Page 19 of A Bride for the Winter King
“It’s my turn already? How long are these dates, anyway?” It’s barely been half an hour since we left the courtyard.
“Up to ten minutes. The king will walk out when he’s had enough, so we’re lining up the contestants in advance.”
“Oh, really? As long as it pleases his Majesty, ” I say, unable to keep it in.
“Your quarters are the farthest away from the pods, so we have to hurry.” The Faeling hikes his round glasses up his tiny nose and squints at me. “Come with me, please.”
Daisy—number twenty—skips in front of me. “What were you and Seth whispering about?”
“None of your business.”
Byron takes a shortcut through the maze to a large greenhouse. Triangular pieces of glass form the roof of a polygon-shaped dome. The edges of the building are made of the same material, but it’s frosted over to conceal what’s going on inside.
The Faeling flies up to the nearest side and presses his palm to it. The glass becomes pliable under his touch, the way a mirror would. “Here for sixteen.”
“I’d wish you luck, but I don’t mean it,” Daisy chants behind me.
I slide through the liquid glass and tiptoe inside the makeshift room. The small space is fashioned to look exactly like a reality show, with a velvet loveseat and cushions in the middle.
Three ice walls enclose the pod, the entire room no bigger than a walk-in closet. I press my ear to the partition and slow my breathing. It's clearly meant to be soundproof, but a few muffled words echo from the pod next to me. I can’t see anything beyond the wall except for two blurry shadows.
I’m next.
An eyeball-shaped camera lays on the small table next to the loveseat, and I lean forward to examine it. The ball is tucked inside a square receptacle, paper-thin wings curled around its shape. The lenses’ cover mimics a closed lid pulled over a sleeping eye.
My heart booms in my chest as I consider the opaque blue ice separating the two pods again.What am I doing here? Seth chose me because of my looks. It was a foolproof plan considering my striking resemblance to the Winter King’s lost love. The king would be intrigued by his dead wife’s doppelgänger, but he certainly won’t care for some sociallyawkward orphan whose only two talents are hide-and-seek and skewering monsters.
The camera buzzes to life on the table and blinks at me a few times. A little antenna slithers out of it, and the harsh glare coming from the sun overhead tapers down into a pleasant glow.
I have to persuade a Fae king to keep me around in less than ten minutes, or my brother will be hanged. And if I fail, his soul will be marked, collected, and sorted like nothing more than an old, useless library book by the very man on the other side of the wall.
Ten minutes to save his life.
“Hello?” the king calls to the room.
Starting now!
“Hi,” I answer quickly, my eyes darting to the glass ceiling.
How should I play this? Bubbly and confident, or timid and well-read? From Seth’s quick pep talk, I’m leaning toward the latter. I might not be into poetry or Fae music, but I spent my fair share of time in a library.
“What’s your name?” The voice on the other side of the wall is both melodic and deep—perfectly masculine in every way, but not at all hoarse or sinister like I expected.
“Mm, Lori.”
“I’m Elio.”
“I know.” My brain runs through different repartees so fast, second-guessing every single sentence that comes to mind, until I blurt out, “It’s easy for me. There’s only one guy to keep track of.”
He doesn’t answer or laugh—nothing.
Elio…I’ve never heard the name uttered without an ominous ring to it, but it’s beautiful, really. Not at all fit for the King of Death.
“Elio means sun. Your parents had a fun sense of humor,” I babble, unable to stand the silence any longer.
“I was born to the Sun Court. As it turns out, light and ice have much more in common than you’d think.”
“I didn’t know that,” I say quickly. My blood runs a little hot, and I sink my nails inside my palms. How did Seth forget to mention that about him?
