We’re ready. You can go now, she projected after another minute.
I started kicking again. Can you keep an eye on our direction? Let me know if I start veering off. A more reliable way to keep a straight course would have been preferable, but I still appreciated the ease with which Sophie could direct me from the back.
Our progress was slow, and it took a while for us all to find a rhythm, so that we didn’t constantly pull at each other. I appreciated the distraction since my mind kept coming back to the question of what might lurk unseen in the water beneath us.
Every few minutes, Sophie would project, directing me back toward the left or right. She also called out occasionally to one of the other rafts. I trusted her to direct us, instead focusing my efforts on moving forwards. Propelling a cupboard door, two wet girls and a heavy weight of wet material on my own proved to be hard work. Soon I could see nothing but water in every direction. Only the splashing from my own feet and the rafts behind me let me know we were moving forward at all.
As time wore on, my legs began to feel as if they had been weighted down with rocks. Kicking became more and more of an effort. My arms complained, too, about their awkward position on the raft and the strain of holding me in place. I guessed it must be worse for Celine who had the crutches and lifeline to contend with as well.
More time passed, and I heard soft murmurs from some of the girls behind me. I didn’t waste my breath talking, limiting my comments to projections in Sophie’s direction. I had started to stare ahead of us, convinced I would catch sight of the shore at any moment, when a squeal rang out behind me.
Wave! Sophie’s silent warning screamed in my mind just in time for me to fling one arm around Celine, locking us both in place as a surge of water threw us helplessly up and then dropped us down again.
Celine grunted in pain, but she remained on the raft, so I ignored her and twisted around to examine the rest of the group. Two rafts behind us, Giselle had dropped her end of her dress lifeline, so that their raft, along with the ones attached behind them, had come loose from the leading two. She seemed to have recovered, however, because she had joined her sister in kicking their raft back toward Lilac and Hazel who had managed to keep hold of their end of the lifeline.
My eyes skipped straight to the back of the rafts to find Sophie, but she didn’t meet my eyes, focused instead on something between us. I followed her gaze, counting heads as I did, and stopped when I reached the raft two in front of Sophie. I could only see one head.
Millie, now gripping both her and Pearl’s lifelines, was looking frantically around at the surrounding water. I saw her shift, as if about to let go and dive under, but her hands were full with their raft and both lifelines. “No one move,” I yelled, as Pearl resurfaced, spluttering, only to sink back under the water again. I abandoned my raft to Celine and kicked off hard in Pearl’s direction.
Opal didn’t listen, reaching out to try to help her sister. When Pearl resurfaced again, however, she blindly grabbed at Opal’s reaching hand and pulled her twin down with her. Opal screamed and let go of her end of the lifeline.
“Blanche!” I called, but the pale princess had already snatched the soggy clothing from the water. Sophie! I projected. I’m not going to be able to pull them both back up.
I’m already on my way. I saw her then, rushing toward me through the water from the other end of our line of rafts. Marigold has our raft in hand. And thankfully there don’t seem to be any more waves behind us. I wasn’t watching backwards, so I didn’t see that one coming.
I kicked harder. I hadn’t even thought about another wave, although I should have. Such a clearly unnatural event might come again out of nowhere.
We met up at the spot where the twins had gone down, and I waited for them to resurface. But neither did. For a brief second my eyes met Sophie’s, and then we both took a deep breath and dived, cold washing over us despite the warmth of the water.
Chapter 13
The dark and murky water made visibility impossible. I quested out with my arms, hoping desperately to encounter a petticoat or a hand. And hoping equally strongly that I didn’t touch anything slimy. It took every bit of courage I had to dive down away from the surface.
I’ve got one of them! Sophie sounded triumphant.
My breath was running out, so I twisted in the water, swinging my arms out wildly. My foot bumped against something, and I twisted again. Please be the other twin, please be the other twin, ran through my head like a litany.
One of my hands encountered fabric, and I kicked toward the surface, dragging it behind me. Pain blossomed along the shoulder I had wrenched earlier, but I pressed on. My lungs burned, and I burst from the water, gasping wildly. I pulled up the dead weight behind me, and one of the twins appeared. She gulped down air and grabbed at me, nearly sending us both back under.
“Whoa, whoa,” I called between splashes. “Calm down, I’ve got you.”
Slowly she stopped fighting and floated in the water, letting me support her as she continued to gasp in air. I saw that Sophie was already helping Opal retake her place next to Blanche, so it must be Pearl I was supporting. I towed her toward Millie.
“Oh, thank goodness.” Tears streamed down Millie’s cheeks. “That wave caught me by surprise, and I didn’t even see her go under.”
“It caught us all by surprise.” I clung to the edge of their door, my legs already long past exhaustion.
“Do you think you can hold on if there’s another one?” I asked Pearl as I hoisted her into position on the wood.
She nodded. “I’ll hold on tighter the rest of the way.” Her teeth chattered, but her grip did look secure. “Do you…do you think there’ll be another one?”
I glanced at Millie. “I hope not.”
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll be ready, too.”
I nodded to Millie and kicked off toward the next raft, using it to propel me toward the next one. Thankfully, while I had been occupied with Pearl, the others had managed to reform our line. All too soon, I had retaken my place.
“Are you all right?” Celine eyed me.
A shudder ripped through me. An aftereffect of the shock, I supposed. “Has the water gotten colder?” I shivered again.
“Not that I’ve noticed.” Celine frowned at me.
“Never mind. Let’s keep going. I want to get out of this water before the Tourney decides to send another wave in our direction.” Somehow I forced my leaden legs to kick again. Bit by bit we inched forward through the water.
“There!” said Celine. “I think I can see the land.”
The effort of lifting my head to look overwhelmed me, so I stayed down, my face only just clearing the surface of the water. We were nearly there, and that was all that mattered. I just had to keep kicking, one leg after the other. One leg after the other.
“I can touch!” I felt Celine’s weight lift off the door. I stopped kicking and let her hop along, pushing us in. I knew I should tell her to stop, that she might hurt her ankle, but I couldn’t find my voice.
I rolled off the door and onto my hands and knees in the shallows. Slowly I crawled forward until I could flop onto my back on dry land. Now that my wet body was entirely out of the water, I trembled with continuous shivers. I could hear the other princesses around me, coming in to land, and then a familiar figure lay down beside me. She scooted in close, and our arms touched, the shivers passing back and forth between us.
Is everyone…?
I did a head count. Even Sophie’s projection sounded exhausted. Twelve.
Good.
We lay there for another minute. Finally I forced myself to sit up. Celine had marshalled the others to unpick the knots in our dresses. Some had finished, but others still hunched over the sodden material. Several of the rafts had been beached, but others had floated away. No one seemed inclined to stop them.
Pearl and Opal both looked miserable. They sat together slightly apart from the others, attempting to pick apart
a bundle of knotted material, although they both shook too hard to make much headway.
I tried to motivate my legs to move in their direction until I saw Blanche and Millie approach them instead. Within minutes, the last of the dresses had been separated, and Sophie and I staggered to our feet, clutching each other for support. No one talked much as everyone found their own gown from the pile.
We stumbled through the groves, our wet dresses clutched in our hands. When we reached the bottom of the ladder, we scrambled back into them. I secured Sophie’s laces half-heartedly, not bothering to tie them too tight. Hopefully we would be changing into dry clothes within minutes.
A deep shudder rocked me as I noticed the last tree again bore a folded parchment. This time the paper held two tables. One gave the scores from the event, the other the cumulative totals. Celine, Sophie and I had all done well in the event, but Celine’s dismal results from the previous event meant she remained at the bottom of the overall table. Another shudder made the parchment shake in my hand.
“Come on,” said Sophie. “We need to get Celine up the ladder.”
The task proved slightly less difficult than on the previous occasion, since Celine was more alert and in less pain. I, on the other hand, felt almost as tired as I had after dragging Celine from the palace. And I nearly slipped while helping her up several times because of my shudders. At last it was my turn to climb up into the room.
The water evaporated instantly from my dress as soon as I stepped off the ladder, but the chill that had gripped me from the moment my head slipped under the lake did not. By the morning it had turned into a fever.
I could hear Sophie tossing and turning on the bed next to mine, calling out in her sleep. Our minds reached for each other, so that I couldn’t tell where her fevered dreams ended and mine began. Time passed.
When I finally opened my eyes, certain that dreams no longer gripped me, I found sunlight pouring into the room.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Helena rushed to my side. I tried to make sense of her tired, pale face.
“What’s the matter?” My voice came out scratchy and rough. I coughed, and she sat on the bed and helped me to sit, holding a glass of water to my lips.
“You’ve been asleep for two days and two nights.” Her quiet words were laden with meaning.
“You mean…tonight…” Sophie’s wispy voice came from the next bed.
An older lady I didn’t recognize rushed forward with water for her as well.
“Yes, I’m afraid so. We’ve all been extremely concerned you wouldn’t wake.”
I tried to assimilate the news that we would be back in the ballroom within a matter of hours. “What’s the time?”
“It’s still morning.” Helena sounded eager to offer even the faintest piece of good news. “You have most of the day still to recover.”
Oh good, how lovely. I didn’t want to offend Helena, who had been caring for us all this time and bore no blame, so I didn’t speak out loud.
It’s not her fault.
I know.
Sophie finished her glass. I think it was the water of the lake. I began to feel strange as soon as my head went under.
Me too. And now we’ll be going into the next challenge weakened.
Sophie met my eyes. You think the Tourney is punishing anyone who went under during the challenge?
I shrugged slightly at her. Punish probably isn’t the right word. More like disadvantage. Like Celine. Except hopefully our weakness will pass more quickly than her broken ankle. I spoke my next thought out loud. “How are the twins? The other ones, from Talinos.”
Helena and the unknown nurse exchanged a glance. “How do you know…?” Helena must have realized I couldn’t answer since her question trailed away. “They’ve both been ill as well, but they woke up last night.”
“Oh, good.”
“That they’re awake, she means,” Sophie clarified on my behalf. I wanted to roll my eyes but couldn’t be bothered. “Not that they were sick.”
“Of course, Your Highness,” said the nurse with a small smile.
Sophie glanced over at me. Have you noticed the prohibition on talking about the events doesn’t seem to extend to our projections?
That could prove useful. It already has during the two events so far.
Good, that gives us an advantage, then.
I didn’t like the implications of her comment—wasn’t this a contest we wanted to lose?— but my mind struggled to keep pace with the conversation, so I let it drop. I felt groggy and still slightly confused. I also felt…
“Hungry. I feel hungry.”
“Me, too.”
“Well, no wonder, when you haven’t eaten for more than two days.” Helena gestured for the nurse to pull a long golden cord hanging against the wall between our beds. “We’ll send for the servants, they’ve been standing ready to bring you food as soon as you woke.”
“Thank you,” I managed before falling back against the bed. I would just rest a little before the food arrived.
I started awake when the door opened and two maids entered. I glanced around in confusion before remembering what had happened. I felt slightly better than I had the last time I awoke, but I hoped I hadn’t lost too much more time. I had slept away enough already.
“His Highness said to pass on his well wishes and his relief at your recovery,” said one of the maids, as she deposited a tray on my lap.
The other one giggled. “He’s been lurking out in that corridor a lot the last two days. And looking awfully worried.”
“His highness?” asked Sophie politely. But I could hear the mischief lurking beneath.
“Oh! Our prince, we mean—Prince Jonathan I should say.”
Ha!
I took a sip of the warm broth. It tasted delicious, so I tore off a chunk of bread and dunked it in. He feels responsible for our safety. He’s the one who invited us here.
Mmhmmm.
“He also said to tell you that he’ll have some comfortable chairs carried outside for you, if you’d like to get some fresh air and sun this afternoon. It’s another lovely day.”
“That would be perfect, thank you,” said Sophie. “If our nurses allow.”
“Certainly,” said Helena. “An excellent idea.” I noticed her amused gaze lingering on me also, and I glared around at the room at no one in particular.
But when the maids left, I acknowledged that some time in the garden actually sounded quite appealing. But the company had nothing whatsoever to do with it.
Sophie and I both insisted on walking out to the garden. In a matter of hours, we would have to do a lot more than walk a few steps, and we wanted to test ourselves. It scared me how much the minor activity tired me.
How are we going to get through tonight? Apparently I wasn’t the only one concerned.
“I’m so glad to see you up!” Prince Jonathan waited for us both next to a collection of comfortable-looking chairs. “I wasn’t sure which one you would prefer, so I had them all carried out.” I told myself it was only my imagination that his concerned gaze lingered on me. I didn’t want to feed the all-too-rapidly growing attraction I felt for him. Our illness only proved I needed to keep my attention focused on surviving the Tourney.
Sophie and I each chose a seat, and Jon took one of the remaining ones. His next comment was lost as Prince Theodore and Prince Gabriel arrived.
“Teddy. Gabe.” Jon nodded at them both, his voice serious. They took seats without further invitation, their faces equally serious.
Why do I feel like we’ve just been ambushed? I eyed the princes uneasily.
Because you’re wise beyond your years?
Flatterer!
Jon leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. I could see the earnestness shining from his eyes. I shifted uncomfortably. Whatever was about to happen, I didn’t feel at all well enough to face it.
“I’m worried.” He tipped his head toward the others. “We�
�re all worried.”
“We appreciate your concern.” I hoped my cool tone would put him off.
It didn’t.
“There have only been two events, and already five of you have come back ill or injured. No one knows where you go, but your dancing slippers were ruined again.” He glanced at the others as if for support. “All of them. They were soaked through and coated with mud.”
I looked at him hopelessly and shrugged. I wished I could tell them what was going on, but I had no choice.
“All three of us have sisters in the Tourney,” said Gabe, leaning forward as well. “We can’t sit idly by while you’re all in danger.”
I sat up straight, sudden energy burning through the lingering fog in my brain. “Just what exactly is that supposed to mean?”
Gabe glanced at Teddy and then over at Jon before shrugging.
“There’s nothing you can do. You know that, right?” I looked at Jon. “Right?
“But maybe there is…” I didn’t like the eager light in Jon’s eyes.
“No, absolutely not!” A more panicked voice than mine rang out, and we all swiveled around in surprise. Millie emerged from some bushes and stormed toward us. She stood over Teddy in his chair and glared daggers at her twin and his friends. “I knew you boys were planning something. But I can’t believe you would bother Lily and Sophie right now.”
She swiveled around to face us. “I’m glad to see you up, by the way.” She turned back to the princes. “You are the heirs of three different kingdoms. You cannot afford to be idiots right now.”
“Or ever,” I muttered.
“Thank you!” She didn’t turn away from the angry stare she had trained on her brother. “Or ever.”
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