The Stars are Dying : (Nytefall: Book 1)

The rooms they gave me were too much, even more than what I was used to at Hektor’s manor, and I tried not to look at the huge canopied bed behind me. I wasn’t enamored by any of the lavish furnishings or expensive wears and saw them as nothing more than feeble attempts to pamper a lamb before its slaughter.

The following day I stood gazing at the sky, welcoming a new dawn, when the sight brought forth one set of eyes I couldn’t shake from the forefront of my mind.

“You made it,” Nyte said in my thoughts.

“You didn’t,” I replied, though I didn’t particularly long for his physical presence in these rooms. His intrusion both ways was starting to become eerily expected.

“I’m right here.”

I looked over the courtyard from my viewpoint, my gaze landing on a circular building at the end of a long path with grass on either side. My lips parted and my spine curved to a touch that didn’t exist.

“Do you know anything of the Libertatem…the trials I could face?” I’d hardly rested for more than a few hours in turmoil at the end of the grueling feast, where I’d been circled by vultures that picked at me with their eyes as much as their mouths did the delicious food.

“From this moment on, you have to play as if every step beyond this room is a step onto a new game board. You might find the Libertatem isn’t the only trial you’ll face here.”

That was nothing of an assurance. I was grateful for the insight, the warning, but it was not what I expected. How could I prepare when nothing about the trials was disclosed beforehand?

“I’m afraid,” I admitted.

“Good,” he said with no teasing. “It is your fear that will keep you wanting to survive.”

“For that to happen…the others must die.” I didn’t know them, but one life for the price of four was a burden that could taint any soul enough to beg for death.

“Better them than you.”

The knock at my door twisted my body and banished Nyte’s echo from my mind. “It’s a training day, milady.”

I recognized the woman as the one who’d taken my things from the feast. Another lingered timidly behind her.

I stood in a cotton robe, pinching the top together to be sure my tattoos were concealed. “Thank you. I’ll dress myself.”

Training. While it would usually inspire a thrill, I couldn’t stop the rise of anxiety that this might be the place to set me apart from the lifelong skilled combatants I was up against.

The timid woman moved away to begin fixing the bed.

“My name is Davina, and this is Shaye. We’re here to help you with anything you need.”

“Really, I’m fine. Just leave out what I should wear.”

“We can’t be dismissed. Orders of the king,” she said with a wince.

I realized my lack of warm reception and relaxed. “Thank you.”

I stood awkwardly, not knowing what else to do, while the two handmaidens fixed the bed. I watched Davina as she tucked a strand of black hair that had escaped her long braid behind her ear, flashing me a warm smile. Shaye worked around her like clockwork, her short brown hair sitting above her shoulders and her eyes focused on her task.

To distract myself, I wandered into the closet. So many garments overwhelmed me, but I tried sifting through them to find some suitable combat wears. Closing the door, I decided I’d change swiftly enough to have my markings covered before I could ask for any help with the fastenings.

Leather hugged my body, feeling both lightweight and powerful. I slipped into black pants and an undertop, then I swiped up the jacket.

“I just wanted to check—”

Whipping around, I blanched more than Davina as she paused with her hand on the door, gawking at me. I cursed, reaching for her without thinking to pull her inside.

“You-you have markings…” She trailed off, eyes wide as she met mine.

“I don’t want the others to know about them,” I said, hushed and hoping Shaye wouldn’t hear me.

“I should hope not,” she whispered, also checking behind her as her face paled. “They would lead to all kinds of speculation. Perhaps disqualification.”

I turned taut at her investigation. Glancing over my arms, at my ears, she reached up and I jerked. She retracted her arm immediately at my reaction, pinning me with a look I knew all too well. One that would never fail to rouse the need to counter whatever conclusion she’d come to in her mind.

I was not weak. Not a coward.

“I had my suspicions when I looked through your things.”

My eyes widened then fell in accusation. “You had no right.”

“Be glad it was me and not someone else who could have turned you in! Starlight Matter is considered cheating in this. I fear for you greatly should the king ever find out.”

My lips tightened. How did I know I could trust her? Her face relaxed as she seemed to read mine.

What was I thinking?

“Cassia.” Hands wrapping around my upper arms jostled me, and I met Davina’s look with horror.

The longer we stared at each other, the more mystified I became at how easily she could read me. It only sank my dread further.

Realization relaxed her brow. “That’s not your name,” she whispered, arms dropping from me.

I didn’t deny. I couldn’t confirm. Pacing to the back of the closet, I couldn’t believe I’d been exposed barely a day beyond the castle threshold. Before the Libertatem had even begun.

“What happened?” she asked.

I opened my mouth, but all it did was flounder.

Shaye’s call made me jump back. “We have five minutes.”

That seemed to snap Davina out of her stupor, but I couldn’t shake mine. She began to rustle through the garment racks before plucking out a few other items. “Quick!” She ushered me over when I couldn’t move.

My arms rose vacantly, sliding into the fitted jacket. “You’re going to help me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” she said, her tone back to a casual softness as though nothing had changed.

“You don’t know how I got here. Why I’m not Cassia.” I reached to secure the buttons as I turned to her.

“Right now, I have to believe there was good reason.”

“And if there wasn’t?”

Davina shrugged. “Then you’re mad for wanting to participate in this thing so badly that you would kill for it.”

I winced at the word “kill.” “I don’t,” I muttered in defeat. “I have no idea what I’m doing, and I likely won’t be here long.”

“Not with that attitude,” Davina scolded.

For a second I was reminded of Cassia’s firm love, and it ignited in my chest as I watched Davina secure various buckles. Her curved eyes held the most beautiful brown irises. I jerked as she made quick work of securing me into high-necked dark leathers and various holsters.

“You arrived late and missed the castle tour. It won’t matter too much as I don’t imagine you’ll be here a whole lot,” Davina explained, focused entirely on my attire.

“I won’t be?” That came as a surprise.

“A day for a feast, a week to adjust and train if you wish. Then, by week’s end, you’ll have the induction—the rules and what to expect. That’s all you’ll get, and then it’ll all be down to you.”

I tried to comprehend what she was saying, but she’d given me little information. “That’s not very comforting.”

“I’m not trying to be,” she said, stepping back and admiring her work. “What matters the most is you keep your true self hidden.”

I nodded, trying to make it believable I held a shred of confidence now I’d received Davina’s sparse insight.

The door creaked open and Shaye poked her head around it. “I’m to tell you Zathrian is here.”

I exchanged a last look with Davina, only having her small smile and nod as any kind of assurance she’d keep my secret.