Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy #1) - Emily A. Duncan Page 0,69
tucked it down in the bodice of the dress, out of sight but still close, still comforting. The last piece she had of home.
“Try to remain relatively inconspicuous,” Parijahan said. “You don’t need attention drawn to yourself yet, it’ll just make all the other contestants try to take you out faster. We need to figure out how the king keeps himself guarded.”
“Once we have that?”
“I’ve already heard more than one slavhka comment on the king’s weakness with blood magic.”
“An easy mark,” Nadya said softly.
“It’s the prince you have to worry about,” she continued. “He surrounds himself with those lieutenants of his—both blood mages—and from what I’ve gathered, the prince is the opposite of his father in nearly every way.”
Nadya couldn’t worry about the prince yet. The king was the one she had come to topple.
“However,” Parijahan said thoughtfully, “if you get close to the prince, that will get you a seat near the king. Then you’ll have your opening.”
“So, don’t draw attention to myself, but also get the prince’s attention?”
“Basically. You can do this, Nadya,” Parijahan said softly.
She could. She had to. Kalyazin would win the war; the gods would reclaim their hold on the world. This was what she had spent her life preparing for.
* * *
It took Nadya exactly thirteen minutes to make a mistake big enough to land her in a terrifically uncomfortable situation. She was shuffled into a salon with the other participants and—in most cases—their chaperones. She knew what this was; a game of subtleties, Malachiasz had said. The first test.
This was where alliances would be forged and rivalry lines drawn. It was also where a number of the contestants would get their first true look at the High Prince. If Nadya messed up here she could lose the entire game before it even began.
The only thing Nadya initially noticed about the slavhka who flitted past her was that her large violet eyes were strangely off-putting. It took Nadya’s brain a handful of seconds to translate the comment the girl made to her companion while still in earshot. It took her another second to realize it was a slight about Nadya’s appearance. Her nose was crooked and her hair limp.
She can’t even see my hair, Nadya thought, irritated and bewildered. And she’d seen herself in a mirror, Malachiasz had done a perfectly fine job with her nose.
“Porodiec ze b?owisz?” she called pleasantly. “I thought those with money could pay to learn how to properly associate with other people.”
The girl froze. Chatter in half of the room ceased immediately. The girl turned slowly on her heels to face Nadya.
I should’ve let the slight pass.
She lifted her eyebrows as the girl stalked over to her and smiled. If she was going to get through this in one piece, she needed to act like this was something that happened to her all the time. Snide comments were a normal thing for her and so she would retaliate in kind.
“Excuse me?”
“I think you heard what I said,” Nadya replied.
“How dare you speak to me like that. Do you know who I am?”
“Am I supposed to?”
The girl snatched her spell book open, tearing out a blank page and crumpling it in her fist. She tossed it down, grinding it underneath the heel of her shoe.
“Can you back that up with power?” she asked.
Nadya had literally no idea what was happening. No one had ever explained to her what this meant. Her confusion must have shown on her face because a tall girl with luminous skin like onyx threaded with gold glided over to stand near Nadya.
“She’s challenging you to a duel, dear,” she said gently.
Nadya looked over at the second girl, who smiled encouragingly. She fought the urge to glance back at where Parijahan was leaning against the wall.
Mimicking the other girl, Nadya flipped through Malachiasz’s spells until she found a blank page. She crumpled it and stepped on it like the younger girl had. The girl gave her a vicious smile before stalking away.
“Well, that was unexpected, and we’ve barely begun!”
Nadya—still dazed—turned to look at the tall girl. She wasn’t wearing a headdress and her spiral curls fanned out around her head like a halo.
“My name is ?aneta,” she said. “And you just had the misfortune of being the target of an incredibly ambitious competitor.”
“What just happened?”
?aneta laughed. “Sit tight, my dear. There will be attendants now scrambling to prepare the arena for a duel. Congratulations—if you survive, this will significantly improve your chances.”