“Keep the line moving, please!” another officer calls out, and we’re pushed forward just as Nico’s saying, “And there’s more—”
More?
But he’s cut off and we’re already inside, being ushered through the crowd and toward our section.
“Did you know about this?” I ask.
My grandfather raises an eyebrow. “No.”
“Me neither.” My chest burns and my face heats. How could he?
“Veda Adeline?” We’re not even to our seats before I’m tapped on the shoulder from behind.
I turn around to find an Imperi soldier. He’s about my height and stands unnaturally straight, a thin beard shading the bottom half of his face.
“You’re to come with us.” He motions to another, much larger soldier behind him.
“What is this about, please?” Poppy says, standing and taking a step toward the soldier.
“The High Regent would like to welcome Miss Adeline back and congratulate her on escaping the Night.”
“How the…?” Poppy swallows what I assume was going to be a decent swear. “Excuse me, I mean, I’m confused. She just returned this morning.”
“Oh, we know…” The larger soldier practically spits the words. “News travels fast.” He shrugs.
“That it does.” Poppy takes another look at both of the soldiers. “Go on, Veda. What an honor.”
“I’ll be right back,” I call, walking double time to keep up with the soldiers who’re in a ridiculous hurry.
Poppy, his body rigid, strains to smile.
The soldiers swiftly guide me through a door that takes us into a tunnel beneath the seating areas. There are prison cells lining the walls. Most are empty, but I catch a few figures hunched in corners. Supposedly the worst of the worst criminals are sent here, often executed in private Offering rituals. My mother’s fate …
The image flashes behind my eyes, but I push it aside as quickly as it comes, a bit of bile sneaking its way up the back of my throat.
At the end of the tunnel we ascend a tall staircase, then go through another door. Once at the top, I’m brought through a red curtain, and to a red-carpeted balcony, high above the others, just a notch below the High Regent’s perch.
The soldiers leave.
I stand in the center. Fidgeting with my pockets, I turn in a circle, taking in the sea of Dogio red. Faces surround me from all angles, yet no one seems to notice I’m here.
Behind me there’s commotion. I turn to look and see the same two soldiers open the curtain, High Regent Raevald entering. His black suit is crisp as coal, crimson sash around his black hat accenting the red cockade he wears under his Imperi badge.
I remove my hands from my pockets. Not knowing what to do with them, I clasp my fingers behind my back.
“Miss Veda Adeline, I presume?” He clasps his own hands behind his back.
I nod.
His silver-streaked hair is slicked back as usual, weathered skin like leather close up. “I wanted to congratulate you personally.” The High Regent smiles. Then he leans in. “You slipped through the cracks. How did you escape?”
Slipped through the cracks. If he only knew.
“They … I … I don’t remember.” I try to sound natural but the more I try, the more I’m sure it’s obvious I’m lying.
He cocks his head then adjusts his hat so it sits lower on his forehead, shadowing his face in darkness.
“They drugged me and somehow I ended up back home. I have no memory, not even of being taken. I think, at some point, I hit my head.” It’s quick, haphazard thinking. He seems to be considering what I’ve given him, staring into my eyes, his eyes dark under the shade of his hat, unreadable. The High Regent clears his throat, moving toward the curtain. “Well. Thank the Sun! Beyond all odds, you made your way home. The Sun truly works miracles, does he not?”
“Yes, sir,” I say under my breath.
“The fact you escaped gives hope to others like you. And…” He raises his voice. “Gives me reason to believe the Night is getting a little careless!” The soldiers laugh along with Raevald until he clears his throat. “We are so relieved to have you back safe and sound, Veda. You’re welcome to view the ceremony from here or go back to your grandfather.”
“I’ll sit with my grandfather.” Always.
“Of course.” He shakes my hand. The exchange is stiff, his grasp cold, concealed within a leather glove. Looking me in the eye and turning on his heels, Raevald disappears behind the red curtain.
That is my blood relation? My grandfather?
Another round of hot bile erupts deep in my throat. Grandfather. It’s an insult to Poppy.
I make my way toward the edge of the balcony and squint in search of Poppy but can’t pick his face out from the throng.
“Come on, then,” the shorter soldier calls from the door, less polite now he’s done his duty.
Once again, I follow the pair, this time to our seats. We’re closer to the dome floor than last time.
But Poppy’s not there. I look behind me, all around, searching the crowd for my grandfather’s silver halo of hair, but he’s nowhere and I’m suddenly concerned. What if he’s ill? What if he’s stuck in the washroom or decided to head home?
I’m about to leave my seat and search for him when Raevald’s voice booms out over the Coliseum.
Everyone stands.
“Welcome, people of Bellona: Dogio.” He raises his arm to the right. “Basso.” He does the same to the left. “Before we bring out the Offered, that praiseworthy soul, I have an announcement to share.” The crowd breaks into chatter and excitement, anticipation as those around me wildly speculate:
“Could he be remarrying?”
“At his age?”
“Is it the Night?”
“A draft?”
Raevald resumes speaking, the Coliseum instantly hushing. “It’s good news, I assure you.” The High Regent motions toward the arena floor. “After careful deliberation, I’ve chosen an heir.”
If he only knew …
Barely, barely, his next words register: “Nicoli Denali.”
A tall, familiar figure walks out onto the Coliseum floor. The arena erupts in applause.
All I can do is stare.
When Nico had said there was more, I thought, he’ll be busy training or off to strict schooling as he learns a specialty.
But this?
This?
There’s no way Nico could begin to pinpoint me out of the thousands of faces, but I swear, the way his eyes are slowly scanning the crowd, he’s looking for me.
Once the excitement dies down, Raevald resumes. “Mr. Denali’s first area of training will be as an officer, learning the ways of the Imperi army top to bottom. Some of you even handed your medallions over to him to gain entrance.” He nods like it’s some sort of remarkable thing. Like we should be impressed Nico, heir-to-be, was interacting with the rabble. “As your future High Regent, it’s important he’s familiar with not only the army he’ll one day command, but his people as well.”
My. Sun.
I can’t begin to fathom it. To wrap my mind around Nico as High Regent. As one day being the one standing up on that perch saying things like, “Now, we shall pay homage to our god with the Prayer.”