The next morning, I woke before the dawn. To be truthful, I hadn't really slept at all. Master Bloodeye's words kept echoing around inside my head, and images of Juliana's guilty fucking face wouldn't leave me alone. She had returned some hours after I'd kicked her out, pausing at the foot of my bed for a moment before slinking into her own bed in the annex.

I didn't wait for her to get dressed, instead just throwing on the most comfortable items I could find in the closet, seeing as it was likely to be another combat class with Ty. Pairing a black, stretchy knit top with supple leather pants and a pair of flat boots, I almost felt like myself again, whoever the hell that was.

Bloodeye had been clear in his threats the night before. Rybet Waise no longer existed. I was Lady Callaluna… or no one. There would be no returning to my former life as a pickpocket. Even if I did find a way to escape the binding oath and defy Bloodeye's orders, I'd be dead before my boots even hit the puddles of the Pond. He'd see to that.

“Hey, why didn't you wake me?” Jules asked in a sleepy whisper as she emerged from her annex. “I could have picked something out for you.”

“I've managed without a maid all my life, Juliana; I think I can handle getting dressed alone.” I snapped the words at her, still burning at the knowledge that she was spying on me. Our entire friendship was in question, but somehow I couldn't stop worrying about what she might have told our boss regarding my tutors. Were they at risk now, too?

If Bloodeye thought they were a distraction or that they posed any risk in disrupting his plans, he wouldn't hesitate to get rid of them. For a man who'd arranged the deaths of noblemen and politicians, a couple of palace servants would pose little to no trouble at all.

Jules sighed, watching me lace up my boots in silence. “Don't do this, Ry,” she implored me. “You know I had no choice.”

I scoffed, as I finished tying my boot then stood up to face her. “There is always a choice, Jules. Always.” Feeling a lump thicken in my throat, I spun and opened the door to leave before pausing. “Just tell me something honestly, Jules,” I asked her, not turning to look at her lying face but needing to ask the question. “Was that note really from Flick? Is he okay?”

“Yes,” she replied. “But... he's not in the dungeons.”

Her admission made me spin to face her, frowning in confusion. “He's not? What do you mean?”

She shrugged uncomfortably. “I mean, he never went to the dungeons. Apparently someone took pity on him the day he was arrested and set him free again before even reaching the palace.”

I gaped at her, a little bit speechless. “So, me coming here, ending up in the Royal Trials, this whole goddamn fucked-up thing... it was all for nothing? Flick was never in danger?”

She shrugged again, giving me a pathetic, puppy-dog kind of look. “Not for nothing, Ry. You could become the next queen of Teich. Some would call that fate.”

My mouth twisted in disgust, and I yanked the door back open. “Don't call me that anymore. Rybet Waise is dead, or did you not hear what your master said last night?”

She made a noise of protest behind me, but I was in no mood to hear it, instead slamming the door behind myself and stomping down to the dining hall for some breakfast, hopefully before the other ladies arrived.

For once, luck was on my side, and I was able to snag some pastries and a mug of hot tea before anyone, other than the staff, saw me. I didn't bother pushing my luck in hanging around to eat, just took my prizes and set off to the combat training arena. Usually Jules would tell me in the morning where I needed to be and for what class, but because I hadn't been feeling overly chatty with her, I was just going to take a guess.

“Lo!” Ty exclaimed as I stomped into the arena with my hands full of breakfast. “You're alive!”

Frowning at him in confusion, I continued over to the tiered seating to set down my food and drink before sitting down myself. “Yeah, I'm alive. Why, did you think I might have been offed at dinner last night?”

Ty scowled at my bad-taste joke and towered over me with his huge arms folded across his chest. “I would have known if you were. But when you didn't show up at the sanctuary...”

I cringed. With everything that had happened with Bloodeye and Jules, I'd completely forgotten that I was supposed to meet the guys after dinner. Still, it was probably for the best. I needed to start breaking this little liaison off before it endangered them any more than it already had.

“Sorry,” I murmured, sipping my tea. “Something came up.”

“No shit,” he scoffed, sitting down beside me and snagging one of my pastries. “You look like you didn't sleep a wink last night.”

I grunted, narrowing my eyes at the pastry in his hand, then moving the rest of them to my other side for protection. “Is that your way of saying I look like crap?”

“As if you ever could, Lo.” He laughed. “You look sexy as sin in all that black, but you also look tired. Do I need to hurt someone for you?”

An image of Ty fighting Bloodeye's men flashed across my mind, and I shuddered. He was good, no question about that. But he was no Pond dweller. Those of us in Bloodeye's employ were trained to fight dirty, without mercy or honor. I simply couldn't picture Ty fighting like that, regardless of the situation he was in.

“No, nothing like that,” I lied, taking another sip of my tea. “Just personal problems.”

Ty made a noise in his throat but let it go. For a long time, we sat in companionable silence while I finished my breakfast—with his help, of course.

“So, tonight?” he asked as I stood and brushed crumbs from my clothes.

“Tonight, what?” I asked, raising a brow at him. Gods damn him, he was gorgeous halfway reclined on the bench seat, with the sunlight making his green eyes gleam like jewels under black lashes.

“Will we see you tonight after dinner? I know that the whole elimination thing is hard on you, so we just want to make sure you're okay.” The look the big soldier gave me as he said this was pure vulnerability, and it cracked my heart to refuse.

But it was for their own damn good, so I shook my head. “Like you said, I'm pretty tired. I think I just need a good night's sleep tonight.”

His eyes narrowed at me, and I dodged his gaze. Much better to inspect the few pastry crumbs still on my shirt.

“Fine,” he conceded after an awkward pause. “The other girls will be here any minute; you can help me set up for the day.”

Nodding vaguely and feeling sick to my stomach, I followed him over to a heavy trunk.

“What are we doing today, oh wise one?” I asked, unable to stop myself from trying to lighten the mood. I barely knew these guys, yet cutting ties with them was going to be a hell of a lot harder than I’d really considered.

Giving me a toothy grin, Ty pushed the trunk open with the toe of his boot and displayed an impressive collection of short daggers.

“Knife work,” he told me with a smug smile. “Something tells me you're going to be good at this too.”

Shit. As bad as this was going to be for laying low, I couldn't stop the flutter of excitement that zapped through me at the sight of all that pretty steel.

He was right. I was damn good with a knife.

Maybe this day wouldn't suck so hard after all.

The first half of the day flew by, and before I knew it we were facing our test in knifework. I'd managed to successfully avoid Ty as much as I could, but thanks to the binding oath, I wasn't able to avoid showing off my existing experience with the short blades.

Interestingly, though, I wasn't the only one who knew her pointy end from the dull. Several other ladies—including Gracelin—showed mediocre proficiency, but the biggest surprise was Sagen. The exotic, dark-haired beauty from Asintisch had matched me skill for skill all day, and I was quietly looking forward to this test to really determine who was better with a blade.

Ty had informed us that our assessment would be in throwing. We'd need to aim at three different targets at varying distances, and our scores would be based on which rings of the targets we hit.

Commander Hansel, the same elderly soldier who had assisted with the test on our first combat day, handed out three blades each to all the ladies, then accepted a clipboard and pencil from Ty to score.

“When your name is called,” Ty announced, raising his voice to be heard by everyone, “you'll step up to this line.” He walked over to the black, painted line on the gravel and tapped it with his boot. “From here, you'll throw your knives at each of the three targets you see assembled. Anyone who steps over the line will be marked down. Understood?”

Several ladies murmured their understanding, and Ty gave a short nod.

“Then let's begin. Commander Hansel, who is up first?”

The older man cleared his throat and consulted his list, calling out the first lady's name. She stepped nervously up to the line and took aim.

One by one, my rivals took their turns. Some had improved noticeably since the morning, which was a testament to Ty's teaching, but still no real threat. Until it was just Sagen and me.

The two of us eyed each other warily, waiting for Commander Hansel to call whoever was up next. Sagen was just as competitive as I was, so the result of this test would be interesting, to say the least. Could a spoiled princess from Asintisch really be better at knife throwing than a Pond criminal?

“Princess Sagen, you're next,” the commander announced, and her lips pursed with annoyance. I knew why, too—same reason I gave her a smug smile as she stepped up to the line. By going last, I had the advantage of knowing how she'd scored, while she could only guess at which rings I might hit.

Carefully, Sagen balanced the first blade in her hand and sighted the closest target. It was common practice in a lot of Teich to throw from the hilt, using a hammer grip. It protected the throwers hand from the blade, but it also impacted accuracy. As I had suspected she might, Sagen flipped the blade over and held it in a pinch grip, where only her thumb and forefinger gripped the flat of the blade right at the tip. It was a much more sophisticated throw than what Ty had taught us and was designed to throw with both maximum speed and force.

Coincidentally, it was also the way I'd been taught.

Sagen hit the first two targets with ease, striking the red-dotted bullseyes on both boards dead center. Her third throw, though, was just a fraction less accurate and landed on the thin yellow ring around the bullseye.

Ty let out a low whistle, clapping as he collected her knives and marked down her scores. “Very impressive, Your Highness. Is this a skill that is common among your people?”

The look Sagen gave our sexy trainer was full of contempt and disgust. “No.”

Without wasting her breath to elaborate further, she flipped her glossy black hair over her shoulder and brushed past me to join the other ladies in the spectators’ stands. They were all cheering excitedly for her, and the superior look on her face spoke volumes about how safe she felt in her score.

“Lady Callaluna,” Commander Hansel said. “Lucky last. Please step up.”

Blocking Sagen and the other bitches—I mean, competitors—from my mind, I moved into position behind the line and moved my first blade into a pinch grip, same as Sagen had done.

I couldn't help myself and glanced over at Ty before I sighted my target to throw. He was staring at me with an intensity that made me shiver, but his jaw was set tight, and he gave my grip a stern look. Almost like he was warning me not to show off? Or was it that he thought I'd make a fool of myself by “copying” the foreign princess?

Tearing my eyes away from him, I focused on the first target. Just as I had done a thousand times before, I let my peripheral vision fade out so that all I could see was the red dot in the center of the target. I took a long, slow breath, then released it carefully. At the tail end of my exhale, the knife flew from my fingers with a snap of my elbow, landing perfectly dead center of the target.

“Good,” Commander Hansel said quietly. “Next target.”

I gave him a small nod and moved a few steps to the side to be sure I had the second target dead in front of me. It was a mistake that loads of the other girls had made, assuming that they weren't allowed to move from the static spot. But it was a line, not a dot, for a reason, and you'd always get better accuracy from straight on than at an angle.

Again, I released my blade and struck that happy little red mark in the middle of the board. Sagen and I were tied. If I could hit the bullseye on this last throw, I'd beat her.

Not that we won anything for it, but damn, it'd feel good. That prissy bitch had been rubbing me all sorts of wrong ways since she'd arrived, and I was almost totally sure she'd been the one messing with my potions in Lee's class.

The third target was a long way away; only a couple of the other girls had even hit the board, let alone touched the target. But it was no different from the training Master Bloodeye had put me through as a child, so I was confident about scoring well on it. Could I beat Sagen, though?

Breathing calmly, I found my zone, the place that Bloodeye had joked was unique only to me where I could zero in on my target and visualize it a whole lot closer than it really was.

The knife left my fingers with ease, hurtling through the air end over end until it hit the wooden board with a heavy thunk.

My heart stuttered, and I squinted to get a better look. Had I done it? It looked damn close, at any rate. Ty strode over to mark the score on his paper, then turned to me with a sly grin.

“Just hit the edge of the bullseye, Lady Callaluna,” he announced loud enough to be heard by the spectators too. “That makes you today's top scorer. Congratulations.”

Biting back the grin of triumph that wanted to break through, I gave Ty and Commander Hansel a respectful nod, then wiped my now sweating hands off on my shirt.

“Ladies, you're all dismissed for the day. Don't forget, tomorrow you're back in the library with Zan, and then the following day will be the conclusion of the first trial. I implore you all to rest well and take the last test seriously, as the consequences of failure are dire.” Ty ran his gaze across everyone, then paused on me. “I hope you are all prepared.”

For a brief moment, the Pond dweller in me toyed with the idea of exploiting my friendship with Ty to gain knowledge of the second trial... or even what the final test on Saturday might consist of. But as quickly as the thought came, I brushed it aside. I needed to be distancing myself from the temptingly seductive teachers, not getting closer. If I wanted hints, then I'd damn well better be nice to the royal assholes at dinner.

“Lo,” Ty called quietly after me as I followed the other ladies out of the arena. “Can we talk a moment?”

When I made the mistake of turning to look at him, my resolve almost slipped. His emerald green eyes begged me for answers, and it pained me to turn a cold shoulder so soon into our acquaintance.

Still, it was better now than later, when serious feelings might actually get hurt.

“Sorry.” I shrugged and shook my head. “I need to wash up. See you at the final test on Saturday, I guess. If I'm still alive.” This last part was delivered with a level of bitterness that I’d intended to keep to myself. Not caring to hear his response, I took off out of the arena and made my way back to my room.