Chapter: 26: A Contract of Lies

“Let us extend a warm welcome to our very own wildcard.”

Smoke and bright lights blinded me as I rose through the opening of the gigantic stage.

I raised my hand to shield my eyes, only for it to be caught in Arawn’s warm hand.

“Good evening, Miss Aldwyn,” Arawn said, kissing the back of my hand as he’d done to every suitor before me.

I wasn’t wearing a microphone, but neither had the others, so I assumed Arawn was powerful enough to enhance both his voice and mine.

“Good evening, Arawn,” I said, focusing on the wind biting my skin instead of the cheering voices around me.

My legs trembled as Arawn guided me closer to the edge of the stage where I was supposed to greet the royals.

I gulped when my eyes caught sight of the ground below. I’d never been so high up, and this edge had no perimeter railings.

One misstep and I would likely fall to my inevitable death before anyone could save me.

Barely breathing, I curtsied in front of the platform accommodating the royal family. I just didn’t look at them.

The crowd cheered, my heart following close suit once Arawn guided me away from the edge again.

There were no chairs for us to sit in and no tables for me to lean on. I could only rely on my own shaky legs and Arawn’s support, hoping no one would notice my visible nerves.

“So, Willow Aldwyn,” Arawn started, placing his large hand on top of mine as I curled my arm around his.

“You are the surprise of the generation—a wildcard. How did you feel about being given a second chance to win the crown?”

Arawn certainly didn’t waste any time.

I’d, at least, expected him to remark on my changed appearance or my beautiful dress, as he had with the previous suitors.

Swallowing my nerves, I breathed deeply and recalled the words I’d spent two days practicing.

“I can’t adequately convey my gratitude for such a remarkable opportunity in words, but it has been amazing so far,” I said, tittering to cover for my shaking voice.

Arawn smiled, squeezing my hand tighter.

An agonizing chill prickled my spine. He knew something was wrong.

“Say, Miss Aldwyn. You appear quite nervous tonight,” Arawn said, shifting his gaze to watch the royals. “Would you mind sharing your current thoughts?”

My chest grew tighter around my heart.

Arawn was a Sound Iridis. How could Evie ever think I’d be able to fool someone who could know if I was lying by the sound of my beating heart?

“At the moment,” I said, squeezing Arawn’s arm in response to his grip. “I can’t help but focus solely on the distance from that edge to the field below us.”

~Not a lie.~

Arawn started laughing, and the audience immediately followed suit. Even the royal family was laughing.

“Are we afraid of heights, perhaps?” Arawn said, tugging me closer to his body.

“Normally, no,” I said, remembering how easy it was for me to climb the ladders in the mansion. “But this platform must be a strange exception.”

I shifted my eyes to his and smiled.

“Don’t worry, Miss Aldwyn, you’ll get used to the stage soon enough,” Arawn said, loosening his grasp on my hand.

At least two minutes had to have passed already. I just had to survive the last three.

“So, Miss,” Arawn said, smiling wider as he increased the space between us without letting go of my hand.

“You are the first Air Iridis of this evening. Yet, despite being a Storm Academy student, you do not reside in the Sky Realm. You’re from the Golden Realm if my sources are correct.”

Swallowing a jittering breath, I nodded. “I am,” I said, straying so far from the script I’d been given that Evie had to be slowly dying inside.

Lying in front of Arawn would do me no good. I had to tell some version of the truth. It didn’t mean I could tell him the entire truth. That would be a breach of my contract.

“My blood has, through many generations, resided in the Golden Realm. I’ve lived there with my family most of my life, and it is home to me.”

I silently begged the ancient spirits to spare that part of my past from Arawn’s probing questions.

“Did you hear that, Heliac? We have a native present among the suitors,” Arawn said, raising my hand higher, and the audience cheered even louder.

Most of them were probably residents of the Golden Realm, which meant I was one of them in their eyes.

“How has it then been for you to move into your new royal environment?”

I sighed, shutting out everything so I could focus on my answer. “It has been overwhelming,” I said, forcing a smile.

“There are many new impressions I’m still trying to get used to, but I’ve already made new friends, which has made the transition much easier.”

Images of Piper’s and Oakley’s faces flashed past me, making the smile on my face genuine.

“That sounds wonderful, Miss Aldwyn,” Arawn said, and the temperature of the air around us suddenly dropped a few degrees.

“Now, as we know, you suitors aren’t allowed to formally meet the prince before the beginning of next week.”

~Here it is~:~ the question I’ve been dreading. ~

“But a lovely bird has been singing a song, telling me that this rule has not been valid for you. Allegedly, you have already met the crown prince once before.”

Whispers echoed in the night, the audience shocked by the reveal of a scandal so early in the competition.

I had one shot at answering this question correctly, and it wouldn’t be using Evie’s notes. The correct answer would solely depend on how much time Arawn had left to question me.

“It’s true,” I said, the whispers becoming even louder as I saw the king lean forward, attentively listening to my confident voice.

“Although, I would hardly classify our encounter a violation of the rules as it happened before I was selected as the wildcard.”

The whispers stopped, and even Arawn had let go of my hand to listen carefully.

“I was helping my mother at work, serving for a party that included the prince and the king.”

Nothing I said was a lie. I might be slightly bending the truth, but it wasn’t a direct lie.

“I cut myself on a piece of glass, and the prince kindly offered to heal me,” I said, peeking upward at the prince smiling at me.

“We didn’t exchange many words, but it was a meeting regardless.”

My heart was racing.

~This is it.~

Arawn would either start questioning me about the specifics of my claims, or he would thank me for my time. My future depended on which answer came first.

I actually didn’t know what was worse. This moment as I waited for Arawn’s response or the moments after when I had to face Evie’s inextinguishable wrath.

Arawn smiled widely before he twisted on his heel, pivoting to face the entire audience in the circular arena.

“There you have it, Heliac,” Arawn shouted, grabbing my hand again to guide me toward the platform that would bring me to safety.

“The wildcard!”

Applause surrounded me from all sides, people screaming words I could hardly understand and light dancing in front of me as Arawn helped me step into the elevator.

“Thank you, Miss Aldwyn.”

Then the platform began lowering me, and I didn’t breathe until I was surrounded by darkness and thick air again.

“You are one lucky girl that Arawn didn’t have more time to question you.”

Evie stepped into the light with the next suitor following right behind her. “He could’ve asked you about your servant mother.

“Families with Iridis blood like yours don’t work as servants, Miss Aldwyn.”

She helped me down from the platform so Haylee could climb up.

Evie sighed when she guided me to a blue door. “Regardless, you handled the situation like a lady. It doesn’t mean I’ll tolerate that kind of behavior again.”

I stumbled forward as Evie pushed me through the door and slammed it behind me.

I’d expected a much bigger scolding from her, but the last words she’d said had etched a smile onto my face. I’d done something right for once.

“You were so great out there!”

Piper threw her arms around me before I could take the last step down to the area where the suitors who’d completed their interviews were staying.

“You should have seen the reactions from the prince! Even the king smiled!”

Her voice was loud and pitched in my ear, but I embraced her high spirit with a smile.

“I was a nervous wreck out there,” I said, chuckling as Piper pulled us apart.

“Arawn almost saw through me. My legs are still shaking, and I’m pretty sure that the royals were only smiling because I didn’t make a complete mess of my interview.”

I almost stumbled over my feet when Piper dragged me across the floor to a seating area like the one we’d been in before our interviews.

Haylee was still dancing with Arawn, smiling and pretending to enjoy the attention of Heliac’s eyes.

“Look at the prince,” Piper said, guiding my eyes toward the corner of the screen. “What does his facial expression convey in your opinion?”

I squeezed my eyes, analyzing the lines of his face and blank gaze.

“He’s smiling,” I said, and Piper shifted her weight as if she expected more. “But, to be honest, he looks a little bored.”

“Exactly,” she said, poking my shoulder. “He did not look like that when you were being interviewed.”

I chuckled, rubbing my shoulder as I turned my eyes toward the prince again. “He didn’t look like that during your interview either, you know.”

Piper’s eyes lit up, brightened by hopeful waves. “Really?” she whispered, wrinkling the delicate fabric of her dress in her hand. “Did he look interested?”

So, Piper was one of the girls who wasn’t simply here because of the pretty crown. She had a crush on the pretty prince.

“He looked very interested,” I said, crooking my smile. “In fact, he only took his eyes off you to share a thought with the king, who only smiled.”

A dark-blue color painted her cheeks. “I-I know that this interview has little to do with the outcome of the Crown Trials, but it’s nice to know we’ve made an impression.”

I took Piper’s hand and squeezed it. “And I’m positive that you did just that.”

The evening continued, and the room soon hummed with new voices as the interviews progressed.

I might not particularly care how Prince Atlas reacted to the individual suitors, but Piper was eager to discuss it, so I endured it.

Oakley’s interview was not more special than the others, but at least the prince didn’t look bored.

The last element to be interviewed was the Fire Iridis. Naturally, the entire stadium was in awe of Alia’s beauty. Even Arawn started to slur his phrases, making me chuckle in amusement.

Arawn had been so professional and stoic the entire evening. The stage was his domain, but Alia challenged that power by simply standing beside him.

She was wearing a long red-orange dress with a slit revealing her long, slender legs. Her torso appeared shrouded in shifting flames failing to burn her resilient skin.

I hated admitting it, but she looked nothing less than beautiful.

I shifted in my seat as she curtsied before the royals.

She was powerful, which was both scary and impressive.

“Urg,” Oakley said, crossing her arms as she rolled her eyes. “Have you seen the way Prince Atlas is looking at her?”

Prince Atlas appeared to be paying close attention to every word Alia and Arawn exchanged.

It didn’t surprise me that even the crown prince had been enchanted by her beauty. He was only human, after all.

But there was something about his expression I couldn’t place.

Unlike many of the men in the audience, he wasn’t drooling. His pupils were dilated, and his head cocked, but there was something else about the way he was staring at her that puzzled me.

If I hadn’t known any better, I’d assumed he’d been…proud.