“That one,” she says, pointing toward a performer suspended near the center of the hall.
For a heartbeat nothing happens.
Then the acrobat smiles and raises her hand.
The glowing orb burns brighter.
A ripple of impressed murmurs spreads through the court.
Marin lets out a quiet laugh, though it sounds unnatural. A forced display.
“Well done,” Maireth says.
The praise feels like ice sliding down Elyssara’s spine.
“You followed it perfectly.”
Then one of the performers above them laughs—a bright, ringing sound. She reaches into the folds of her silk, and produces another glowing sphere.
Gasps ripple through the hall.
Another acrobat draws one from the sleeve of her costume.
Another from the folds of her sash.
Within heartbeats the air above the court is filled with light—dozens of glowing orbs passing between the performers in an impossible order of motion. They toss them in high arcs, catch them behind their backs, spin through the silks while juggling them in both hands.
The lights multiply until Elyssara cannot tell which one she had tracked at all.
The court erupts in delighted applause.
Not surprise—awareness.They knew.
Beside her, Kael exhales slowly.
Everything here is an illusion.
His words echo through her mind like a warning finally understood.
Elyssara’s stomach drops.
She had tracked the orb.
She had been right.
But the trick had never been about the orb.
Shehad been watching the light.
Maireth had been watchingher.
And Maireth had just taught her exactly how easily attention can be weaponized.
Rhaema’s words flood back in.
Wherever you’re looking, is exactly where she wants you to look. Wherever you’re not looking, is exactly what she wants you to miss.
Maireth watches her realization bloom with the quiet satisfaction of a predator that has just demonstrated the reach of its claws.
