“He broke the most important rule!”
“Rules can change.”
“Then what’s the point, Max?” Dominik yells.
“Of what?”
“The game!” he snaps. “If you can change the rules whenever you want?”
“The point is that I am your king,” Maxian bellows. Energy crackles in the air, the plane flooding with the power of his genius. “I am your king and can do what I please.”
My knees quiver, body aching to drop to the shuddering grass in primal submission.
Dominik steps back, bowing, lowering his gaze. “Of course, my king.”
“Now,” the royal says, patting the Unluckie. “Todd is going to work as a Reign Base from here on out.”
The Heir of Illusion raises glinting black eyes.
“Yes, Your Magnificence.” Dominik retreats as the king brings the Unluckie over to Carter, doling out instructions. Carter leads the faerie off the garden lawn and toward the servants’ entrance into the building.
The plane settles, but my nerves do not.
Kassandra is tight-lipped as her brother bends over her, snarling something. She steps away from him, joining Maxian and Eli by the executioner. The Illusion heir grabs another drink. Dominik rolls and Benji steps forward, landing on a silver near the start.
Something shoves me to the ground. The force grips my hair, yanking, and I stumble to my feet, eyes stinging, as Dominik uses his magic to swap us.
Benji takes my spot in third place, and I his, in last place. My supervisor strides to her spot in second place. I think of the family that awaits in her future, her joy put on hold for decades. Misery washes through me.
The last round begins with Lila in the lead, Briar only a few squares behind her, then Benji, covering his sunburned face, as I remain at the starting line.
Lila enters the inner spiral, only a few paces away from winning. Briar strides forward, landing on Lila’s square.
“A match-up!”
A bucket of water appears.
I squint, trying to read Lila’s body language from this distance. I’ve rarely seen her magic outside of lacing and inventing. I don’t know which element she excels in or how quick she is.
But she gazes between her arms and Briar’s, and although Briar has so few for an Illusion Crest, Lila has even fewer. When Briar forms an ice needle, Lila only holds up an arm in a flimsy attempt, and the older faerie pricks her palm.
Briar steps back, astonished. Lila nods her way, then she—and the House of Reign—leave the game.
The plane does not react. Instead, the king watches his future bride, a lopsided smile gracing his lips, and I think that even if Kassandra loses to Dominik today, she may be winning the war.
Dominik rolls and Benji steps onto a silver square, one spot behind Briar, both of them only a handful of spots away from the coin.
“Illusion will need to move backward on their next round!” the executioner declares.
Kassandra rolls. The king whispers something to her. She shakes her head, not looking his way. A small pull on my dress moves me back two spaces until I am once again at the starting line. Dominik leans into Death.
“Illusion’s turn has yet to finish,” the executioner booms.
The lord glowers.
She’s going with Briar,I realize, heart sinking. The sun hurts my eyes.He needed this. Benji needed this—does she not see?
But can I blame her? She must choose between Briar, a servant she’s cared for her whole life, who has raised her—or a child she doesn’t know.
