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Our small trek stopped at the base of the hill. It was strange to be cold and hot, all at once. Sweat from the walk clung to my scalp, but within seconds it froze. Nothing like sweat-cicles hanging off wisps of hair. So feminine. Just the look I was going for.
Bickering started almost immediately. Cameras moved into position. Tom called for some sense of order but put that many females in one space, make them uncomfortable, and odds are they’ll take each other’s heads off.
“You stepped on my boot, chauffeur’s daughter!” Esmerey lashed out at Blair.
Without flinching, Blair folded her arms across her chest. “That’s Lady Chauffeur’s Daughter to you.”
“If you’d look over here,” Tom tried to get their attention, but Fallon was harping on Eirene. Sadie cowered in my shadow. Gwen scolded Dagny for eating snow by the fistful. Astrid shoved Minerva in retribution over a nasty glare. Emotions were running high and no one was listening.
“Ladies,” Fitz’s voice broke over the top of the chaos, “if I could have your attention for a moment?”
Michaela
It was like time had joined forces with the wind chill. Everyone froze in place, completely mortified that they’d been caught in their bad behavior by the one person they didn’t want to see how they were acting. Even Dagny let the snow tumble out of her mouth and flop on the ground.
“Your Highness.” Blair dropped her head and sank low as his presence registered. That created a chain reaction through the entire group. Ending, of course, with me. I was so late to the show that Fitz actually had time to raise his eyebrows as though to ask why I was slacking.
I almost rolled my eyes at his expectation. I mean, come on, man, it was cold. But the cameras were recording, and I didn’t need to cause an international incident, even if the prince I was bowing to was the same guy who’d once won a saltine-eating challenge against my mother.
“Please,” at least he didn’t leave us there long, “rise. I’m excited for our first challenge.” As we all straightened, Fitz motioned to the park’s features. “Winter-Sparra has long-been a Nolcovian treasure, and I can’t wait to share its magic with you. From the rinks to the slopes to the family-friendly sledding hills, it’s positively the premier winter attraction in the country.”
I glanced at Blair to see if she would offer up resistance, but unlike in the van she was eating up every word. Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but see the benefits for Fitz.
Not only was he showing his watching subjects he was one of them by promoting a place they all knew and loved, he was endearing himself to the owners of Winter-Sparra because even though it was clearly shut down and heavily guarded today, tomorrow it would be swarming after the free publicity.
“We’ve set up a course for you. Working in teams, one team member to each station, you’ll navigate the ice rink course, snowshoe up the hill, sled down the hill, traverse the playground’s obstacles, execute a flawless run at the snowball firing range, and then start a fire in the pit to finish.” He waited with a faint grin in place. “The winning team will spend the evening with me at that very fire to celebrate your win. Losers will go back to the palace.”
Competition was a language I knew how to speak. But I preferred going solo. Working in a team left me nervous. Too many variables. But I didn’t have much of a choice. All I could hope was that my team was decent.
“Team captains, Lady Gwendolyn,” he spoke her name and she beamed at the attention, “and Lady Michaela,” I, in turn, almost choked on my own saliva, “will choose teams and we will begin in five minutes.”
“Okay, cut the feed.” Tom’s command echoed over the group. He put his arm around Fitz and led him away, offering direction as they departed. I glanced at Gwendolyn and she nodded. We had five minutes, not much time to waste.
“Everyone over here,” Gwendolyn directed. “Michaela, do you care if I pick first?”
Blair raised a finger as if she was about to correct the blonde noblewoman but stopped short. Likely, she’d drawn the same conclusion that I had that morning. Considering my citizenship to another country, being recognized as a lady of court wasn’t an option and no one was going to lose their heads for not calling me by the proper title in the process.
“Go ahead.” It wasn’t my intention to make bad blood between us. Fitz clearly cared about her and I needed to know why if I was going to help him make a good decision.
“Fallon,” Gwendolyn said without skipping a beat.
“Blair.” If my opponent could pick her bestie, then I could pick the one competitor who was consistently nice to me.
“Esmerey.” Her second choice shocked everyone, especially Esmerey, but she trudged through the snow toward her side anyway.
“I pick Sadie.” I noted the rumble of derision in the crowd, but I didn’t care. I knew what it was like to be picked last. Sadie was almost frozen solid, and I planned to be sure she was on the winning team next to the fire.
“Eirene.” Gwendolyn shot me a look as if she had thwarted my plans.
“Dagny,” I called out. Yes, I was picking the friendly contestants, but I didn’t see any reason to be stuck with people I couldn’t stand.
“Margaux.”
The only remaining choices were people I hadn’t met and Chantal. No way was I getting her.
“Minerva.” I didn’t know the strawberry-blonde, but she smiled when I said her name. That was worth something.
I glanced at Gwendolyn, waiting on her final choice. Astrid or Chantal. As her shoulders shook with silent laughter, I saw my mistake in letting her choose first. That meant she would pick not only the last member of her team, but my team by default.
