Then the White Queen spoke again.
“If I may have your attention, my little tickers. Look here.” Another tap of her spoon against the side of her cup. The chime rang in my ears, too sharp this time.
Shivers erupted all over my arms. We all stared at the head of the table.
“That’s better.” She put her spoon down. Her smile had yet to melt off her beautiful face. It looked like hard work to be smiling so big for so long, but even in a dream, I didn’t comment.
“Now, a quick recap of your past two weeks—you entered the Turning Trials, you completed the games created for you—for which I must say,bravo, my tickers, bravo!” She clapped her hands together so lightly they barely made a sound.
Entered the Turning Trials,she said.
Only I did no such thing. I was twelve-hours certain of it.
So, what came before the blood and the night and the beasts?
“Wait…”
This, too, was a thought of mine, yet it came from the lips of the girl sitting to the queen’s left. I was on the right, sitting between two boys, six of us on this side, and only five on the other.
Which was strange all on its own and I still couldn’t say why.
“Wait, wait…I never entered the Turning Trials. I was going to. I-I was prepared. I-I-I…” The girl could have picked the words from my very brain.
But it wasn’t justher—it was all of them. All ofuswho thought the exact same things.
“Ah, but you did,” the White Queen said, leaning in to tap the girl on the tip of her nose once.
In my mind I almost heard the chime of that small touch.
“No, no, I didn’t,” said another girl sitting on my side of the table, dark red hair bouncing around her head when she shook it. “I remember that I didn’t. I was going to, I was looking at the royal carriage coming for me, and…and…”
And thenblood. Teeth. Grass. Night. Beasts.
Memories that could very well not be mine flashed in front of my eyes, and I squeezed them shut, and pressed my fingers onto my temples to try and stop the sharp ache that wanted to cut my skull in half.
Large jaws with sharp teeth snapped in front of my face.
Break the clock-you have to break the clock-you have to break the clock!
The words painted themselves in my head, but these couldn’t bemythoughts, could they?
Because what clock? Why breakit?
“He-hem!”
My ears rang. My eyes were on the queen’s face again.
“Remember to focus on me, little tickers. Youdidcomplete the Turning Trials. All of them. You did an excellent job, in fact. So excellent that the Diamonds have harvested more Sparetime in the past two weeks than in the last two years combined!”
She tried to clap again, but the sound barely reached.
I looked at the others, too, the boys and girls who were just as confused, and my eyes stopped on the reddish-brown ones of the guy sitting on the other side. He was looking at me, too.Askingme questions words didn’t exist for.
Just like I asked him.
“Then…why don’t I remember?” His lips moved. Those words tumbled out of them as if by accident. “I don’t remember anything, only…only…”
He still hadn’t blinked. Neither had I.
