The Princess Trials (The Princess Trials #1)(76)

“Forget this.” I shove her hard in the chest, and she staggers into a pink-haired Artisan girl.

The crowd parts. I storm to the exit, fling open the double doors, and run.

I don’t stop until I’m at the top floor hallway and in the safety of my room. A small, blonde figure lies face-down on the bed, and unmoving. The fire in my veins extinguish, and I step inside.

“Gemini?” I croak.

She doesn’t answer.

All the blood in my face trickles down to my thudding heart, and I force breaths in and out of my lungs.

“Not again,” I whisper. “Please, don’t.”

“Gemini?”

She doesn’t stir.

A mix of fear and nausea clenches at my insides, and I edge toward her bed, my boot leather squeaking over the wooden floor. Gemini can’t be dead. They were going to execute her in front of the viewing public.

My eyes squeeze shut. What if Prince Kevon had secured her pardon and whoever wanted her dead snuck in here to perform a private slaughter? What if my actions had brought forward her death?

I reach her bedside and drop to my knees. In the semidarkness, it’s hard to see if she’s breathing, and I don’t want to stick my fingers under her nose to feel for warmth.

“Gemini!”

She flinches.

Relief loosens the tension in my muscles, and all the breath leaves my lungs in a single exhale. “I thought something had happened to you.”

She sits up. “I couldn’t go back to that show after speaking to my dad.”

“How is he?” I ask.

“In a tiny cell somewhere. When they’re not forcing him to program, they’re making him watch me suffer through the Princess Trials.” Her shoulders shake. “They got that Ingrid girl to whip me on camera as a punishment for his treachery.”

My nostrils flare. “What?”

Gemini’s face crumples. “I don’t know how much either of us can take.”

Tears fill my eyes. I’ve been whipped, but that’s because I got caught attacking guards harassing Harvester girls. Each stinging lash was something I endured, knowing that I had saved an innocent from a terrible fate. Those punishments were my redemption for letting Mr. Wintergreen die.

Gemini’s situation is beyond twisted, and I’m glad that Prince Kevon is going to help.

The smaller girl wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. “I think they’re going to kill him when he finishes his project.”

A question falls to my lips, and before I can stop, I ask, “What are they making him do?”

She shakes her head and raises her right arm into the light.

I nod. If a tiny ear cuff can make recordings and send messages, the monitor attached to our wrists can do the same or more. I raise myself off the floor and wrap an arm around her thin shoulders.

“Have faith.” I make my words vague enough for whoever is listening to our conversation. “You never know who is watching you from above and wants to help.”

Gemini exhales a frustrated breath. She probably thinks I’m talking about Gaia. If there were such a thing as an earth goddess, she wouldn’t allow so many people to suffer.

My words of comfort dry out, and we sit together in the dark and silent room. Gemini rests her head on my shoulder and sighs. I dip my head, and my mind drifts to Prince Kevon.

Hopefully, he’s with Garrett or somebody who will be compassionate about his loss. I never trusted Queen Damascena and Lady Circi, and I trust them even less after seeing that doctored footage.

An hour later, the door opens, flooding the room with light from the hallway, and Berta stomps inside.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“Prunella sent us to bed with no dinner.”

“Why?”

She slams the door and switches on the light, making me wince, then walks to her bed and kicks off her boots. “Broadleaf wasn’t happy with everyone’s performance today.”

“Did something happen at the garden party?” I ask.

Berta reaches down to the trunk and pulls out a nightgown. “You know how she reminded everyone you were the bucking bronco?”

My stomach tightens. “Yes?”

“She wants to see more action against us.”

I clench my teeth. “Why?”

“She didn’t say.” Berta walks to the bathroom and shuts the door.

“It’s because of me,” Gemini whispers.

I draw back. “What?”

A hiss fills the air, and white smoke rises from the floor. It burns my sinuses and makes my eyes sting. I scramble off the bed and rush across the room to the door, but the handle is stuck.

“What on earth is that?” I shout.

Another door bangs open, making me jolt. Berta staggers out of the bathroom in a cloud of smoke, her eyes red and swollen. “Cepa gas.” She doubles over and coughs. “But I don’t understand. Guards only use it to flush out rebels.”





Chapter 21





I stand with my back to the door and survey the room. Clouds of white gas reach waist-level, and I can no longer see the beds or trunks. Wheezing breaths force their way in and out of lungs that tighten with every passing second.

Berta slams the bathroom door shut, but that does nothing to stop clouds from rising. Gemini stands on her bed with both hands over her eyes.