After our interviews, we weren’t sent back to the gathering room. Instead we were given free rein to do with our time what we liked until the party that evening. I spent that time pacing my room, wringing my hands in front of me.

While Daphne had reassured me that I wouldn’t be punished for my little outburst, I wasn’t so sure. The longer I was left to my own devices the more anxious I became. No other guest would have dared shout at them the way I had. If I was in their position I knew I wouldn’t let me live.

But what I wanted to know was why it was taking so long for them to come get me.

The television screen on my bedroom wall came on by itself and a song played before the scoreboard from before showed on the screen. I didn’t want to look. I didn’t dare look. My score yesterday had been great but then again, my little bout with my shoes looked like a cute mishap compared to today’s disaster.

Unfortunately, the screen didn’t turn off and I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off on my own. So, to stave off the urge to check it, I marched from my room. The door slammed shut behind me making me wince and search the hallway, but no one noticed.

Arms wrapped around my waist, I strolled through the hallway with no destination in mind. I just couldn’t stay in that room any longer and they had said we could do what we wanted. If I was going to die today I wanted to be outside—at least one more time.

I searched for a way to get outdoors, a garden or a terrace but with no luck. Tired of looking, I sank down against the wall and buried my head in my lap. Why couldn’t I have stayed in the Glade? If my father hadn’t married Belinda, Julianna would be the one here and I’d be back home clearing the crops for the new season.

My eyes pricked with tears and I didn’t fight them. My shoulders heaved as I wallowed in my misery not caring if anyone saw me. I was dead anyway. What did I care what they thought?

Like everything that had happened to me since I arrived, I didn’t have much choice in the matter. My solace was broken by a tut-tutting and then a hand on my shoulder. I slowly glanced up from my lap and saw the older woman from before.

Venna.

“Dear, why are you crying?” she asked in a motherly tone. I found myself wanting to throw myself into her arms and bury my face in her chest. The same kind of thing I would have done to my own mother but I refrained. I didn’t know this woman and I highly doubted she would let a stranger impose upon her in such a manner.

I wiped my nose with the back of my hand not caring that I probably look a blotchy mess. “I wanted to go outside.”

My voice was small and childlike making Venna smile. “Well, why didn’t you just ask? You can get lost in the place.”

She helped me stand to my feet and I chuckled. “They should give us a map or something.”

“There is one, in your room.”

“Oh.” I frowned at her words and realized I had been so caught up in my own misery I hadn’t bothered to check out what my room had to offer me. The only thing that had seemed important had been staying alive and finding a map hadn’t been part of that.

Venna patted my hand and guided me down the hallway. “But since you are here, I’d be happy to take you to the garden. You are quite close, actually.”

My body sagged in relief. Soon I’d be outside. Everything would be alright as soon as I got out of here.

“You know,” Venna started, “I knew from the start you were special.”

“How so?” I glanced at her from the side. “You don’t even know me.”

“Because you didn’t come in wearing your finest, or hide how lost you were.” She spoke as though it were the best compliment she could give me. Which, as far as I knew, it might have been.

“Fat lot of good it’s done me.” I snorted.

“Nonsense,” she clicked her tongue at me. “You’ve had the highest score two days in a row. I’d say it has done you well.”

“What?” I gaped at her. “I had a high score again?”

This time it was her turn to frown. “Didn’t you read the scores? You and that girl...what’s her name? The little one with the pretty eyes?”

“Violet.”

“Yes.” She nodded. “Her. You two are almost neck and neck. Though, her color is still pink. I can’t blame them though. Her eyes really are something unusual.”

I wasn't really listening to her anymore, too stunned by what she had told me. How the hell had I gotten a high score again? I’d been as stiff as a statue and hadn’t proved to be any more interesting than a fly on a horse’s backside. I had been so sure I’d be killed or sent home before the party even happened.

Venna stopped us at a set of glass double doors. “Well, I’m sure you will do great. Many us are rooting for you!”

Smiling, I nodded but the outdoors being so close to me I couldn’t really find the initiative to continue the conversation. Instead, I thanked her and exited through one of the doors.

Instantly, the sun warmed my face and I took a deep breath. The air wasn’t as clean as it was in the Glade but it was better than nothing. Enough that I almost fell asleep standing there against the palace doors.

Eventually, I opened my eyes and took in the world around me. The garden wasn’t like my mother’s back home. There weren’t any fruits or vegetables growing, just long rows of different-colored flowers. I moved away from the doors and walked down the rows, taking in the brilliant colors, though sadly they were just as manufactured as the ones in the Inner Circle. Did nothing truly grow here?

As I strolled through the garden, I nodded at a few guests who had also come outside to enjoy the day, but for the most part kept to myself. About half an hour too late, I realized I should have been making friends with them rather than pretending they weren’t there. Too caught up in my own misery, I had forgotten all about Martha and Asher’s advice.

I turned on my heel to catch up with the couple who had walked by me but was caught by a servant. The young woman handed me an envelope before darting away without a word.

Turning it over in my hand, I didn’t see a seal from the fold but it did have my name on it. I glanced around me and then found a bench to sit on. Opening the envelope, I held my breath as I read the note.

My dearest Clarabelle,

Your stepmother has fallen deeply ill and she calls for you to come to her side. We miss you and wish to have you home again with us. Please come before it is too late.

Love, your father.

Frowning at the note, I didn’t know what to make of it. It wasn’t from him. He never called me Clarabelle. Even when he was mad at me. Another sign was the reason he wanted me to come home. If Belinda was sick she wouldn’t have asked for me. I’d be the last person on this earth she’d want to see on her deathbed. So, the letter had to be a trick.

But who had sent it?

I got to my feet just in time to see Zara and the two girls she had been ranting to last night, watching me from behind a tree. They giggled and hid when they realized they had been spotted.

There was the culprit.

I sighed and started for the palace not bothering to confront her. Asher had said she might try something. Even Marsha had. But of all the things she could have done, a fake letter from home seemed a bit childish.

Crumpling the letter in my hand, I made my way back to my room. Thankfully, I only got lost once before I found my door, it’s condition a little different than how I’d left it.

Painted across the off-white wood, in what could have been lipstick, was an array of insults. Slut. Whore. Cheater. Someone had even gone so far as to write ‘Moo’ on there. As if being compared to a cow wasn’t something I had heard before.

Sighing, I entered my room. There wasn’t anything I could do about it. I’d been targeted as the person to beat and now they were trying to use grade-school antics to scare me away. But their tricks had the opposite effect on me.

Now that I knew being different than the others wasn’t a hindrance but rather what might help me win, I would be as different as I could be. No more trying to fit in with them and their Soft Hand minds. I was from the Glade and I would act like it.

If Patrick or any of the others wanted me after that then more the better. Now, to figure out how.