Chapter Seven
One of the honor guardopened another door, and I blinked in the bright sunlight.When I stepped through, I realized I was standing in an area level with the arena field but separated from it by a wrought iron fence and protected from the elements by the floor of the seating area above.I was in the pit.
On occasion, cadets from different patrols or warriors from the Barrier fought each other for sport and entertainment.The fights were good-natured and intended to encourage further training.The pit was where the contestants waited to fight.Now the pit’s dirt floor had been covered with carpet and the wooden benches removed.Six cushioned chairs had been arranged in a line, and my sisters, all dressed exactly like me, were standing behind them.When I entered, they turned to look at me.
“You’re late.”I couldn’t tell which figure spoke since all the lower half of their faces were covered, but I recognized the voice as Cameed’s.“The Zulenii prince will step onto the field in just a few minutes.”
“I’m ready.”I squared my shoulders.
“No, you are not.”This from Broga.I could tell which of the figures she was because she was squarer in shape than the others.I was probably also easily recognizable as I was the tallest.“You will sit here”—she indicated a chair third from the end of the row—“and keep your head down.We all will.”
“We don’t know who the prince will choose.”This was Cameed’s voice again.“But it does not signify.I will go forward to fight, no matter whose name he calls.”
“Wait.That’s not how it works.”I recognized Finnrey’s voice.She was right beside me.“He chooses and the princess he chooses must fight him.”
“I am the eldest,” Cameed said, “and I will fight him.It’s my right and my duty.”
“But—” I began.
“Mara, Lord Ashe says this is Papa’s desire.He is the king, and if the king says something is honorable, it is honorable.”Cameed spoke with authority, but tricking the Zulenii did not seem honorable to me.I wondered if Papa truly knew of this scheme or if this was the plan my mother and Lord Ashe concocted.I opened my mouth to protest, but I could hear my mother’s voice,Remember how valuable you are to the kingdom.Nothing else matters.
I closed my mouth, but fortunately my sisters were not done questioning.“But if he chooses me and you go forward, he will know he has been tricked.”This was from Morga, who was much curvier than the short, slim Cameed.
“He doesn’t know us well enough yet to discern who is who,” Cameed argued.“And with all of us dressed alike, it will be almost impossible.”
She was right.Looking at Cameed and Morga, I couldn’t see any difference in their shapes under the loose tunics.Even Broga’s stocky frame was hard to differentiate.It was only because I knew my sisters so well that I saw the small differences.But there was one thing that dressing alike could not hide.
“What about me?”I asked.“I’m clearly taller than all of you.”
“That’s why you sit here.”Cameed pointed to the chair Broga had indicated earlier.I looked at it again and saw that the ground beneath it had been hollowed out.The person who sat there would look the same height or shorter than the others.“Unless he has a measuring stick with him and time to compare heights before the fight begins, he won’t know he is deceived.”
I rather doubted this.There was enough of a height difference between Cameed and me that he would notice it if she stood before him and not I, but I’d promised Mama I would listen to Cameed and Broga, so I only nodded and moved to the chair they’d arranged for me.
Everyone else did the same.I was seated between Morga and Finnrey, which was odd as we usually sat in age order, so I never sat between these two.But people would expect us to sit in age order, so mixing that up made sense.
“I can’t stop shaking,” Finnrey murmured to me.
“I don’t think this plan will work,” I murmured back.And I didn’t like it.Even if Papa had sanctioned this plan, it seemed wrong.
“Shh!”Morga said as the door on the far side of the arena opened and the prince strode through it, dressed in black.Finnrey reached for my hand, and I took it.She was shaking badly, and I hoped her trembling would hide my own.I wished my mother had not forced me to eat this morning.My belly roiled, and I feared I might vomit.The prince strode to the center of the arena and put his hands on his hips.He looked supremely confident.I doubted he was shaking at all.He didn’t look at us princesses.Instead, his gaze swept past us and up.I realized my father must be sitting in the box above us.With the prince’s sights fixed on my father, I allowed my gaze to sweep over the Zulenii.His jaw was again clean-shaven, and his raven-black hair was swept back and secured in a tail that just reached the high collar of his coat.He wore tight black trousers, more formal than the leggings our men would wear to fight, and black boots.The only skin that was visible was that of his hands and his face.
Slowly, the prince sank to his knees and bowed before my father.
Behind him, in the pit on the opposite side of the arena from the one we occupied, I spotted his companions.They were also dressed in black, which made a stunning contrast to the white we princesses had been dressed in.I studied Omira, the prince’s sister.She looked nervous, her hands clenching and unclenching as she shifted from foot to foot.I felt my chest tighten in sympathy then forced myself to look away from her.This was not the time to allow my emotions to take hold.I had to be strong and ready to kill the prince, if called upon to do so.I glanced at Cameed who was determined to fight, and her eyes were hard and cold.
Good.
“You are hurting my hand,” Finnrey said, and I realized I had tightened my grip.
“Sorry.”I released her and sat on my hands to keep from fidgeting.
“Rise, Taio of the First House of Zulen.”That was the king’s voice.“Do you still wish to proceed with the Claiming Rite?”
Taio rose, the knee of his black trousers now dusty from the arena ground.“I do, Your Majesty.I have made my choice.”His gaze slid to us and then away again.My heart seemed to stop for a moment, but his eyes didn’t meet mine.
“You understand once you have made this choice, the princess will engage in combat with you.If she wins, she has the choice to slit your throat with this dagger.”
