Chapter 9
Chapter nine
“So there are six competitors, after all?” I ran my tongue across my teeth, chewing on this new information like an annoying piece of gristle. “I wondered as much based on Mara’s observations. Do you know anything about the sixth competitor? Her name? Where she came from?”
“I don’t know anything other than she’s here,” Atlas admitted with a frustrated grumble. “I can’t get details out of anybody. Not even Cedric has been able to dig up any clues, and he’s the first to know everything.”
I see, so Cedric is still assisting me too. That’s reassuring.
“All I know is that if she’s anything like the others, she’s dangerous,” Atlas continued. “You're up against a vicious roster of competitors.”
I expected as much. If Septimus had brought in real princesses who wore fluffy ballgowns and danced the waltz, I’d probably be even more concerned about what he had up his sleeve.
“Fine, then what can you tell me about the other girls?” I prodded him further. This might be my last chance to learn anything before I faced my new foes.
“I can tell you that you were right to assume they’re not all here by choice.
” Atlas gazed out the window, his expression mirroring the frosty world outside.
Winter had rolled in at full force, turning the kingdom white and likely aggravating any travelers who had to endure its lashes.
“There’s a lot of animosity in the air. I’m betting it’s because a few dirty deals were struck to fill the slots with Father’s first picks.
” He turned back to me, his cold eyes digging into me.
“These women are powerful and they’re angry.
I’m sure Father aims to point that anger at you. ”
Five cannons with one target, with every fuse already burning.
“I’m angry, too.” I felt my own fuse shorten. The king’s attempts to weaken me only strengthened my resolve to beat him at his own game.
“Which is what he wants,” Atlas reminded me, his logic irritating me further, mostly because he was right. “Face it, Diaspro. He’s calculated every move and he’s anticipating your response. He wouldn’t have summoned these specific girls if he didn’t think they could beat you.”
“Sure, but he doesn’t fully know who he’s dealing with either.” I twisted my ring, focusing on the cool metal that circled my finger.
“But I do,” he reminded me, crossing the room with heavy steps. I lowered my hand, both of us wanting to aim our burning grievances at each other despite facing the same enemy. “I know exactly who you are”—his voice lowered, a long pause separating his thoughts—“and I’m still worried.”
My heart drummed, and I longed to rip it out of my chest and silence it.
“I thought you said we were destined to destroy each other,” I said. “Since when do you worry about your enemies?”
“When there’s a chance that someone could get to them before me.” He crept up to me, his tone lowering as he closed the distance. The fireplace crackled behind him, silhouetting him in the glow. “You’re mine to finish off, Princess. No one else’s.”
He stood over me, a hunter claiming its kill before setting it free for the chase. This alliance was nothing more than a game to him, and he intended to play only as long as he felt confident that he could win.
He plunged his hand into his pocket, and to my surprise, he pulled out a ring and held it up for me to see.
It appeared to be made of tarnished iron.
The band was a little lopsided, and the pale-green stone in the center was dull and off-centered.
It wasn’t pretty, which told me that it had a purpose.
“What’s this?” I eyed the ring, flicking my lashes at him. “My third proposal in a month? Oh darling, I still have to earn your daddy’s approval first.”
“You don’t even have my approval, sweetheart.
But it’s not an engagement ring. It’s magic.
” He slipped his hand into his other pocket, retrieving a nearly identical ring with different imperfections.
The green stones intrigued me, and I wracked my brain trying to recall how that particular stone impacted enchanted iron.
“They’re echo rings,” he answered for me.
“Forged from the same strip of metal and embedded with limestone, commonly found in caves.”
He held out the first ring to me, and I accepted it gingerly. An echo ring? I’d never heard of such an application of magic before, but many of the Ivalonians carried unusual magic on them when they were captured.
“Who did you steal it from?” I asked, thinking back to all the talismans around that had ratted out the magic users.
He stiffened, curling his fingers around his own ring. “Cedric acquired them. You can ask him.”
Resourceful as ever.
“Fine, what do they do?” I asked, silently hoping this ring hadn’t been acquired by severing a finger.
“If we both wear them, we can communicate to each other by tapping the stone,” he explained. “You know the mercenary cant, right? The language created from dashes and dots that can be communicated through sound, light, or tapping?”
“Of course; don’t insult me.”
“There will be plenty of time for that later.” He tossed the ring and caught it with a soft ting.
“Tapping the stone will cause the other to vibrate, echoing the tap. It will give us a subtle way to communicate during the competitions without breaking any rules. So far, it doesn’t seem like magic is prohibited. ”
Which meant the king would allow the other girls to use magic as well. That didn’t bode well.
“Clever,” I said, rubbing my finger over the band. I tried to slip my thumb through the opening but met an invisible resistance. “I assume it has conditions since I can’t put it on by myself.”
“You have a magic ring; I figured that much would be obvious to you,” he chided, holding out his hand to ask for my ring back.
“Some magic will let you apply it yourself.” I frowned, handing it back to him.
“Not the good magic.”
Not the Ivalonian magic, he means. Aemastia didn’t have the resources to produce things like this.
“Give me your hand.” He held out the ring, the scene too reminiscent of a sappy vow exchange in a fairy tale. “It has to be applied by the person you’re communicating with.”
Seemed easy enough. I offered him my right hand and he held it gently, almost tenderly, as he cradled my wrist. I lifted my ring finger, and his touch was warm as he slowly slid the ring into place.
There was no resistance this time, and I felt my skin tingle as the magic sealed it into place.
The feeling sent me back to my last moments in the Ivalonian castle, and my heart tightened as I looked up at Atlas with a strange foreboding.
My finger twitched and he dropped my hand; I pulled it close to my chest, swallowing back the memory as I grounded my emotions. Atlas wasn’t going to die like she had, and even if that happened, it wasn’t as if I cared about him like I did my mother.
“Does it feel all right?” he asked, concern lacing his husky tone. “It didn’t hurt, did it?”
Did he notice my panic?