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Headmaster Emerai smiles broadly and lets his eyes flick over our heads like we’re no more than lowly sheep. His eyes only falter when he stares at the Nova House students.
“Welcome to the Blood Crowns exam. I hope you have all prepared for today and are ready to get your hands dirty.” Emerai raises his hand and lets his golden Shadow dust spill into the air. The dust weaves through the students in slow vines, like ribbons being led beneath water. I’m mystified each time he does this without fail, especially because his magic is so similar to Kallos’s. “Each team will have a king or queen that they must protect from the other groups. Your goal as a group is to take out a rival monarch in order to pass. Once your team has slaughtered a royal, your team’s exam will end and all of you will pass.”
There’s not a single gasp or uncomfortable shuffle of feet, but everyone’s breaths have grown heavy and loud around me. The golden dust ribbons pass me before jerking oddly and returning to circle my legs.
The students in my group take a few generous steps away from me and even Raine’s eyes glisten with concern.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
Emerai’s gaze finds me, and his smile grows more intriguing. “If your group executes another royal before your own dies, then your monarch is safe and will pass along with your team. This exam extends over a period of twenty-four hours. If your team fails to slay a royal or protect your own, then your group will proceed to the front lines in Whales of Tauh.”
I trust Raine to remember all the rules because the headmaster’s words are in one ear and out the other as the dust forms a gilded crown above my head. It’s bright as fuck and is like a beacon in this cold, gray forest. My eyes shift to the others. Several other crowns are glowing brightly. The faces of each of the students beneath them are as pale as mine feels.
“You will bring me the head of a royal and place it in the bowl at the center of the arena. Once you’ve deposited the head, a Darkfly will come to collect you.” The remainder of Emerai’s power forms a sizable golden bowl at his feet. My stomach sinks and every single face on my team looks at me slowly, expressing dread for me and relief that they weren’t selected.
My eyes naturally linger over Terra and I let out a long sigh of gratitude that she doesn’t have a crown. But that relief is short-lived.
Kai stares at me with a long frown. The golden crown sits above his head like that of a king, but horror written all over his wide blue eyes.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath, gritting my teeth.
There’s no way everyone on our team is going to work together. My eyes shift to Frederick and I recoil at the way he stares at Kai with malice. Like fucking hell I’m letting you cut my friend’s head off.
Raine nudges me and brings me out of my stupor. “We’ll figure it out.”
I groan, nodding and listening the best I can as Emerai continues: “You are not permitted to decapitate your own monarch and you will receive no assistance of any sort until your team has a head. Understood?”
No one speaks—we only look around anxiously at each other.
“Good. You will proceed to your portals now. May your Shadows be ferocious and guide you to victory.”
Frederick wades through the moving students as we follow the Dvars House professor, Flik, back toward Alkrose’s main tower. Raine stiffens beside me but says nothing as Frederick approaches us.
“Well, look who I’m stuck protecting today. You’d better pray to your dead mother tonight to thank her for this outcome. I was going to kill you just for shits and giggles, but now I can’t. So I guess your other friend will have to do, yeah? How many of those do you have left anyway? I can’t even remember what the first one looked like,” Frederick says cruelly.
Neither can I. And that’s his fault.
I swing at his face, my knuckles crashing into his jaw like a sledgehammer. Frederick loses his footing for a moment but jerks his head back toward me as if I merely slapped him.
He’s a freak of nature. My palms become clammy as the edges of Frederick’s lips start to fissure and split and his jaw lengthens like a snake.
“Hey, knock it off. Settle your drama after the exam. I actually want to win this,” Raine says sternly, like a captain giving orders. My eyes widen at the sharpness in his voice but Frederick’s mouth sews back together slowly as he huffs, giving me one final resentful look before turning to follow our group.
“So it’s true,” I mutter as we trail out of earshot of Frederick.
“What’s true?”
“That you were the Captain of Barkovah after everyone left.”
Raine shoves his hands into his pant pockets and sighs. “You’re just now finding out?”
I shake my head. “No, but it’s the first time I’ve believed it. There are others from Barkovah who arrived after you, and they talk about you like you’re an idol. You were a hero to them and your leadership shows.” One question has been bothering me for a while now, needling at my brain. “Did you ever see the previous captain?”
He tilts his head back in thought before shaking his head. “Can’t say I ever saw the man. The people hated him though.” My eyes widen and I look over at him. “He was hardly ever around and he was violent with anyone who crossed his path. There were rumors he’d even beat his own son.”
I stare coldly at the tiles as we walk through the main floor of Alkrose. How did those rumors start? I thought we were perfectly hidden away in Navasik where that awful man could break his family one bruise at a time.
Thoughts of my father only make my throat dry.
