“There’s twice as many guards during the day,” Ryo replied, smacking him on the shoulder. “Not to mention thesun. They’d never fall for that.”
Twice as many guards. The wheels turned in my head as they argued and Naveed signed, all vying for a different scheme.
“I was thinking ‘Pick Your Poison,’” I interrupted.
Ryo scratched the stubble on his chin and mumbled, “That could work.”
Naveed nodded, and no one argued, which was enough for me. “Let’s get to work.”
CHAPTER 45
Arie
IWAS EXPECTED TOwalk down the aisle on my own. I stood at the back of the Great Hall, built to hold a thousand and tall enough to stack the tables on themselves ten times before reaching the ceiling.
King Amir smirked at the opposite end of the long white runner on the dais, next to the holy man in his ceremonial robes. The Mere-girl, Rena, stood next to the holy man, wearing an enormous amount of jewelry, grinning like an idiot.
Other familiar faces sat in the audience. Lady Eiena from the northern kingdom of Ahdamon, King Zhubin of Keshdi, Tahran-Shah and Sirjan-Shah from my last courtship tour, and other royals from neighboring kingdoms, were all seated toward the front of the room, while the villagers of Hodafez were seated further back.
I hid my clenched fists in my skirts and struggled to keep my lips from pursing in disgust. I doubted I looked anything like a happy bride. Yet when the guests faced me, every single one of them glowed with happiness.
“Look how happy she is,” King Amir said.
“Look how happy she is,” Enoch intoned.
They beamed.
Only Rena seemed to sense that something was off, frowning from her place by the altar.
Digging in my heels, I refused to move. I stared down the aisle at Amir and wished my Gift could’ve been flames shooting from my eyes instead of this wretched mind-reading, which had grown increasingly out of control.
At this point, bits and pieces of every thought, along with all kinds of images, echoed in my mind, no matter if they were related to me or not. And no matter how important—or unimportant. The number of times I’d listened to someone wish for a washroom since the Summer’s Eve celebration had begun was ridiculous.
Weddings were a solemn and silent occasion—yet I felt as if I was standing in the midst of a raucous crowd, everyone jostling and yelling over each other.
Amir waved for the guards to walk me down the aisle. I dragged my feet, but let them, fighting the urge to curl up in a helpless ball.
