“We all see the Great Clock, do we not? We all see its face…”
All of us turned to the other side, to where the tower and the Great Clock were. The Labyrinth was built right next to it, specifically for the Turning Trials. It was a big place, and I had no idea how big exactly, but it felttinyin comparison to that giant tower. Especially the palace we’d walked out of minutes ago.
It was a big building, five floors, white walls decorated with red, and so many windows I got dizzy trying to count—but it still looked like a cottage next to the tower.
“It is stuck, as my eyes tell me,” the speaker continued. The cheering slowed down. “A curse gone wrong. A brave queen, her Royal Goodness, ready to sacrifice everything to save her people, at any cost. And now…” The White Queen’s smile didn’t look painful for once. “Now, it’s in the hands ofthe Hands!”
Laughter. The queen laughed her heart out, and so did the speaker, and so did the audience watching from those seats.
“The good news is that you’ve done it before. The bad news? None of us remembers how—but don’t panic yet. Simply unwin the trials before Time stops for good…or don’t,” the speaker continued. “Your failure is permanent,after all.”
My mind screamed,why are they laughing?!
“Now, smile for our casters, won’t you?” The next second, our faces were on the two large projections on the sides of the arena. “If you need to scream, just do it later. For now—smile!”
For the last time, the audience laughed, the queen laughed, and we took the last breath with a fake sense of courage from having been handed all those weapons.
“Go ahead, little tickers. Off into the forest. And doremember to unwin!” the White Queen said, coming behind us now, gently pushing us forward. “I wish you all good-timing!”
“How will we know how?” asked Russ. It seemed he was no longer trying to pretend he wasn’t terrified.
As if on cue, the speaker went at it again with that irritating voice that made my flesh rise in goose bumps.
“I can’t give away much this time around, I’m afraid. But what Icantell you about the last trial turned first is that it’s calledunwinningfor a reason.” He paused and the crowd erupted in whispers, which then made the speaker chuckle. “I really can’t say more than this: break what you fixed and fix what you broke.Un-everything, our dearest Hands. Now—off you go!”
Un-everything.
My heart hammered still. My palms were sweating, which was a very bad thing, as the handles of the knives were going to slip right out of my fingers.
“Wait! I can’t do this—wait!” said one Hand or the other while I tried to come to terms with the fact thatthis is happeningstill.
We can’t just go in there—wait, I said!
I want my father this instant! This is outrageous!
Why is the forest so dark? What’s in there?
How are we to unwin what we don’t remember winning?!
Except the White Queen wasn’t near us anymore—all I saw was her silhouette as she retreated,glidingover the grass, a ghost in a white dress. Instead, the soldiers, either the same ones who’d brought us the weapons or others, were behind us, gently and not-so-gently pushing us forward. Toward the dark trees. The big trees.
The blood.
“I won’t—I won’t—I won’t go in there!”
This from Levana, and she turned around.
Run, run, run!my own instincts screamed at me, because whatever was waiting for us behind those trees wasnotgood. It was bad. It was death.
But then Levana tried before I could, and…
She moved backward.
I resisted the urge to rub my eyes.
She was trying to run between the two guards in front of her, to get away from the forest—it was plain to see that she wanted to get to the people. To the audience.Away.
Yet when she tried to take a step forward, her foot fell back. Toward the forest.
