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The space was already full of Siabra, milling about holding beverages and sampling from trays carried by passing servants, just as Breena had predicted. They looked cool and bored and completely unphased by the prospect of whatever bloody spectacle we were about to witness.
On the far side of the gallery was a long low rail. I walked over to it.
Below us was a series of caves. I leaned forward to get a better look and my forehead connected with cool glass. A translucent shield had been erected around the edge of the gallery, keeping the spectators firmly separated from the contenders below.
Odessa stepped up beside me. "They enter the caves. If they make it out, they live. If they don't, they die." Her voice was flat.
“What's in the caves?”
“No one but the Queen Regent knows in advance,” she replied. “Illusions. Tricks. Death traps. That sort of thing most likely.”
“Easy peasy,” I muttered.
Odessa nodded tightly. “He’ll be fine. It’s an elimination round.”
I wondered who Avriel would eliminate this time.
“There you are.” It was Crescent, looking calm and cheerful. Javer and Beks were beside him. “Ready for the bloodbath?”
“Don’t even say that,” Odessa said sharply.
For a warrior, she didn’t seem keen on the brutal sport we were about to observe. Not that I blamed her.
“It’s an absurd legacy from millennia ago,” Javer drawled, looking already bored.
“It certainly doesn’t seem like the most efficient or intelligent way to select a monarch,” I admitted.
Javer raised a dark brow. “You think we pick them for their wisdom? Or perhaps their benevolence?”
“I think I know the Siabra well enough by now to know that would be a naive hope,” I replied dryly.
Javer smiled slightly. “She learns. Excellent.”
“She’s a fast learner,” Odessa said, surprising me. “She’s doing well in Steelhaven. Not bad at teaching the younger girls a few tricks either.”
I flushed with pride, knowing how rare Odessa’s compliments were. “I’m behind myself, that's all.” I’d lost some of the skills I’d been working on while on the road with Draven–though I’d gained others. “The younger girls are the easiest to spar with. I don’t have to ask them to go easy on me.”
“I’ve watched you. You’re doing fine. Making noticeable progress. You must have had good teachers back in...”
“Pendrath,” I supplied. “Camelot. The best. Sir Ector and Dame Halyna.” I smiled slightly. “You’d like them.”
“Thrilled to hear my new pupil is capable of learning,” Javer cut in, with droll wit.
“New pupil?” I didn’t like the sound of that. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about your first lesson in magic. Which begins tomorrow.”
“I don’t think so...” I started to say, just as Crescent hissed, “Shhh. It’s beginning. Here they come.”
The lights in the gallery suddenly dimmed as the ones in the cave system below us flared to life.
I spotted Sephone stepping up to the rail. She looked as if she were trying to perfect an expression of perfect ennui, but she didn’t fool me. I noticed she had not made any introductory speeches or given a welcome address to the courtly crowd. Perhaps she was as eager to see this over with as I was–and to see Avriel and Draven come through it safely.
There was a hum of excitement from the Siabra nobles around us as the eleven remaining challengers stepped out.
Some of them glanced up at us. Rhea, the smallest of the group, even smiled and waved. Her long curly blonde hair had been pinned and fastened in a practical braid. She seemed eager to begin, even cocky.
Avriel glanced up at the gallery, his eyes going right to the queen. He did not wave.
