You sit perfectly still as a crew does your makeup and hair. You watch in the mirror as magician’s hands resurrect the beauty of your tired face. They powder and pull and press until you’re a statue again, beautiful and cold and unfeeling. There’s no thrill to any of it now. You do not take any pleasure from the way they’ve remade you.

Instead, you think about Quinn.

Where has the girl gone? You can still see that wicked smile on her face. It’s the same one she gave you when she first arrived in this world. You secretly hope that she escaped. That she’s causing chaos somewhere and freeing her loved ones. It sounds romanticized, but after spending a few days with the girl, you think she’s capable of anything.

“Pippa?”

The name pulls you back to the present. All the stylists have stepped away. There’s a perfection about you now. They’ve made each curl of your dark hair shine seductively. The bruises you earned during the Races are well hidden. Someone’s contoured your cheekbones until they look sharp enough to draw blood. Everything’s dark. The eyeliner, the lipstick, the clothes. It’s a surprising scheme. In former years, the winner was made to look delicate and graceful.

A jewel to be set in a crown.

But they’ve sharpened your soft edges.

They’ve made you into a blade.

“I don’t understand.”

“I asked them to do it.” The Brightness stands at the entryway. You notice him in the mirror for the first time. With a brief signal, he empties the room of other ears. “The Races are over. The War begins.”

You know you should turn, honor him by speaking face to face and not through a mirror, but his words cut through the very core of you. It’s impossible to do more than repeat them.

“War begins?”

The Brightness nods. “We have reports out of the mountains. A company of Ashlords was attacked by Longhands. Other reports suggest the Reach’s armies are moving. I would have you speak to our people. Not just as the winner of the Races, but as a leader in our army. I want our people to rally around your defeat of the Longhand.”

“I am to be a symbol?”

“At first,” he says. “But then you will do what every winner of the Races was trained to do. You will lead armies. You will win battles. You will drive the enemy back to the Reach. You already know the names of the generals who will serve you.”