The Royal Trials: Seeker

by James Tate

  “How long will we be gone for?” Gracelin spoke up, flipping her hair in the most obnoxious way. Surely she must have learned that from Sagen. Or maybe it was an inbuilt mean-girl thing. “My maids didn’t get any information on what to pack, and I need to know if they’ve included the right outfits.”

  The look that Lady Savannah gave Gracelin could have melted ice, then she dismissed her with a curl of her lip and continued speaking to the rest of us. “This second trial requires you to locate and recover an item of magic. Queen Ophelia’s crown, to be precise.” A shocked gasp ran through all of the remaining girls, myself included.

  Our late monarch’s crown was rumored to be one of the ancient magical artifacts crafted by the gods themselves. It had been missing since her murder, but everyone assumed whoever killed her had taken it. So, was Lady Savannah saying that wasn’t what happened?

  “The royal crown of Teich has been missing since Queen Ophelia’s death, and King Titus would like it back. Your quest is to find it; the winner of this trial will be named the kingdom’s Seeker, in accordance with the old laws. Lands and wealth will be awarded, as befitting the title.” Lady Savannah’s lips pursed at this, and I suspected she was thinking the same thing we all were. What good were lands and wealth if you didn’t live past the third trial? And if you did... well, then you’d be queen.

  Queen, but little more than a human puppet—if the princes and I couldn’t stop King Titus.

  “Excuse me, ma’am?” Hazel raised her hand and gave Savannah a small smile. “Can I ask how, exactly, are we supposed to find the crown? It’s been missing for eighteen years. Surely, if it could be located, someone else would have done so by now?”

  Lady Savannah gave a tight smile that didn’t even come close to reaching her eyes. “You’ll each carry a stone that was once a part of the crown.” As she said this, a male servant with pristine gloves walked around the courtyard, handing each of us a little velvet pouch. “King Titus has spelled them to be drawn to the crown, like magnets. When you come close, you should feel the pull to reunite the stone with its source.”

  Frowning at her confusing explanation, I looked down at the pouch in my hand. Curious to see what she meant, I tipped the stone out into my palm and gasped at the warmth of it.

  I’d barely been a baby when Queen Ophelia died, so I’d never seen the crown in anything more than paintings. But even so, I could recognize the blood-red jewel. No one could have prepared me for the warm, almost living sensation it gave off. It was clear to me, on some unconscious level, that King Titus hadn’t done shit to spell these jewels. The uncomfortable tugging that was trying to pull me closer to Agatha—and the stone she held—was much older than anything Titus could have done—even if he had the magic, which I suspected he didn’t.

  “I suggest you keep them in their pouches until you split up,” Savannah suggested. “The last verified lead on the crown’s location was in Wakefield, so that is where you will begin your quest. Good luck.”

  She made as if to leave, but one of the other girls—Lady Emma of North Polaria—spoke up. “Wait! That’s it?” Her sharp words made Lady Savannah pause. “We find this crown and then return here with it? No one is getting poisoned every night? It’s just... that easy?”

  The older woman turned her withering glare on Emma. “Nothing is ever that easy in these trials, girl. Just look around. Thirteen ladies from noble families have died in the past week.” Her lip curled in disgust, and I could see lines around her eyes that hadn’t been present a week ago. “Do yourselves a favor and don’t become complacent. Your lives are literally at stake.” She turned to leave again, then paused and sucked in a sharp breath. “Highnesses,” she exclaimed, dropping into a deep curtsey as the three masked princes strode into the courtyard. “We, ah, no one told us—” she started stammering, even as the rest of the people present dropped into curtsies and bows of their own. I was a fraction slower, as I took a moment to admire them before carefully following suit.

  It would do me well to remember that the princes had pretended to be tutors, not the other way around.

  “It’s quite alright, Lady Savannah,” Lee—or rather, Prince Louis—cut her off before she could grow too flustered. “We didn’t warn you we would be accompanying the ladies on this quest, so no masks are necessary.” He’d correctly interpreted Lady Savannah’s flustered hand gestures, from what I could tell. Her cheeks were stained pink and her eyes remained glued on the ground, even as Lee motioned for her to stand again. The old tradition was that we non-royals couldn’t see the faces of royals, but somehow it had escalated to the point that we were all expected to wear masks in the presence of royalty. Probably a marketing stunt by a mask maker somewhere down the line.

  Prince Thibault cleared his throat. “My brothers and I have chosen to tag along. Call it curiosity.”

  “Or boredom,” Zan added with a snort, and I rolled my eyes as discreetly as I could. He really was an asshole in his Prince Alexander persona, but I’d be lying to myself if I said I didn’t find it a turn on. Especially now.

  “Well, uh.” Savannah looked around, a little wide-eyed with panic, “I’ll get masks sent down for the ladies and their maids immediately. I do apologize, Highnesses; we hadn’t expected you awake so early after the ball...” I didn’t miss the glance that she shot at me when she said that, and I glared back at her.

  Louis gave her a tight smile. “That won’t be necessary. It’s a silly rule our father has taken a bit too far within court. Surely there should be no need for the ladies to all cover their beautiful faces simply because we’re travelling with them. It’s enough for my brothers and I to observe the custom.”

  Lady Savannah clearly had no idea what to say in return, so after a moment of flapping her jaw she finally nodded. “As you wish, Highness.” Turning her attention back to the rest of us, she clapped her hands together. “Mount up, ladies. You don’t want to keep the princes waiting.”

  Without waiting to see if we were following her orders, she picked up her heavy skirts, sketched another quick curtsey to the princes, then hurried away.

  In her absence, I scrutinized the three royal assholes who’d let me get so close to them in the past week. Now that I knew, I felt all kinds of foolish for not recognizing them sooner.

  Ty’s broad frame was unmistakable, as were Lee’s gentle smile and Zan’s smoldering black gaze. My only plausible explanation was that I hadn’t wanted to look so closely. Every time I’d been in a prince’s presence, I’d done everything possible to avoid him and wished I wasn’t there.

  Also, I’d make a fair guess that they’d used some sort of magic to aid their disguises.

  Sneaky bastards.

  All the ladies around me were mounting their horses or—in Sagen’s and Gracelin’s cases—climbing into carriages that had been brought out to combat their temper tantrums. Jules was across the courtyard with the other maids, loading the last of the bags into the wagon that they would be traveling in.

  Grasping the hard leather of my saddle, I contemplated getting up there. I’d learned how to ride, yes, but it had been a really long time ago and never with a full saddle. This was going to be a challenge to pull off convincingly, but no one would believe that Lady Callaluna from Riverdell wasn’t used to riding.

  “Can I give you a hand up, my lady?” A warm, velvety voice murmured in my ear, and I bit my lip to hide a smile. Ty stood close enough behind me that I could feel his body warmth, and it was all I could do not to lean back into him when his palm settled on my lower back.

  “That depends,” I replied in a whisper only loud enough for the two of us to hear.

  His warm breath caressed my neck as he laughed softly. “On what, little one?”

  “On who’s offering.” I sucked in a breath, already feeling light-headed from the intensity of this dangerous flirtation. We were barely six feet from Agatha, who was already in her saddle. Luckily she was fully engrossed with her mooning over Lee and didn’t seem to have
noticed Prince Thibault taking an extra-long pause behind me. “Because Ty the combat trainer would be welcome, but Prince Thibault can roast under Zryn’s wrath.”

  I spun around to face him, meeting his emerald-green eyes behind his black velvet mask. “What a shame,” I whispered. My brows lifted in what I knew was a mocking challenge, but I couldn’t help myself. Seeing them back in disguise—or out of disguise?—was confusing the fuck out of me.

  He hummed a sound under his breath, stepping forward and crowding me against the side of my beautiful silver mare. “What if you don’t get a choice?”

  The intensity of his gaze, and that loaded question, froze the breath in my lungs. He didn’t need to elaborate for me to understand what he meant. What if I didn’t get to choose between Ty and Thibault? Like he didn’t. Could I reconcile them as one and the same? Or was my hatred of the Teichian monarchy so intense that I could dismiss my feelings?

  I was saved from answering by Zan’s interruption.

  “Everything okay here, brother?” Prince Alexander asked, his dark eyes darting between the two of us, not missing the compromisingly close position we stood in. I would have said he looked jealous, or maybe suspicious, but considering the masks they wore, it had to have been my imagination.

  Ty didn’t take his eyes off me as he replied, “Just offering Lady Callaluna help onto her horse.” Without any more warning, his huge hands wrapped around my lower leg, boosting me into the air and leaving me no choice but to scramble into the saddle. I’d barely righted myself before he stalked away.

  Zan lingered a moment longer, his lips tight as he stared up at me.

  “Is there a problem, Highness?” I asked him with way more sass than was safe in public, but I was rewarded by a half smile touching his mouth.

  “None at all, lady, just admiring your horse. Ty chose well.” With a wink, he left me sitting there on my gifted horse with my mouth agape. Mistress Mallard hadn’t organised my mount, after all. Ty had.

  5

  We’d barely even made it past the city walls, and I already knew my ass and thighs would hate me in the morning. Seriously, it wouldn’t take that long. They hated me now.

  Sadly, King Titus hadn’t been stupid enough to let us leave without guards. Even if anyone had been willing to risk breaking their oath to escape, they’d still need to get past the dozen royal soldiers riding with us.

  “Does it seem odd to you?” Hazel asked as she trotted to pull up beside me.

  Blinking away my thoughts of broken magical oaths and a murderous king, I refocused on her question. “Huh?”

  “The guards,” she elaborated, and for a moment I wondered how she knew what I was thinking. “You’d think they would have sent way more protection, considering all three princes are travelling with us. These are the same ones who were originally coming when it was just us eight ladies plus our maids.”

  I frowned at her in confusion. “You mean they didn’t add any extra guards for the princes?” She raised her brows at me and shrugged. “That seems...”

  “Foolish?” she finished for me when I trailed off. “No shit. Something weird is going on with this trial.” Her lips pursed. “Well, you know. More weird than everyone seems to grasp so far. There’s no way this trial is going to be as straightforward as they’re making it out to be. Not when they killed thirteen girls last week.” Her voice was pitched low and her eyes darted around us, like she was checking if anyone else was listening in. We were all decently spaced out, though, so I doubted anyone could hear us.

  I nodded and sighed. “I totally agree.” But that was pretty much all I could say on the matter. I’d done a lot of dumb things in my life, but flapping my mouth about the king plotting to kill or brainwash his own sons was the type of move that would get me killed.

  “So you know a lot about the royal trials,” I commented, trying to subtly steer the conversation. “Is this sort of quest normal for the second trial?”

  She nodded firmly, her frown tight. “It’s exactly what would be expected of the second trial. That’s why I’m so worried. Look what they did to the first.”

  I grimaced. She was right, of course.

  Another horse trotted up to my other side, and I glanced across to see that Lee had joined us.

  “Ladies,” he greeted us, and I bit back a smile. Hazel’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head, and I remembered Agatha’s crush on Prince Louis. Maybe Hazel shared her taste in men? They were both the studious type, so it made sense that his quieter, more relaxed personality might appeal to them.

  “Your Highness,” she squeaked, and he dipped his head to her in greeting.

  “Lady Hazel, you look like a natural horsewoman,” he commented, and jealousy flickered in my belly. What the hell did that say about me, that I didn’t want him to even notice Hazel’s riding form, when I’d been naked in both of his brothers’ beds mere hours ago? Total hypocrite.

  “Thanks,” she replied in a panicked gasp. “I should... I need to... uh...”

  “Be anywhere but here?” I suggested with a snicker, and she nodded frantically, then flushed hot.

  “No! I didn’t mean—” She’d clearly just realised that could have been taken as insulting and rapidly started backtracking.

  “It’s quite fine,” Lee assured her, interrupting what was turning into an etiquette mess. “I need to speak with Lady Callaluna alone anyway.”

  Hazel’s breath rushed out of her in a sigh of relief. “Oh good. I’ll just...” She trailed off and gave an awkward bobbing motion, which was probably intended as a horseback curtsey, before kicking her horse into a trot to move away from us.

  “She’s an odd girl,” Lee murmured, and I laughed.

  “Pretty sure she has a crush,” I informed him with a small eyeroll. “Though I can’t work out why if she only knows this version of you.” My waved hand indicated that I meant him as Prince Louis rather than Lee.

  His mouth tightened, then quirked a smile. “You know that’s one of my favourite things about you, Calla? You don’t shy away from your opinions, even if they could be considered treasonous.”

  I shifted in my saddle slightly to glare at him. “You’re lucky I know you well enough not to hear that as a threat, Your Highness.” This only made his smile spread wider, and I got the distinct impression he enjoyed this level of banter.

  “Explain that to me,” I prompted him, turning my attention back to the road but keeping him in my peripheral. I couldn’t help it; my gaze was drawn to him even when it shouldn’t be. Actually, the same could be said for all three princes, as I quickly checked where the other two were.

  “Explain what?” he replied, patting the side of his horse’s neck with a gloved hand. “How I found you utterly irresistible from the moment we first met and it only got worse when you started insulting me to my face without knowing it?”

  I snickered a laugh, remembering how scathing I’d been in my opinions on that first day Lee and I had spoken. But technically, he didn’t know about the first time we’d met—in the alleyway after Flick had been arrested, when Ty had grabbed me to save me from doing anything foolish and they’d assumed I was a boy.

  As pissed as I was about their deception, I wasn’t ready to reveal myself as an orphaned Pond-dweller anytime soon.

  I shook my head. “No, I meant your subterfuge. Explain to me how I didn’t work out that you were you prior to Zan killing himself. It all seems a bit painfully obvious now, and I’m feeling like a bit of a moron for not working it out sooner.”

  “You’re anything but a moron, Calla,” he assured me with a laugh. “But in all honesty, we aren’t as heavily disguised now. We made it a lot harder on you last week, and I would’ve been pissed if you’d seen through us then.”

  I turned a frown on him. “Why? Why did it matter then but not now? Is the broken oath a one time thing and no longer applies?”

  “I wish,” he muttered. “No, it still matters. We just don’t have to go to such leng
ths to conceal our identities this week because you were the only one who would have made the connection. Now that you know...” He shrugged. “The short answer is that none of the other ladies paid enough attention to their ‘tutors’ for it to be of any great concern. To them, we were servants, not deserving of their time or attention. Why would they bother with servants when there were royals on the line?”

  “That’s a bold assumption,” I remarked, a bit taken aback by this attitude. “You can’t know that for sure.”

  He gave me a gentle smile. “I sort of do. You forget that these girls are aristocrats. We’ve met them all at some point in our childhoods, and trust me when I say that not a single one of them would pay any real notice of their servants. Not even Hazel or Agatha, even though they’re easily the nicest ones. You were the only wild card who forced us to step it up.”

  “So, I assume your father is the one who imposed the oath?”

  “Yes. It was the compromise to let us become the trials tutors, which was ultimately what we wanted. It was to see what everyone was like when they had their walls down. Ladies of the court act somewhat differently when we’re around as us. Even though the trials are designed to select the strongest ruler for Teich, we still wanted to see what we were potentially in for.” His attention strayed away from me as he said this, and I snorted a laugh.

  “Bullshit,” I accused him quietly. “You all want to get an advantage over each other so you’ll be the one picked at the end of the trials.”

  “True,” he admitted with a rueful smile. “But we didn’t expect to all fall for the same girl.”

  Something inside me fluttered at this, and I bit down on my cheek to keep from grinning like an idiot. My involvement with all three of them was something I’d need to deal with at some stage, especially now that I’d made a clear choice to go to Zan over the other two.

  But really, considering I hadn’t known it was them, should that decision be held against me?