I waited for him to take a few sips and whispered, “You should recant.”
He spat what was left of his wine back into the glass. “What did you give me?”
Everyone stopped.
“Lady’s Palm.” I straightened and let the silence hang between us. The nightshade was safe in an extra pocket Maud had sewn into my shirt. “And I can’t recall killing Six or where I put the nightshade extract.”
“Finally!” Ruby tapped a butter knife against his wrist. “I thought you’d never get to the point.”
Emerald leaned back in her chair, fingers tightening around her glass. “A condition of your probation was not killing the other auditioners.”
“Dying’s up to him,” I said, hoping my voice was steady. I was giving them enough reason to name me Opal or kill me on the spot. “Four lied to cover up killing Six.”
“I didn’t kill Six.” Beneath the table, Four rubbed his palms along his pants. Sweating—the first symptom.
“Auditions are like court, right?” I set my pitcher down, arms shaking, and glanced at Ruby. His mask gave nothing away. “A witness recants in court, they strike it from record. You can’t be tried if they’ve got nothing.”
“This would’ve been simpler if you’d had an alibi.” Emerald took Four’s poisoned wine and held it up to the light. “Where’d you get this?”
I shrugged. Let Eleven do as she pleased as long as I got reinstated. If she messed up and hurt a servant, all the better. I’d given Maud the warning and extract. They’d be fine, and Eleven would be gone.
“I’ll leave a little trail of witnesses everywhere I go next time.” I leaned in front of Four till our eyes were level. The Left Hand only watched. Good. If they weren’t stopping me, they were all right with this. “You feeling it yet?”
Four swallowed. Second sign. Slobbering and sweating, the death marks of Lady’s Palm. “I saw you walking in the opposite direction alone when I went to kill Six. Happy?”
“Very.” I ignored Emerald’s snort. “So?”
Ruby and Amethyst shared a look, and he inclined his head to Emerald. She shifted, the start of a word echoing behind her mask, and a shout outside the door stopped her. We all turned.
“What else did you do?” Emerald asked sharply.
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “I was only after Four.”
The door crashed open. Fifteen stumbled inside, mask torn and face bloody. Sweat dripped down his broken nose, cutting through the pale yellow dust coating his skin, and he raised his trembling hands. A servant hung limp in his grip, blood trickling out of her mouth. He tossed her into the room.
Amethyst dove for her. Emerald leapt to her feet, drawing a pair of knives from her dress, and I lurched backward. Fifteen’s huge frame and glazed eyes shook me to my bones. He wouldn’t go down easy.
Ruby jumped the table and grabbed my throat, ramming my back against the wall. A blade bit into my neck.
“What did you do?” he asked, voice cold and dead. As much as I looked up to him, I’d no love for this end of his blade.
“Nothing.” I stilled. “Eleven trapped my door. That’s how I got the Lady’s Palm. I didn’t do anything else.”
Ruby’s fingers twitched, the raspy sound of his rapid breathing all that hinted at his feelings. He dropped me. “And stole the nightshade from Isidora, I imagine? Good. That’s not too bad.”
“Spies!” Fifteen grasped at everything in sight and threw a pitcher.
I shoved Ruby in front of me. The pitcher caught him in the stomach, sloshing water down his front. He kicked the pitcher at me, soaking my shoes, and circled around the table to Emerald. They stood guard over Amethyst and the servant.
Probably shouldn’t have done that. If Ruby was mad at me before, using him as a shield wasn’t going to help his mood.
“You turned us in. I saw you.” Fifteen howled and caught Four’s collar. Four—skin ashen and reactions slowed by the Lady’s Palm—flailed in Fifteen’s grasp. “You were there.”
Four would’ve stood a chance if I’d not poisoned him.
Fifteen hoisted Four higher, large hands around his throat. I couldn’t find an opening, not with Four struggling like he was. Fifteen’s eyes were blown out, the pupils too wide to be natural, and he slurred every word, running his accusations into each other.
Spy. Liar. Murderer. Could’ve been any of us, but why was he going after Four now?
Four might’ve almost ruined everything, but he didn’t deserve this. Fifteen was too far gone for a decent kill.
I shot forward and sliced Fifteen’s arm. He tossed Four into a chair easy as anything and swung at me. I stumbled back, knife flying from my hand.
Four shrieked. The shattered remains of the chair crunched under him, splintering into a hundred pieces sharp as knives. Fifteen didn’t turn to me, didn’t even wince at the muscle-deep gash in his arm. He only picked up a chair. I tried to stab him again, but he swung the chair at me. I ducked behind him, nicking the soft skin on the back of his calves. He swatted me away like a fly.
Fifteen slammed the chair into Four. The ornate wood shattered, breaking off in Four’s unprotected legs and raised arms. He cried out, and I slammed into Fifteen while his guard was down, jabbing the backs of his knees. He stumbled out of the way, grabbing a servant for support.
Emerald moved faster than I could follow, clearing the table and burying a knife into the back of Fifteen’s neck. He crumbled.
Good. Done.
I dropped to my knees before Four. “You look ready for nightshade.”
“Bit late.” He laughed, the rasp filling my head, and nodded to his legs. His left one was torn open, groin to knee, by jagged wooden splinters, and a ribbon of blood streamed down his calf. His fingers trembled in his lap. “Beaten by a chair—original.”
“Shit.” I pulled off his sweat-soaked mask so he could breathe. He wasn’t handsome, but he was something—strong nose broken countless times, black eyes hazy with poison, and bushy eyebrows drooping. “Didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“Doubt anyone meant for that to happen.” He waved weakly to Fifteen’s corpse and grabbed my hand, grip weak and dying. “You were supposed to leave.”
“I played a dangerous hand and won.” I glanced over my shoulder, but the Left Hand was unmoving and silent. Just another auditioner dying.
“You’ll have to tell me about it next time we meet.” He reached for me, hands trembling, and fell short. “I didn’t want to watch it—not after seeing Three dead. You’d have liked her.”
“That all it took for you to get me on probation? You get squeamish over seeing people die?” I settled down next to him and shrugged off my servant’s jacket, tucking it behind his head. Bleeding out wasn’t the quickest, but it wasn’t the worst. I gently tugged his hands into mine. “You shouldn’t have come here, invited or not.”
I was unsure of what to do in the face of his death. I’d wanted revenge, but I couldn’t keep the chill from my chest.
“Probably not, but it’s hard to turn down those invitations.” He wheezed. “I’m not sorry I tried to disqualify you. I didn’t mean to like you, but I did, and seeing folks die hurt worse than I thought it would. I don’t really give a lick what happens to any of the others, and Two can take care of herself, but you’re—”
“Not a sibling of yours to protect. Not even a friend.” I wanted to be Opal just like he did. “You want me to get Two?”
I could only see gaping servants through the door, but Two and the rest couldn’t have been far off.
“Think I’ve annoyed her enough for one lifetime.” He smiled and coughed, blood speckling his crooked teeth. “Five years.”
“What?”
“Took me five years to get this good. Two did it in three. Show off. Course, she’s got the best motivator.” He pressed his satchel of throwing knives into my hands. “She hasn’t missed a target as big as you since she was twelve, so start practicing.”
“I’ll do it in two
years.” I tucked them into my pocket, squeezing his fingers.
He snorted. His head fell forward and his fingers fell limp. I sniffed and squeezed his hands again, but he didn’t respond. The pulse fluttering in his wrist stopped, and his shallow breathing ceased. I laid his hands across his chest, wiping the blood from his hands. He was still warm, still smiling.
He might’ve only been sleeping.
Thirty-Four
“Well,” Ruby drawled, footsteps drowned out by the chaos in the hall. He leaned over my shoulder and cocked his head at Four, words whistling through his mask. It made me shudder. “That was nice of you. For someone so bitter, you’re not big on plucky revenge.”
“He recanted.” I pulled the nightshade extract from my pocket and shook the vial. “It’s not worth it.”
Ruby took the vial and pocketed it. “Because killing doesn’t bother you.”
I nodded. I’d never killed before auditions—all those people I’d robbed and fought could bounce back from boxed ears and a few missing jewels—but I wasn’t killing because I liked it. It was a job. Eight, Seven, and Four had all signed up to die, and we all knew the risk. We’d agreed to serve Our Queen in any way she saw fit. We were keeping her on the throne.
Peace had a cost, and we collected.
“Delightful.” He straightened up and flicked his fingers at me, tapping his foot on the floor. “Pity you didn’t have a real alibi the first time around—could’ve saved us all this trouble.”
“You knew?” I rounded on Ruby, blood rushing in my ears. I’d blackmailed Four for nothing. Threatened him for nothing. “You knew it wasn’t me without a doubt the whole time?”
“Of course we knew. It’s our business to know. It’s why Nicolas is involved, why we know who’s seen and who’s set up.” Ruby picked his way over the shattered remains of the room and picked up my knife, missing my shudder—they couldn’t know about Seve, they couldn’t. “Next time, have an alibi and keep your arm loose but your grip tight.”
“Oh yes, I’ll get right on that, my lord.” I tore myself away from Four. Of course the Left Hand knew. They’d even had their spy Nicolas del Contes investigate my past. I might break my hand punching Ruby in the face, but it would be worth it if I broke his nose. “Next audition, I’ll have an alibi for every day. I’ll look good in red.”
Ruby laughed and said to his servant, “Get the other auditioners. Don’t tell them what’s happened.” He twisted back to me soon as they were gone. “Using me as a human shield? Really?”
“It was a pitcher.” I shrugged. “I was improvising.”
He snorted. I leaned against the back wall, pulling my mask over my face. The bitter scent of sweat and blood, musty dirt and dry forest, clung to the linen, and I sucked in a deep breath. Back where I belonged.
Where I needed to be.
No need to let Two and Five know what I looked like now that I was back in the audition. Amethyst helped the servant, now awake and confused, into a chair and looked me over. Emerald didn’t spare me a glance.
Eleven entered first, stepping through the broken door skittish as a deer. She was forgettable like me. I hadn’t paid her any attention.
She could’ve killed everyone.
She caught me staring and glared. I glared right back. She’d no right endangering the servants.
Five slipped into the room. His gaze darted from Eleven to Four’s body, to the Left Hand and the servant recovering between them. He put his back to a corner and fidgeted. Good.
At least I’d gotten that right. He was still finding my eyes.
Two came in last, saw Four, and stopped. She stayed in the doorway, raised on her toes and ready to run.
“Four and Fifteen are dead.” Emerald stalked around us terrifying as a storm rolling in from the sea, voice barely rising over a breathy whisper. She rolled her neck and cracked her knuckles. “All of you, at the table.”
Two, Five, and Eleven lined up alongside the table. Ruby circled behind them, huffing at the smears of charcoal that Five’s dirty hands left on the wood. Amethyst beckoned the servants into the room. Maud glanced at me as she entered.
“Which of you rigged the doors with Lady’s Palm? The doors to the rooms frequented by people we specifically told you were not to be harmed? With poisons that cause violence and delusions?” Emerald slid behind Eleven. “Admit it, and I’ll be less likely to kill you despite our well-stated rules.”
Eleven shivered and raised her hand. “It was only the auditioners’ rooms after their servants had cleaned.”
Emerald slammed Eleven into the table, smashing her face through a ceramic kettle and grinding her cheek into the slivers. Blood and tea pooled beneath Eleven’s face. She whimpered.
“When we said the servants were not to be harmed, we meant it.” Emerald’s voice was muffled and low. “No harm—not a chance, not even a little. Your disregard for the lives of the people you would have served as Opal is clear. So show me every trap and then get out of my sight. You are lucky no one else was seriously hurt.”
She yanked Eleven up and pieces of the kettle tumbled from her bloody mask. Five edged away. I bowed my head, not the least bit sorry. She could’ve killed Maud.
“And you are very, very lucky.” Emerald rounded on me. “This,” she said, gesturing toward the wreckage around us and nodding to Ruby, “wasn’t well done.”
I gritted my teeth, unwilling to let them see the disappointment so stinging that I was sure my bones were on fire. I nodded.
“But he recanted.” Emerald nodded to Amethyst. “And you were correct about the courts.”
Amethyst shook her head at me. “Although the extortion was a nice touch, if not sloppy.”
“You lot have an odd definition of nice.” My breath caught in my throat, choking me and burning in my chest. It had worked. It had all paid off. “Really?”
“Four’s witness against you would no longer hold in court, so it no longer holds here.” Ruby sidled up next to me, peering over my shoulder.
Ruby then strolled to the table, ignoring Five’s furious glares at me. I smiled, sure my lips would never drop the look again. Meeting his gaze only made him scowl more.
“Congratulations.” Ruby raised a broken teacup handle to us and bowed. “To our final three auditioners—Two, Five, and Twenty-Three.”
Ten must’ve died while I was plotting. Good.
“She’s disqualified!” Five gestured wildly to Ruby. “You can’t bring her back.”
I stiffened. I’d uppercut Five if he ever spoke wrong about my gender again or spoke to me at all. I was dressed as a man. I was clear as day.
And I hadn’t been disqualified.
“I can do whatever I like. I’m Ruby, and you still have a big number on your face.” Ruby shooed Five away from him and waved at me. “Twenty-Three was never disqualified. He was on probation. Four admitted to lying about the kill, so Twenty-Three is reinstated. End of discussion.” He turned Five around by the shoulders and pushed him into a chair. “Also, because we said so and our word is law.”
Five clenched his jaw shut, flinching from Ruby’s touch. I grinned, the stress Ruby had placed on “he” warm and comfortable in my ears. Almost regretted tossing him in front of that pitcher.
Amethyst beckoned Maud. She tried to do her best to look surprised, but Amethyst laughed softly behind her mask.
“Due to recent events, let us reiterate the rules.” Amethyst put the broken door back on its hinges best as she could. “The servants, soldiers, courtiers, guards, nobles, and whoever else isn’t one of you three are off limits. That includes indirect injuries caused by your actions.”
“Use discretion.” Ruby splayed his hands over the broken table, head tilted toward me. “Your first test was about physicality. This one was about subtlety. Your last one will require both. Only those capable of the two will succeed.”
“For lack of a better phrase, you are the best auditioners.” Amethyst was rigid under her armor. “Though you have
arrived here sooner than expected.”
No doubt—Four, Eleven, and Fifteen would’ve been safe if Eleven had thought through her plan.
“Whether that is through your own skill or the skill of others, it doesn’t matter.” Ruby twisted to look at us each in turn. “We prefer shorter auditions because they are more efficient.” He gestured to me. “And unless you think Twenty-Three is a better Opal than you, his presence here is of no consequence.”
That smacked the smile off my face.
“As such, we must bring the auditions to a pause,” said Ruby. “Right now, your goal is no longer to eliminate the competition. It’s to do exactly as we say when we say it. Your servants will be briefed, and at dinner tonight, we will provide you with your final test. You will succeed, or you will forfeit your place in the Left Hand.”
At least I wouldn’t have to worry about Five creeping through my door and putting a knife in my neck.
Probably.
“Further rules will be provided over dinner.” Emerald shoved the door out of her way, voice still quietly angry. “Make no attempts on each other’s lives and set up no traps. Your rooms have been cleaned and baths drawn with special soap. Use it. Your servants will dispose of your clothes. Five, with me.”
Ruby and Emerald swept out of the room, the crowd of servants outside the door scattering, and Five followed. Amethyst looked around the destroyed table.
“It would be best if you ate and rested. The audition is designed to test you and wear you down. We must know how you act under exhaustion and pressure. You should be proud of yourselves for getting here, but it isn’t over yet. There is still much to do.”
She left us in silence.
Thirty-Five
I collapsed over a chair, laughing into my mask, heart bursting at the muffled sound I’d grown used to.
“How’d you last?” Two turned to me, hands shaking. She was young, younger than me by maybe a year, and bone-tired by the shadows under her eyes. Blood dotted the whites. “Four’s a better fighter than you. We all are.”
Were better fighters. Lady help Two when that fact hit her.
Mask of Shadows Page 18