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“Ah.” Gerard’s gaze followed hers as he stepped up beside her. “I see.”

Grim understanding passed between them without any need for words.

When that lead pair found their way inside the castle, whatever final menace lurked within would be awakened …

And without having solved the full series of riddles beforehand, there would be no way for anyone to defeat it.

16

Naturally, there were at least two dozen ducks swimming in the lake, all of them damned near identical. Gerard blew out his breath as he gave up the idea of spotting their next target from a distance.

Apparently, nothing about these trials could be simple—especially not his own partner, who felt more elusive than ever as she stood beside him now, clad in that scandalously revealing gown that offered mouthwatering glimpses of bare skin with every movement. All day, she’d been emoting the bright, high-strung effervescence of a hummingbird ready to dart out of reach at any instant … or be crushed within his grasp if he tried to seize firm hold.

Queen Lorelei might have kidnapped him for her own mysterious purposes, but he’d recognized the panic in her eyes after that morning’s first trial. Despite all of the notorious displays she put on, Gerard had never known anyone so desperate not to be truly seen. If archaic fae rules hadn’t bound her to complete this tournament, he was certain he would have found himself returned to his cold tent in the mortal world, alone, immediately afterwards, expelled from her presence for the unforgivable crime of perceiving her too deeply.

He had no intention of allowing that to happen—which meant he couldn’t afford to fail this challenge and be knocked out from the Tournament of Leaves, no matter how many ducks might be scattered across the water in hopeful distraction. Fortunately, he didn’t imagine that any test of cunning would involve swimming out to inspect every individual, flapping bird for clues … and run afoul of whatever underwater monster had already devoured two earlier competitors.

Gerard turned away from the obvious lure on the lake’s surface to focus on the wide pathway that ran alongside it, punctuated halfway around the lake by an elegant fountain that shot an endless arc of sparkling water into a large, bowl-shaped pool of veined marble without any helpful duck occupants. Pale and glittering in the low autumn light, the path itself was made of crushed shells that crunched beneath his feet, none of them large enough to take on any recognizably avian shapes. To the right of the path was the lake; on the left stood a deep-green wall made up of massive topiary figures just like those which had framed every other themed section of the garden thus far.

In the first section of the garden, every tree and bush had been cut into the shapes of leaping stags; the sections since then had been lined by wolves, hares, gryphons, and boars, respectively.

Here, Gerard’s gaze passed over a line of elegant green swans in a row, one after another …

With just one exception. His lips curved with satisfaction as he crossed to the single bush that stood shorter than the rest, shaped into the distinctive bill and body of a different kind of bird.

“‘Duck’ indeed.” Lorelei’s throaty laugh sounded behind him as he peered into the thick greenery. “And with more than one meaning after all!”

Slipping past him, she ducked down to wriggle underneath the main body of the bush, heedless of her silk gown. As her front half disappeared underneath the greenery, strips of pink and gold cloth spread outwards from her round, raised bottom. Under Gerard’s fixed gaze, one strip slipped free from its place and began to slide down … down … until he could almost glimpse—

No! Gerard jerked his gaze upwards, breathing hard.

Lorelei was a longtime master of her weaponry when it came to fashion, but he understood her tactics by now. He would not be distracted by the irrelevant question of just how much smooth, bare skin might be revealed to his view if he only looked back down.

A slippery strip of fabric brushed against his uniform trousers as she shifted forward, wriggling farther underneath the bush. His skin burned as if with fever.

He had to force himself to go on the attack to save himself from dropping to his knees and surrendering everything. “Surely, if your expulsion from your mother’s court is such tedious old news to you, it should be simple enough to relate the story while you search.”

Her figure stilled. He held his breath, excruciatingly aware of the strip of cloth trailing over the toe of his left boot.

Then she said brightly, “I’d rather gossip about something far more interesting. When did you start supporting the cause of Purification, General?”

“What?” He let out a startled half laugh. “Of course I don’t support Purification. Why would you ever imagine that I would? It’s a tiny fringe movement formed by dangerous extremists and bigots and led by a charlatan. No one with a brain thinks any more of it.”

“Oh, dear.” Lorelei’s voice was muffled by the greenery but still all too clear. “Hasn’t Otto shared the good news with you yet, darling? He’s about to adopt it as the guiding principle of your precious empire.”

Relaxing at the sheer absurdity of this new strategy—was she struggling with distraction, too?—Gerard shook his head. “That is patently ludicrous.” No one who knew anything about the history of their continent and its various peoples could possibly support the idea of expunging all nonhuman magical creatures within it. “You, of all people, should know better than to listen to rumors.”

“Oh, but I do love the power of rumors, don’t you? They can be so useful! And this isn’t mere gossip, I’m afraid. I happen to know for a fact that Otto’s been holding private meetings with members of that little group … and he’s found them to be very persuasive.”

Gerard shouldn’t listen to anything she said about the ruler to whom he’d sworn his loyalty—and yet he found his shoulders shifting restlessly as if to dislodge her implausible claims. “You couldn’t possibly know any such thing if I’ve never heard of it. Remember, I am a member of his privy council.”

“Oh, darling.” She clucked her tongue at him with faux-sympathy as she wriggled backwards, emerging from beneath the bush on her hands and knees with one hand closed around whatever she’d found there. “Did you actually believe that Otto was fool enough to share everything with you? He may have appointed you for the sake of your glorious exploits and lovely, shiny reputation—our poor Otto does so yearn to feel popular with his people, if only by association!—but he’s canny enough not to offer you the chance to disagree with him.”

“In point of fact, I disagree with him frequently.” Gerard clipped out the words, his spine stiffening. After all their years of circling, did Lorelei truly think so little of him? “Regardless of what you may imagine, I have never withheld my true opinion in any of our meetings since my first appointment. It is an essential part of my role as high general to brave even His Majesty’s deepest displeasure with my honest consideration.”

“Of course it is—and he knows that you believe it.” Lorelei bounced cheerfully to her feet. “That’s why he didn’t invite you to any of those secret meetings with his new favorite Purifiers!”

This was outrageous, libelous nonsense. There could be no other possible explanation.