Page 12 of Dueling the Suitors

She closed her eyes. “Since the first day of our encounter, every time we came face to face, you have complimented my beauty and my appearance. So, my question for you is curious and simple.” She paused before asking, with a smirk playing at the corner of her lips, “What is the colour of my eyes?”

Through Skylar’s mind, Astoria saw his face switch between various emotions, even though it was only a side-profile display. Surprise, bewilderment, panic, frustration, and at last, annoyance.

She suppressed a laugh. This was going to be delightful.

“Come on, Wizard, what is taking you so long? Is it that hard? You have seen meeveryday for the past three or four days.”

The wizard looked irritated. Her amusement grew. Murmurs rose in the air and people glanced at each other, probably wondering what the princess was doing.

The princess was trying to humiliate her intended, what else?

As unromantic as she was, a certain poem she had read years ago always stuck out in her mind. It was about a man complimenting the eyes of the woman he loved, saying it was the first thing he noticed about her and what lured him in.

The other night, she came up with the ridiculous idea of asking this to the wizard in front of their audience. The poem had been all about the woman’s eyes, and recalling the lines made her want to gag. Butthiswas pleasant—watching the wizard squirm in front of her family and her father’s courtiers.

“What is she doing?” Her father’s impatient voice floated down to her.

“I am testing his mental ability, Father, before I test his powers,” she called back to him. “Come on, you cannot be mad. How can I marry someone who compliments my beauty yet fails to notice such a simple detail about me? It is simply ridiculous.”

Someone laughed, and a few snickers followed. Skylar projected the reddening face of her father, the scowl of her stepmother, and the highly amused face of Emmett. Even Silas looked entertained.

She smiled, pleased with herself, and redirected her attention to the wizard. “Wizard? Do you have your answer?”

“Green,” he gritted out, fuming.

Laughter bubbled up to her lips and she pressed her fingers to them to stifle it. “Green?” she asked aloud so no one would miss his answer. “Are you certain? Should I open my eyes now?”

“I am certain,” he grumbled again.

Astoria opened her eyes with a grin, and seeing the wizard’s jaw drop flabbergasted, it widened.

“Blue,” he murmured, pink dotting his cheeks. “Your eyes are blue.”

Astoria withheld the urge to roll her eyes and stomped towards him. She stopped only two feet from him and pointed to her eyes. “Do these lookblueto you?”

The man seemed to have lost his tongue for a moment. Seeing the sweat beads on his brow, she realized she had succeeded in putting him under the perfect amount of pressure.

Then he blurted out, almost breathlessly, “Purple.”

“That’s what I thought too.” She marched back to her place. “I declare myself ready for the duel!”

Astoria flicked her wrist and summoned a gust of wind. It swirled around her, lifting her hair and cloak in a dramatic display of power as she readied her stance.

The wizard did the same, his hands at the ready, the vulnerability long gone and replaced with a dark look. Vengeance. “You are not ready for this, Princess,” he sneered.

“Oh, please.” She grinned. “I wasbornready.”

Wizard Orion struck first, sending a smoky-grey blast her way.

Astoria blocked it. “Smoky-grey?Is that all you’ve got, or are you saving the other colours for the final display?”

The wizard sneered again. “Unlike you, Princess, some of us don’t create rainbows with our powers. We use them against our enemies.”

“Ouch. Did I touch a nerve?” She laughed. “Honestly,Orion,you are second most powerful to Emperor Cyrus, and I am only the third, yet you cannot produce colourful magic asIdo?”

“WizardOrion,” he corrected her with a glare, ignoring her question.

“I did touch a nerve.” She giggled in delight.

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