Chapter: 42: The Grand Escape

All eighteen of us were finally assembled in the same room again.

Some of us were slightly bruised, and a few had cuts, but we were alive, and no one had been seriously hurt—apart from me.

“Congratulations on completing your first trial, suitors,” King Alaric said as he and Caiden joined us.

“We recognize that many of you must be weary after this demanding day. Your valets will, therefore, have prepared a relaxing bath for you when you return to your chambers.”

Caiden stepped forward, sending each of us a smile of comfort.

“Dinner will be served in a few hours, and I hope you decide to accept the invitation to dine with my family and me for this evening.”

Whispers spread before Caiden could finish. It would be the first time we dined with the royal family, and many of the girls appeared excited about it—for good reason.

“The fixed cameras will be turned off for the rest of the day, so if you prefer a quiet evening in your chambers, no judgment will rain upon you.

“I want to thank you all once more for participating, and I hope to see you all again this evening.”

Those were his last words before they excused themselves and left us to do whatever we desired.

I sighed as Piper and Calla turned toward each other, screeching passionately.

Caiden had permitted us to stay in our chambers for the rest of the day, and I intended to take advantage of that.

“Dinner with the royal family!” Calla shouted as they jumped up and down, interlacing their fingers. “Can you believe it?”

“Will you join us, Will?” Piper asked when I started staring blankly into the empty air.

I was so exhausted that I could barely keep my head glued to my body much longer. I just wanted to lie in my bed, reading my books.

“I think I’ll stay in my room,” I said and exhaled, awaiting their disappointed faces. “It’s been a long day, and I don’t think my eyes can stay open during dinner.

“Evie would scold me for days if I fell asleep in royal company, but you should go and have fun. You’re welcome to join me in my room when you’re done.”

I pulled my lips into a lazy smile and rested my head on my knuckles.

Surprisingly, Calla and Piper just looked at each other with amused smiles. “You can’t avoid the royals forever, you know,” Piper finally said, letting go of Calla.

“I know,” I said, chuckling. “I’m not trying to.”

“Sure,” Calla said, rolling her eyes. “But we understand why you’re tired. You’ve been through a lot, so you shouldn’t stay up and wait for us. We aren’t going anywhere.”

***

Are you okay?” Faye asked as I pushed the door to my chamber open.

She was standing with a towel and a shower cap in her hands. The steam from the heated bath had moved to the sleeping quarters, and I could hardly wait to step into the soothing waters.

“That’s a relative term,” I said, chuckling as I let her throw her arms around me so she could help me into the bathroom.

The scents of the bath salts filled my nose, making my entire body relax before I’d even touched the chilled tiles.

Faye helped me undress, careful not to touch the bruises covering my body. A few moments later, I slowly lowered myself into the heated waters and allowed them to consume me.

“I heard what happened,” Faye said, picking up my ruined dress. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I sighed as I turned to rest my arms against the soft edge of the bathtub so I could look at her. “I survived.”

Faye knitted her eyebrows as she glanced at me before shifting her eyes to the dress.

Her fingers examined the delicate fabric, searching for holes and rips as if she was thinking of ways to repair it. It was a hopeless battle she was trying to fight. That dress was way beyond saving.

The Faceless Shifter’s claws had ripped the skirt to shreds during our fight. The sleeves were partly missing, and the torso had also taken a few hits.

“Were you really up against a Raeewh? A real Raeewh?” she asked, clenching the dress as fear brushed her glazed eyes.

I nodded as I closed my eyes.

The Faceless Shifter was still there, lurking in the depths of my mind. It was still wearing my face, screaming at me and reminding me of the horrifying fears my mind had tried to suppress.

Faye’s presence was the only reason I wasn’t still screaming. Her simply being here reminded me that I wasn’t in the dark anymore—that I was safe.

“How did you escape it?” Faye whispered as I slowly opened my eyes again.

“I don’t know,” I said, sighing as my fingers played with the water trapped between my folded arms.

Piper and Calla had asked the same of me. I hadn’t told them then, fearing they’d start asking about the details that the film hadn’t been able to show them.

Faye hadn’t seen it. She didn’t know what really happened in there apart from what she’d been told. Maybe the nightmares haunting my memory wouldn’t be as scary if I said them out loud.

“I was scared,” I finally said, clenching my hands into fists as the surface tension of the water tickled my back. “I really didn’t think I would make it.”

Faye dumped the butchered dress in a trashcan. Then she moved a chair to the edge of the bathtub, where she sat down to listen.

“I’ve never seen a Raeewh,” she whispered, gently grabbing my hand dangling from the edge, “but my dad used to tell me about them when we lived in the Desert Region.

“I knew they didn’t exist in our region, but I never dared to stay outside at night anyway. I was terrified of running into a rogue, but I couldn’t imagine actually encountering one.”

“I heard Koa and my little brother call for me before I saw it,” I said as drops of warm water were transferred from my skin to hers.

Faye squeezed my hand tighter. “You have a brother?” she said, a faint, reassuring smile tugging the corners of her blushed lips.

I’d almost forgotten that Faye hardly knew anything about my life outside the Crown Trials. I was still the mysterious wildcard, even to her.

“I do,” I said, smiling as I remembered Tristan’s childish grin. “His name is Tristan. I love him to death, but the Faceless Shifter used that against me.

“It mimicked his voice, calling for my help before it revealed itself from the shadows. Its skin was leathery and dry, and it had no face until it mirrored mine.”

“It can do that?” she whispered, horrified and with widened eyes.

I nodded slightly and continued telling my story.

“It also threw me across the path I was supposed to follow and turned them against me.

“Ca-Prince Atlas stated that they had been on the verge of interrupting my trial since they hadn’t intended for the creature to be capable of even touching me.”

“Why didn’t they?” she continued, yearning to know every little detail of my story.

I held my breath.

She couldn’t know everything that had passed through my mind at that moment. That would reveal my true mission.

“I’m not sure. Perhaps I thought about the creature’s weakness before they had a chance to interrupt me.”

“They have a weakness?”

I nodded. “The Faceless Shifters feed on fear. I realized that I might have a chance to escape if I could just silence my thoughts for long enough to starve it.”

Faye looked at me with gaping eyes. “Wow,” she whispered. “Then what about the mirror? I haven’t touched it, but you had it with you when you came in here.”

No one had been to reclaim the mirror before we’d been asked to leave the battle arena, so I’d brought it with me. I planned to give it to Art during our next session.

“That was the artifact I chose,” I explained. “We could choose between four artifacts, and I picked that. I didn’t know we weren’t supposed to bring them with us, but no one has come to claim it yet.”

Faye nodded, but an expression of reluctance creased her forehead. She was holding something back, but unlike Piper, she didn’t have the courage to say it.

“Let me know if you need something, okay?” Faye said, squeezing my hand one last time before she stood up to continue doing her usual chores.

I didn’t feel like prying the information out of her, so I leaned back and let the smooth side of the bathtub massage my sore back.

The water was still warm but no longer pricked my skin.

I tried to let myself enjoy it, but the memory of the darkness hadn’t faded despite telling Faye about it.

I could still hear the creature’s voice in my mind and see its leathery skin reaching out for me when I closed my eyes.

I couldn’t take it anymore, so I decided to get up and find a new book for my collection instead.

Faye helped me get dressed and followed me to the parlor, where I could choose one or more of the countless books to bring with me.

One title immediately caught my eye as I scanned through the endless spines on the shelves—~The Grand Escape~—a history book about dragons.

After hearing Calla’s story, I was curious to learn more about these magnificent creatures than my dad had told us throughout the years.

The book was big and would probably keep me up all night if I could keep my eyes open that long.

“This one,” I told Faye, and she looked at me with skepticism.

“You want to know about dragons?” she asked. “Aren’t those extinct?”

I bobbed my head, unsure how to answer that.

“Calla told me that some legends claim that those who are left might be hiding in the Wandering Mountains or far beneath the surface of the ocean.

“No one has lived the tale to tell us if it’s true, but what if it is?” I said and pressed the book closer to my chest.

“I don’t think I ever want to know if they still exist,” Faye said, gulping as she ran after me.

“My mom says they were monstrous beasts—bloodthirsty creatures that destroyed everything in their path with the fire from their glowing throats.”

That was a tale I hadn’t heard before.

“My dad told me that we used to live with them, and some even used to fly with them,” I said, keeping my eyes fixed on the path ahead to walk faster.

I couldn’t wait to read the first line of this legendary book.

“You can take the rest of the day off, Faye,” I said as soon as we entered my chamber again.

I’d appreciated and needed her company until now, but my mind needed rest. All I really wanted to do was explore every little detail of my new book without being disturbed.

“Shouldn’t I get a healer for your bruises first?” she asked hesitantly, eyeing my blue wrist. “You had quite a lot of them on your back and arms—especially the big one on your shoulder.”

It was nice of her to be concerned about me, but the pain was currently the only thing that kept me from diving back into the nightmare that still haunted my mind.

“It’s fine,” I said, placing myself in the green armchair I had come to enjoy. “I’ll go to the infirmary in the morning. I promise.”

She didn’t look too convinced that I would keep my promise, but she’d tried fighting my stubbornness before and lost.

This wasn’t a fight anyone could win, and she knew that, so she let it go.

“Fine,” she said and sighed to express her dissatisfaction with my demand, “but I’ll be back here with food around dinner time since you aren’t joining the royals and the other suitors.”

I knew how bizarre she probably thought it was for me to let an opportunity like that slip through my fingers, but I just needed peace and quiet.

I didn’t want to deal with the questions and troubled eyes that would follow me after my unfortunate encounter with the Faceless Shifter.

Or even worse—the abhorring eyes that would silently judge me for passing the first part of the trial when they knew I shouldn’t.

“Thank you,” I said before she closed the door behind me, leaving me alone to enjoy my book.

I turned the first page, thoroughly reading every sentence at least twice so I wouldn’t miss a single detail.

Soon, I found myself turning page after page, consuming the comprehensive descriptions penned in ink as if time was running out.

Dragons had emerged a few decades following Pavo’s discoveries.

There weren’t many in the beginning, and none were particularly large in size. Most of them were about as small as the sail lizards that still existed today.

With time, they came to grow as large as the legends narrated and began acquiring a diverse range of capabilities.

Some lived in the sky, while others lived in the water. A few lived in bizarre places, such as volcanoes or between the leaves of the orange trees.

Some spat fire, as Faye had claimed. Others could hiss boiling water as hot as the geysers of the Ash Mountains, and some could expel magma from the depths of their resistant stomachs.

The dragons mastered more abilities than I could keep count of.

The ability that perhaps piqued my interest the most belonged to the dragons, who could camouflage their enormous bodies by modifying the color of their scales to match their surroundings.

I’d never heard of an animal like that.

Then there was the Grand Escape when humans hunted—

A knock, loud enough to rip me back to my senses, sounded from my door.

“You don’t have to knock, Faye,” I shouted, slightly annoyed about being interrupted as my gaze found the pages again.

She’d served my dinner a few hours ago, so I’d assumed she would’ve gone home for the evening, but apparently not.

The door opened, but I didn’t look up to greet her.

“I thought I asked you to go home. I appreciate your concern, but I’ll be fine on my own this evening,” I said, my eyes still glued to the inked page of my book.

“You really shouldn’t send your valet home, given the kind of day you have had.”

My heart skipped a beat as I forced my eyes to leave the pages.

He hadn’t changed his outfit and was still standing with his waistcoat tightly wrapping his chiseled torso.

The sleeves were still rolled up, but he’d put the tie back on, and not a single hair appeared out of place.

“Caiden?”