AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Surprised she was willing to offer any help, I took the bag with the red stripe that cut across the strap. I slung it crossways over my chest. It was the perfect height, it seemed, for pulling and launching snowballs. “Thank you.”
“It won’t matter.” She set to work forming snowballs and setting them into her bag. “Gwen is the fastest skater in the country, and Chantal is basically rubbish in skates.”
Strange that Chantal had said the same about Gwendolyn. I held my tongue and started forming snowballs as well. In the distance, the faint sound of the producers carried on the wind. The race was about to start. For the sake of the underdogs on my team, I hoped we could pull through. Sadie and Blair deserved another shot at time with Fitz so they wouldn’t go home early. I was going to do everything in my power to make that happen.
An airhorn blasted, and my head came up to watch the race. Esmerey fell into the same spell, chanting under her breath, “Come on, Gwen. Come on.” I couldn’t see the exact pattern that they were forced to navigate, but Chantal’s black jacket pulled ahead early. She planned to make good on her promise to win. As she made it to the edge of the course, Sadie set her hand out and within seconds, Chantal passed something off and our second team member started to move.
Esmerey hissed her disapproval through her teeth as Gwendolyn kept working through the ice course, but by the time she traded off with Eirene, Sadie was halfway up the hill. Even with good time, Eirene would be hard pressed to catch her.
“I can’t even claim it’s unfair. Our commoner should be able to keep up with yours.” She shook her head and pursed her lips. “Astrid will earn the time back.”
With the lead that was forming, Astrid needed to be a ninja warrior to beat Dagny. Adrenaline rose in my veins as I felt my pending moment moving closer. I bounced through my toes to keep my muscles warm in the chilled air. Close as I could tell, I had to sprint through the target track, throwing snowballs to knock down the red targets. With a blue stripe on her bag, Esmerey was responsible for the matching targets on her side.
Sadie reached the summit, albeit slower than her start. She hadn’t eaten anything that morning. She had to feel faint from her exertion, but as she transferred whatever she carried into Minny’s hand, I drew in a short breath. The sled flew down the hill with Minny squealing the whole way. I searched out Dagny on the playground, hopeful that she was ready to go.
Of course, she wasn’t, but she’d formed half a snowman, so… that was something.
“Get ready, Dagny!” I shouted, hoping it would put her back to her starting point. My warning snapped her back to reality, and she sprinted for the starting point as Minny hurried in the same direction. An engine revved to the left of us, startling me. I searched it out and found Fitz on the back of a snowmobile, obviously following the competitors as they worked through the course. He caught me staring and winked before gunning the engine and turning away from the target course. In the distance, the previous competitors trudged through the snow. None of them were given snowmobiles.
“Heaven forbid, he walk,” I mumbled under my breath.
“He’s the prince,” Esmerey countered, obviously with every intention of putting me in my place. I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to engage in an argument. Dagny worked her way through the course, starting with the balance beam, through a tunnel, and up a ladder system that connected with the main structure.
“That being said,” Esmerey continued, “they could have given the others some help as well, I suppose.”
“You make a good point, Esmerey.” I broke off my stare with Dagny’s progress to cast a small smile her way. To my surprise, she reflected it.
“Please, everyone calls me Esme.” She returned her attention to Astrid, who’d received the baton from Margaux. I wanted to revel in the thought that I’d made progress, but it wasn’t as though she’d asked me to be her BFF, I was just on the same standing as the rest of the world.
It was progress… adjacent.
I didn’t have time to dissect our interaction. All Dagny had left was the final slide and then put the baton in my hand. With our sizable lead, I could easily get the pass off to Blair with time to spare for the difficult conditions she faced.
That is, until Dagny saw the coin.
Frozen beneath a layer of ice, the loopy noble started pawing at it like a woodland creature.
“Dagny!” I called out to her, hoping to break her from her trance. “Dagny! Hand me the baton.” She didn’t look up. Not a single crack in her focus.
Esme’s laughter turned cruel. “That’s what you get for pity. A loon distracted by every shiny thing she finds.” She nodded to the tradeoff between Margaux and Astrid. “Watch a real competitor in action.”
While Dagny rubbed at the ice with her mittens, Astrid tore up the course with speed and precision. I shouted, I called, I pleaded and begged, but Dagny refused to listen. As Astrid passed her on the course, my heart sank. I was the one who’d suggested Dagny take her position. She wanted mine, but I had overruled her. This loss would be on my shoulders.
Esme readied herself as Astrid covered the remaining distance. The baton switched hands and with one last wicked giggle, Esme started our course.
“Dagny!” I yelled again. “Come on! We’re behind now!”
“I’ve almost got it. The prince will love his gift. A coin beneath the ice is twice as nice.”
She had to be kidding. Dagny actually thought Fitz would want a coin? He was Crown Prince and could have any coin in the world. How could she be so delusional?
Thoroughly desperate, I drew a snowball from my bag and lobbed it at her head.
Direct hit.
“Ow!” She glared from where she crouched. “The snoods will steal your shoes for that. I’ll see to it!”
“I’ll take my chances,” I maintained eye contact, “but if you could put that baton in my hand, I’ll leave you to your coin.”
