Page 30 of A Dead End Wedding

“Hush,” I said. “The queen is proclaiming.”

Braumsh strolled over to us, crossing the square as if the rows of armed Fae guards were too insignificant for him to notice. Viviette certainly noticed him, though. If looks could kill, the troll would be splattered across the lawn.

He ignored her, too. When he reached our group, he gave me a huge, sparklingly white smile. “Hello, Tess. What’s up?”

I blinked. “Um, we’re sort of busy here, Braumsh.”

“No problem. I’ll wait with you.” He muscled his way past Susan and Carlos to stand next to me. “We can talk after their Champion defeats your little cat friend here.”

I stared up into his vivid orange eyes. “Hey! We Dead Enders stick together. And you’re one of us. So, you’d better be on Jack’s side, or you can find someplace else to camp out, Buster!”

His face worked, twisting into a grimace that was almost a scowl. “Buster?Buster?”

“That’s right!”

“Tess,” Jack said, putting an arm around my waist. “That’s okay. Maybe let’s stop arguing with the troll and let the nice queen speak before she smites us?”

“Good call,” Viviette called out, a wealth of sarcasm in her queenly voice. “Let us begin. Tonight, the challenge is the first of three in the Battle component of the Courage Trial.”

I held up my hand.

The queen blew out a breath.

“Wow, you can even drive royalty nuts,” Susan said, fighting a smile.

“Yes, Tess of the Callahans? What is your question?” The snarl in Viviette’s voice let me know I should be quick.

“It’s just … this doesn’t seem quite fair. You said there would be five trials. But this first trial, Courage, actually has three parts. Except the third part of the first trial now turns out to have three parts. So, the five trials really add up toninechallenges, and that’s only if you don’t pull out any more surprise multi-part challenges.”

I’d never seen a Fae’s face turn red before. It clashed with the autumn leaves decorating her hair. “I did not hear a question in all those words, Tess.”

“My question is, how is this fair?” Before she could explode, I hastened to clarify. “I know your honor is beyond reproach, Your Majesty. But mortals are very literal with numbers. Could these first five challenges count as the five trials?”

She tilted her head to the side and considered my request. “No, I am sorry, but no. The Challenges are set. However, Iwill offer this: no other Trial will have more than one Challenge within it.”

“Take what you can get,” the troll urged. Jack, Carlos, and Susan all nodded.

“Fine,” I muttered.

Raising my voice, I replied to the queen. “That is more than benevolent, as befits such a beautiful and gracious ruler.”

The Frosts aren’t the only people who can Google.

Queen Viviette, however, only raised an eyebrow. “Putting it on a bit thick, aren’t we, Tess?”

I flashed her a cheerful smile. “Just trying to play by the rules, ma’am.”

With one final hard stare, she turned from me and raised her arms. “Tonight, our Champion takes on one of your choosing, people of Dead End. Step forward, Rosen.”

Rosen stepped forward from I don’t know where, because he certainly hadn’t been there before.

Every Dead Ender in the square groaned in sync.

Because Rosen was a beast.

Not literally a beast. Not an animal or a supernatural, non-human-looking creature. No, he looked like every other Fae warrior, except he stood nearly eight feet tall.

“Him,” Braumsh said, rolling his orange eyes. “He’s mean, but not very smart. And he always forgets to protect the most vulnerable place on something that big.”

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