The song ended, and the side of his lips shifted into a half-grimace, half-smile. He took my hand, placing a chaste kiss on my knuckles.
“As have I,” he said. “I’m sorry, Rose.”
My mouth went dry. “For what?”
He met my stare again. “Everything.”
The sharp sound of metal clinking against glass made me jump and tear myself from his gaze to look toward the raised platform. Lark stood there in the black and gold velvet dress she’d tried on atthe dress shop, the antler mask made of bone casting shadows on the wall behind her.
When I glanced back at the emperor, he was gone.
“I trust you have all had a magical evening celebrating the looming end of the Decemvirate. I am privileged to announce that our great Emperor Gayl is in attendance tonight and wishes to say a few words.”
The audience clapped. A pressure built at the base of my spine, crawling its way up my back. Something was wrong.
Gayl strode silently along the platform, the tails of his black coat fluttering behind him. He stopped in the center and surveyed the ballroom before him.
“Thank you all for being here,” he began, and the crowd went still. “It brings me great joy to see the people of this empire bonding. Royal”—he nodded toward a group of lords in the corner—“challenger”—his eyes crossed to me—“and guest alike. It’s my wish that despite the storms that may come our way, we are able to stand strong together. Through the magic and might of this land, anything is possible.”
A ringing formed low in my ears as I twisted my neck, searching for Leo. I needed to find him. Slowly, I began to inch my way to the back.
“That is why we have always held the Decemvirate in such high regards. It pushes each province to be at their best, to work toward a common goal. To strive for glory. And this year, we have been gifted with a particularly vigorous group of challengers.”
I brushed against a black jacket and glanced up to see Nox. When he looked at me, I gasped. The pupils of his eyes were long slits encased in silver. His nostrils flared as he blinked and his eyes returned to normal.
“We need to get out of here, Rose,” he whispered. A command laced with fear.
Confusion flew through me. What was he talking about? I opened my mouth to respond, half of my attention still focused on finding Leo, when Gayl spoke once again.
“Theyhave shown competence and skill with their minds, passing our little riddles and tests. They mastered their hearts—or at the very least, discovered what lies at their core. But courage”—he paused, taking a moment to think as he paced the platform, all eyes trained on him—“testing courage is a difficult thing. For how does one assess the bravery of the strongest in the empire?”
“Now, Rose. We have to gonow,” Nox said again, the crowd beginning to rustle with restlessness. I searched the columns as panic bubbled to the surface.Where is he?
Something flashed in the shadows behind the green drapes.
I lurched toward it.
“Real courage displays itself in the face of the unexpected. The unprepared. I think you will find, dear guests, who will rise to the challenge”—Gayl’s voice rang out as Leo’s face came into view—“and who will fall.”
I stretched out my hand to meet Leo’s, my heart flying into my throat. But before our fingers could touch, the air between us rippled. My vision went in and out of focus. I blinked hard to wipe away the haze. Leo’s fingers…they were fading. Fragmenting. Floating.
A heaviness swept over my skin. Looking down at my own hands, I sucked in a breath.
Somewhere nearby, glass shattered as Gayl’s words echoed through the night.
“Let the third trial begin.”
And the ballroom disappeared.
The Third Trial
62
Rose
Iopened my eyes to stifling darkness. The world was black, like someone had draped a curtain over my face. I struggled to breathe in the suffocating space, the musty scent of earth and wood clogging my senses.
Something rough pressed into my back. When I turned to feel for it, my arms hit solid wood. I frantically pushed and thrashed against it, trying to free my limbs, but I barely had room to move.
