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I felt like my heart stopped beating. Would this machine show how much Luxian reserves I have? If they forced me to take it, would it give away that I’m not really a rank zero? Since I have no golden markings, they’d find out I was from the Light Kingdom.
Synder nodded to my teacher. “But you’re right. There is no sense in wasting the energy on her.” I let out a breath.
“Turn around,” the third judge spoke before I even had time to be relieved. I did as he asked and slowly spun in a circle. Feeling a drop of sweat start to roll down the back of my neck, I instinctively raised my hand in an attempt to wipe it away.
“Hands at your sides,” Synder snapped as I turned back around to face the judges. My heart was beating out of my chest.
“Very interesting,” Synder purred as he looked up to meet my eyes. Shivers shot down my spine again as he looked me over with that same haunting gaze. There was something about him that didn’t sit well with me. He reminded me of a scarier, more lethal, and much more powerful version of Kole.
I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until he finally said, “Leave us.”
The exit doors swung open as soon as he spoke the words. I bolted toward them as fast as I dared. Grabbing my clothes, I quickly shrugged them on as best as I could with trembling hands, trying not to hyperventilate. Someone who was a known zero should not be this nervous coming out of the evaluations. I needed to remain calm.
I headed outside and started pacing around the grounds, weaving through the five arenas. It didn’t really matter where I was going as long as it was far away from that evaluation. The rapid movement mixed with fresh air helped to calm my nerves and occupy my mind so I wouldn’t break down completely.
I made ten laps before the shaking subsided and my reality set in. It was over with. I would be a rank zero, I expected that, but now it was officially done. I took one more lap around the grounds before deciding to make my way over to Vallie’s Trials since I had some time before mine began.
I was mad at myself for almost missing it. Vallie was trying out for education, even though I knew she wished she was Trialing in human relations. But those jobs required frequent travel to Lux with a work visa.I don’t want to be separated from Miles, she’d told me when I tried to convince her to Trial for what she actually wanted.
The large wooden sign out front of the arena read, “Astronomy Trials” following hers. Funny how both of them had Trials in the same area. If Miles succeeded, he would be considered a member of the high class. Getting a job in AASP was sought after and hard to be accepted into. Miles would be able to provide well for his family if he passed.
The AASP was constantly searching the universe for a different planet for us to live on. One that wasn’t inhabited by humans or other creatures. One where we could live freely and not have to hide. We wanted a planet of our own, one like Allium once was to us, but the few planets they had discovered so far had too harsh a climate.
Earth was the only one suitable for us as we were similar to the human race. We survived and thrived in the same environment and possessed similar biological make-ups.
Many Advenians feared that living among the mortals was the reason nixes had evolved. Non-ability people hadn’t existed on our home planet. Many theorized it was because our ancestors reproduced with humans. Now, laws forbade any relationship with the mortals, but nixes were still looked upon with disgust. Advenians feared that if we stayed here, our abilities would continue to dwindle, eventually becoming non-existent.
Miles used to tell us stories when we were young that he would find a planet for me, Vallie, and him to live on. There, we could be together forever. I used to fantasize about it as a little girl, but now I knew it was only ever a dream.
I sat on the empty raised bleachers inside the arena. Spectators were encouraged. Some Advenians even invited their families to watch their Trials. I sat alone watching Vallie, embracing the calm around me. They questioned her relentlessly, forcing her to retell every grueling detail about our kind and the fall of our planet. Vallie’s ability of knowledge absorption didn’t disappoint her as she answered each question without hesitation. I smiled at my friend as her Trial continued. She was a living, breathing, walking textbook and I knew there wasn’t anything she couldn’t do.
When it was almost three, I headed to the far end of the grounds toward the last arena.
I was ready.
EIGHT
SIE
I sat down nextto Peter to watch the Guard Trials at LakeWood. I was thankful for my friend’s presence. I declared him my second the moment I won the tournament, which meant that we had to travel to every damn village to watch the end-of-the-year Trials. The High Council insisted on parading us around. I was already regretting the juvenile tasks of being the Prince. The purpose, supposedly, was to select the new guards I wanted for my rule. It felt like a joke. I had yet to see anyone fight that I thought could actually protect me. Nonetheless, Peter and I had been agonizingly picking the lucky few to join the King’s Guard.
LakeWood was the last of the schools I needed to visit. The only good thing about watching all the Trials was the distraction it provided for what would happen tomorrow—the banquet. Only one more day separated me from the High Council choosing who I’d have to marry, who I would have to spend the rest of my life with. The thought made my stomach turn.
I wasn’t lying in my interview when I said I had no one in mind. No one I’d met had interested me enough. Reagan, the girl Peter and I knew growing up, was furious when she found out I didn’t pick her. She even made it a point not to talk to me all week. I really didn’t care. I wasn’t blind. She only wanted me for my title. To be Queen.
I couldn’t stand the thought of having to pick someone myself, so the High Council doing it for me was just fine. I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon. Synder Phillips seemed especially elated when he found out I wasn’t claiming a bride.
If it was up to me, I wouldn’t get married at all. Having a wife or someone to care about only created a weakness. On the other side, maybe it would stop all the females from throwing themselves at me. I was growing sick of constantly being approached by them, trying to woo me in hopes I would change my mind and select them.
Peter interrupted me from my thoughts. “There’s a female competing at this school,” he said, staring at the arena.
“Really?” I asked, looking down to see where his gaze fell. A female hadn’t tried out for the guard since I’d been alive. They were so rare to come by. Since Advenians could die by weapons, most females weren’t signing up for a potential death sentence to their otherwise long lives. Only males went out for the guard. Males who later hoped to participate in the King’s Tournament, not that it was a requirement, but the training gave an Advenian an edge in the competition.
“Yeah. Give me a sec, and I’ll find her files,” Peter said, sorting through the stacks of folders we’d received on every student at LakeWood.
My eyes were fixated on her as I watched her go through her warmup routine alone. She was beautiful in a unique sort of way and stuck out amongst all the males. With her petite frame and short height, I wouldn’t pin her as a fighter. She was at least a head smaller than everyone she was going up against, but she didn’t seem nervous. She looked focused, determined. Her brown hair swayed in the wind, causing a few strands to fall from her long braids.
Her sapphire eyes were gleaming so vividly that I couldn’t miss them, even from this distance. She bent over to stretch, and I caught a good glimpse of her—
