“Do you see this?” I asked her, lifting my hand and adjusting my pearl and diamond bracelet. When she nodded, I continued. “My parents gave this to me right before they died. It’s been the only thing I had to connect me to them since. I wouldn’t dream of taking an item like that away from you or your daughter.”
Tears filled her eyes, along with a look of such intense thankfulness that I had to look away from it. “What about the competition?”
I looked back at her, taking a deep breath, even as my heart broke into pieces at the thought of Sania winning. Knowing Azurill would be out of reach forever. This was the problem with hope. The second you let it gain a foothold, it has the power to break you. And I could feel all the hope I’d built up now crumbling to dust.
I should have known better. Ididknow better, but I’d let myself forget. Let myself get swept up in Azurill and everything he represented.
“Any competition that asks for such a thing isn’t one that I want any part of,” I told her, and whether she was able to tell that was only half true or not, she reached out and hugged me. I let myself fall apart for a moment, kissing goodbye the future I’d envisioned.
But I buried it beneath the veneer I’d used for years to hide my emotions, rebuilding it brick by brick until I could make my way back to the palace. Knowing that I’d have to stand before Azurill and watch his beautiful face be swept by devastation as I announced my failure.
When I approached the palace, I found Alfrikr waiting for me. Sania had not returned to the palace yet, so I was led to my rooms to wait until she arrived for the final elimination. It was absolute torture. It took an entire extra day for her to arrive back, somehow taking twice as long as I had, leaving me to pace my rooms as my anxiety ate away at me.
I’d spent the entire day cut off from everyone, forced to wait until Sania made it back, abiding by the rules of the competition. Everyone had to find out the results at once, and I wasn’t allowed to speak to anyone, even Azurill, in order to keep to those rules.
When the time finally came, Alfrikr led me back to the throne room, where Sania was already waiting. She looked worn and filthy, but triumphant, and my heart sank further. When Azurill walked into the room, I avoidedlooking up at him, keeping my eyes on the floor to avoid seeing his crushing disappointment when he realized the truth.
“Ladies and Gentlemen!” Azurill called out as he sat on his diamond throne. “I thank you all for coming to the final elimination of the Diamond Queen Competition. The round you’ve all been waiting for, where we’ll find the next Diamond Queen of Gemaria.”
The crowd cheered, and I spared a glance at Sania, who looked quite pleased, a smile on her face and her chin tilted haughtily in the air.
“Lady Sania, please step forward,” Azurill commanded, and I watched her bounce forward in her excitement. “Do you have the item you were assigned?”
“Of course, Your Majesty.” She curtseyed before him and pulled a dangling necklace from her pocket, holding it up for inspection. Azurill stepped forward and took it, nodding at her to step back. She did so happily, shooting me a look full of condescension as she did so.
“Lady Jacinth, please step forward,” Azurill called, making me sigh deeply as my shoulders shrank under the view of the court.
I stepped forward, curtseying to Azurill and finally looking up at him. Our eyes met in a clash of pink and teal that still sent a shiver down my spine, even as I prepared to announce my failure and destroy everything.
“Do you have the item you were assigned?” he asked, a strange look in his eyes, looking almost frightened for a moment as I opened my mouth.
“I do not, Your Majesty,” I answered quietly, and a lone gasp was heard around the court, as the rest of the crowd had gone deathly quiet.
“And why not?” Azurill asked, leaning forward, a smile twitching on his lips, confusing me thoroughly.
“The ring you sent me for belonged to a grieving widow, whose husband died protecting this very city. The ring is meant to go to their daughter, and while she was willing to hand it over just because you asked, I refused to take it from them,” I admitted, closing my eyes briefly, before gathering my courage and opening them to see his expression.
I was completely taken aback to see the pride burning in his eyes.
“You refused to take it from them. Was this because you didn’t want to win?” he asked, a large smile growing on his lips that didn’t make any sense.
“No,” I shook my head, now wholly confused at his reaction. “I didn’t think it right to take such a precious item from them, just for the sake of my own future. It would have been cruel.”
Azurill looked down for a minute, and when he looked back up, his smile was nearly beaming as he looked at me. “I must admit, this trial was the one I was the most set on, but also the most concerned about.”
I blinked at him, trying to figure out what was going on here. A look at Sania proved her glee at my failure had already turned to bewilderment.
“This trial was all about testing one of the most important aspects for a queen: the ability to put our people first,” he announced, a gleam dancing in his eyes. “You consistently chose to help people when the choice was presented, which is why you finished in half the time. Refusing to help people and choosing yourself instead made this particular trial much more difficult. You chose to help people. You followed your heart and refused to take something precious from them just to help yourself. You’ve more than proven throughout this competition that you have what it takes to be the Diamond Queen, and have thus proven yourself the champion!”
My heart raced, feeling like it might soar out of my chest as his words penetrated my dazed brain. Azurill stepped off his throne, offering me his hand, and I took it, blinking owlishly.
The idea that an entire future with this man was still possible had rattled my mind, but in the best of ways. Tears sprang to my eyes, disbelief and relief battling for dominance within me, and I gasped as the realization that I’d actuallywonsettled within me.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the next Diamond Queen!” Azurill announced, his eyes twinkling at me as he smiled broadly. My own smile grew to meet it, and I couldn’t help throwing my arms around his shoulders. Even though I told myself not to seem too enthusiastic, so that Carnelian wouldn’t catch on, I reminded myself that this would be expected.
I allowed myself the moment to bask in this. I’d go back to pretending in a minute, but for now, I just wanted to bury my face in Azurill’s neck and breathe in his scent, leather and mint and spice. His own arms came up to hug me to him, his broad hand covering my back as he whispered in my ear.
“I knew you could do it, Mini-Dite.”
