‘Rose, before you go in, there’s someone I need to warn you about.’
‘Your father?’ My heart skitters. ‘Is he here?’ I need to make sure he got my message about Kay. Hearing that she’s somewhere safe, where she can keep tabs on how I’m doing, would be the positive news I need to get through the rest of the night.
‘Not yet, no. But look, Rose, I’m not sure how to say this. You just need to know?—’
‘Oh fuck,’ Llinos says, her voice loud enough to cut Jonas off. ‘I don’t know if I’m impressed or terrified.’
I follow her line of sight.
Turns out Zara isn’t holed up with the healers after all.
Chapter 15
Iwish I couldn’t see Zara, a furious scowl on her face and angry burns still marring her skin. The healers have done one hell of a job on the blisters and brought down the swelling, but the evidence of what I did is still clear. Her skin is puckered and pink, the hair on that side of her head gone entirely. Not just shaved but scorched away.
Beside Zara is a slender man with an almost identical face to her own. I assume it’s her brother, Shim. When he sees me staring, he taps his sister on the shoulder. Slowly, she turns to face me. Her choice of outfit is fierce – a dress that’s eighty percent chains and no more than six inches of fabric. It definitely gives the burns room to breathe.
Every muscle in my body clenches as I stand there, bolted to the ground, awaiting whatever pain’s going to come. But there’s nothing. Nothing but my own pulse hammering in my ears as her lips curve into a sneer. Whatever she’s got planned for me now, I have a feeling it’s going to be a hell of a lot worse than when she merely considered me a ‘runt.’
‘I need a drink,’ Jai grunts, and for once I’m grateful for the curtness of his interjections.
‘Yeah, me too,’ I reply, trying to stem the trembling in my knees. I can feel their gazes trained on me – the courtiers, former so-called friends of my family – as my own eyes fall on a redheaded woman. A gasp escapes me. It’s Lora’s mother, and she hasn’t aged a day. Only … my stomach sinks as I realise it’s not her mother at all. It’s Lora herself. I hastily look away.
As I continue to scan the scene, I wonder how many among the crowd have placed bets that I’ll be dead by the end of the first trial and how many don’t expect me to even get that far. Now, more than ever, I’m glad I went down to the kitchens earlier, and not just because it meant I met Llinos and her gang; I’m not sure my stomach could handle anything right now.
Along the side of the main ballroom, there are a series of archways that lead into different corridors and, I assume, more rooms where the real action takes place. My father always said that balls are never about dancing or drinking. They’re for clandestine meetings, mingling, information gathering, and forming alliances.
‘Okay, Wrohelm,’ Benny says to Jonas after Jai’s grabbed a full tray of drinks from a waiter. ‘Since you’re hanging around with us, you can make yourself useful. Who’s our biggest competitor?’
‘Really?’ Coulter looks up at Benny. ‘We don’t even get tonight off?’
‘You can if you want,’ Benny replies, ‘but I intend to use my time wisely, as I’m sure all the people who want a chance of actually winning this thing will do.’
I shoot Coulter a sympathetic smile. Maybe it’s because of his age, but I get the feeling this event, with the drinks and the glamour and the eight-piece musical ensemble, is a far bigger deal to him than the others. I can only imagine how giddy Kay would be if she were here.
‘There’ll be plenty more,’ I remind him. ‘One after each trial.’
‘Yeah, as long as I live through them,’ he grumbles.
‘Oh, for Aitara’s sake. Come on, let’s go have a wander,’ Loch huffs. ‘They can fill us in later, right?’
As Loch glances at Benny, the two exchange a look, and I realise the older man’s offer to take Coulter for a tour of the ballroom creates an opportunity to put that magical hearing of his to good use. Smart.
Llinos stays close to Benny’s side, whereas Jai stands slightly apart from us and is already on his second drink. Apparently, grabbing intel on the other competitors isn’t so important to him, but I guess when you’re built like a small house and can turn the rocks beneath people’s feet into molten lava, you don’t worry about stuff quite so much. I, however, need the intel.
Rather than immediately jumping into his role as a Wrohelm guide, Jonas hesitates, his expression tightening.
‘I didn’t know if perhaps there were people Rose wanted to speak to,’ he says, looking pointedly at me. ‘You know, since you used to live here.’
‘Trust me, there is no one from the past that I want to talk to,’ I mutter. ‘So, spill. Who’s who?’
Jonas lets out a groan before taking a pull of his drink. ‘Okay, so it’s mostly knights and nobles we’re up against, and I don’t know much about the knights, other than what I’ve heard over in the barracks.’
‘Which is?’ Benny presses.
‘They’re tough as fuck.’
A slight sigh escapes Benny’s lips. I think it’s fair to say we could have worked that out on our own.
