Page 1 of Edge of Wonder

Chapter 1

Alice

Somewhere outside the Kingdom of Ever.

“It’s bad news, love.” Vivian Ward looked up from her oracle's mirror and met my gaze from across the table. I straightened in my seat and took a calming breath.

Deep in through the nose and out the mouth.

The practice was supposed to be comforting but provided little relief. No amount of breathing exercises prepared you for your prophesied death.

I tried again, filling my lungs and holding the air until my chest burned.

Nope, still terrified.

“I guess that means it’s time?” I smoothed a hand down the length of my blonde curls. My fingers trembled as I secured the blue satin ribbon pulling the hair away from my temple. The ribbon had been a gift from Vivian to celebrate my upcoming birthday.What a waste of money.The dead didn’t need cute hair ties. No matter the occasion.

“I’m sorry, Alice. I’ve viewed every future scenario. If we don’t do this now, they’ll find you, and then it’ll be too late.” Vivian’s brow creased as she reached across the table to take my hand. She squeezed my fingers and my throat tightened in response.

“Jeez, Viv, it’s not all bad news.” Tessa walked into the room carrying a tray with a teapot, cups, and a thin cork-stoppered bottle. She dropped the tray onto the table, covering Vivian’s mirror, and looked up sheepishly. “You were done with that, right?”

Vivian flattened her lips and shoved the tray off her mirror, making the teacups jump in their saucers. I stifled a smile at their antics. The witch and the oracle were always needling each other but still remained the best of friends.

The two of them were the closest thing to a family I could remember. Orphaned by the age of six and sent to another realm for protection, they’d moved me around until finally settling on a remote fishing village where I lived with the town's clockmaker. The reclusive old man was nice enough, but he was more interested in fixing clocks than raising a child, especially a child with a royal prophecy hanging over her head.

But now, on the cusp of my thirteenth birthday, my time was up.

Cue the cake with a finite number of candles. I’ll take my slice with extra frosting.

I glanced between the two women and felt a familiar pang behind my chest. When you spend your life in hiding, it’s impossible to make friends. Would anyone even remember me after I was gone?

Tessa settled into her seat and picked up the teapot. She poured the steaming liquid into two cups, then selected the green glass bottle and placed it in front of me. “Now for the good news: The potion is cherry flavor.”

Vivian scoffed. “That’s your good news?”

“What? Kids like cherries. Do you have any idea how hard it is to make my concoctions taste good? I mean, the stuff I have to put in there.” Her features contorted into a gag.

“Honestly, Tess, the girl is confronting her mortality, and the best you can do is cherry-flavored potion?”

Tessa huffed and jabbed her finger in the air. “This questionable plan was your idea. Cheat death with death, you said. You’re the mastermind. I’m just the mixer.”

They continued to argue while I stared at the glass bottle. As a baby, I’d been selected as a royal player. A real live chess piece in the hunt for a new monarch. Of course, no one asked me if I wanted to play.

According to the rules, six royal players from across the realm are selected at birth, and when they reach their majority, they compete in a gauntlet. There are three challenges, leading to three keys, and the first to use the keys to restart the time is crowned king or queen of the realm. If there are no winners, power remains with the ruling family until a new generation of players is chosen.

The challenges were a rite of passage for those selected, and power had always transferred peacefully from one ruling family to the next, until now. Rumors spread that the current queen refused to step down and had taken matters into her own hands. She’d decided the best way to keep the throne was to get rid of the players before they got rid of her.

The first player’s death had looked like an accident. The second—well, she stopped trying so hard. Now there were only three—or there used to be three. It had been so long since there’d been any word that I may be the only player left.

Hiding in another realm had bought me some time. But the mercenaries sent to kill me were getting closer, and they wouldn’t stop until they’d made good on their contract. Which was where Vivian's plan came in.

It was simple.

The best way to stop someone from killing you was to already be dead. And according to Vivian’s mirror, I was a goner either way. Might as well let it happen on my terms.

“You’re sure this will work?” I asked, chewing the corner of my lip.

“Of course, sweetie. We’ve taken care of everything.” Tessa shot Vivian an odd look and muttered under her breath, “He’s been practicing, hasn’t he?”

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