One of us. It is the reminder I need. I push aside Thea’s bullshit. This is my moment and I am going to fucking own it.
I can already hear the music, the chatter, and the laughter. Do they know it’s me who’s about to be announced? Have the others returned? Where is Benny? Jonas?
‘The gifted,’ the knight announces. The ballroom falls utterly silent. ‘Lady Rose Kultavaris.’
A moment of absolute quiet holds in the air, and the only sound I can hear is the drumming of my heart as it batters my ribcage. The maid who chaperoned me down may have been pleased to see me win, but what about the court? Is this the moment they decide they know better than the Goddess and deem me wholly unworthy? What will that look like? With an image of raucous booing and jeering filling my head, the ballroom bursts into applause. Faces beam at me, and women dab their eyes with false pride, as though they never once spat on me and called me the Queenkiller’s daughter.
‘You should greet the king,’ a priestess whispers in my ear. ‘It is tradition.’
My already parched throat dries further still.
King Korvane is sitting on his throne with a smile so fixed and false it should be hilarious. Next to him is Kyor. His eyes display that same awe he showed me in the chamber earlier, the cerulean blue depths so full of love I can’t possibly believe it’s false.
The two royals are not alone. Murmuring to Korvane is High Priestess Mila. I find I have no wish to speak to any of them right now, so I select a glass of wine from a nearby waiter and stand holding it. I doubt I will ever sip a glass of wine given to me by a stranger ever again.
Even now, I can see Llinos’s face as she struggled to breathe.
Godsdamn it all.
Unsure how to proceed and aware of all the eyes scrutinising my every move, I feel my anxiety beginning to rise. I don’t want to face Korvane. Or Kyor. Yet I don’t know where to go. The crowd parts, creating a clear walkway straight between me and the dais where the king awaits, and yet still I do not move. To give my thanks to him after the pain he caused my family – the pain he caused Kyor – is something I’m not sure I’m capable of.
Whispers crescendo and smiles grow tighter as eyes flicker between me and the royals, wondering who will react first. Then, without warning, there is a bustling motion to the side and Benny barrels into the centre of the room, a glass in hand. The relief at the sight of my friend is intensified further as he lifts his drink into the air. ‘To the gifted! To Lady Rose!’
The court hesitates, their collective gaze still darting towards the king, until another lone voice echoes Benny’s toast.
‘To the gifted! Lady Rose.’
It’s enough to open the floodgates.
‘To the gifted! The gifted!’
The chorus goes up around me, hundreds and hundreds of voices, yet once again my mind can only hear one. It’s like my senses can only tune in to him.
As I stare at Kyor, the image of Thea’s picture rises in my mind and, with it, bile that stings the back of my throat. He told her he loved her too. And then he let her be stripped. Have I been duped the same way she was? Fooled into believing his emotions are real? It didn’t feel like it, but I suppose no one suspects the conman until it is too late. And it is too late. If he’s been playing with me … my heart won’t survive it. Because I wasn’t playing. I was all in. Now, I’m not so sure. He kept my secret though, didn’t he? He didn’t tell anyone about the forbidden frozen magic that burst from within me.
It is torture. More torturous than any of the trials I suffered through.
‘You did it. You fucking did it!’ Benny’s voice brings me back into the moment. When I turn around, he’s there, beaming at me. ‘I don’t need totell you this, but you know that Llin would be so freaking proud of you right now.’
‘I wish she was here to see this,’ I admit, feeling the tears build up again. Gods, am I just made of tears these days?
‘Me too, me too.’ He takes my hand and squeezes tightly. ‘Our Rose, Gods above, the gifted. I’m damned proud of you. What did you ask for?’ he queries.
‘For everything to be restored to me and mine. Our magic, our wealth, our titles.’ I smile. ‘I have my magic back.’
‘I’m happy for you, Rose. You deserve it all and more.’ Benny looks at me with such pride that my heart warms all over again. ‘Have you seen Kay yet?’
‘Not yet,’ I tell him.
‘Rose!’ Jonas is the next to accost me. ‘Rose, you’re here. Thank goodness. I wanted to speak to you. There’s something I need, we need, to discuss. Now.’
A grind of irritation echoes through my clenched jaw. I don’t expect my friends to venerate me because I won, but would a single word of congratulations hurt? What can be so urgent that it can’t wait another day?
A sudden thought surges through me. Could he wish to propose again, even though he knows of my feelings for Kyor? That single thought leads to another more insidious one. Did he know about Thea? Did he know Kyor professed to love her too? He certainly tried to warn me away from the prince often enough.
With a forced smile, I place my hands on Jonas’s shoulders. ‘Not now. Just have a drink, please. Celebrate with me before anything else.’
‘Of course.’ His smile looks almost as forced as mine. ‘Congratulations, Lady Rose,’ he says as he sweeps into a courtly bow as deep as the knights offered.
