Page 91 of Court of Lies and Deceit

She dramatically sweeps her perfect hair off her shoulder in a theatrical move. “I know.”

A surprised laugh escapes my chest.

She smiles as well. Then her eyes turn serious once more. “What I’m trying to say is, I not only have centuries more practice than you, I also had something even more important.”

“Natural skill?” I quip, only half joking.

Rolling her eyes, she gives me a flat look. “Ateacher.”

“Oh.”

“When I first manifested my magic, my parents sent me straight to a guy who also had emotion magic and who could teach me how to use it.”

“When I first manifested my magic, my parents started resenting me and then kicked me out of the house the moment they could.”

She turns fully to look at me, probably searching for signs that it was a joke. When she finds none, she lets out a low whistle under her breath. “Damn. Shitty parents.”

“Yeah.”

“My point is, I had someone to teach me how to use this magic properly and to its full extent from the very beginning. You have just been figuring it out on your own through trial and error.” She holds my gaze, as if she truly wants me to understand what she’s saying. “You’re incredibly skilled at the things youcando. It’s not your fault that you didn’t know about all the other things we’re able to do with this magic. Like create emotions from nothing.”

I swallow through the sudden thickness in my throat. Breaking eye contact, I stare down at the sand beneath my boots while I once again fight against the tears pressing against my eyes. But for a completely different reason, this time.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“You’re welcome, kid.”

We sit there in comfortable silence for another minute while I get my emotions back under control. She’s right. There is so much I didn’t know about my magic, because I have been forced to figure it out on my own all this time. And learning new skills takes time. Just like training with a sword for three weeks wouldn’t make me an expert warrior, I can’t expect to perfect new skills with my magic in just a few weeks either.

The only problem is that I have hit a wall with this particular skill. With all the other techniques that Jocasta has beenteaching me, like how to share emotions, I keep improving all the time. But with this, creating emotions from nothing, I can never get past the stage where I’m supposed to move it from me to her. It’s as if some invisible force is blocking it. And I don’t know what to do about it.

Jocasta draws in a breath and slaps her thighs. “But, I did also bet my entire fortune on this team winning the final game, so let’s get back to it.”

A small laugh escapes me, easing some of the tension that had started to build again. Pushing off from the windowsill, I stand up as well. “Yes, let’s get back to it.”

But as I once more start trying to move that warm yellow flame of joy from my chest to Jocasta’s, only for my magic to balk and be snuffed out every time, I can’t help but feel that this is never going to work.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

The door is thrown open and then slammed shut so hard that I nearly leap out of my skin. Whirling around, I face the intruder while dropping into a fight stance. My five companions do the same.

Surprise flickers through me when I realize that it’s Jocasta. I start to relax my stance but then hesitate when I take in her face. Rage crackles across her beautiful features like lightning. It’s so intense that the air around her practically vibrates with it.

“What the fuck did you do?” she screams at us as she stalks forward.

The small stone room is empty except for the seven of us. No other people. And no furniture either. Just a door with a long rectangular slot running horizontally across it at face height. Beyond it, the vast arena floor awaits. The crowd is already there. Thousands of people packed into the stands that slope down towards the flat sand ground in the middle, eagerly awaiting the start of the final game. Their excitement is a steady rumble that echoes through the entire stone structure.

“What in Malachi’s fucking name did you do?” Jocasta repeats, her voice cracking through the room like a lightning strike.

We exchange a confused glance. We haven’t done anything this entire week except train with Jocasta almost all hours of the day. And those few hours when we weren’t training, we’ve only had time to inhale some food and then crash into bed for an exhausted and dreamless sleep.

“What do you mean?” Galen asks, frowning at her.

“This final game was supposed to be a team game,” she snarls at us, fury still pulsing across her face, as she comes to a halt in front of us. “Some kind of scavenger hunt. But by royal decree, it was changed last minute to a fucking one-on-one battle tournament! We had one of those during the last set of games, so it shouldn’t have been used again for months. But his Majesty the King has now decided that it will be the final game this time as well to supposedlygive the people what they want.” She says the words mockingly, as if she doesn’t believe it for a second. “But the king never does anything without a reason.” Her eyes flash as she stabs an accusing hand at us. “So what the fuck did you do to piss him off?”

Confused, I just frown at her for a few seconds. We haven’t done anything to him. What could he possibly?—

Then it hits me.

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