Mask of Shadows (Untitled #1)(21)

I entered the dining hall from the strength training courtyard just as Four, Two, and Three walked in from the dorms. Three shook her head at me. She nudged Four.

They’d have been good friends to have. They were good friends.

And they’d have to kill each other eventually.

I took the seat next to Four and fanned my dress over my knees. There wasn’t much use for pretty things with Grell, but if our coming days were all push-ups and stances, I’d take my chances. I could move just as easily in this dress.

And it made me feel better. I’d not been able to wear a real one for ages.

“If I were, hypothetically, to talk about you behind your back,” Four said, pouring a cup of tea and swirling a spoonful of sweet orange blossom honey into it, “how should I refer to you?”

I grabbed the honey—of course the palace had fancy honey to waste on people doomed to die—and spooned it into my cup.

“I’ve got a giant number stitched to my mask.” This was easier with people I only met once and who only knew how I was that day. Most everyone else wanted me to pick one, make addressing me easier on them by denying myself. I was already dressing so they could get it right. The least they could do was try. I didn’t see why I had to choose. “Who do I look like?”

“Someone who’s going to regret the sweetness of her tea after we start training.”

Two laughed into her stuffed roll.

“Address me however I look.” I was both. I was neither. I was everything, but that wasn’t exactly a friendly conversation between strangers trying to kill each other. Least he asked nicely. “Why are you talking about me?”

“Either way, eat some real food.” He smeared half-melted butter over a thick slice of bread and took a bite. “I said it was hypothetical. It means I theorized—”

“Means you guessed, but no one asks that if they’re not really talking.” I glanced at him over the rim of my cup, honey already too sweet for me. I’d never heard the word before now, but I’d no desire for everyone in the room to know that. “You really want to play teacher in a fight to the death?”

Two snorted. “He does it to everyone.”

“The eternal older brother,” Three said, popping a handful of berries into her mouth.

Four scowled, finally looking more seventeen than thirty.

“Stop pouting.” I took another sip of tea and grinned. “You’ll wrinkle faster.”

Four’s mouth snapped into a straight, unwrinkled line.

Abel, Amethyst’s servant, led Fifteen into the breakfast nook with the Left Hand. They’d skipped over most of the other auditioners.

I took another sip of tea. The trio hadn’t been invited to speak with the Left Hand today. “Why haven’t you tried to kill me?”

“Rude saying Four didn’t try,” Two said. “He’s been throwing knives since he started walking.”

He’d not been trying to hit me. I’d seen knife throwers often enough to know what aiming looked like.

“I like you.” Four brushed the crumbs from his mask and wiped his hands clean. “And I don’t enjoy killing people I like.”

“I’m not leaving. Have the decency to do it quick, as quickly as you’ll do it for each other when the time comes.”

Two squeezed her eyes shut and Three winced.

Four glanced over my shoulder. “I heard you that day. Nothing personal.”

“Twenty-Three?” Abel leaned over my shoulder, purple collar bright in the corner of my eyes. “The Left Hand would like to see you.”

I downed the last of my too-sweet tea and marched to the nook, trying to keep the exhausted shaking from my knees. Emerald wore green again—she lived up to her name. Ruby turned to me when I entered, red mask at odds with his sun-yellow clothes and black stitching.

“Don’t bother sitting.” Ruby held up his hand. “One question.”

“Do you want to start learning how to read and write now?” Emerald leaned forward, brass nails tapping her mask. “If you progress further in the competition, you must attend tutoring, but you may start now if you wish.”

“Yes.” I’d never had a chance, but if they were offering and it made me more likely to be Opal, I’d do it. It hadn’t been useful before. “When?”

Emerald glanced at Ruby. “Come here after sword work. Your tutor is a lady of the court, and you will treat her as such. You will be safe during these lessons, but we will be watching. Any attempts on your life are allowed the moment your time ends. Any actions that put her in danger are not. Understand?”

“I won’t get her hurt.” I bowed to Emerald. “Thank you.”

She flicked her hands to the door. I joined the others eyeing the doors to the courtyard. Were the others they’d called in getting tutoring too or something else? I’d have to find out.

But how?

I was trapped in training. Amethyst ran us into the ground with stances that burned through my legs and raged in my center. I made it through slightly stronger and sweatier than the day before, but I couldn’t talk to anyone or sneak away without Amethyst knowing. Five watched from his perch the whole time.

The downside of all this training was that I’d barely be able to stay awake tonight and survive tomorrow. The ones who weren’t training had all day to scout us and all night to kill us while they were well rested and ready. They weren’t exhausted to the bone.