“Do you know that this year’s Oathtaking had a record turnout? More participants than ever before, more even than last year when you joined the Trials, Adrian. And—”
“Excuse me.”
I pushed past the ancient priest, making a beeline to the nearest door. Thankfully, it led to the gardens.
Fresh air and a moment alone, that was all I needed. Besides, the room was stuffy, suffocating with all those people about. I was used to House Viper being much more open and airy. That was all it was. It had nothing to do at all with the High Priest of House Lynx putting the hope of entire generations on my shoulders or with all of these people already talking about the powerful heirs my newly betrothed and I were expected to create. Nothing at all.
I bent over in front of the stone fountain and gasped, taking calming, steadying breaths. My vision slowly cleared and my heart rate decreased. I considered unzipping my dress, only for a moment, only to relieve the constriction. But someone slapped a hand on my shoulder and spun me around. I nearly lost my balance and toppled over into the roses, but I righted myself at the last moment and glared at my aggressor.
Olympia.
She glared back, eyes narrowed to slits, jaw clenched, nostrils flaring.
“Olympia,” I greeted with a sigh. “I suppose you haven’t joined me for a lovely evening stroll.”
“I should kick your ass,” she said through gritted teeth.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “For what, exactly?”
“For Dante.”
“Did he ask you to? Because, in my experience, he does a fine job of kicking my ass himself.”
She cocked her head to the side, brows furrowed in momentary confusion before she shook her head and resumed her angry countenance. Jokes were lost on her.
“You know what I mean, Third Ringer,” she spat. I nearly yawned. I’d grown quite bored of the use of my former status as an insult. “I know he doesn’t really want to marry you. I know he’s only doing it because Cosmo is pushing you together, but I can see you scheming your way up the social ladder. That’s all your kind ever wants, a chance to be one of us. You stole him from me.”
“What?” I asked, almost laughing. “Olympia, the Trials assigned us to one another. I had just as much say in the matter as he did. Besides, if he turned away from you so easily, maybe you never had him in the first place.”
She threw a punch. I dodged it, sliding to the side and coming up with a tsk.
“No, no, no.” I shook my head. “Better not bruise the candidate.”
I wasn’t sure why I was baiting her. Maybe I was tired of her glaring at me from across the room at every party. Maybe I was frustrated about having to time out my visits with Milo to ensure she wasn’t around. Or maybe I was bored of this party and its attendees’ high expectations of me. At any rate, goading Olympia into a fight turned out to be easier than I thought.
She howled in rage and threw another punch. Thanks to my enhanced speed, I slid out of the way easily, propping out a foot for her to trip over. She fell onto the coarse stone. I bent down, elbows on my knees, and tsked again.
“If you would stop trying to hit me for a moment, you might realize you can’t.”
She swung again, from the ground. I simply leaned back and raised a brow.
“Olympia,” someone barked.
Dante stormed from the house toward us. I rose, dusting off my hands, and strode a few feet away. Olympia pulled herself up and frowned, shoulders sagging.
He was furious. There was a part of him, though the size of that part depended on the day, that was always seething with rage, but never had I seen it so prominently displayed on his features as it was now. He was practically red with fury.
“What the hell are you doing?” he snapped when he reached us.
I clasped my hands casually in front of me and leaned against the edges of a stone pillar, looking over to Olympia with a raised brow. Olympia stared at the ground, silent. I sighed.
“She attacked me,” I said. “At least, I think that’s what she was trying to do.”
If looks could kill, the glare Olympia shot my way would have burned straight through my heart.
“What are you, a child?” Dante screamed. “Adrian is my partner, and my fiancée. We’ve been over this. I don’t know how many times I have to explain it to you. No matter how much you hate her, no matter how much you brood, it isn’t going to change the fact that the Trials put us together. And do you know what? It’s clear the Geist were right!”
Olympia looked stricken. And as much as I hated her, even I cringed at Dante’s words.
