Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 4) (24 page)

Did he know? Did he suspect? “And I hate
princes that are selfish and power hungry,” Mina shot back.

His eyes flashed with anger, and she
heard his quick intake of breath. “I can handle the truth, but I’m none of
those.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, gently testing
the waters. “Have you never been of two minds about something? Have you never
felt a hunger for something that’s not yours?” She watched him carefully for
his response.

He turned his head, showing off his
handsome profile. “Careful, you’re tempting me to do something radical. And
tempting me is very, very dangerous. For both you and me,” he warned.

She shivered. It was so hard to read him.
She didn’t need to think much more because he elaborated for her.

“I’m very tempted to steal a kiss.” He
stood up and moved across the room from her, placing himself at a safe
distance.

“What?” Mina asked, caught off guard.
Those were not the words she expected to hear from him.

“Get some rest.” He closed himself off
again. “Tomorrow morning, you will face another test, and as much as I enjoy
your wit and brutal honesty, I don’t expect you to pass it. I was truly coming
to say goodbye.”

“That is just stupid,” Mina hissed. “Not
to mention rude. Have you made the rounds to all of the girls and said goodbye
to them?” she said. “Or just me?”

He was by her bed again in a flash,
leaning in over her, his hands pressed into the mattress on either side of her
hips. “I don’t need to say salutations to anyone ever. You disappeared in the
woods on me, making me look like a fool when I went back to look for you. You
should feel honored that I’ve even come to speak to you a second time.”

“Honored? I’m seriously ticked off. What
you should have done was never set foot in here.”

He blinked at her, his head tilted as he
tried to process what she had just said. “Ticked off?” He started to laugh.
“One day, I will have to travel to your lands, so that I may learn to
understand the way you speak.”

“Over my dead body.” Mina grumbled.
Seriously, she was at the end of her rope.

Teague laughed even harder and shook his
head. “I have to say that I will miss you and your brazen way of speaking.” He
moved toward the shadows and she heard his parting words. “Unless you can
defeat an ogre?”

Chapter 24

Sleep hadn’t come easy, and Mina was
awakened by a knock on the door. Her mind immediately rushed back to Teague’s
challenge. Slay an Ogre? He had to be joking, right? The Fates couldn’t
possibly make the girls fight for their lives. That was a lot to ask of someone
who wasn’t guaranteed a throne.

Maybe Teague was just being a jerk and
trying to throw her.

A small brownie opened her door and came
in carrying a stack of clothes which she placed on Mina’s bed. Her skin was
darker than Mei’s, and her eyes were golden amber in color. But oh, she made
Mina miss the wisdom of her brownie-friend.

“Please put these on and meet up with the
other girls in the main hall.” Her voice was soft and unassuming, and she left
as quietly as she came.

Mina lifted the slippers and saw a long
sleeved dress of deep blue with no frills, ruffles, or lace. She wondered once
again if she was the only one to be given clothes. Were the others going
through their trunks and trunks of gowns and wearing their prettiest pieces?

Feeling a sense of unease, she discarded
the silk slippers and put on her own glass ones. The diamonds hadn’t moved
since she last checked and tears filled her eyes. What if the shoes were truly,
absolutely broken? Would she be stuck here forever? She furiously wiped the
tears away and stood up to see herself in the mirror. Her eyes had worry rings
and her nose looked a little red from crying. Picking up a comb from the table,
she quickly brushed out her hair, letting the curls from last night wave around
her shoulders. She looked wild and free, but she felt anything but. Mina held
her breath and puffed out her cheeks, making a face at herself in the mirror.
At least the color of the dress complemented her skin tones and made her eyes
stand out. She needed to pull herself together. “You can do this, Mina. You’re
a Grimm. You can handle this. Everyone is counting on you to be smart and
figure this out.”

After her mini pep talk, she opened her
door and headed to the main hall. Sure enough, the other eight girls were
already there, minus Ferah, Fushia and Silene. They all happened to be wearing
similar slim dresses in varying colors. Of course, the others had done their
hair up in in extravagant coifs, ringlets, and braids. Ever, again keeping to
herself at the edge of the crowd, looked stunning in a long black dress.

Annalora’s face was still swollen, but
her makeup decently covered most of the discolored bruise. As soon as she saw
Mina enter the hall, she turned her back. Which was fine with Mina. Just seeing
Annalora’s face put a bounce in Mina’s step as she made her way to stand next
to Dinah. The tension in the room was at an all-time high as the girls feigned
small talk while they watched the doors. A few laughs tittered to unnatural
pitches as the girls’ nerves ran amok.

“What do you think the test will be
today?” Mina asked Dinah absently.

Dinah yawned and rubbed her back. “I’m
not sure, but I hope we’re done soon. There was a lump in my mattress, and I
could barely sleep last night. I think I’m bruised.”

“Maybe there was a pea under your
mattress,” Mina said, amused.

“Oh don’t be silly, Elle. Why would there
be food under a mattress in the royal palace? It had to have been a rock.”

“Why would a rock be under the mattress?
In fact, I’d think it was more likely for food to be under the mattress than a
rock.”

“Fine—pea, rock, or elephant. It
was awful. You wouldn’t want to switch rooms tonight, would you?”

“If I make it past the next round, I
would do anything to help.” Mina agreed easily, knowing she probably wouldn’t
be here after the next test. “So, have the betrothal tests always been this
grueling?”

Dinah raised an eyebrow at Mina. “Do you
really not know?”

Mina shook her head. “I’ve lived a very sheltered
life.”

She wasn’t sure if the nymph bought her
excuse, but the tall girl explained. “Well, depending on whether the heir is
male or female, the choosing ceremony varies. If it’s a female then the princes
of lesser kingdoms and first-born sons are tested on wit, honesty, and bravery.
In the past they’ve been sent on quests to fight a dragon, steal a golden
fleece, or travel to the ends of the known world. But the princess test is
always kept a secret. I’m not altogether sure why, but it is always conducted
within the palace. Usually the youngest and prettiest daughters—and other
princesses—are the candidates. There was a rumor that Queen Maeve was
selected because she spun straw into gold.”

That didn’t sound so bad, but it still
seemed out of Mina’s expertise. Teague’s warning came back to her. “You don’t
think they’d make us do anything dangerous, do you?”

Dinah shrugged her shoulders. “Who knows?
But I’m not expecting it to be as easy as yesterday.” Her words only confirmed
Mina’s fears. “By the way, I’m glad you brought Annalora down a peg. I’d just
be careful around her. She’s got it out for you.”

She turned to face the door when King
Lucian entered alone.

“Greetings, princesses and ladies. Day
two of our quests will commence shortly. One at a time, you will proceed
through the double doors into the library. On the other side is your test.”

Dinah let out a sigh of relief and Mina
had to agree. A test in a library didn’t sound too bad. Did that mean Teague
lied to her?

King Lucian wiped his brow and pointed to
Tawny to enter first. Tawny smiled and stepped away from Annalora to head
through the doors.

They closed behind her, and then the
girls waited. Each one of them strained to hear, trying to gather a clue as to
what was transpiring on the other side.

There were a few seconds of utter
silence.

And then the terrified screams began.

“You can’t be serious.” Annalora turned
to confront the king. “Is she being tortured? I didn’t come all this way to be
killed.”

Most of the girls looked equally confused,
while Ever remained thoughtful. Dinah seemed tense but steady. Neither of them
appeared to know what was going on the other side of the door.

Estellya spoke up, “Maybe that’s not
Tawny’s voice. Maybe that’s part of the test, to distinguish her real cry from
fake?”

Mina was confident enough to answer. “No,
I’m pretty sure those screams are not part of the test.”

Sephora turned on her. “How do you know?”

Well, she sure wasn’t going to explain to
the others that Teague had snuck into her room to warn her. “I just have a gut
feeling.”

More screams followed. Sephora covered
her ears and tried to call the king’s bluff. “I think this is our test. Her
screams are fake.”

King Lucian shook his head sadly. “I’m
sorry to tell you, you’re incorrect. Those screams are very re—”

A deep roar echoed in the next room, the
sound resonating through the floor. Mina felt it through the soles of her
shoes. King Lucian winced at the sound.

“What kind of test is this? This doesn’t
seem proper,” Annalora shrieked again.

“One that is fully appropriate, I assure
you.”

The sounds coming from the other room
died down, and Mina could just see the barest shimmer of light passing under
the door. Then it went dark.

King Lucian waited as the servant from
yesterday reappeared and whispered the results to him. He looked disappointed.

“Ah, it seems we are ready. Who will go
next?” He cast his golden gaze around at the girls, waiting for a volunteer. It
appeared they wouldn’t know the results of the previous contenders until they’d
either failed or passed the test themselves.

Dinah stepped forward and gave each of
the girls a nervous glance before entering the library.

Mina couldn’t lie. She didn’t want to
compete against Dinah, but she still wanted her new friend to succeed. It was
the same with Ever. She truly cared about what was happening to these girls,
and she didn’t want any of them hurt. But then there was Annalora. She couldn’t
care less what happened to the bully.

Dinah’s test dragged on even longer than
Tawny’s. But she also didn’t hear any of the terrifying roars. It was close to
twenty minutes before King Lucian signaled for the next girl to enter the
library. Like he’d done with Tawny’s results, he didn’t give any indication
what happened to Dinah.

Ever jumped at the chance to go next.
Mina’s respect for her grew with each contest. The girl really wanted to win
Teague.

This time they heard angry roars coming
from the library loud and clear. In fact, Mina could’ve sworn she heard two
overlapping. It might have been just her nerves. But maybe it wasn’t.

The petite Perrin went in next, leaving
five girls. Perrin barely stood over four feet, with white blonde hair and
doll-like features. But it was those doll eyes that made everyone avoid her.
There was something about her that was a bit creepy—like
right-out-of-a-horror-movie creepy.

Then it was down to five: Mina, Annalora,
Sephora, Estellya and Shaya. When it was time for someone to approach the
doors, Mina felt a hand shove the center of her back, pushing her toward King
Lucian.

“So eager to meet your fate?” he teased.

“I already have, your Majesty.” Mina
nodded in his direction.

He laughed. “Excellent! Brave and
quick-witted. “Hopefully your wit will help you in your next task. Enter.”

Her feet were on autopilot as she walked through
the doors into the library. First, she let her eyes adjust to the darkness.
Bookshelves lined every wall and formed long rows down the back of the room.
There was a reading nook by a window with a cushioned bench. A few dark
mahogany tables with stacks of books were placed throughout, and lit
candelabras adorned each table.

The room looked relatively peaceful.
There was no evidence of any of the girls having been here. No sign of the
originator of the beast-like roar. Maybe it truly was just a trick. She
wouldn’t put it past the Fates to tease them with something awful, and instead
give them a simple-but-easy-to-overlook quest.

She walked past a large window that was
drawn shut. Looking around, she noticed
most
of the windows’ thick curtains were drawn closed. Actually, only one window was
visible, casting a path of light down the middle of the room. Maybe it was done
on purpose to protect and preserve the books?

Specks of dust swirled in the light and
she was momentarily distracted by a book and quill laying on the table closest
to her. It seemed that the story was left unfinished. The author had unique
penmanship, and the ink still looked wet.

I
know what is expected of me, but the pressure is more than I can bear alone.