One side of his mouth lifted and he said, “Afraid of losing?”
I was a good shot, but not perfect, and I’d never seen his skills. “I’m not going to waste my first kiss on you if I do lose.”
He looked even more amused, if not surprised. “You’ve never been kissed?”
Folding my arms, I looked to the students shooting. I didn’t care to indulge his stupidity.
“How about...”
I waited for him to go on. He tapped a finger against his lips.
“At midnight the loser has to jump into the lake in their undergarments.” His voice lowered. “The water is icy-cold.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You go from wanting to kiss me to getting me half-naked? No thanks.” Luckily no one was close enough to hear this conversation.
Zyacus kept his mesmerizing eyes on me, and grinned. “I’m just trying to up the stakes and you keep insinuating you’re going to lose. It could be me jumping in but then again, you’re probably right. I’m definitely the better warrior.”
Heat rose to my cheeks and he hooked me; he most certainly wasn’t the better warrior. “You got yourself a deal, Prince. But if I jump in it will be fully clothed. You’re not getting lucky enough to see what’s beneath this uniform.”
He held out his hand. “Fine by me. We have to shake on it, there’s no backing out when the time comes.”
Anxiety sparked within me, not because of the wager but because of the touch. Our short-sleeved shirts exposed plenty of skin. I wished I had my gloves right then. What was it with everyone wanting to shake my hand? I took in a deep breath and we gripped each other’s forearms… No flashes of death. I let out a slow breath of relief. It seemed Zyacus wouldn’t be dying tragically any time soon. Even if I didn’t care for him, I didn’t want him to die.
“What has he gotten you into?” Aric asked, drawing both of our attention.
Pushing his shoulders back Zyacus said, “Nothing you need to concern yourself with, cousin. Unless you want to join in an icy cold dip.”
“Visteal, you’re up!” Madison shouted, holding a bow in hand.
Zyacus and Aric both stepped up to the shooting line at the same time as me. The three of us royals drew the eyes of everyone.
My heart rate kicked up a few notches, no pressure with the bet and everyone watching or anything. My grandmother’s lavender eyes fell to mine. “You’ve been doing this since you were a young child,” she said quietly. “This is easy for you. Show them what Delhoon is made of.”
She was right, what was I even worried about?
Pulling back my weapon, I took in a deep steadying breath, and peered down the shaft of the arrow. My vision focused on the target, and I waited for the command.
“Fire!”
The twinge of the bowstring echoed in my ear and the whistle of three arrows could be heard in the silence of anticipation.
Dead center. That was my arrow’s final destination. I looked over to see Zyacus’s maybe a half-inch to the right but still in the red, and from my angle, Aric’s looked to be centered.
At least I won the bet with Zyacus. Turning my head to gloat, I grinned at him. He, for whatever reason, didn’t look upset to lose. I wondered if he had other, more menacing reasons to lure me to the lake.
“All three of you will move onto the next round,” a Hesstian professor said.
I handed the bow to my grandmother and walked to the group of students who advanced.
Zyacus made his way over and stood next to me. “You’re better than I thought.”
“I don’t know why you doubted,” I said waving at Legacy who pushed her way to us.
With a nod to her, the Prince said, “We haven’t met yet. I’m Zyacus.”
“Legacy Exavior.”
“Cousins?” he asked.
“Cousins,” she confirmed.
I supposed he knew my close family tree as well as I knew his.
The advanced circle narrowed down to nine of us. Then three. Final round, I was off by a fourth of an inch compared to Legacy and she took the victory.
“Good shooting, sorry you lost,” Legacy said tentatively.
“Don’t apologize for being better,” I said, lightly punching her arm. “It was a Delhoon win, that’s what matters.” When it came to Legacy and me, she was one of the only people I didn’t mind losing to.
Madison whistled and called us over. “That’s all for today. You can all go to your rooms to finish unpacking, explore the grounds, whatever you choose. Dinner is at six. Tomorrow classes begin.”
Taz, Legacy, and I decided to check out the fruit orchards. When we set off in that direction, Zyacus popped out of thin air using the appearus spell—teleport magic. “Midnight, don’t forget,” he said and vanished.
“He already knows the appearus spell?” Taz said in disbelief. “We’re not supposed to learn that until the end of this year.”
The fact that the prince knew that magic aggravated me further. He wasn’t even magic-born. Like those in his family, he relied on a magic stone to perform spells.
“Who cares about that,” Legacy said, folding her arms. “What are you doing at midnight with him?”
“I won a bet,” I said, smirking. “He has to jump into the lake at midnight in his undergarments. Want to come watch?”
Wiggling her eyebrows, Legacy said, “Sure do. I’d love to see what’s underneath that uniform.”
Taz stuck his finger in his mouth and faked a gag. “I’ll pass.”
Chapter 5
With the sunshine peeking through the trees, I plucked a green apple from a branch and wiped it on my shirt before taking a bite. The sweet, tart flavor burst on my tongue when I bit into it. I loved a good crisp apple.
“You think one day the people we train with could be fighting against us on a battlefield?” Taz asked, searching the tree for his own perfect apple.
“If my parents trusted them enough to allow us to become warriors
