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When she turned to retrieve glasses, I darted out and dumped a vial of antidote. Thankfully it only changed the color slightly. I slipped back into hiding just as the girls came back into the room.
Master Svboda served the drink, carefully dosing a row of plastic cups half-filled with water, then put the rest of the elixir away.
“Remember, the rebels have attacked before during state events. We must stay vigilant. Four drops will make you faster and stronger, but it may also make you reckless, even manic. Make good choices tonight. And now, you’ll have to excuse me,” she said. “There’s somewhere else I need to be, to prepare for this evening’s event.”
She shut the door, and I listened to the chosen pack their things and leave the room. I held my breath in the sudden silence. Had she left with them, or was she still in the room? I thought I sensed a presence.
Just as I was about to open the door to check, an arrow pierced through the cabinet door, rattling loudly just above my head. I screamed a little as the second arrow hit lower, its fletching slicing my cheek.
“You should just come out,” I heard Master Svboda say. “I’ll kill you anyway, but it’ll be easier to clear you off the floor than inside that tight space.”
“Don’t shoot,” I said, pulling the door open and raising my arms, which were trembling slightly.
Master Svboda’s eyebrows lifted when she saw me, her blonde hair tied back, her eyes blue like ice. They softened when she saw the blood on my cheek, dripping down to my chin.
“Let’s get that cleaned up,” she said. “Elixir?”
“I’m fine actually.” I’d already had more than four drops, and was feeling jumpy after my confinement.
“I see,” she said, wiping the blood away with a rag. I touched my cheek, but the shallow wound was already healing.
“I did tell you not to draw attention to yourself,” she said. “To be careful of standing out.”
“You did. I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it.”
“No, I suppose not.”
“Are you going to arrest me?”
“Maybe. But why don’t we have a drink first. A real drink. You’re not a little girl anymore. Come.” She led me down the hall to a more comfortable office I’d never been in. She pulled two glasses and a bottle down from a shelf.
“I’ve been to Iklebot,” I said, recognizing the label.
“With Camina?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said, “…and Jazmine.”
She turned to study my face, no doubt hearing the tension in my voice.
“What happened?”
“I couldn’t save her.”
“Chosen are meant to die to save their elite. And only that. For no other reason.”
“I know.”
“Then you gave her something she could never have hoped for otherwise. A death of her choosing.”
Master Svboda poured out two shots and downed one, then poured herself another and nursed it by the window.
“I was seventeen of course, when I was chosen. My husband kept me, for another decade, and we were happy.”
I wondered if I should call out her lie; tell her that I knew she’d taken her sister’s spot and would’ve actually been older. But I couldn’t see the point. Maybe she’d been telling this story so long, she’d started to believe it. I sipped my glass, feeling the alcohol burn down my throat, filling me with a pleasant warmth.
I wasn’t sure what I was still doing here, or whether I should just bolt for the exit. But it seemed too late now that I’d been caught. She hadn’t killed me yet, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t turn me over to the royal guards. I knew she’d been loyal to the crown, but she had no love for Nigel. I just needed to figure out whose side she was on.
“What actually happened? There are rumors, but that’s it. Something about... you failed to save him, so you blame yourself, because a chosen should always protect their elite.”
