CHAPTER THREE
The crowd parted like a wave as we crossed the room. Their stares burned across every inch of my exposed skin, their judgement and disgust a scalding mixture I’d grown used to years ago.
Only when we reached the food and drinks did the festivities resume, albeit the thick tension in the air.
“Drink?” Maverick offered, preparing one for himself. He opted for a strong liquor, clear save for a slight burgundy tint.
“No, thank you.”
“Didn’t think so.”
I waited patiently as he brought the drink to his lips. They immediately pulled into a frown.
“Not to your tastes?” I asked through gritted teeth. Hid my clenched fists between the folds of my gown.
“It’s rotten.” He set the drink down, and eyed the endless selection of bottles at his disposal.
My eyes rolled on their own accord. “You rarely like anything other than your usual red. Serves you right for choosing otherwise.”
His fingers brushed a short, green bottle before he eyed me, and withdrew his hand completely. He huffed a small laugh. “You’re right. Shame on me.”
“Here.” I snatched a familiar bottle near the green one he’d abandoned. The resounding thunk it made as I not-so-gently set it in front of him had me thanking the stars that it didn’t shatter into pieces. Then crossed my arms as I studied the crowd.
He hummed in approval. “One of my favorites.”
“I know.”
Turning to face the crowd like I did, he spoke over the rim of his new drink. “And that is why we’re friends.”
Diana wasn’t among those dancing, which didn’t come as a surprise. I found her huddled amongst a few other members of court. All of them tense and arguing.
Gideon stood a few paces away with another guard. Both were laughing and obviously having a better time. Good. He deserved it.
“Friends don’t condemn each other to death.”
Standing this close to him, I could feel the power of his magic radiating from his body. It seeped through his clothes, each piece dashing and everything kingly.
It was as if frost crept along my skin. Akin to the cold, spindly fingers on a windowpane during the coldest nights.
I locked my jealousy away before he could see it.
“I’ve been wanting to explain, you know. Why I chose you. But you disappeared.” Another sip from his drink. “It would seem as though you know the hidden corners of my own kingdom better than I do.”
My nails dug into the soft flesh of my palms. “It doesn’t matter anymore. My fate is already sealed.”
“Of course it matters, Eloise. Watch closely.” He gestured to the tangle of bodies, laughing and singing like he hadn’t just declared traitors in their midst. “The people in this room have had everything they could ever wish for served directly into their selfish mouths. They have never known true pain or suffering.”
“I am not like them.” Bitterness seeped into my words before I could stop it.
“You are different,” he agreed, nodding. “But that does not make you any less powerful.”
“Please,” I sneered. “Of all things, pity does not suit you well.”
His smile widened.
Had I been anyone else, the very obvious, very public display of disrespect would’ve gotten my head torn from my shoulders.
“Leonie and Vincent were two of the most powerful Starlight Champions to ever exist. I admired them. How their resilience exceeded the strength of their magic. And that magic would have been passed down to you. You wouldn’t have had to work for a single thing in your life.”
Outrage sparked in my chest. I opened my mouth to voice it, but Maverick spoke first.
“Easy,” he said, lifting his free hand in mock-surrender.
“I’ve almost made my point. If you still want to hit me after, go ahead.
” I considered it. He knew I considered it, but merely shook his head with that same smile.
“These people are going into the Starlight Trails thinking they’ve mastered what it takes.
None of them are truly worried. But that puts them in a dangerous position. Do you know why?”
I simmered quietly, waiting for his explanation. But instead, he shifted to face me fully, and lifted an expectant brow.
My next exhale was more of a sigh. “I don’t know, Mav—Your Highness.” Familiarity was for behind closed doors only. Now wasn’t the time to slip, even if anger sat heavily on my tongue, ready to be unleashed. “I think most people here wouldn’t know danger if it looked them right in the face.”
My mouth tightened into a thin line as his little puzzle snapped into place.
Maverick beamed at me now, his perfectly straight teeth on full display. “Allow me to repeat myself. I know you, Eloise. You are different. But being different does not equate to being weak. I’d say it makes you stronger than everyone else.”
He reached to take my hand in his, unfurling my fingers one by one. I could only watch, stunned, as he massaged the pad of his thumb along my skin until color returned. Once he was satisfied, he lifted our joined hands to press a soft kiss to my knuckles.
He angled his head closer to mine and spoke low enough for only the two of us to hear. “If I am to look forward to crowning someone this year, it will be you. No one else.”
Bowing deeply, he departed from my side, taking with him the scent of cloves, peppered with hints of tobacco and winter’s first snow. Unmistakably him.
Heat flared along my cheeks as I studied my right hand, knuckles still tingling from where his lips had made contact.
I didn’t need to look up to know that more than a handful of women glared my way with equal parts hatred and jealousy. Their spiteful whispers made their contempt quite clear.
Maverick was respected. Powerful. Feared. Chosen by the gods. People bowed down to him, not the other way around. What he’d just done was unheard of.
Rubbing the top of my right hand with my left, I turned to the mountains of food laid out across the behemoth of a table instead. Surely, if weapons were allowed in this room, at least three daggers would’ve already found themselves embedded within my spine.
Maverick could say whatever he wanted. Could claim he believed in me, believed I could beat the odds stacked against me. But, in truth, his words didn’t mean a damned thing.
The orchestra picked up its pace, matching the growing energy of the crowd.
My jaw worked, painfully grinding my molars against each other as I picked up a pastry and began tearing it apart.
I couldn’t palm the reassuring hilts of my knives, nor could I run my fingers along the cool metal of a sword.
I had to do something to distract myself from the glares still fixed at my back.
Otherwise, my empty hands might as well wind up squeezing the life out of—
“The poor thing is innocent.”
A smooth, manicured hand reached around me to pick up another pastry from the same plate, then gestured with it to my now ruined one.
“I’d take advantage if I were you. The stars only know what we’ll be allowed to eat for the next few days.” The stunning woman, appearing no older than myself, groaned with annoyance.
She was one of the two competitors Kodhan had been whispering with as Maverick gave his speech.
Her copper hair was pinned up nicely, allowing only a few loose waves frame her portrait-worthy face.
Although I loved my own dress, I couldn’t help but envy the way hers hugged her figure like she’d been born to wear it.
That shade of emerald didn’t need gemstones.
She didn’t need gemstones. She shone all on her own.
“It’s not like we’ll be starved.” I averted her curious gaze. More scrutiny was far from what I needed.
She hummed, contemplating. “You think?”
Neither of us spoke as she finished eating. I wasn’t allowed to leave until Diana did, and I didn’t feel like venturing the room, either. I certainly wouldn’t give up the seemingly safest spot just because another competitor was hungry.
I tossed my destroyed pastry back onto the plate and folded my arms over my chest.
Diana remained in the same corner with other court members, sharing falsified smiles and what I assumed was an empty, vapid conversation. Maverick was with them. He was partially listening to what they were saying while his eyes roamed elsewhere. He’d already found another drink.
“Allies. It could be fun—two heads are better than one, after all,” the woman next to me mused, and reached for a second pastry.
“If you’re so fond of the idea of allies, why don’t you go find one?”
She halted mid-reach. From the corner of my eye, I saw her fingers flex mid-air before finally settling on a berry muffin.
She would drive a blade through my chest at the first presented opportunity, I reminded myself.
“Kodhan sent you over here, didn’t he?” I asked.
“Is it so hard to believe that I came over here just to talk?”
“Extremely.”
Finally, I met her gaze for the first time. Stars, even her eyes were captivating. My dressing rooms hoarded rings studded with the exact same shade of lapis.
She studied my face for a few moments before shrugging. “Your dress compliments your eyes. It’s a shame that your cosmetics mute their color.”
Before I could conjure up a reply, the second competitor that had flanked Kodhan appeared, stealing the muffin as she was about to take her first bite.
It was gone in seconds. He hummed in satisfaction. “Gods, that’s good. You think we’ll be allowed to eat things like this during the trials?”
“That was mine.” She gave him a healthy smack on the shoulder, then sighed. “I was thinking the same thing.”
Instead of apologizing, he reached out a hand towards me. “Brannon Morvayne. Pleasure to meet you.” His warm smile would’ve been believable if I hadn’t suspected Kodhan sent him. “Nice dress, by the way. Compliments your eyes.”
“Do you ever have an original thought? I already told her that,” the woman huffed. Though her painted lips slowly curved upwards.
I ignored Brannon’s hand, brows narrowing.