Only two more will get a chance.
Torrin grabs at my ankle, and his additional weight almost hauls Soraya over the edge. I scream as torn muscles burn. Soraya's thigh muscles flex and strain, and she grinds her teeth together as I dangle precariously.
There's another pair of candidates to our left, scaling the cliff face determinedly. They're almost neck and neck with us.
"Kick him off!" she screams.
"Don't let me go!"
But she's glancing across, judging the distance. Knowing they're going to beat her to the top, if she's not careful.
And I relive every moment of it, as I watch.
"I'm sorry," she whispers, meeting my eyes. "I don't want to die."
"We could fight together. We could flee. We promised we'd always have each other's backs!"
But she lets me go.
The mirror's hold on me shatters, and the second I tear my eyes from its surface, I Sift away.
None too soon.
The guards burst in, seemingly alerted somehow to my presence.
But I don't linger around to see if they're disappointed to find the room empty.
"Nothing?" Soraya demands, as I reappear at her side.
Seeing the moment of her betrayal has shaken me all over again, but I realized something too. I missed her. I missed the little girl who shared my bed on bad nights, where we'd whisper our hopes and dreams and she'd tell me about the mother she could barely remember. I miss the training partner who sparred with me every day, and laughed with me about some of the other boys in the camp. And I missed the girl who'd splash me in the face in the hot baths, when I teased her about a certain boy in particular.
That doesn't mean I trust her.
"It wasn't there. But now I know where it is."
"Where?" Her eyes light up.
I merely smile. "Maybe its time for Lady Merisel to seduce a prince?"
She rolls her eyes. "Has he got it with him, or are you merely trying to get him naked?"
"Both?"
And a hint of a smile crosses her mouth, before she slaps me across the back of the head. "Mind on the job, Zemira. We're running out of time."
There's an uproar in the palace, and I swiftly change into my gown again, trying to hide my late night sojourn.
Soraya gives me a look. "What's going on?"
"I'll find out."
"If you don't come back, should I check the prince's bed?" she calls, as I slip from the room.
Scurrying through the halls, I'm drawn to the sounds of sobbing, and find most of the prince-hunting party near the library.
Prince Keir is there, trying to send them all away.
But it's too late.
