The Bride Tournament (Hexed Hearts Book 1)(27)
A woman strode forward and the crowd shifted. Ellie squinted. An olive cloak sashayed up to the steps. Fear and worry pooled in Ellie’s clammy palms. The woman knelt at the feet of the prince and drew back her olive cloak to reveal perfect blonde ringlets.
Lady Olivia.
Ellie glanced back at the pair the Langes had been discussing as they joined the growing line to reach the throne. A dozen women in multi-hued capes waited, silent and serious.
“Maybe we were wrong?” Rachel mused as the redhead and Marie reached the front of the line.
Ellie curled her fingers into worried fists. Apprehension slithered down her spine. Why hasn’t Dame Lange done anything yet?
She easily found the wide woman’s magenta gown and jewel-encrusted mask. Beady black eyes stared resolutely in Lady Olivia’s direction. The young lady shared a slow nod with her mother before turning to glare at the two intended victims. The contestants stood behind a thick ruby rope. Only fifty could enter the Bride Tournament. A slim proportion of the eligible women in Galacia.
The crowd backed away from the line of women waiting for their turn to prick their thumbs. Marie and her auburn-haired friend entered the roped-off section of the throne room, to the left of the king and queen. They’d passed the first test—being of noble blood.
Still, Lady Olivia made no move toward them. Ellie nibbled at her lower lip and rechecked her mask. Marigold’s and Violet’s recognizable cloaks moved into the line and soon sauntered behind the velvet rope beyond the thrones. She counted the cloaked heads.
Forty-three.
Seven more women needed to enter the Bride Tournament. There were six women waiting in line. One short.
A cold sweat broke across her chest. Heart pounding with a nervous realization, Ellie scanned the crowd. No more women moved forward. In fact, the crowd seemed to back away.
Three more women were added to the roped-off section. Dame Lange counted the contestants as well, then searched the crowd for one more woman.
“Why are they waiting to do something to the pair?” Rachel stood on tiptoe to find Dame Lange and her four daughters who were too young to enter.
Ellie glanced back at the now forty-seven women behind the ruby rope. Fruitcake.
“Dame Lange is waiting for the ceremony to end. Fifty women are needed to start the Bride Tournament. Fifty, not forty-eight. If they eliminate the redhead and Marie now, two more women would be pulled from the crowd to reach the desired number,” Meera said.
“They’re waiting until no one else can enter,” Ellie agreed.
Rachel caught her eye in a fretted tremble of lips. “Lady Olivia will eliminate her competition from the inside.”
Lady Olivia slipped closer to the women she and her mother had been discussing.
“She’ll be close enough to hurt whomever she wants,” Rachel added and gripped Ellie’s arm. “We won’t be able to stop her.”
“It’s not as if the contestants are sequestered for the entire tournament,” Meera processed aloud. “We could still protect the contestants outside of the competition.”
Worries and ideas jumbled in Ellie’s mind. “Lady Olivia’s too smart, she’s probably considered eliminating the competition outside of the ceremonies. It would be less suspicious if the women were to inadvertently eliminate themselves.”
“I don’t understand.” Rachel frowned.
“Old magic hasn’t been used for a long time, most people won’t recognize an old spell,” Meera supplied.
Ellie nodded. “Dame Lange or Lady Olivia can take out the women by making it look like an accident, such as tripping, or messing up a spell, or tearing their gowns…”
“To the outsider, it will appear as if the women are eliminating themselves.” Meera wrung her hands. “Not that they’ve been manipulated by another competitor.”
Ellie shivered despite the warm room and the nervous flush along her cheeks.
“The only way to ensure a fair competition is to stop Lady Olivia from the inside of the Bride Tournament. Where someone can keep an eye on her during the events.” Ellie stared at the now empty line and the forty-nine women behind the rope. One more spot. She’d never dreamed of entering. I don’t want riches, and the responsibilities of the crown.
Ellie looked back at Dame Lange’s superior smile.
Nor do I want the leader of MAM to have her daughter as the next queen of Galacia.
“We have to stop her.” She decided. “I have to stop her.”
“How?” Rachel asked.
“One spot left.” Ellie raised her chin, let out a shaky breath, and walked toward the dais.
Chapter Seven
Gerard stood stock-still and counted the group again: forty-nine.
I don’t want a single one of them.
Like a fool, he wished for the impossible. Ellie, as spirited as she was, did not have noble blood. She was a servant. He didn’t know if she could even work magic. Both counted against her.
She claimed she was responsible for the broken windows in the square, the same kind of magic had been used to shatter a lily during the Homecoming reception—but that had been old magic. No one in Galacia worked old magic.
He confirmed that Ellie lived in the old manor outside of the Citadel’s forest. The owner, a Lady Irene, had two daughters. Daft women that he’d met two nights ago.