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. “A queen shouldn’t have been so spooked by something as simple as the king’s wolf. She should be honored to be in his presence.”
Irritation boiled over in my chest. What was Rona’s problem with me? I hadn’t done anything against her, but every opportunity she had, she was throwing cruel, childish barbs at me. I was already sleep-deprived and shaken up, and I was sick of having to sit here and listen to her judge me.
“It was not his wolf that disturbed me,” I shot back, even though it was only half-true. “But his savage behavior beforehand. Snapping a lord’s neck like that? At dinner? That’s not the behavior of a leader—it’s the behavior of a bully. A true king should manage such affairs in private, through the proper legal channels.” I sniffed. “And a respectable shifter keeps her wolf under control.” The king strode into the dining hall.
I snapped my mouth closed. Rona looked inordinately pleased, like a cat who’d just caught a long-hunted bird.
He was grinning as he dropped unceremoniously into the seat at the head of the table, looking well-rested and full of energy. What had he been doing last night? Had he run through the woods outside the city and slept as his wolf? Is that why his feet were still bare on the floor?
“I hope you don’t mind having a savage join you for breakfast,” he said with a grin as he fixed himself a plate of eggs and sausage. “I promise to use my utensils.”
My cheeks burned as I stared into my coffee cup. This had to stop happening. I had to stop saying things like that—even when I thought it was safe, it never really was. There was no excuse for my behavior. Conversational barbs like that worked when I was riposting with the Court of Daybreak, where my reputation was established, but here it was only getting me into trouble. My wolf was clouding my judgment. Being in Efra—being around the king—was making her far too active.
We returned to our meals as an uneasy silence fell over the table. I knew everyone was thinking about last night. About the king’s wolf. About how he’d sniffed me like we were packmates. The skin on my neck and shoulders prickled with the memory, but the sensation wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
Though that had to be my wolf’s influence.
“Your Highness,” Fina asked delicately, “we seem to be missing Wynona.”
“Ah,” the king said. He sat back in his chair and kicked his feet out under the table, crossing them at the ankle. I pulled my own legs back under my chair to avoid him. “Wynona has been sent home.” I nearly dropped my fork. The other three girls looked equally shocked. “She was not my match,” the king said. “And so she was dismissed.” “Of course,” Fina said. She took a sip of her coffee.
Nothing more was said about the subject. Adora easily filled in the conversation with light discussion about the upcoming trial, but I struggled to focus on her words. I was disappointed—I’d hoped I would be the first one dismissed. And why was Wynona dismissed privately? I’d thought there’d be more pomp and circumstance to the Choice. More ceremony, more showmanship. The king had wanted this Choice to boost his reputation in Efra, hadn’t he? How did dismissing competitors in private help that?
And, I realized suddenly, with Wynona gone, I’d have no one to lose to in our matches today.
Fina was strong, but not trained in combat, as far as I knew. Rona was likely a brawler. Adora— well, I’d be shocked if Adora had ever picked up a sword in her life.
My appetite dissipated. This was going to complicate things. And from the way the king was watching me, I had the feeling he might know that, too.
After breakfast, the king wished us luck and left the solarium just as briskly as we’d arrived. Lady Glennis strode in afterward, as elegant as ever with her notebook in hand and a small pair of silver glasses resting at the tip of her nose. “Ladies,” she said, “are you prepared for today’s trial?” “Yes, milady,” we said in unison.
“Good,” Lady Glennis said. “Today’s trial will not be held here in the manor. Come with me.”
As it turned out, not in the manor was an understatement. Glennis had us pile into coaches, and then head into town. I had no idea where we were going, only that Rona was getting more and more excited as we headed west through the narrow streets.
“The arena?” she asked Lady Glennis. “We’re doing this at the arena?”
Lady Glennis nodded demurely. “The king suggested we invite the citizens to spectate,” she said as she reviewed her notebook. “The arena seemed to be the best venue.”
When we stepped out of the coach outside the arena, the crowd was already hooting and hollering. The structure wasn’t anything fancy, just large wooden stands built around a playing field of packed dirt, dotted with booths of food and drink sellers. Above the stands flew flags bearing the Nightfall crest.
“Typically, the arena is used for jousting and boxing matches,” Lady Glennis said. She sounded somewhere between bored and resigned. “This event has certainly garnered some attention, so you’ll be happy to know the stands are full.”
“Happy?” Adora nearly wailed. “This will be my worst event!”
“Well, perhaps you should’ve trained more,” Lady Glennis said. “This way, please, ladies.”
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
I ducked lower and shifted my weight, so I was behind him again, and raised my sword just quickly enough to block another overhead swing aimed at me. With one hand on the hilt and the other palm on the flat of the blade, I pushed back against his sword, grimacing with the effort, digging my heels into the dirt of the arena. “A sneaky maneuver,” he said through gritted teeth. “Your escort spoke truth.” I said nothing, focused entirely on the effort of holding his sword back.Then, suddenly, the pressure was gone. He stepped back, but before I could regain my bearings, he slid his blade beneath my sword, still brandished as if to parry, and flicked it back toward himself.I lost my grip on the hilt and my sword went flying into the dirt.I hopped back into my stance, hands raised defensively, half-expecting another strike.The king only straightened his posture. He stuck the blade of his sword into the dirt like a flag claiming his victory.The crowed exploded into cheers. Had they been
Immediately, I was entranced by the detailed maps drawn carefully in the very front of the book.The city of Efra was bigger than I’d even imagined—and it was smaller now than it had been in the past. The map in the book showed Efra sprawling out across Frasia, its neighborhoods almost reaching Daybreak and the other packs. Huge. As if the city of Efra was the entirety of the continent. Ismoothed my finger down the map. What had changed to shrink the city so much, and to break the land into the separate domains of the packs?Amity and Rue arrived with breakfast, and I dismissed them just as soon as it was set up. I stayed in my pajamas as I sipped my coffee and nibbled at toast, the small tome open flat on the table beside me. There were few pleasures better in my life than a lazy breakfast and a good book.I was only a few dozen pages into the introduction to the book and the history of author Hae Blaylock’s life when a brisk knock at the door shattered my attention. I pressed my li
Except she didn’t feel rested at all. She wanted closeness, other wolves, either the handmaidens or Fina and Adora, or better yet, the king. That wasn’t happening today, though. I padded over to my dresser and pulled out the fine silver knife Barion had given me, sheathed in its leather scabbard embroidered with the Daybreak crest. Sometimes a wolf’s instincts were just a little overactive. I’d been through a lot of stress—the dinner, the sparring, and having the king show up at my door. My wolf was on high alert. Having the little knife on my person would calm her down, certainly. I slipped it into the waistband of my pants.It worked. My wolf settled, the weight of the knife a substitute for her bared teeth, and a tangible reminder of Barion, too. Then I tucked The History of Fae in Frasia into the crook of my arm and slipped out of my room. I didn’t leave a note for Amity and Rue, but I had a feeling they’d know where to find me.I made my way through the halls of the manor undistu
But what would a shewolf be doing creeping around the halls? It had to be a guard, or— Or something worse. Someone sent to find me.I swallowed, my feet pinned to the floor. “Can I help you?” I asked primly, the steadiness in my voice hopefully concealing some of my fear. But I didn’t doubt the wolf could sense the anxiety radiating off me. It crept up the stairs until it was on the balcony with me, its paws silent on the stone floor.Internally, my own wolf raised her hackles.“What do you want?” I asked, low.What did I expect? For the wolf to shift back into human form and explain itself? Of course it didn’t—it just pulled its lip back from its teeth in a snarl as a growl began to build.The yellow eyes fixed on me with the bloodthirsty gaze of a predator.This wolf wasn’t here to scare me.This wolf was here to kill me.11barely had time to acknowledge that truth before the wolf launched off its back feet with teeth bared. I scrambled backward, and my foot caught on the hem of m
“Where are we?” I asked.“My study,” the king said sharply.“Then what’s the room upstairs in the library?” I asked.“My archival study,” he snapped. “Why am I letting you ask questions?”He guided me to one of the chairs at the table and pushed me down to sit. I swallowed. Goosebumps rose on my arms. I was still riding high from the adrenaline of the fight and reeling from the way the king had carried me—I was offended while my wolf was preening. Right now, I was too tired to untangle those reactions. He exhaled. “Are you hurt?”I looked down at my hands. They were covered in blood, sticky and darkening as it dried, and it had reached my clothes as well. Certainly it had flecked my face, too. The same dark blood stained the king’s hands where he had grabbed me.“I’m fine,” I said. “It’s not my blood.” Suddenly, renewed anger surged through me. “Care to explain why I just got attacked in your library?” “Attacked?” the king asked.“Yes, attacked!” I tried to stand up to get in his face