I chuckled. “You think someone is going to try to kill me here? In front of everyone?”
“Yes.” His face was deadly serious.
That made me uneasy. I suddenly looked around the room with a new perspective. Some were just pointing to the sword on my hip with curious chatter, but some glared. Were they plotting? Plotting to kill me and take it?
Kaelric leaned into my ear, bringing the scent of freshly chopped wood and the forest after a hard rain. I inhaled and almost moaned.
“If you’re worried about them taking her, fear not. Valkaryn chooses her wielder. Anyone else who tries will be put to death at her hand.”
My eyes widened, and I peered over at him. “Then how do you know she’ll choose you if I win this?”
He peered again at my sword longingly. “I don’t. But she’s my only hope.”
I frowned. His only hope.For what?
“I can’t believe your brother would do this to our family,” I heard an older woman snivel behind me. “Staining our name like this.”
I slowly glanced over my shoulder to see a tall blond woman speaking to Cassian. The longer I looked at her, the surer I was that she was his mother.
“I know, Mother, but we need to run with it now. For entertainment. To keep the Dreg rats from rebelling. She carries the mark, she has to compete,” Cassian told her, and for a wild second, I wondered if that was the only reason he was helping me.
She gave him a tight smile and waved to someone who passed.
I turned back around and pushed what they said from my mind. It was my turn, so I stepped over to the buffet table and began to heap large portions of everything. So much so that I ran out of plate room.
“Would you like me to carry a second plate for you?” Kaelric asked kindly beside me.
Redness burned on my cheeks. “No, that’s okay. I just… I’ve never had chocolate before. Or the candied nuts, but… next time.”
I turned and found an empty table, where Cassian was standing nearby. He wasn’t eating, but he held a drink and chatted animatedly with a fellow Elite.
“A total scandal. Can you believe your brother would do this?” the woman said to Cassian.
“Horrific,” Cassian agreed, and then peered at me, winking.
I liked him. Even though he was lying and playing a part, it felt like we had started a small movement, one where the actual possibility of me winning this could be true.
Kaelric dropped beside me, setting a plate next to me. It was teeming with chocolate truffle balls and candied nuts. Like, overflowing. An embarrassing amount.
“You didn’t have to do that. It’s too much. I’ll get sick,” I told him, but I couldn’t help but think the gesture was sweet.
He leaned close to me. “Chocolates and nuts keep for a long time. I thought you could send them to your family.”
My face went slack. It was a very nice suggestion.
“Oh. Thanks.” I didn’t know what to say after that. And I was too hungry to care.
He set down a plate of his own, teeming mostly with meats, and gestured to me. “Ladies first.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I picked up the chicken thigh and tore into it, unable to keep the moan from my mouth. I dipped it in mashed potatoes, sucking them right off the chicken. Kaelric watched me the entire time. After mopping upall of the mashed potatoes with the chicken, I started in on the pork.
“Heavens claim my soul! Have you ever had food this good?” I licked the sweet dark sauce from my fingers.
Kaelric was watching me with an unreadable expression. “I have.”
Interesting.
“So are you rich where you come from?” I asked. I knew nothing about Fenmyr.
