“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 gates. These were in their wolf forms, and they were immense.
I’d never seen wolves of that size. They were closer in proportion to bears, with dark pelts of browns and grays, their nails clicking on the floor as they paced. Their golden eyes gleamed, but they kept their tails and heads low, attentive but unobtrusive. Still, their mere presence made my wolf rustle into wakefulness in my chest, hackles up and ears back.
I exhaled slowly, trying to calm her.
But then something else caught her attention, and she dragged my interest with it.
In the far corner, the king was talking to Fina. Fina looked gorgeous, in an elegant pale-yellow gown, with her hand on the king’s forearm.
Was the king’s wolf form as big as these guards? Was it bigger?
I shook that thought aside. The king was dressed in his usual formal wear, slacks and a loose white shirt under his cloak, but this time he’d worn boots. He was laughing at something Fina said, his head thrown back.
My wolf whined at the sight. A cold spike of something shot through me. It felt like jealousy—but it couldn’t be that. This was exactly what I wanted to happen, the king getting close to one of the competitors I considered a friend. It was, of course, the best-case scenario.
My wolf didn’t seem to agree, though. Being around all these shifted wolves was getting to me. It was making me lose my grip on my instincts. At least I knew it was happening—it’d be easy to get it back under control once I was in Daybreak.
“Oh, thank the gods,” Adora said as she rushed to my side. “Come, get a drink with me, I needed an excuse to get away from one of the Ladies of the Court—she was talking my ear off about the intricacies of the shipping delays coming from Dawnguard.”
That actually sounded interesting to me, and I glanced around to see where this lady was.
“Of course that piques your interest,” Adora said with a laugh.
She tugged me away from the door and my wolf settled a little. Having Adora chattering away in my ear did make me feel a little calmer, and a little more in control. We each got a glass of fine, fruity wine from one of the servants. The wine was smooth but with a kick that made me widen my eyes. “I know,” Adora said. “It’s strong.” “Not bad,” I murmured.
We were only halfway through our drinks when the servants emerged from the side doors with trays and trays of food. The king took his seat at the head of the table, and all the guests hurried to follow to their assigned places—as they were marked with placards. I was seated between Rona and Wynona, with Fina and Adora across from me. We were near the head of the table, but the council members and Duchess Alana sat between us and the king.
The duchess looked bored already, gazing at us with her dark eyes cool and assessing. She was a beautiful woman, with a narrow, lined face, wearing a high-necked black dress with brown hair in a plait worn like a crown around her head. Rona looked inordinately pleased to be seated so close to the duchess, but the woman didn’t seem to return her enthusiasm. The mood was pleasant, but muted. I wished I had been seated next to Fina instead.
The court members filled the rest of the table, all in a bit higher spirit than the rest of us. The stakes of this dinner weren’t as high for them, I assumed.
Dinner was pig—entire suckling pigs, roasted and brought out whole. There were vegetables too, and whole pheasants, quail, too, but the pigs were the centerpieces. Seeing the entire animal like this made my skin itch a little, despite the fragrant, enticing smell. It was another way the Nightfall wolves seemed to be a bit too close to their animal selves. It was as if they couldn’t even throw a feast without having it feel like a successful hunt. I swallowed and folded my hands into my lap as the servants deftly carved the meat.
Then, for some reason, my nape prickled.
The sensation was strong, so intense that I had to fight the urge to flatten my palm defensively over my neck. I balled my hands into fists in my lap, then carefully, slowly, glanced up. Trying my absolute hardest to not get anyone’s attention.
At the head of the table, the king was staring at me.
He was still mid-conversation with a council member, clearly, from the way he was nodding his head in acknowledgment and even responding to the short man’s animated gestures. But his gaze was on me. I swallowed. Even as he spoke, that smirk played on his lips, like we were having a private conversation amid the noise. It made my blood rush in my ears, my skin buzzing. My wolf loved the attention—she wanted more. Wanted to be closer.
Under the table, Fina kicked my ankle.
“Milady?” someone was asking from a few seats down. “Lady Reyna?”
“Yes?”
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
Fina raised her eyebrows at my outfit, but Adora just grinned from where she was seated. They were both wearing simpler gowns, too, Adora in tan cotton and Fina in elegant greens. Rona was seated at the table with them too, but she just scoffed at my outfit like it was the dumbest thing she’d ever seen. Her own dress was made for function as well, a brown skirt hitting just under her knees, and a black bodice with long fitted sleeves.“Good morning,” I said as I joined them and made myself a plate of breakfast from the spread at the table. Wynona was still absent, though not late yet.“How’d you sleep?” Rona asked with a half-smirk. “Any nightmares about the big bad wolf?” I poured myself a coffee. “I slept fine.”“I’ve never seen someone look so frightened around a wolf before,” Rona continued. “If I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t think you were a shifter at all. You looked like a scared little girl in front of the king.”“Rona!” Adora said.“I’m just stating the obvious,” Rona said.
We followed her through a small door at the side of the arena into a staging area built beneath the stands. The crowd noise was shockingly loud, even with no one on the playing field. Our escorts awaited us in the staging area, and I rushed toward Barion. He grinned at me and squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.“This is your moment, Reyna,” he said, quietly enough that it was only for me. “With the Dawnguard girl gone, there is no one here who can beat you.”I nodded and tried to swallow. I hated to disappoint Barion—but I’d have to if I wanted to be eliminated from this contest. I’d make it up to him when we were back in Daybreak. He’d understand. The dinner last night had only proven that I could not be a part of the Nightfall pack. Not now. Not ever.“Ladies!” A short, severe-looking woman dressed in the leather armor of the Nightfall guards strode in and clapped once to get our attention. “We will be beginning shortly! I will be assigning pairs. You will step into the arena at my w
I chose a Shiangan single-edged sword, with a tapered blade that narrowed at the hilt and widened slightly toward the top. It wasn’t made quite as finely as the ones I was used to training with in Daybreak, purchased directly from the traders at the port, but it was familiar in my hand and the right size and weight for parrying. I swung it in a few careful arcs, testing the weight and balance as I walked back toward the center of the arena.When I glanced up, the king was watching my testing moves with a curious tilt to his head. Shit. I’d already fallen into my muscle memory.There was a large white circle drawn on the dirt. I took my place at one end and fell naturally into my fighting stance, with my left foot forward and the sword in my right hand. Ten yards away, Rona stood in a similar stance, with the sword gripped so tightly her knuckles were white. Anger and anticipation radiated off her, and she didn’t hesitate to bare her teeth in a snarl intended to intimidate.I took a sl
The cheers only increased in volume, mixed with the thunderous stamping of feet and sporadic wild howls. Rona’s head only dipped lower, her tail tucked between her legs. Lady Glennis looked just as irritated as the duchess as she summoned Rona off the field and back into the staging area.Then I was alone, standing in the middle of the arena with my sword in hand, as I looked up at the king.This could not be happening. I felt like I was standing slightly outside my body. Like at any moment I’d wake up from a terrible nightmare. Spar the king? Was Barion mad?Barion just winked at me. He stood just in the doorway to the staging area, arms crossed over his chest, grinning like he’d just pulled off the greatest scheme of all time. If I had actually wanted to win this contest, I would’ve agreed. But now—now I wouldn’t be losing to Fina as I expected.What did the king want out of this? Would he want to prove something to me? Or was this just a show for his subjects? Fear gripped my heart