“Ryiah, I like you.”
“Well, isn’t that just precious,” a sneering female voice drawled behind us.
Jumping, I saw Darren and Priscilla standing in the doorway. My pulse stopped.
“Oh, please don’t stop on our account,” the venomous girl continued, one arm wrapped tightly around the prince’s waist. “This will be our last chance to see two lowborns before we go on to our apprenticeship. Darren and I need a good laugh, don’t we, my sweet?”
Darren’s eyes fell to Clayton’s and my interlocked hands. They were unfathomable. “Yes, I believe we do.”
My throat became unbearably dry.
“Just because you don’t know happiness is no reason to spoil ours!” Clayton told Priscilla irritably.
She laughed loudly. “Come, Darren. We’ve got to return to the castle in time for me to dress.” She her hand lightly to his chest and whispered loudly: “I have something special to wear. I had it especially picked out for tonight’s occasion.” Her eyes fell to me, and she smiled, saying the next words carefully: “It will be the perfect opportunity to announce our betrothal.”
My eyes flew to Darren. He was a stone, not one emotion flickering across his face as the world came crashing down before mine.
The prince and Priscilla left the store. I stared after the spot they had stood long after they had disappeared.
“Ryiah, is something wrong?”
I felt as if someone had ripped my lungs right out of my chest. I was sad, angry, confused… and I had no right to be.
“I am sorry, Clay.” I swallowed. ” I can’t return your favor.”
Clayton’s face burned red. He dropped my hand with a sneer. “You are a fool if you think Darren will ever notice you!”
The boy didn’t wait for a response. He stalked out of the shop indignantly.
Alex and Ella observed the boy’s dramatic exit from the street and then came running to find out what had happened.
“What did you say to him?” Alex stared after his friend, confused.
“You finally told Clay you didn’t return his sentiment,” Ella said. It wasn’t a question.
Derrick returned from the back of the shop, grinning. “Ryiah said it right after that mean girl told her she was engaged to the prince.”
“What does that halfwit’s engagement have to do with anything?” Alex demanded.
Ella’s eyes shot to my own, and I looked away, unwilling to acknowledge her unspoken question. I’d told her about my tower encounter days before, and while she was not yet convinced Darren’s magic had saved her years ago, she had acknowledged the possibility that the prince was not as horrible as we had initially assumed. While Darren claimed to have helped me in friendship, she knew I had hoped there was more to it.
Clearly there wasn’t.
Much later that evening, Ella and I were standing before our reflection in the looking glass of our barrack’s quarters. She had lent me one of her many dresses for the occasion, a deep blue gown that would “capture the gray-blue of my eyes.” It was even more spectacular than her dress at solstice. I tried to tell her that it didn’t matter what I wore, but she was of a different opinion.
“This is a night to be proud,” Ella declared brazenly, as she helped brush out my scarlet red locks. “Whether our names are called or not, we completed a year where others have failed. That is not something anyone can take away from us.”
We finished dressing, and I linked my arm in Ella’s as we exited the barracks. Outside Alex was waiting for us, looking handsome in the same clothes he had worn for the solstice.
“Ready?” His eyes shown unusually bright as he took my friend’s arm.
“There’s no going back now.”
The three of us began our slow march down the path to the Academy. We greeted our families at the door, and continued ahead of them as we made our way to the grand atrium. The place was packed from the hundreds of faces standing all around, and as one of the last groups to arrive, we were forced to wait at the back of the room.
At every pillar of the atrium, giant torches of crystalline blue flame flickered magnificently. At the center loomed the enormous stairwell and its many-paned window with the stunning view of the Sjeka sea. Standing right before it were Master Barclae, the Three, Sir Piers, Masters Eloise, Isaac, Cedric, Ascillia and Narhari.
At the base of the stairs, King Lucius and his two sons stood expectantly, all dressed in their choice colors and fitted cloaks. Priscilla stood close beside them, looking resplendent in a red and gold dress fitted in rubies that flared dramatically at its base. She and Darren’s arms were linked, much like mine had been moments before with Ella and Alex.
I swallowed at the sour taste in my mouth and forced my gaze to remain at the top of the stair.
Minutes later, Constable Barrius squeezed his way through the crowd and up the well to stoop beside the Master of the Academy. He whispered something, and the man cleared his throat expectantly.