Chapter: 16: Fellow Suitors

The image shifted so we could get a better look at the first suitor.

Freckles showered the sharp features of her face—even her lips and eyelids.

Golden eyes shone brightly behind her long eyelashes, and her reddish-brown hair flowed beautifully across her slender shoulders.

“The suitor representing the Mountain Academy will be Miss Oakley Dawson. Miss Dawson is twenty years old and joined the Mountain Academy at age six.

“We look forward to having Miss Dawson with us in two weeks,” Evelyn said, smiling as she read from the cards in her hand.

I closed my eyes to visualize how Oakley’s family had reacted when they received the letter informing them of Oakley’s victory.

It wasn’t easy. I’d never known anyone from the royal academies. So I didn’t know what they were like or how they’d been raised to act.

Did they simply smile at each other, or did they celebrate like normal people being granted such a glorified opportunity?

Would I be expected to strip myself of human emotions during my participation?

Oakley’s portrait faded so another girl could take her place.

Her hair was brown too, but much darker—dark like her narrow eyes, velvet skin, and the soil of her prosperous realm.

“Tanith Jennings is the proud representative of the Boulder Academy. Miss Jennings is likewise twenty years old, although she started at her academy a few years later than Miss Dawson.”

I stopped listening to the sound of Evelyn’s voice and focused on the portraits of each suitor, trying to pair their face with their name in my mind.

Then an image of a beautiful girl made even Tristan sigh with admiration.

Her curly, auburn hair fell softly down her slender neck and past her narrow shoulders.

The flawless, sun-kissed skin made her grayish eyes look like a raging thunderstorm on a hot summer day. I wasn’t even sure if she was wearing makeup.

“This beautiful young woman is Alia Harrington from the Ember Academy. Miss Harrington became a Fire Iridis when she was only two years old, which is twenty years ago on this day.

“Congratulations, Miss Harrington.”

If I’d been a competing suitor in the Crown Trials, she would definitely be one to look out for.

She’d undoubtedly mesmerize the prince with her beauty, but, lucky for everyone else, beauty played only a minor role in this royal game.

“Next up is the Sky Realm,” Evelyn announced as Alia’s face disappeared, to the dismay of many young men, surely.

“The first Air Iridis to join the Crown Trials is nineteen-year-old Élodie representing the Mist Academy. Élodie joined the Mist Academy when she was eight—”

Élodie had an innocent face, friendly, round eyes, and a small nose with a faint scar stretching across her left cheek.

Evelyn continued reciting names and respective academies as more suitors were revealed.

“Twenty-year-old Elle Raye from the Echo Academy; eighteen-year-old Haylee Summer from the Breeze Academy; nineteen-year-old Calla Young—”

The six Sky Realm representatives were named faster than the minutes passed, and so were the representatives from the Ocean Realm.

Mom grabbed my hand when the final champion from the Ocean Realm was announced as if she was excited to find out who the ~lucky~ wildcard would be.

“Azure Clemonte has received the honor to represent the Reef Academy as the only twenty-one-year-old woman in this generation’s Crown Trials,” Evelyn said, leaving Heliac in suspense for the reveal of the wildcard.

“The identities of the twenty-four suitors who won the title as academy representatives have now been revealed, but we still need the name of the final suitor. George, send the randomizer wheel spinning.”

George must’ve been a technician because as soon as Evelyn had spoken the demand, the screens surrounding the platform began shuffling through hundreds of different young faces.

My eyes rolled to the back of my head.

I knew my disguise had to be believable, but this was taking it a step too far. A simple bowl with my name on every lottery ticket would’ve sufficed.

Then the shuffling stopped, and I found myself staring into my own green eyes.

I didn’t have academy pictures like the other suitors. They’d modified the image to look like one, but I could easily tell which of the few existing photos of me they’d used.

It wasn’t visible in the image, but I’d been wearing a gorgeous green dress that Mom had spent slightly more than a year making from scratch for that particular day.

On their twentieth birthday, every woman in Heliac would have a picture taken for a new ID, declaring them eligible for employment of a higher rank.

This was mine.

My hair had been braided into a wreath, leaving a few stray hairs to fall around my ears.

The braids weren’t nearly as tidy and perfect as Evelyn’s, but Mom had spent hours making sure each lock had a designated place on my head.

The photo manipulators had done their best to make the image look like another dull student photo, but they hadn’t been able to erase the broad smile that breathed life into the portrait.

It also made me the only one among the suitors to smile in her photo.

“The fortunate woman to receive a second chance to prove her worth is no other than Miss Willow Aldwyn, an Air Iridis from the Storm Academy.”

“That’s you, Will!” Tristan exclaimed, pointing at the screen while violently tugging my blanket.

I chuckled and grabbed his hand to make him stop. “I can see that,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t detect the sadness in my voice.

“Does that mean you’ll ~live~ in the castle?” he asked, his eyes widening when I nodded.

~But it also means leaving you behind.~

I didn’t say the words, but the thought was like a knife to my heart.

Instead, I smiled and hugged Tristan tighter. “Perhaps they’ll let you visit me if you behave really nicely.”

“Really?” Tristan whispered as if he feared that the spirits might spoil his chances of realizing his dream if they knew how desperately he desired it.

“Hush,” Mom said before I could answer Tristan. “The break is over.”

Arawn and Evelyn reappeared on the screen, standing at opposite ends of the circular stage.

“The reveal has been made,” Arawn said with a crooked brow and a smile when the camera zoomed closer to his face.

Then the image shifted to a closeup of Evelyn. “The lives of twenty-five undoubtedly excited girls are about to change, and for one of them, the change will become permanent.

“We will be in touch with the suitors soon to ensure them the best start possible on their royal journey.”

“That was all we had for you today,” Arawn said, winking at the camera.

“Remember to turn on your devices again this Tuesday, when the crown prince himself will join me on this very stage.

“Hopefully, we’ll learn a little more of his expectations and his impression of each suitor—particularly the new wildcard.”

My heart jumped in my chest.

I hadn’t expected the interviews to start before we’d been brought to the castle. I would still be here on Tuesday, so it was probably wise for me to watch the prince’s interview.

“Good night, Heliac!” Arawn shouted, turning to glimpse all the cheering spectators. “I hope to see you all again Tuesday!”

The camera zoomed out until various images of the golden family replaced the stadium.

Then the screen turned black before the golden lotus reappeared like before the show started.

“Do you think I can meet that beautiful girl?”

I looked down and saw Tristan staring at me with the eyes of a puppy.

“Who?” I asked, chuckling as I freed him from my embrace.

“That brown-haired girl with the flames,” he said, jumping down to imitate the typical stance of a Fire Iridis practicing their powers.

“Alia?”

Tristan nodded fiercely and crawled back onto the couch to sit beside me.

“Is she going to be your friend?”

“Um,” I hummed, unsure how to answer that question. I hadn’t given a potential relationship with the other suitors a single thought.

“I don’t know,” I said, leaning back to inspect the cracks in our ceiling. “Maybe, but being in a competition often suggests that the other contenders don’t consider you a friend.”

“It does?” Tristan whispered, snuggling into my shoulder.

I hummed a ~yes~. “But maybe the spirits will grant me luck, and I’ll have more friends than you can count.”

“What about Prince Atlas?” Tristan asked.

“What about him?” I sat up and grabbed my glass to take a sip of temperate water.

Tristan asked a lot of questions. It was only natural at his age, but I was far from having all the answers.

“Is he going to be your boyfriend?”

I inhaled the water and squirted it back out through my nose.

“Willow!” Dad exclaimed, jumping up to clean my mess.

“N-no,” I stuttered between coughs.

My nose burned so badly that it felt like my brain was on fire, and it took me a few minutes to recover.

“I-I’m not like those other girls, Tristan,” I explained. “I won’t be part of the Crown Trials to fight for the crown. I’ll be there to receive special training, remember?”

“Oh, yeah!” Tristan exclaimed. “You said you would go to school and use your powers!”

“That’s right,” I said.

“Maybe you’ll learn to fly!”

Tristan jumped down again and began running through the living room like a bird.

“Are you all right, darling?” Mom asked, wrapping her arm around my exhausted body.

“Yeah,” I said, faking a useless smile. “I just need a little time to adjust to the thought, but I look forward to meeting my master.”

Mom knitted her brows. She always saw through my lies, even the small ones.

“Honey,” she said, sighing, concerned. “If you ever need to talk or have questions, I’m—”

“Thank you, Mom,” I said, rudely interrupting her.

I appreciated her eagerness to help me and be supportive, but I didn’t feel like talking right now. I was too tired, and I needed to get my head straight before I started considering my future.

Today had been an…eventful day. I needed some time to get the memories sorted out first.

“Actually,” I said when I noticed the black soot stains by the fireplace. “Could I ask one thing of you for now?”

Mom moved closer, pressing her brow against my ear. “Anything,” she whispered.

I inhaled deeply, gathering all the courage I could hold. “Could you not tell Koa until after I’ve left?” I said as I exhaled.

Mom stopped breathing, and my heart somersaulted in my chest.

“It’s not that I don’t want him to know or want to see him,” I quickly added before Mom had the chance to give her answer.

“I just don’t want him to worry or breach his contract by coming home before he’s allowed.”

Her facial expression as she looked at me didn’t appear fond of keeping Koa in the dark. I didn’t exhale before she nodded sympathetically.

“Thank you, Mom,” I said, throwing my arms around her.

We turned off the Aqua-Lux a few minutes later and went to bed. The day had been long, and the morning would undoubtedly come before we were ready.

It was hard falling asleep. My thoughts were like a colony of bees in my head, constantly buzzing.

Hours passed before my mind finally gave in to the peace of oblivion.

***

The sound of someone banging violently on our front door jolted me awake.

Neither my body nor my mind was prepared for me to get up.

I hadn’t gotten more than half an hour’s worth of sleep, but another relentless knock, even louder than the first, encouraged me to abandon the sweet embrace of serenity.

I dragged my feckless body out of bed and forced it outside to answer the door.

Mom had been faster than me and was already standing in the doorway, talking to our visitor.

“Is she home?” a familiar voice asked her.

My eyes widened, and my mind instantly forgot how sleepy I still was.

It couldn’t be… But how?

“Go easy on her,” Mom said to the shadow outside. “She’s been through a lot already.”

I rushed in front of her and pushed the door wide open.

“Koa,” I whispered when the cold morning air hit my burning cheeks.