Page 77 of The Lure of Wolves and Whispers

Outside, the shimmer and gleam of nobles nearly blinds me.

There are hundreds of them, wrapping around the castle grounds in a rainbow of silks and furred cloaks and glittering gems. Rubies and onyx are everywhere in the hazy morning light. It’s as though they actually believe loyalty can protect them.

There are no hints I can see of what the Test of Wisdom will be.

No obstacle course, no battlegrounds, no stands or dais over the ruins of the rose garden.

There’s only a path, kept clear and empty, twining around the back of the castle to a stable yard that stinks of dirt and animals. Faint sunbeams gild the yard and the nobles and the dozens of horses with bells jangling from their harnesses. Grooms and aides stand around the nobles who climb up into the saddles.

My breath quickens when I see that a single carriage waits,shimmering in mother-of-pearl paneling that catches and dances in the light, with the five remaining noble daughters waiting outside its polished doors.

Oona, Aisling, Neve, Eavan, and Saraid—the noble daughter who threw coins to the crowds in Quayside, and the only one who wasn’t training with the others yesterday. Her catlike eyes are hard and sharp in a way that reminds me of Wolf’s face when his shields are up.

Caitria, the youngest of us, is already dead.

Dew clings to the chilled stone where mist must’ve swept in overnight, and nervous energy pulses through my veins.

Stay alive.

I imagine the rough scrape of Wolf’s voice on those two words in my head.

Now all I have to do is make it through a carriage ride with five noble daughters who all actively want to kill me—slowly and probably painfully, if their glares are anything to go on.

Wonderful.

Talon’s jaw clenches as the noble daughters climb into the carriage ahead of me. Aoife hangs back, watching from the edge of the castle, and Talon’s voice lowers toward me. “I can’t go in there with you. Take this.” Their hand skims the side of my tunic, where a deep pocket cuts into the fabric.

I don’t dare fish out the faint weight of what feels like a nut or some kind of dried berry. Not in front of everyone here. “What is it?”

“Insurance. I meant to give it to you earlier. In case anyone ever takes you and I can’t get to you in time. You’re not trained to hold up under torture, and believe me, that’s exactly what willhappen if the Lady of Shadows ever sets her sights on you.”

My blood chills.

“Tor—?”

A warning snaps in their stare. I swallow down my question and look ahead to where the last noble daughter in front of me climbs up into the carriage.

My turn.

I take a step forward, reaching up for the paneling for balance.

A lithe hand slams the door in my face, nearly taking my fingers off as I jump back.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I snap.

“A mouth like that, and she thinks she could ever be High Queen?” the noble daughter nearest the window sneers—Neve. The one who threw a knife at my head in the hall a few days ago. Her lips twist into an ugly scowl. “Quaysiderat.”

Loathing roils in my veins.

Oona of Dunluce doesn’t bother to hide her smirk, peering out the window at me from beside Neve. “Enjoy your present this morning?”

Aoife was right.

I lift my chin, glaring back—and imagine my blades sticking in each of their chests.

Soon.

Oona raps at the inner wall of the carriage and the groom at its front cracks a whip at the horses. For a moment, one of the noble daughters inside meets my eyes, and something like regret flashes in her cat-eye gaze, topaz flickering at her neck and ears—Saraid. But the look is gone before I can be sure, and hergolden hair disappears as the horses carry the carriage off.