With the top of my finger I brush against the sharp blade of my dagger, immediate release as I take a shuddery breath.
I look over my shoulder to where the other candidates are standing in line, ready for their big entrance.
Come on, Braxton, this isn’t the time to bail.
I follow the path I saw him and Zephron take an hour ago.
A dead end. Two giant red curtains hang in front of me. I want to turn around until I hear a familiar growl on the other side. A growl I heard way too many times and so lost count.
“Braxton?” I push the curtains to the side, my eyes scanning the empty room behind it. On the floor sits Braxton, slumped over, staring blankly at the wall. I hurry towards him, kneeling next to him. “What happened?” I whimper.
He still stares at the empty wall as he answers me with way too few words.
“The king happened.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask as politely as I can, not sure if he will let me in.
“Not here, not now.”
“Well, we are up, then we better keep going,” I tell him, trying to make a joke about it, but my nerves can’t seem to make it funny. This gets his attention because he looks at me utterly surprised as I turn my back on him.
“Wait.” He jumps up, fixing himself and he grabs my arm. “Don’t you want to know what to expect?” he continues. “I promised to tell you.” I shrug my shoulders.
“I trust you,” I speak up, reminding myself that I do trust him. Because truly, I do.
I am starting to trust him.
“As long as you stay with me there, we will get through it. Promise we will stick together?” I lift my pinky towards him. He looks at me like he has never seen a hand before. “What?” I ask, kind of disoriented.
“Nothing.”
He takes his pinky in mine and shakes our hands. I am in his mind already and can’t ignore his thoughts.
He has never made a pinky promise before.
We join the row of leaving candidates. We are just on time, because two servants open the curtains towards the inner circle off the arena. Cheering explodes and music drums in my ears. A band I assume. Because of us being late we are last in line, and I walk behind Braxton, who follows Aiden. The arena which was empty before, is now full of people, not a seat to be missed. Bright lines change directions and point at us, people going wild. All I do is keep my gaze locked in front of me, lifting my chin with every step I make, pushing my shoulders backwards. The king and Zephron stand in front of us already, welcoming us with their arms, Zephron forcing a completely different face than before. He grins widely and wears a tux. A beautiful blue one, one that the king would never pick out for Braxton. We stand in a row before the screens, each and every one of us standing in front of a chair. The king turns towards the crowd and everybody goes silent. Zephron gives us a nod, and I take that as a sign that we should sit down. Servants, who are also dressed nicely appear from the sides, holding blindfolds. Annie doesn’t stand between them, but is standing behind them in the back avoiding my gaze. She better does. It kind of weirds me out, though. Is she still a servant after she helped the king? I am still furious at her. I will get to her later. I should even steal my memories back, but now is not the time. My blood boils as I think of the betrayal and I realize I am not in a position I have control over. Nerves bubble up inside of me and I tap my foot, trying to ease the nerves. A warm hand stops my legs from ticking and a warm smile meets mine. Dimples look at me and most of my nerves wash away like sandcastles get washed away by the sea on a beach.
“Welcome!” the king starts.
Finally, I find the courage to look up at the crowd. Hundreds, probably thousands of people are looking down at us. My eyes search the first view rows, looking for the man I call Da. Asmile catches my glimpse and his warmth brushes through me. He gives me a nod, and I have never been happier to call him my father. I allow myself to smile and nod back. I have missed the king’s little speech, because the servants step towards us, starting to blindfold the first candidates.
“All candidates will enter their nightmare at the same time. Each duo will enter together, and you will win as a duo, if you are still in one.” His gaze glides toward Caleb. I didn’t know we would all be going at the same time. And how are they going to do this anyway? Did they put something in our potion again? I would prefer to see what happens to us before I get blindfolded, but I don’t have a say in that. A girl with ashy blonde hair, blue eyes, and a bony face structure comes into my range. She holds the blindfold in front of me and looks like she is asking me if it is okay. I give her only the smallest bit of a nod, grabbing my railings tighter as everything goes black. As everything goes dark, I try to orientate myself. Braxton is on your right, nobody on your left. The king and Zephron right in front of you. Da is on the right, second row. I dig in my mind for a good memory. The only ones that pop up are the new ones I made with Braxton, and I notice the top of my lips twitching.
“Are you okay, Honey?”A familiar voice enters my mind. His voice brushes and tickles my stomach and I move in my seat, trying to push the tickling away. I nod, but answer soon, realizing he can’t see me.
“Yes, I think. I feel a bit nervous, I am scared that they will see, but it helps a bit that I don’t see them anymore.”I chuckle nervously.“Sorry, I rattle when I am nervous. Are you ready?”I blur. His low and raspy voice tickles my inside even more when he starts laughing. I blush and I am glad he can’t see.
“I know you do,”he whispers. My ears listen to something else, and so do his probably, because it gets very quiet very fast.Footsteps in front of us, strolling further. Probably towards the king.
“Welcome,” he growls. A woman’s voice speaks up. A voice I heard before. I hear Braxton move and then stiffen.
“You know my name don’t you, Chadd?” the woman’s voice accuses. “Or should I call you king, lord, or whatever bullshit everybody calls you.”
His mother.
Again.
Despite the fact something bad has happened between Brax and his mom, I think she has some balls to speak that way towards the king in this setting. He doesn’t react to that, only calls up someone else.
