The Bride Tournament (Hexed Hearts Book 1)(31)

Remembering the horrors of the last three magic attempts, Ellie closed one eye and peered at her ice-blue gem. It hummed in her palm, like a warm kitten. The glow waved outward like a moon ring.

Ellie cleared her mind and repeated a mantra, over and over. Eradicate the hex. Eradicate the hex, eradicate the hex, eradicate—

The circle of pulsing energy expanded as a blooming rose. The petaled edges brushed the outline of her patients. As one, the women moaned and squirmed away from the healing blue light.

Ellie focused on the gem in her palm, raging hot. Eradicate the hex!

The women twisted their bed sheets and scrambled to remain in the dark. Her eyes flittered to Veronica, the woman on her right, the circled glow hesitating.

No! Eradicate it!

Vibrations eked from the pewter ring, the force shaking her arm. She couldn’t hold still. Free hand grasping a pallet’s edge, she glared at the glow. Eradicate the hex!!

Boom!

The glow burst through the room. Veronica and Marie screamed, their backs arched up from the pallets. Ellie flew backward onto her bottom.

“What the hell?!” A man burst into the room.

Ellie peered at the doorway, recognizing the voice at once.

Cold air rushed in, and she hustled to her feet. Gerard stormed past her. His hand whipped out and gripped her forearm, dragging her along with him to press a palm to Veronica’s forehead. The woman moaned and turned from his touch. He rounded on Ellie.

“What happened?” Anger seeped across the floor and froze her to the ground.

“They were hexed.”

“I know. By whom? You?” He reared on her, all broad shoulders and sandalwood scent.

“Psh.” Ellie flushed and adjusted her mask and hood, happy the room stayed dark. The burst of old magic had blown out the candles. He has no idea who I am. “No. I’m not a flaming idiot.”

“How dare you talk to me like that—” Gerard froze, irritation crinkling his brow.

She bit her lip to keep from smiling.

“Ellie?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny my identity.” She toyed with the edges of her sleeves behind her back.

Meera snorted in the hall. Veronica and Marie whimpered, distracting Gerard. He turned and walked to the women. Voice hollow. “The spots are fading, and it’s like they never had the pox to begin with.”

A bubble of elation tripped her up. Is he…proud? Yep, the crown prince of Galacia was proud of Ellie. Her grin split her cheeks.

“That’s funny. I swear they did…” Fists clenched to keep from reaching for his broad shoulders bent in concentration, she flipped around and tiptoed out of the room.

Once out of the castle’s walls, Rachel spun on her. “Ellie! He knew your name. How?”

She blushed and shrugged.

“Let’s leave Ellie her secrets,” Meera advised and tugged Ellie toward the Citadel’s great hall. “It’s time for the first competition: The Exam. The best engineers and philosophers of our time have come together to create this test.”

Panic flashed in Ellie’s chest. “Fruitcake.”

“You forgot this step…didn’t you?” Meera winked and stopped outside the great hall’s oak doors. A spiral of golden vines wrapped around marble columns that held up the pergola ceiling.

Her stomach met the ground. “I don’t do tests. I’m not prepared. I didn’t study!”

“Oh, whatever.” Rachel snorted. “You’re brilliant.”

“Nuh-huh!” Ellie reared back. Sure, she had smarts, being her father’s daughter helped—they’d spent her youth schooling together.

“You read.” Rachel placed a hand on her hip and cocked a brow. “That’s way more than a lot of the women in there whose parents devalued the importance of a good education. Go set an example. Beat the odds. Show them who’s the next queen.”

Ellie and Rachel had gone from cleaning to Meera’s and then straight to see Veronica and Marie. She hadn’t had time to change from her messy work gown. At least Meera had remembered to grab her mask. She shook her head and shuffled into the great hall.

Banners shifted merrily to match the mood of the women traipsing about in sedate gowns and ornate masks. A peal of laughter sounded from the center of the room. Ellie peered over coiffed hair to see Lady Olivia amidst a tangle of women and a grid of desks.

An elegant blush climbed the bold woman’s cheeks and set off a peach-feathered mask which threaded through her hair on golden vines. Ellie scratched her own forehead where a bead of sweat formed under her flannel gray mask. Simple. Efficient. Handmade two hours ago.

“Ladies!” The king’s voice halted conversation. Skirts rustled as the mass turned toward the dais. “Please pick a desk, seat yourself. The exams will appear when the gong sounds. Take all the time you need.”

Everyone shuffled into the neat grid of seats. She plopped down in the back corner. A needle sat on the upper portion of the desk, a small golden cup next to it. She looked around and saw others pricking their thumbs, producing a droplet of blood.

She did the same, letting crimson drip into the cup. Blue sparks fizzled. This must be how they knew who was who since the tournament was anonymous.

The young lady next to her gave a friendly wave. Her sea foam green mask clung to a small nose and draped over her cheeks.