She focused back on Rakin’s words as he continued, “We want each of you to go out and find something that is important to being an empress. You must bring that object back here and offer an explanation as to why you believe it is important for an empress. You will all have a time limit of one hour. Anyone who does not return here at the end of that time will be automatically disqualified. Is that clear?”
Head nods and soft murmurs of assent seemed to be enough for him. Rakin glanced briefly at something laying in front of him then he looked at the women before him. “Then you have until the second hour as the sundial has it. Begin!”
For a moment, the whole crowd of women froze. Then, like some loud noise had startled them all into flight at the same moment, they sped off. Evony stood where she was, watching with some amusement as the others hurried past, heading for every doorway like water heading for a drain. It was obvious from the way they moved that more than a few were unaccustomed to running.
In moments the courtyard cleared. When the crowd was gone, Evony saw that it was only her and the girl in red beside her who remained of the bride candidates. She looked over at the other girl. Taking in the way the stranger worried her bottom lip with her teeth and how her trembling hands had grabbed giant fistfuls of her scarlet overdress, Evony had a good idea of why she hadn’t raced off with the others.
“Are you all right?” she asked, not liking how pale the other girl looked.
Light brown eyes met her darker ones for a moment, then dropped to the ground. “I... That is to say...”
“Are you feeling unwell?”
The other girl shook her head. “No. I... I don’t know what I should bring back,” she whispered, cheeks flaring up in imitation of the colour she wore.
“Ah. Is that all?”
The stranger jerked her head up to stare at Evony, lips sagging open slightly. Evony smiled. In a way, this girl reminded her of her brother. He always stared at people with his mouth open when he was surprised too. “I can’t afford to be eliminated,” the girl said, voice rising and cracking a little. “I can’t.”
“Then think of it another way. Instead of what item you should bring, think about what traits make a good empress in your mind. Once you have an idea for that, thinking of an item should be much simpler.”
For several punctums the other girl said nothing, face hidden by her black hair as she stared at the ground. She looked up after a couple of moments and hesitantly said, “M-mercy?”
Evony smiled as reassuringly as she could. Her brother was like this sometimes too, whenever he thought of the reality of leaving their clan and joining another. The idea of moving away from them all occasionally sent him into a panic, and it was Evony who always had to calm him down and get him to think. “That’s a good idea. Do you know of anything here that represents mercy that you could bring here?”
She bit her lip for a moment, then her eyes lit up and she nodded. “I have an idea.”
“Then go get it.”
The girl smiled. “Thank you,” she said, raising her right arm up in the mainlander gesture of respect. She took a few steps forward then stopped and turned back around. “Are you not going to find something?”
Evony chuckled. “I already have what I need right here.”
“Then thank you again, on my name as Admina of Miletum,” the girl said.
“I am Evony, daughter of Zarina, of clan Aureline. It is an honour to share names with you,” she replied with a closed fist against one shoulder.
“Until later,” Admina said with a faint smile before she hurried off.
Evony watched her go then glanced around. The people remaining in the courtyard, the serving girls, guards, and Rakin, were all staring at her. She hid a smile at the range of their expressions, most clearly thinking she was touched in the head. As funny as it would be to leave them staring, she supposed it was time she finished her part in this first competition.
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Copyright © 2016 by Lauren D.M. Smith
Acknowledgments
I want to thank my family, friends and my fiancé. I also want to thank my awesome editor, Anne, for helping me polish up what was a very rough first version, and my fans and critics, who push me to keep writing.
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About the Author
A huge geek with a bad case of wanderlust that has taken her all over the world, Lauren D.M. Smith has finally settled down in a small village outside her hometown with her long-suffering fiancé. She works in tourism to pay the bills and has heard more weird requests and stories from people than she thought was possible.
A book fiend since childhood, writing naturally arose out of the stories and adventures she’d make up for herself. Whether she’s grown up since then is debatable. Either way, she loves reading and writing, as well as a host of other things that include video games, animals, superheroes and board games. You can find out more about Lauren and her books at www.laurendmsmith.com.
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ISBN-13: 9781488020148
Enveloping Shadows
Copyright © 2016 by Lauren D.M. Smith
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