I finished chewing my food before I responded. “For what?”
“Pushing Talon into making his move,” she elaborated.
I frowned. “What did you have to do with it?”
“Oh come on, I—” She cut herself off, sliding a guilty look at Jelani.
I smiled. “What? What did you do? Be specific.”
Jelani’s brow creased as he stared from me to her, but then the light of realization glittered in his eyes. Eyes that started to widen as he pointed a finger at her. “Wait, youused me to try to set them up.”
Khalida straightened. “And aren’t you proud that you had a hand in helping your friend get a bedtime playmate? Does it not make you feel warm inside?”
“No,” he snorted.
I chuckled, lifting my tankard. Hearing a pewter clatter to the floor, I looked to see a sheepish officiate lean down to pick up their fallen plate. I also noticed Atticus sitting a few feet from them, his eyes glazed over, his expression vacant.
Compassion squeezed my chest. I could loathe him and still pity his loss.
“I take it that you and Talon have agreed to something exclusive, Anara,” said Nakoa.
Meeting her eyes, I sipped at my drink. “We have.”
“That’s another first for him,” Khalida commented, grinning.
Quillen swiped another piece of bread from a tray. “I figured he’d make a pass at you,” he said to me. “I didn’t foresee him throwing his ‘no candidates’ rule out the window, though. I thought he’d wait until you were an officiate.”
“He obviously knew that he needed to act fast,” Nakoa concluded. “He’ll have heard that some officiates were planning to approach her once she was part of the Order.”
“And he obviously wasn’t going to risk that she’d accept any offers thrown her way,” Khalida added,stillgrinning.
I felt my brows dip. “Why are you so psyched by all this?” I set down my mead. “So what if he’s acting out of character? What’s exciting about it?”
“You’ll get it once you’ve been an officiate for a while,” Khalida replied. “We don’t hear a lot of good news around here. Most of the action we get involves blood and death. So even small positive things can uplift the communal mood. We all care about Talon—he’d give his life for us in an instant. We want good things for him.”
“He has Eva,” I pointed out, ignoring how that made my belly twist.
Nakoa made a face. “I wouldn’t say she’s ‘good’ for him, though.”
Maybe, maybe not, but … “I don’t think everyone will be as pleased about Talon’s unusual behavior as you are.”
“Some of the female officiates won’t like it,” Khalida agreed. “The ones who want to bed him, I mean. But they’ll just have to suck it up, won’t they?”
The conversation shifted topic, then. Between bites of our food and sips of our drinks, we spoke of mundane matters. Right up until aListen upwhistle from Talon sliced through the hall’s chatter, cutting it off.
“Candidates, outside,” Ajax called out from the doorway, Talon at his side.
I muttered quick goodbyes to my friends and then joined the other candidates in following Talon and Ajax out of the building. They led us to the courtyard, where Keyes, the Sovereigns, and Ariadne all waited.
My stomach seized as the half-bloods’ attention honed in on me. I forced my muscles not to tense and determinedly kept my expression neutral, unwilling to let them pick up on my unease. How could Inotbe an uneasy? They didn’t look necessarilydispleasedthat I’d survived Xalbia—I got the impression it was that they were annoyed I’d proven them wrong. Every step of the way I’d surprised them, and they very much resented it.
As the Sovereigns turned to Ajax, I allowed my gaze to slide to Talon. His eyes were on me, and not even the tiniest flicker of emotion could be seen. His Cardinal mask was firmly in place.
While I appreciated—and wanted—that professionalism, it was still kind of odd to have him look at me with such distancein his eyes. He was much better at compartmentalizing than I was.
I cast subtle glances at my fellow candidates. Most appeared sober and nervous, much like Bevan and Lear, but they held their heads up highish. Others were stiff and fidgety like Reeve and Sable, and I wondered if they were torn on what to do. I had no clue what Atticus intended—his expression was still empty.
As the half-bloods fully faced the crowd of candidates once more, Minos stood to his full height. “Good morning.” It wasn’t so much a greeting as a flat formality. “Xalbia, as you know, is officially over. Every single one of you not only survived it but passed.” He gave a slight nod of respect. “Well done to you all.”
