Page 38 of Split or Swallow

Leo emerged from the crowd, whiskey still in hand. His eyes trailed lazily over each girl, looking them up and down one after the other. Vera gave an odd shim⁠my when he passed by her, which was met with a bemused twitch of his lips.

When his eyes landed on Tem, her heart caught in her throat. Leo stepped forward until he was right in front of her.

He leaned in.

But instead of sealing her fate, he tilted his head to the side, bringing his lips to the cheek of the girl standing right next to Tem. She was close enough to hear the words he whispered into her ear:

“Sorry, darling.”

The girl let out a strangled sob. Leo straightened, taking a casual sip of his whiskey as if none of this was of any concern to him. Then he turned to the girl to Tem’s right, leaning in and saying the same two words to her.

Both girls were immediately ushered away, leaving a gaping space around Tem. It was only then that she realized her hands were shaking. It wasn’t just the fact that the girls had been eliminated. It was the way Leo had done it—choosing the girls directly on either side of her, whispering in their ear specifically so she would hear—as if to show Tem that he could’ve eliminated her, but didn’t. Was this all a game to him? Didn’t he care that he was in the process of choosing a wife? Leo was acting like none of this mattered to him at all. Tem couldn’t understand his apathy.

The Lord Chamberlain was speaking again:

“Congratulations, ladies. It is an honor to stand where you stand. As the final event tonight, his Highness will place you on the podiums. The lucky lady in first place will receive a private date with the prince.”

Too late, Tem realized what was happening. It wasn’t just a surprise elimination. The remaining girls were to be ranked, in front of everyone, based on how attractive Leo found them. The podiums were meant to display them in descending order of beauty.

It was insulting. There was no other word for it.

Tem wanted to run, just like that girl who ran from the caves. But she couldn’t run. She was frozen in place as Leo pointed at girl after girl, assigning them to their podiums with a careless flick of his fingers until Tem and a girl with strawberry blonde hair were the only ones left standing. Only two podiums remained: the tallest, and the shortest. Best and worst; first and last.

Prettiest and ugliest.

Tem already knew what Leo was going to do. Still, it felt like a dagger twisting in her chest as he pointed at the blonde and jerked his head at the tallest podium. Tem could practically feel Vera’s sneer searing into the back of her skull from where she stood on the third podium. Leo didn’t even bother to point at Tem. He simply knocked back the rest of his whiskey, holding her eye contact the entire time.

Tem didn’t step onto the last podium. She couldn’t. She could only stand in pure defiance, determined to wield the only power she had left. She looked Leo straight in the eye, refusing to look away even as the silence drew on. Everyone knew she was being trained by the Serpent King; everyone knew that meant she was supposed to be the best. To be ranked last was a complete and utter humiliation. Worse than that: it was a message. Leo wanted to punish her for rejecting him earlier. He wanted her to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was in control. Message received.

The Lord Chamberlain broke the silence:

“A round of applause for our winner!”

The crowd erupted into applause, and the blonde girl waved as if she were already queen. Tem could feel a stubborn swell of tears threatening to break free. But she refused to cry. Instead, she turned them into pure, simmering anger, which she channeled straight at Leo, whose shoulders were already slipping away through the crowd. Without thinking, Tem ran after him, shoving people aside and bursting into the hallway.

He was several yards away, about to ascend the stairs.

“Leo—” she yelled, “—stop.”

He turned to face her, his expression moving quickly from surprise to smug satisfaction.

“Something the matter, Temperance?”

She walked right up to him, stopping only when they were a foot apart.

“You ranked me last.”

His mouth twisted into a cruel smile.

“So I did.”

“Care to tell me why?”

“I didn’t think you’d notice.”

“You might as well have called me ugly. Of course I noticed.”

Leo leaned in.