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“I don’t think I can sleep,” I said honestly. “If I disappear tomorrow, I’ll never get to tell my father goodbye. That’s worse to me than any curse.”
There was a long silence between us. I didn’t dare look up at Jacques as I pulled my feet out of the water and shook them dry. With a heavy heart I stood, but before I could take two steps, Jacques called out for me.
“Esmeralda,” he said firmly.
I turned to meet him.
“You’re far too irritatingly pure,” he said.
I laughed painfully. “Yes, you’ve said that.”
“That’s why I don’t think you have to worry. As much as I’d like you to be an impure, twisted incarnate, doomed to another life of reincarnation, I can’t seem to find fault in you.”
He reached back and grabbed his glass, drinking the last of the wine.
“But we’ll see the final results after the Trial,” he added. “After all, none of us truly know where we’ll end up tomorrow.”
CHAPTER 30—TRIALS
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Luc and I looked at each other, neither one of us opening the door. It felt foolish to invite in the people who wanted to doom our souls to an eternity of cursed wandering.
Luc eventually swallowed and stepped forward to open the door of the small dormitory we had been allowed to stay in, the two sirens standing on the other side stone-faced and somehow paler than normal.
It then occurred to me: they were probably to be trialed as well.
“The Trials will begin soon,” one of them said. “We’ve been asked to retrieve you.”
The siren eyed me, his frown deepening. The second one didn’t look at me at all. While the Siren King seemed to have warm emotions toward me, the sirens themselves appeared to have the stark opposite. I shifted uncomfortably.
“Where is the king?” I asked.
“He’s preparing to perform his duties at the Trial,” the siren returned flatly. “You can see him at the court.”
I nodded thoughtlessly, following close behind Luc as we walked to our doom.
My hands started to build sweat as we walked farther and farther into the caverns, not a word between any of us as we walked. The fear was putting us all on edge. Something in me wanted to break the silence, if only for my own benefit.
“Tell me a story, Luc,” I whispered.
Luc’s eyes widened for a moment before he swallowed, his nerves showing more than my own. Maybe he was simplyconfused that I was speaking to him at all, after all the things I had said to him last night.
“Is this really the time?” he asked.
“It may be the only time left,” I replied.
He paused. After a moment, he reached back and squeezed my hand, pulling me forward to walk with him.
“There once was a beautiful enchantress who lived in a golden castle,” he started. “She was loved by all—far and near—praised for her beauty and magic.
“Then one day, while she was walking to the market, she was cornered by a terrible thief. ‘Give me your greatest possession,’ he said. So she offered him money. He refused, asking again for her most precious possession. She offered him jewels and again, he refused. ‘What is it that you want?’ she asked. ‘I cannot think of a single thing more precious than my money and jewels.’”
Luc then gripped my hand, pulling me in closer to him.
