As the night wears on, eventually the originals move from their table, walking and chatting amongst the students. I make a point to avoid any original who comes close, subtly weaving between the students, always keeping a good number of bodies between us.
My guys don’t find me, but that’s not surprising. They’d already said before the dance that they don’t want to single me out. They’d said something about how the queen already has me on her radar since I was chosen as the Token, and they don’twant her realizing I’m their mate. Which seems valid because if she finds out I’m their mate, she’d probably want to execute me considering the prophecy.
I’m back to standing by the tower of drinks, shielded from the queen’s gaze by the mass of glasses, and I cover my mouth with my hand as I yawn.Come on lady,I mumble internally, wishing the queen would finally retire. I can’t leave until she does, and despite the incredible room, I’m ready to spend the rest of my night with my guys.
“There you are, child!”Elgen’s rasping voice sounds in my mind, almost making me jump.
My eyes flit around the room until I find her and Tarlaz high up on the wall closest to me, hardly noticeable with the moving shadow images of battle scenes playing out around them.
“Nice to see you haven’t made a spectacle of yourself,”Elgen adds. I’m not sure if she’s being sarcastic, but I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job at keeping under the radar, so I’m going to assume she means it as a compliment.
A server approaches carrying a silver tray topped with tiny artistic-looking pieces of food, and before he can pass me, Tarlaz shouts in my head.“Well, don’t let him get away, girl! Look at those morsels. Taste them and tell me what flavors dance on your tongue. You could be dead tomorrow!”
I want to protest at the ‘dead’ part, but his words shock me in to action. I quickly lean forward, stopping the server before he can leave.Seriously, it’s like he never intended to stop at all. “Which one do you want?”I ask Tarlaz, because there are five different types of canapés on the tray, and I have zero idea what any of them are.
“All of them, of course!”Tarlaz replies.
I smile at the server who simply stares at me as I start piling food onto my hand.
As the server turns to leave, Tarlaz rasps,“Don’t forget that little one with the pickled garnish.”
Smiling apologetically, I quickly retrieve one of those as well, and the server finally scurries away like he’s glad to be free of me.“Seriously, what are you going to do without me?”I mutter to Tarlaz.
“A great many things, because you’re winning the games and getting us out of here, child,”Tarlaz replies, his words muffled in my mind like he has something in his mouth.
I turn to where the shadows are on the wall, only to find he has replicated the canapés beside him in shadow form.“Now, let’s start with this one,”he says, and he’s already pretending to eat the shadow canapé with a cone pastry top.
I grin, always appreciating that the shadow loves snacks as much as I do. Reaching for the real cone canapé on my palm, I bite off the top, moaning as the pastry flakes in my mouth.
“Well, don’t hold back now,”Tarlaz urges, staring at me intensely.
I go on to describe the earthy, woody taste of the truffle infused in what tastes like cream cheese and garlic, and the shadow listens to my every word, making strange noises like he’s enjoying consuming it just like I am.
Slowly, I move through the canapés, and when I come to the last one, I pause.“You know, I still don’t understand how you got trapped here. Surely you can’t be the only ones who were on this land when the academy was built? Why hasn’t the queen already freed you?”
“I doubt the queen has had the time to notice us let alone contemplate freeing us from this prison,”Elgen grumbles.“We can’t be sure of the exact reasoning for our predicament, but our hopes still reside in you becoming a champion of the games, girl.”
My brows lift.“Hold on, you can’t be sure? So there could be another reason you’re here?”I ask, surprised.
“We’ve made a calculated guess,”Elgen says.“Why else would we be here? I have no interest in watching children dance around pretending to be warriors before their untimely deaths.”
“You know we’re adults,”I correct, still musing over what she’s said.
“Pshhh,”she answers.“Children in my eyes. No, all that’s important is that we find a way out of here, so we can retire to the depths of the forest and forget this place exists.”She leaves it at that, turning from me and making it clear she’s not going to give me any more of an explanation.
I want to try and pry more out of her, but Tarlaz impatiently urges me to taste the last canapé.“Okay, calm down,”I say to him, laughing. Lifting the morsel, I go to pop it into my mouth, but someone bumps me from behind and the canapé goes flying through the air.Oh, crap.
Chapter Thirty-One
~ Shade ~
“Argh! Catch that canapé!”Tarlaz cries frantically in my head.
I scramble for it, but it’s been flung too far. Before the canapé can fall, someone snatches it from the air, and I look up into the dark, mesmerizing eyes of…Germain? I swallow my surprise, staring at the original who has a wide easy grin. Before I can utter a word, he lifts my canapé to his lips and pops it into his mouth.
“That monster!”Tarlaz exclaims in my mind, outraged.
“That’s what you get when you ask her to save your favorite one for last,”Elgen says, cackling wickedly in my head.
