“She’s friends with Jacinth, right?” Wyn asked as his sapphire eyes met mine knowingly.
“You think she did it deliberately, don’t you?” I asked him, a smirk rising against my will.
“I do,” he confirmed with a nod. “The two are very close, I have no doubt she’s well aware of whatever has gone on between you and yourMini-Dite.” He snickered teasingly, and I glared back with no real heat.
“In that case, we'd best hope the rest of this competition goes as you wish,” Balthazar stated, making Ruri roll his eyes.
“The girl is here under Carnelian’s thrall—” Ruri began to argue, but I interrupted.
“I’m not so sure about that,” I told them, and they all looked at me in surprise. “Something happened today, and she’s promised to tell me everything when she’s ready. I’ll keep you all updated on what happens, but don’t discount her on his behalf.”
Ruri agreed mulishly, but the rest were more accommodating. We moved into reviewing the results of the trial, each of them explaining how the ladies fared. It was clear Amatista would be eliminated, but we still had to assign points to each of those remaining. If it got to the point that no one failed a trial as we got further on, then those would be the deciding factor.
After our meeting, I felt at a loss and found myself going to see my mother. Especially since she was watching Neasa. My troubles wouldn’t be soothed until Jacinth could tell me everything, but I’d found my dog could usually at least dull the sting.
“What brings you here, Az?” My mother asked happily as I walked into her living area. Neasa made straight for me, and I knelt down, letting her rub her head against mine as I ran my hands through her fur.
“Would you believe me if I said girl trouble?” I smirked, making her roll her eyes.
“It’s been a long time since you needed me for such things,” she said wistfully, and I brought Neasa with me to sit beside her on the sofa. She jumped up between us, curling into me as I pet her.
“I can’t remember ever feeling so mixed up about a woman in my life,” I told her honestly, chuckling despite myself.
“What troubles you, son?” Mother asked softly, her entire demeanor brighter since her talk with Jacinth. Her long sapphire hair fell past her shoulders in gentle waves, brushed out as normal once again instead of being ignored. While her mourning dress remained, in a deep teal so dark it was nearly black, she had begun wearing her diamonds once again, which sparkled against her pale skin.
While my bronze skin had assuredly come from my father, the rest was a solid split between my parents. It had always felt right, the mixture of my parents, when they were always equals, partners in everything. Something I desperately wanted for myself.
“I’m drawn to Jacinth beyond all others,” I admitted to her, keeping my eyes averted from hers and firmly on Neasa. “But she’s been troubled herself, unsure of what, or who, to trust.” I sighed deeply, my head falling back and eyes fluttering closed as I explained the rest to her. When I was done, she hummed, making me open my eyes and lift my head to look at her.
“What?” I asked, waiting for her response.
“It sounds like you both came into this with expectations that didn’t match reality.” She smiled softly, reaching out to brush my hair back. Thehair I had down the middle of my head was usually firmly brushed to the right, with the front pieces flopping over the side of my forehead. My mother, as always, was determined to ruffle it back, but the motion made me smile regardless.
“I think once she’s ready, you need to hear her out, and then give her your own truth in turn.” She sighed sadly, her sapphire eyes glassy, and I could only imagine that she was remembering my father. “Relationships only work if you meet one another on equal footing. You both need to put that work in.”
She tilted her head, appearing to be thinking something over. “You’ll both have pasts to contend with, but the past is just that, the past. You only need to be concerned with the present and future. And what the two of you can make of that future, together. If she’s truly the one, then the past should remain where it lies, and the two of you can come together as equals in the present, setting yourselves up for an extraordinary future.”
I nodded as I thought over her words, even as I was unsure of my own ability to let the past go, but I leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Thank you, Mother.”
“Oh, my boy.” She smiled, grabbing my hand and squeezing it. “I hope for your sake that you can resolve this.” She paused for a moment, a smirk sneaking out as a teasing twinkle appeared in her eyes. “And not for nothing, but I like her.” She winked, laughing as Neasa barked in agreement.
I thought it over until it was time to call the ladies together for the elimination and to inform them about their next trial. I walked into the throne room, searching Jacinth out immediately. Her eyes were red and slightly puffy, and I had to work hard to keep my face neutral.
Scanning the rest of the ladies, Safira and Sania looked the most eager, while Allirea seemed unconcerned, and Amatista was focused on Jacinth just as much as I was. Leading me to be sure we were right, and she’d thrown the trial on purpose. Whether for her friend’s sake or her own, I couldn’t be sure.
“Ladies, the time has come once again to see someone eliminated from the competition,” I told them after I was announced. “You all have done a wonderful job, of course.” I heard a faint snort, and the smirk on Amatista’s face nearly made me laugh out loud.
My words were all prepared in advance to ensure we didn’t alienate any courts during the trials. It was important for political reasons, but we knew every court that didn’t win would inevitably have issues they would raise.Related to the competition or not, the loss of a queen would have them findingsomethingto complain to me about.
“Lady Amatista Iolanthe, you have proven yourself a fierce competitor of Amethyst Court; however, your time in the competition has unfortunately come to an end,” I told her, feigning sadness that she returned just as authentically as she curtsied her thanks.
I saw her father watching on from the crowd, and bit my lip as I saw his eyes go wide and his face turn red, his wife frantically patting his arm and whispering in his ear to calm him down. So most likely, Amatista was only here because her father had insisted. I knew the number of ladies who actually wanted to marry me and become queen was equal to the number who were forced into it by their fathers for politics.
Unluckily for them, I had no desire for a political marriage. My eyes sought Jacinth once again, hoping against hope that I’d found a way to avoid such a marriage.
Jacinth carried my future in her delicate hands, whether she knew it or not.
The future of Gemaria itself.
