Chapter 1
A bead of sweat rolled down the back of my neck as I gripped my sword tighter. The weight of the shiny metal grew heavy in my fatiguing grasp. Slowly, my breath pushed past my lips. I took a step, watching my opponent for his next move. He outweighed me by at least fifty pounds and was a full five inches taller but his speed, tired or not, didn’t match mine.
I struck out. Our swords hit. He shoved me back. Side step, swing. I brought my blade across his shoulder and the blunted metal tore through the fabric of his shirt but didn’t cut skin. He winced and jerked away. It would bruise but on a real battlefield he’d lose the use of that arm.
“Come on, Visteal, finish it!” Shouted a girl on one side of the sparring circle.
The fifty or so boys hollered from the opposite side to their teammate. They didn’t want to lose this week’s tournament to a girl again. “You’re good, Princess,” Finnick said with a smirk. “But you won’t be victorious today.”
He rushed me, bringing his sword down hard. I blocked it but the weight of his body was too much. Ducking to the side, I rolled, ending up on one knee in the grass. Staying low, I turned toward Finnick, swinging my sword at his legs. His foot collided with my arm sending my weapon flying through the air.
Grinning, he brought the point of his blade to my neck and the professor let out a whistle, signaling the end of the match, and my defeat. The boys cheered, the girls groaned in disappointment. I punched the ground in frustration. That was a loss for the girls’ team this week and it was my fault. Bragging rights would go to the boys. To make it worse, a palm-sized, blue-haired pixie with purple iridescent wings, marked an “L” next to my name on the board.
Finnick held out his hand to me. “You can’t win every time.”
Looking at him, I grew nervous. But if I didn’t take it, people would think I was being a sore loser, and as Princess, I had to be amiable. Reluctantly, we clasped hands, and the moment our skin touched, my mind was invaded with a scene that took my breath away... Finnick walking down a darkened hallway, the only source of light came from a torch on the wall. His footsteps echoed loudly, then I heard a second set—My body tensed in anticipation of what this vision would bring. Out of the shadows a figure jumped onto Finnick’s back. Screams of pain, an animalistic growl, then Finnick hit the floor and the attacker ran. Blood oozed from his neck, and his eyes stared soullessly toward the heavens.
Taking in a sharp breath, and nauseated, I jerked from his grasp and stared into his face. Finnick was going to die. I knew this because I was born with a curse. Some people would say it was a gift, but seeing the end of one’s life was anything but gifted. My parents told me to keep my ability a secret. Father thought if people knew, they’d seek me out for this knowledge so that they could try to prevent their unfortunate fate. People would kill to stop it. The problem with that was, I’d never once been wrong. I’d tried to save people before.
“What’s the matter?” Finnick asked, his eyebrows furrowing.
I swallowed down the lump in my throat and walked away, saying nothing. If I told him what I saw, it wouldn’t change anything. The people in these visions always died exactly as it played out in my mind. I only viewed death if it was tragic—violent, if the person’s life was cut short. Which in itself was tragic. Couldn’t I watch someone die as an old woman in her bed after a long life? Not a murder.
Thankfully, the sparring match was the last class of the day so I could escape. I fought back tears. Finnick and I weren’t close, we hadn’t spoken more than a few words of banter but I didn’t want him to die. For his life to be cut short like that… and who would kill him? What sort of person growls like a beast? There was no war, no battles to be fought. With the low lighting, I couldn’t tell from the vision but I assumed the person slit his throat; there was so much blood.
Earlier in the day, before I saw Finnick’s death, I was worried about what my parents, the King and Queen, wanted to talk to me about at dinner. If they called me to dine with them instead of allowing me to eat with the other students, that usually meant I was in trouble. Hopefully they didn’t find out I put a spider the size of my hand in Old Man Cooks’s bed. When he berated me for taking an extra brownie in front of everyone, he should have known there would be retaliation.
∞∞∞
Once I got to my room, I dressed in a fresh academy uniform. Both the long-sleeved top and pants were black with a splash of crimson in the phoenix on my chest. I combed through my straight, dark-honey colored hair. My mother always complained about her beautiful golden curls but I wished I had them. Flat and sleek wasn’t nearly as alluring. A knock on my bedroom door told me it was time to go so I pulled the brush through the last of my tangles and set it down on my vanity.
“Visteal, dinner!” shouted Bindy, my attendant and guardian. After slipping on knee-high boots, I threw the door open and Bindy stood with her arms folded atop her voluptuous belly. She thought no one noticed her sneaking treats but anyone with eyes could see the truth. Although, no one should be fooled by her out-of-shape appearance, Bindy was as deadly as they came with a blade and magic.
She reached for my head. “Why isn’t your hair braided for supper?”
Ducking out of her grasp, I said, “Because I didn’t want to braid it,” and brushed past her.
Bindy took a black pair of gloves from her apron and fell into step beside me. “Do you want your gloves?”
I glanced at them, eyes lingering for a beat too long. “No. You know if I wear them often people wonder why. Then I’m the strange girl who won’t take off her gloves.”
Contact with skin triggered my curse. If I wore the gloves then I didn’t have to see anything. Usually I just avoided touching people even if they thought I was rude for being closed off.
She tucked them away and patted my back. “Don’t be too upset today.”
I paused and turned to her, staring into her friendly face. By that statement, she was hiding something and it had nothing to do with the gloves. “Upset about what?”
“You’ll see soon enough.”
“Bindy,” I chided. “Tell me. You know I hate surprises.”
“I’m not even supposed to know. Just overheard the Queen and King talking. Don’t get me in trouble now. You’ll find out.” We descended the steps. My heart hammered with anticipation. What could they possibly want to talk to me about that would make me upset? Did someone get hurt?
Bindy pulled the door open to the small dining chambers for the royal family and went on her way. Inside my parents already sat at the long rectangular table, but my two brothers hadn’t been brought in by their guardians. At least dinner would be less annoying tonight.
The smell of honeyed ham and some sort of fruity pie filled the room, making my mouth water. Training always made me ravenously hungry.
Mother looked up at me with a smile. Her curly hair was pulled up to show off her dangling gold earrings, adorned in small rubies. Her sharp blue eyes gave nothing away.
Father stood and pulled out a chair for me. “Good evening, my little darling. How was your day?”
I forced a smile, not wanting to talk about Finnick. I also didn’t want to snitch on Bindy for giving me a heads up so I gave him a hug without mentioning it. “Oh, it was a typical day.” I sat as if I knew nothing was amiss. As I reached for a biscuit, my mother set her fork down, and it clinked loud enough to draw my attention.