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I had to avoid her at all costs.

Clearly, the auditioner’s warning went unheeded, because a few other knights entered and exited quickly, to the point that I was beginning to think these tests might be next to impossible. Everyone was speaking too much for me to hear if they were even given the chance to sing. By the time Anise was called, the auditioner’s tone was so frustrated, I worried he’d send everyone home before my turn arrived.

Anise carried herself like she thought she should be the queen. An impossible goal—England may have practiced “free soil” but that didn’t mean Black girls like us would ever be considered a proper wife for a king, let alone the immortal Deus Rex, the savior of England. But being in the king’s court was incredible enough, and an advantageous marriage would certainly come out of it. Something she desperately needed, and everyone knew it—her mother had chased off every suitor she’d had for the past five years in hopes of finding that one perfect golden boy of elevated rank.

Thanks to my aunt’s machinations, the gossip surrounding the family was brutal. More than a few of the knights looked at Anise, whispering and snickering. I almost felt bad for her—this position might have been the only way to break free of the unfortunate reputation her mother had saddled her with.

But that didn’t mean I wanted her to have it over me. I wanted it just as badly as she did, if not more. I deserved it more.

Anise didn’t stay in the room long. But she left with her head held high, a gentle smile on her lips—if she’d failed, no one would know it. If I didn’t know her, I might have thought she’d won the position, that she was simply headed home to fetch her things. Honestly, a small part of me thought it could be true. But as the door shut behind her, we were all still squished into this waiting room. If Ann had truly won, we would’ve been sent home. I released a breath. She didn’t win the position. And she was no longer in the room. The hard part was over.

I braved a few vocal warm-ups, but at this point, there really was nothing more I could do to prepare. All I knew was that I needed to be proficient in knight magic, equipped to face The Dark … and I doubted any knight knew the expectation on that score. It wasn’t as if any of us could do research on the subject—there weren’t many writings on it, except by those who had come across The Dark through illegal means. It was forbidden, deemed too dangerous, to even approach its border. And yet all of England could see it from their windows, a certain point on the horizon, depending on the direction one faced, where everything simply went … dark.

And the king was the only one who could beat it back. The king and his knight.

Lady Calliope …

I’d never sought out wealth or position, but I had no doubt I could get used to being called my lady in no time at all.

As the room cleared, I managed to find a chair to sit in. Since I had spurned any offer of conversation due to the risk of my cousin overhearing, everyone had already settled into their social circles, no one particularly eager to add one more. And so, I opted to contribute to the noise by warming up my voice with birdcalls.

It was something I’d developed when I was young, something fun to pass the time—or the lonely nights when my aunt had made me sleep in the stables. I would sing to the birds, hoping to be accurate enough that they would sing back.

Sparrows were my favorite, even if they were the easiest. They always sounded so joyful, so naturally rhythmic. And, sometimes, it felt like they were magic, the way their sweet sound put me at peace.

A few of the closer knights looked my way, snickering. I was used to that from living with my cousin, so I ignored it.

“Will you stop that?” one of them said, annoyed.

“Why?” I said. “I’m not chirping nearly as loudly as you’re speaking.”

“It’s piercing.”

“Annoying,” said another, as if the first adjective hadn’t been enough.

“Making animal noises is childish,” said yet another. “And foolish. The king isn’t going to select a fool as his knight.”

“Though perhaps,” said the first knight, laughing, “the King’s Fool would be a far better position for you.”

The others with her laughed.

I didn’t want to call them pathetic, but if they only knew how badly I had been bullied by my own family they would be ashamed of themselves for their mediocre jabs. So I ignored their laughter and let out the high-pitched call of a kestrel, shutting them up as it forced them to cover their ears.

All the knights I could see were staring at me, horrified.

But the first one was positively fuming. “Why, you little freak—”

The audition door shot open, and the man stepped out quickly.

“What was that sound?” he demanded.

CHAPTER2CALLIOPE

Everyone fell silent at his question. We had all been filling the room with noise, but perhaps my attempt to annoy the knights around me had made it worse.

He continued, “I assume there are no kestrels in the building. Who made that birdcall?”

I swallowed down a thick lump of fear. My fellow knights lost no time in pointing at me, covering their mouths to hide their mocking laughter. My heart froze as the man locked eyes with mine and stormed his way through the crowd toward me.