first glimpse of the ink on the parchment. I hurried to the table and pulled out the full scroll, delicately smoothing it flat on the table.
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
His smirk turned to a grin, and he raised his eyebrows at me briefly, almost playfully, before he turned and strode away down the hall. He left me dumbfounded, standing in the hallway like my shoes were nailed into the floor.“The most interesting thing here.” I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or a threat.6The next day, mid-morning, I was seated in a hard-backed chair against the stone wall of a narrow corridor. The ceilings were high, and the stained-glass windows were thankfully uncovered, letting sunlight sluice into the room. It was gorgeous, but so, so quiet, and neither I nor the two other contestants seated next to me were looking forward to what was behind that ornately carved wooden door.It slammed open. Rona strode out, her hands balled into fists at her side. She swore colorfully as she passed us, eyes blazing with fury.“Guess it didn’t go well,” Fina murmured next me.Rona left the hallway and Lady Glennis stepped out of the room with her trademark notebook in th