Chapter 23

“I have come before you, naked beneath this cloak,” Laila says, peeking a hand out from the slit in the side of her cloak and gesturing at herself. “But beyond this I am…unwilling to participate.”

Orion glares at her in turn, taking out all his rage from me on this poor, shaking girl.

God, but I could kill him for that. I start to stride forward, ready to give him yet another piece of my mind, but Anton snarls and nips at my gloved hand, bidding me to let Laila say her piece.

I stop and press my lips to a thin line, ready to leap in at even the smallest sign that she needs me.

“Please, I mean no insult,” Laila says, bowing to Orion slightly and clasping her hands in front of her, her head dipping low so that her pearls shush forward and hang in her face like dewdrops or rain. “It is just that – amongst my people, the naked body is sacred, a sight only reserved for lovers who have made their eternal commitment.”

She raises herself then, her expression still tremulous as Orion’s expression softens. I soften too, my shoulders relaxing.

“I wish to marry you, Prince,” she says, nodding eagerly. “It would be a great honor to me, to my people. But I would not dishonor you by showing my naked flesh to the gathered crowd. It is something scared which I would reserve for you alone.”

She dips her head again, embarrassed or ashamed or full of hope, I can’t tell which.

“I accept your terms,” Orion says, quite magnanimous. My wolf again growls within me – because who is this guy to think he’s giving her anything after such an eloquent refusal? “Please, Princess Laila, you may return to your room and clothe yourself, as I suspect it would make you more comfortable.”

“Thank you, Prince,” she whispers, two very pretty tears slipping down her cheeks.

And then she turns and hurries away from the circle – heading directly for my side.

A huge smile stretches across my face even as Anton and I turn away and continue walking out of the party. But as soon as we’re out of sight of the crowd I stop and turn again, waiting for her.

“Juni –“ Laila calls the moment she turns the same corner, desperately afraid that I’ve gone on without her.

“That was amazing!” I gasp, laughing and wrapping Laila up in a big hug.

She bursts into laughter too, surprised and delighted that I’m here. “No, you were amazing, June!” she whispers, her body still trembling. “I’d never have done it – I’d have gone through with it if you didn’t do it first! I was so proud of you, and you made me so brave!”

I step back a bit, beaming at Laila, shaking my head. “No, you did it way better than me – you were so clever, making him feel all guilty like that and talking about how you didn’t want to do it for his sake! I just called him names –“

She laughs leaning against my side a bit as I slip an arm around her shoulders and we begin to walk forward, Anton walking happily next to us with his tail and his spirits high.

“You didn’t just call him names, June,” Laila says on a happy sigh as we walk through the peaceful orb-lit garden. “You were right. This whole Trial was a power move – and a disgusting one, unless you’re like Alexandrica and really like being naked.”

“She was something, wasn’t she?” I say, looking at Laila with my eyes wide.

“I know,” Laila breathes, nodding to me. “She’s stunning –“

Anton yips his agreement and Laila laughs when I tell him to mind his business and give him a little kick on his furry blue rump. Anton stumbles to the side, pretending to be hurt and offended, limping dramatically and making us both laugh.

But our laughter is cut short when Nic and Laila’s Herald suddenly materialize before us.

“Well, that was dumb,” Nic says, arms crossed as usual. And I sigh, because I know he’s glaring at me even if I can’t see his eyes under his hood.

“Your highness,” Laila’s Herald says, holding out a hand for her. “Let’s get you home.”

“Oh,” Laila says, pressing herself closer to my side and glancing up at me. “I was hoping that –“

“Wait!” a girlish voice calls out behind us. Laila and I both spin in surprise to see three more Candidates I don’t yet know running down the path, clutching their cloaks in front of them.

“What the…” I murmur, taking a step back, surprised and unsettled by their sudden appearance.

“We refused too,” the first says, coming to a panting stop in front of me, beaming down at me. I stare up at her lovely pale oval of a face, crowned by dark hair.

“You…you did!?” I gasp.

“Yay!” Laila shouts, and begins to throw her hands up in celebration before she realizes that doing so will open her robe. She gasps and blushes as she clutches it shut.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to be naked in front of all those people,” the tall girl says, smiling at me as the two others come up behind her. “I guess neither did they. We all left, one-by-one.”

“We sort of borrowed your excuse, Laila,” a girl with lovely braids crowning her head says, grimacing a bit. “We hope you don’t mind. It was…just such a good one.”

“Your speech was so powerful,” the other girl whispers, staring at me in awe with bright blue eyes. She tucks a strand of honey-blonde curls behind her ears. “But…I think it might get you eliminated. So. We went with hers.” She points a slim finger in Laila’s direction.

“No, I get it,” I say with a sigh, nodding. “That makes sense. My mouth…gets me in trouble sometimes.”

Three more Heralds appear, their faces likewise grim.

“Hey, do you all want to come back to my room?” I say, my shoulders straightening eagerly as I look around at the four girls who, obviously, agree with me at least a little bit regarding the absurdity of this whole Game. “We could call up some wine and –“

“Absolutely not,” Nic says, his voice as flat as a pancake.

“Aw, come on,” I wheedle, turning to him with a pout.

“The Master wants you in your apartment. Alone. While he thinks about how to respond to your…display.”

I sigh but glance down at Anton, knowing I won’t be entirely alone and grateful for it.

“Okay,” I say with a shrug. But then before he can stop me, I turn to each of my new friends and reach my arms out for a hug.

“Juniper!” Nic scolds, clearly eager to get on with this.

But I ignore him, wrapping the little blonde up first. “What’s your name?” I whisper.

“Beatrice,” she whispers back, laughing. “I like your wolf!”

I beam at her but move on to the girl with the braids, who tells me she’s called Cadence, and finally to the one whose dark hair blows like silk in the wind, whose name is Mahina.

Finally I hug Laila, giving her an extra squeeze as Beatrice coos over Anton, patting his head and admiring him extravagantly.

“You all come find me soon, okay?” I say to all of them. “Maybe breakfast –“

“No breakfast for you,” Nic says, grabbing my arm with an exhausted sigh. “You’re in trouble.”

“Oh whatever,” I say, rolling my eyes at him and calling goodbyes to the girls before he vanishes me away into thin air.

Nic drops my arm the moment we appear back in my room. “As I said before,” he intones. “That was very dumb, Princess.”

“Oh, like you care,” I say, waving a hand at him as Anton trots off into the room to jump on the bed to curl up there like a little croissant.

“I do care,” Nic snaps, taking a step towards me.

“Why?” I ask, leaning back to look up at him, affronted. “It’s not like you like me –“

“It has nothing to do with whether or not I like you. It’s –“ but he stops, and straightens up, realizing he may have gone too far.

“It’s what?” I ask, my curiosity peaked.

“Nothing,” he murmurs. And then he sighs, vanishing away.

“I think he’s in love with you,” Anton says, and I spin to see him in boy form again, lounging languidly across the bed with his head propped on his hand. “It’s the only explanation.”

I turn my head to Anton and sigh, wondering if I should even bother to roll my eyes.