Ayala keeps talking. I nod along until we’re back inside the hotel. It’s a relief when she leaves me in my room and tells me she’ll be back to collect me that night. I close the shutters. In the dark, my mind is drawn back to my family. Father hard at work. How every grinding hour adds up to a grinding day, how days become months, become years, become decades. I think about my fierce mother and the small kingdom she reigns over. No Ashlord will ever recognize that she is a queen. When they look at her, they don’t see anything at all.

And finally I think of Prosper. My little brother will turn on the Races and actually believe I can win. It breaks my heart to imagine Father spending extra money so he can tune into the channel that will feature my riding, not just the general broadcast. Tonight I’ll be led through the ancient and famous Hall of Maps. It’s meant as an honor, but now I can’t help wondering on which day I’ll disappoint my loved ones.

At the start of the Races? On day three? At the very end?

It takes an hour for despair to burn into anger.

And anger breathes life into a new mentality.

I stand up and find the dress Ayala set out for me. I can’t help noticing it’s an Ashlord style and cut. Sliding into their clothes just gives my anger more momentum. Something about it feels righteous. For the next few days, I will smile. I will play their game. I will be their polite model of Dividian inclusion. Right up until the moment the gunshot goes off.

And then I’ll break the whole damn thing.

Chapter 13: Clatter

More of the circus.

I stand in a sea of Ashlord nobles. How they glitter and shine. There’s a high-rise table in front of me. I rest my forearms on it, thankful for the distance it puts between me and the rest of them. Not that they’re here to talk with me. Mirrors run down the full length of one wall. An endless number of chandeliers cast swirling light over everything. I’m sweaty and bored.

My mind is fixed on what comes next. We’re about to walk into the Hall of Maps. All this talk and chatter? None of it matters. But the Unveiling? That does matter.