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.
6
T
he 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 the crook of her arm. “Lady Reyna? The council will see you now.” The council.
The first official trial of the Choice. It was all finally beginning to seem real.
“Good luck,” Fina whispered, and nudged me.
The King’s Choice wasn’t just a method for the king alone to choose between potential suitors. The point of the Choice was to prove to the rest of Frasia that the Bloody King could be trusted to lead diplomatically—that he wouldn’t just rule through violence, despite the way he’d taken the crown. He wanted to ensure his reign was long and well-regarded, lest another pack rush in and try to take the crown for themselves. The council would help him make his decision—or at least, that’s how Barion had explained it to me. Whoever the king chose had to have the approval of the council in order to become the next Queen of Frasia.
I stepped into the trial room.
I was nervous, but confident. This I could do—be perfectly ladylike, and perfectly dull. All I had to do was be pleasant and nice to look at, like a decoration, so one of the other women would outshine me. I took the seat in the center of the room, smoothing my deep blue gown over my knees. I smiled demurely up at the low dais, where four carved wooden chairs seated four severe-looking council members.
Over dinner last night, Lady Glennis had given us names and statuses of the council members. The Duchess Alana was not on the council, though I was certain she held sway. The council members were court members, chosen for their knowledge of the skills a queen should have. Lady Marin, the main judge of this trial, sat on the far left. Her face was lined, and her long dark hair was streaked with silver, hanging loose around her deep purple cloak, the same one all four council members wore. At her side was Lady Oleta, with her sharp, birdlike gaze and gnarled hands. Then there was Lord Nylander, so short his bare feet barely touched the ground beneath the chair, and his head shaved bald. And finally, Lord Elfriede, who looked strikingly young compared to the other three, with dark curly hair cropped close to his skull.
I’d reviewed their names, and what specialties they held in the court of Nightfall, and why they represented the best of the pack. And yet, seated in front of them, all of that information flew from my mind. I felt like a criminal walking to the gallows. All four of them stared at me like they were trying to see all the way to my wolf, locked deep in my soul.
“Good morning, Lady Reyna of Daybreak,” Lady Marin said curtly. “Are you ready to begin?”
“Thank you for having me, Lady Marin,” I said. “Yes, I’m ready.”
She opened a small notebook. “Here is your first question. For the winter solstice celebratory feast, what are the traditional courses?” “For what region, milady?” I asked.
She raised an eyebrow, impressed.
Yeah. I could do this.
The trial went by in a blur, rapid-fire questions of pack norms and place settings and hypothetical social situations and diplomacy and merchant contracts. By the time Lady Marin dismissed me, I was dizzy with the questioning, but pleased with how I’d done.
I left council with my head held high, and Lady Glennis sent in Fina after me. She grinned at me as she strode in, confident as ever.
I met Adora in the Solarium, where she was having coffee and a light lunch. She still looked a bit pale, having been the first of us to face the council, but the biscuits she was nibbling on seemed to be reviving her. She perked up as I walked in.
“Reyna!” she chirped. “How did it go?”
“I think it went well,” I said with a nod. I’d answered the questions correctly, for the most part, but without too much detail—I’d been polite, but not overly engaging. Effective. Boring. The perfect candidate to be cut from the lineup.
“Rona rushed in here, took a coffee, and left,” Adora said. “I tried to talk to her about the interview, but she just blew me off.”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” I said with a sigh. “She didn’t look happy when she left the council room.”
“Well, it’s not fair to ask a commoner questions of that detail,” Adora said. “These are things we’ve been learning since we were little girls.”
“True,” I said. “What did you think about the question about managing the late payment between the Askon merchant shipper and the distributor? I found it to be a bit convoluted.”
“Oh, a nightmare,” Adora said. “But we’ve actually dealt with that in Starcrest a bit, so here’s what I suggested…”
Over coffee, Adora and I compared notes about the more complicated questions of the trial. By the time we’d finished our coffees, Fina rushed in, her bright eyes a little wild. But her smile was still huge.
“Wow,” she said as she poured a coffee for herself. “They don’t mess around in there.” “How did it go?” I asked.
“Just fine,” Fina said. “Not my strongest area, of course, but I doubt the council members know how to rotate a field to keep it producing properly all year. We all have our strengths.” She linked an arm through mine. “Listen, we have the rest of the afternoon off while the council is doing their important deliberations, and I want to go into town. I need to see the dressmaker.” She sipped her coffee. “Not want. Need. I did not bring enough warm clothes for this climate.” I laughed. “I don’t know, that seems like it might be a bit of an ordeal…” “Adora, will you go?” Fina asked.“Of course,” Adora said. “The town square is beautiful in the snow.”“Come on, Reyna,” Fina said. “There’s a bookstore.” She grinned at me.That got my attention. Adora must’ve seen it on my face, too, because she broke into a laugh.“Fine, fine,” I said. “I’ll go. I’d like to see what kind of work the tailors do here, anyway.”“Right?” Fina said. “We have to learn about our potential new kingdom. Let’s finish
The assistant’s head barely reached Camille’s waist. He swept into a low bow, then disappeared behind the curtain, and reappeared with a bottle and three glasses. He guided us to a low couch by the mirrors, then poured us each a glass of fine red wine.“Wow,” I said, settling back into the couch. “This is lovely.”“Thank you,” Camille said. “I received notice from the court that you may be joining me, so I did want to prepare a nice experience for you.” Fina sipped her wine. “Experience?”“I’d like to show you some of the designs I have to offer,” she said. “Then we can discuss fabrics, detailing, changes, et cetera, et cetera. All the things that make a lady’s wardrobe her own.”In Daybreak, the tailors made my clothes for me without much input. I wasn’t given such freedom like this—freedom to choose and make changes. Excitement swelled in my chest.“The Court of Nightfall will be covering the costs, as well,” Camille said. “So please choose anything you like. The king made that very
I nodded in understanding. If the Fae had come again, something in the land was changing. But unlike Camille, I wasn’t sure this was a good thing. Drogo’s reign had not ended well for him—I couldn’t imagine that the king’s would, either. The Fae’s return was an omen, but not necessarily a good one.“Well,” I said, “I’m delighted to hear it.”Camille smiled politely at me. She seemed almost disappointed that I hadn’t offered her more of a reaction.As Micah took Fina’s measurements, Adora looked more and more distraught.“I just can’t decide!” she said. “I love the neckline on this gown, but the hem length on this one.And I’d prefer silk, but then it must be lined for the cold weather—and what about this fine jacket!” “We can combine elements, milady,” Camille said. “You have a good eye for this kind of work.What are you envisioning?”“Pardon me,” I said as I stood up. “Adora, do you mind if I pop over to the bookstore?”“Oh!” Adora smiled warmly at me. “No, not at all—we’ll meet you
“All right,” Rue whispered. “Try to have a little fun.”I swallowed. Amity and Rue had an idea of how nervous I am, but I couldn’t really put words to the anxiety itching in my chest as I steeled myself. This wasn’t just the other competitors—this was the entire Court of Nightfall.Amity pushed the door open.The formal dining room was enormous, with immense stained-glass windows half-covered with plush velvet curtains. It was lit with torches lining the walls, and four crystal chandeliers glimmered overhead. The long table in the center of the room was set with fine porcelain place settings, but the guests were lingering around the room with glasses of wine, while finely dressed servants drifted among them with platters of hors d’oeuvres.I would’ve considered this to be a fine dinner, if it weren’t for the guards posted at the doors and near the dais at the end of the hall and pacing around the perimeter. These guards weren’t the leatherclad men I’d seen in the solarium and at the g
The man speaking tilted his head curiously. “I was asking you about the well-being of your Lord in Daybreak,” he said. “Since I am the ambassador to Daybreak and know him well myself.”“Oh!” The whiplash made my head spin. “Of course. You’re Lord…”“Skorupski,” he said. “Niles Skorupski.”“Of course!” I said again. “Lord Skorupski. It’s wonderful to see you again.”The Lord looked put-out. It was clear I hadn’t recognized him at all—even though we’d almost certainly done business in the Daybreak court.“Ice Princess,” Rona hissed under her breath.A scowl flickered over my features before I was able to steel my face back into neutrality. I felt so frazzled and rough around the edges, so unlike the carefully self-managed lady I was used to being in Daybreak. Something about being in Efra was making me too sensitive, too reactive. I had to get myself under control.The rest of dinner passed in a pleasant haze. The food was good, the wine delicious, and the conversation boring but still
“I expected,” the king continued, “that you might behave more like those two. Meeting people.Learning how things work in my pack.”Over his shoulder, Rona and Wynona were sneering at each other. Rona had a court member on her arm, headed to the dance floor, and Wynona, despite standing next to a councilmember, looked like she was a breath away from shifting and lunging at Rona.“Ah, Your Highness,” Fina said, “we were only—”“Your Highness,” I cut in as my irritation grew, “would you rather we posture for dominance on the dance floor like those two?”“Perhaps I would,” the king said.“To think that Ladies of the Court would behave so childishly would be to insult our lineage,” I said curtly.At my side, Adora inhaled sharply through her nose. My wolf whined internally, as my instincts fought my mind yet again.The king made a low sound in his chest, somewhere between a growl and a laugh. The hair on my arms stood on end. He leaned closer and his eyes flashed gold—for a moment I thoug
The man went limp. The king tossed him aside like cleaned chicken bones. The body hit the stone floor with a sick thump, and the king didn’t even grant him a second look. He nodded at two nearby servants, who quickly shifted into small brown wolves. They trotted forward and dragged the corpse out of the ballroom. Every hair on my body was standing on end, and my heart raced.When I finally tore my eyes away, the king was staring at me.This wasn’t the curious look I’d felt at dinner, or the amused gaze when I’d spoken with some rudeness. I’d seen his eyes flash gold before, but never so completely. This wasn’t the man looking at me—this was the wolf.I felt the shift before it happened.The air in the room crackled with energy. My wolf whined in my chest, and my nape ached. I felt frozen in place, pinned by his gaze.Then, like a rippling wave, he shifted. He didn’t wear the moonstone rings like the servants did— as his wolf rushed forward, his fine clothes ripped at the seams, fallin
“It’s how he rules,” Barion said. “Cazzell drunkenly revealed that he’d been embezzling some ofNightfall’s moonstone and cutting under-the-table deals with the traders from Shianga.”“And that’s cause for execution?” I demanded. “It’s a trade dispute!”“It’s like he said.” Barion sipped his coffee. “He wanted to make an example of it, to prevent anyone else from trying anything similar.”“I bet he’s just pissed he has to hold this Choice at all,” I huffed. “He’d probably be happier running around in the woods slaughtering deer.” “Oh, I’m sure he makes time for that,” Barion said. I gaped at him.“I’m kidding,” Barion said, laughing. “He’s busy with his kingly duties. Is it just the execution that’s got you so wound up? I thought you’d be expecting behavior like that, what with how worried you were about your imagined punishment.”I sighed and stepped behind the dressing screen. The tailor had sent four outfits, including the one I’d requested at the shop. Two were gowns and two had t