6
The indoor arena is packed. All of the Houses have arrived. The five members of the Elven Command stand in a line on the dais. They’re members of the five highest Houses: Elder, Splendor, Glory, Valor, and Bounty.
They are a dazzling display of beauty and wealth. It’s mid-morning but the spellcasters have adorned the arched ceiling with spun silver and gold, lanterns hanging high above us under a false night sky.
There are fifteen major Houses and fifteen minor ones. While the majority of the crowd remains behind a golden barrier further back, there are thirty squares set out at the front. The Houses won’t reveal their chosen champions until the last moment when the male carries his heartstone to me, so there are at least two extra males with an advisor in each square acting as decoys.
The whole place is churning with elves.
I wait with Jordan in the entrance room that is reserved for me. My Storm Command is already in position on either side of the dais. A golden chest sits on its own raised platform on the far side of the dais. Each time I receive a heartstone, I will place it in the chest and the magic will bind the champion to complete the trials until he’s eliminated.
A purple cape sweeps around me, tied at the front. In my right hand, I hold my family’s heartstone—a lavender rock, a washed out, pale color. My family is the only House that can’t submit a champion in case we’re related. But my mother, father, and brother will be in the crowd. Jordan stands with me, but Elise is yet to return from her sweep through the champions.
The music starts playing to quiet the crowd, a fanfare of trumpets and a chorus of elven voices from a choir positioned on the far side.
The noise in the room finally dies down as Elise joins me, a little out of breath. “Your mother and father are here. When you’re on the dais, look to the right. They’re in the elevated seats at the back of the stadium.”
I grit my teeth. My parents should be on the dais with me. They should be treated like royalty instead of shoved in with the crowd like every other onlooker. “My brother?”
She swallows. “Your brother stands with the House of Rath. I believe he’s agreed to be a proxy for Baelen during the trials.”
Shock ripples through me, but also happiness. The House of Rath is located right at the front, which means my brother will stand mere feet away from me. I haven’t seen Macsen for seven years and to be this close to him means the world to me.
Elise chuckles. “He’s changed a lot. You won’t recognize him.”
I don’t have a chance to reply before the five members of the Elven Command cry in unison: “We call the Storm Princess.”
I take a deep breath and step onto the dais. The entire room becomes quiet. I take my place in the center and lift my left hand with my family’s heartstone in it, keeping my arm parallel with the floor. My right hand rests at my side, palm out, visibly empty. I place a pleasant smile on my face.
I finally have the chance to glance around the room.
Elise was right. I barely recognize the warrior standing at the foot of the dais, but I do recognize the smile my brother gives me. He’s filled out from the lanky boy he used to be, broad in the shoulders, as tall as Baelen.
Bae’s expression is a far cry from my brother’s. His face is blank, guarded. Like all of the potential champions, he’s dressed in black robes with his family’s crest across his shoulders and chest.
I lift my voice. “Let the Heartstone Ceremony begin.”
On cue, one of the Elven Command steps up to my left. Each of the five will take turns calling the other Houses forward one at a time. This time, the first Elven Commander to speak is Gideon Glory. His hair is golden blond, straight, and tucked behind his ears. In the right light, the skin of elves in the House of Glory shimmers as if they’re made of the jewels that are found on their land. If my brother’s presence next to Baelen concerns him, Gideon doesn’t show it.
He says, “I call the House of Rath.”
The first time Bae offered me his family’s heartstone, he’d approached me head down, offering it up to me like a sacrifice. Now, he doesn’t take his eyes off me. I shiver, unable to look away. My heart speeds up as he steps onto the dais and stops in front of me, tall enough that I have to tip my head back.
His chest rises and falls. He keeps the heartstone at his side as he glides onto one knee, never breaking eye contact with me.
“I am Baelen of the House of Rath. I offer you my heartstone.”
I wait for him to lift the stone up to me, but he doesn’t, clutching it in his fist at his side instead. The red rock glints between his fingers, catching the light around us.
He holds it beside him for so long that the crowd begins to murmur. The other Houses lean forward. I sense the Elven Command pressing in behind me.
With a shock that almost drives me to my knees, I wonder if, for the first time, Baelen Rath is about to follow the protocols.
Except that this is one protocol I never wanted him to follow.
I can’t tear my eyes away from his, but everything around us suddenly becomes crystal clear. My heart pounds double time in my chest. My heartbeat roars in my ears.
Slowly he lifts his fist to his heart. Instead of offering me the stone, he presses it to his chest. All I can do is watch as if I’m in a dream over which I have no control.
