Page 51 of Veil of Shadows

One of the competitors wove his own illusion, and my breath sucked in. A snapping beast of fangs and claws appeared out of nowhere. A redbeaked hawk shrieked and dove off course, knocking its wildling rider off as the illusion engulfed the wildling in a single gulp.

The illusion’s magic fizzled out of existence, and the crowd gasped, but the wildling landed harmlessly on the floor, falling right through the illusion. Everyone laughed. But a second later, when the same half-breed with illusion magic took a poisoneddart to the shoulder, the dart barely penetrated him. He pulled it out and threw it onto the floor before another illusion emerged from his magic.

The crowd’s easy laugh gave way to terrified gasps.

“And that is why they fear them.” The prince’s comment was said so quietly under his breath that I almost didn’t hear him. But he was right.

A half-breed powerful enough to wield illusions and also be immune to poisonous darts that could barely penetrate his tough exterior was indeed threatening to a siltenite.

My eyes stayed glued to that particular half-breed as the competition wore on. He was tall, powerfully built with broad shoulders like a siltenite, but he had a partial snout, and his entire body shimmered with stone-like scales. On top of that, compared to the others, he had superior magic. He moved quickly, ducking and fending off anything the arena threw at him. Magic perpetually clouded around him, creating a shimmering dome.

Lars whistled softly in surprise behind us, then said, “Is that a...Shield?”

“It is.” Phillen’s brow furrowed, and shock barreled through me.

Shields could only be wielded by powerful siltenites, and even then, it took a higher level of magic and training to accomplish such a task. But given this half-breed’s talent, he was just as skilled as any siltenite, if not more.

The competitors carried on, showing off their skills to the judges who sat on a similar dais to us across the arena’s floor.

When the fighting and sparring finally ended, an eruption of magical numbers appeared hovering above the arena floor.

Not surprisingly, the half-bred who’d woven illusions had received the highest marks.

Cheers rose from the crowd, but whisperings began just as fast. The words that I caught weren’t flattering...

“They should all be locked up,” one hissed.

“Disgraceful. They should be banned from the kingdoms,” another sniveled.

“Executed is what I say,” a third sneered. “They all should be killed at birth.”

Shock billowed through me at the blatant hatred swimming through the crowd. I sank back into Jax, but as sickened as I was at hearing such comments, I also wasn’t surprised. This was what siltenites feared most—a half-breed who could easily outwit them, outmagic them, outbreed them, and in the end...kill them.

We stayedin the arena for the rest of the afternoon, hoping to catch a glimpse of Bastian. And it soon became apparent, due to the number of half-breeds appearing in the Finals, that the Centennial Matches would indeed have siltenites and half-breeds competing this time around.

“This is the first time that’s ever happened in our history,” Alec said.

I scrunched my eyebrows together. “Why do you suppose King Paevin is allowing them to compete? No king has ever allowed that.”

Jax frowned. “I’ve been wondering that too. I’ve never heard of him championing half-breed rights. Have you?” he asked Alec.

The noble shook his head. “If anything, I thought he despised them from what my father’s told me.”

The prince’s frown grew. “I was under the same impression.”

I nibbled on my lip and mulled that over, but I was as baffled as Jax and the others were as to why admission requirements had abruptly changed in the Matches.

But from what we saw, it was evident the half-breeds were worthy competitors. More than a few were as magically strong as siltenites, and it could be argued that some were even stronger.

One half-breed withdresselancestry, given her tusks and bony head, had even vanished during her competition, only to reappear at the other end of the stadium. An audible gasp had erupted through the crowd, moving like a tidal wave through the stadium, when she’d done that. She’d actuallymistphased, a magical marvel that was usually only seen among Solis fae.

The sun was dipping toward the horizon when the Finals for the day at last came to an end. Disappointment clouded around the prince.

Bastian had never appeared.

Jax shifted subtly beneath me. “We should get going,” he said quietly into my ear. “He’s obviously not going to show here.”

The prince’s scent clouded around me, the pine and spicy fragrance going straight to my head.

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