Before I can say anything, Jude sits himself down and politely pats the ground next to him like I’m a lost puppy. Meanwhile, the onlookers outside have taken to chanting his name.
Thisis their vicious Lead Player? I imagined sharper teeth. Maybe an evil cackle.
Jude blinks up at me. “Well, I’m not going out there if you don’t sit first.”
It occurs to me that if hedoesn’tgo out there, someone is liable to comegethim.
I quickly sit down across from Jude, crossing my legs the way his are and keenly avoiding his eyes, staring instead at the dark copper of his hair, which flickers like candlelight at the ends.
Jude looks like he does in his playbill solagraph, with smooth olive skin and tousled hair that probably took an absurd amount of styling to look intentionally messy. One dark eyebrow is arched just slightly higher than the other in amusement. He wears far too much jewelry for one person.
JUDE: “Good! I’m Jude, by the way.” As if I don’t know exactly who he is. I mouth nasty insults at his statue each time I pass it in the District.
I glance nervously toward the closed curtain as the crowd cheers louder.
“Oh, that? Never mind it. All right, like this—” He rests his forearms on his knees, inner wrists to the ceiling.
I tightly cross my arms over my rib cage instead but wince at the discomfort.
Jude closes his eyes. “Breathe in and picture what you’re frightened of.”
I breathe in and picture him.
After holding his breath, he adds, “Now breathe out and picture what you want.”
I breathe out and picture that damned Script. And maybe a gag to shut him up.
This is not helping.
He peeks an eye open.
JUDE: “See? No need to be nervous. Between you and me, this crowd is nothing but a pack of weeds with only a handful of flowers to pluck.” He pauses, stares me up and down. “Maybe a few thorns, too.”
RIVEN: “I’m not auditioning!” The words fall out of my mouth before I realize my mistake. I shouldn’t sayanythingto him. I can’t lie.
JUDE: “Oh?” He tilts his head, curious. For the first time, he seems to take in the rips in my jacket, where my attackers tore it. The holes in my boots. “Isee. Have you come to rob us? You don’t look like you’ve had a full meal in—well, I don’t know. I don’t think it’s normal for a person’s cheekbones to stick out like that.”
The director’s voice cuts through the applause.
SILENUS: “Our Jude, he…hedoeslike to make an entrance, yes? Perhaps if we cheer louder!”
The audience obeys, and Jude sighs dramatically, pulling himself to his feet. I follow.
Then, to my horror, he plucks a golden ring from his index finger, motions for me to hold out my hand, and drops it into my palm.
JUDE: “Tell you what. Why don’t you steal this from me? And go find yourself something to eat. The food is free, you know.” He makes it three steps before pausing and throwing a look over his shoulder. “And for the record, even if you aren’t auditioning, you most certainlyarescared. Would you like to know a secret?”
I say nothing.
Jude shrugs. “The best actors always are.”
Then he just saunters off through the curtain.
SILENUS: “Well, look who it is!”
The crowd bursts into a final surge of roaring applause.
Snapped a guard’s neck for stepping too close to Silenus,Galen said.
