Nefari leaned in and whispered, “Come with me if you don’t wish to return immediately to the stands.”
Lannahi hesitated. The truth was that she’d planned to return to the stands in a roundabout way from the moment she stepped away from the harp. Nefari’s proposal seemed extremely tactful and she considered it a display of empathy—the famous singer probably knew very well how it felt when an artist made their debut in front of an audience such as this. However, Lannahi didn’t forget that the woman was responsible for her situation in the first place. Nefari was Maal’s subject. Lannahi understood that the singer didn’t want to get into conflict with her prince, but that didn’t change the facts: Lannahi didn’t know what part Nefari played in Maal’s plans. She had to be careful.
Nonetheless, leaving the arena by the back exit was just what Lannahi needed so she nodded and let the older singer lead the way.
“The future of the Music Tournament promises to be interesting,” the voice of the Master of Ceremony echoed from behind her. “Now let’s see what dancers will show us…”
Lannahi allowed Nefari to lead for a while, first through a chamber full of dancers and then down a corridor, but when they passed one of the four entrance halls and plunged into an empty corridor, she extricated herself from her guide’s grasp.
“I wish to use the waterchamber,” she said softly. “You can go on ahead, I’ll find my way.”
Nefari glanced around the corridor and lowered her voice. “I hope you won’t hold a grudge against me. It wasn’t—”
Lannahi silenced her with a gesture. There were wind-winged in the building and they didn’t have to stand close to hear someone else’s conversation.
“I know.” When the singer cast her a wary glance, she added, “We will discuss it on another occasion.”
Nefari read the suggestion correctly and changed the topic. “I left my belongings in a nearby room. If you need a break, you can come with me.”
Lannahi politely declined, but Nefari’s suggestion gave her an idea. After a dozen swords they said their farewells and Lannahi quickly glanced at the white plates hanging outside some rooms. She didn’t mind a moment to soothe her nerves, but she needed to experience it in solitude.
She rounded the corner and approached a room with a placard indicating that it was vacant. Glancing over her shoulder, she whispered, “Open.”
The knob turned and the door opened silently. She breathed out a sigh of relief. Even if there was a wind-winged nearby, they wouldn’t pay attention to her.
Lannahi slipped inside and locked the door. She felt blindly against the wall and when she found the lightcrystal, she woke it with an enchantment.
The room was small. From the fact that there were only a sofa and a table with a mirror attached to it, she concluded that this was a staging area for the tournament participants rather than a meeting room. She looked for signs of magic but found nothing.
She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. Her head felt swollen with memories of what had happened today and her emotions, that she kept under tight control, threatened to spill free.
She attracted the attention of Rulers from the whole Continent.
Her brother used her like a pawn.
Nihhal was here.
She felt like sinking to the floor and curling into a ball. Instead, she wrapped her arms around her trembling body. She had to mind her dress. Soon, she would have to act again.
She started humming a lullaby. She didn’t care that it was childish. The melody was soothing, and the words prompted her imagination with peaceful images. Trees in the orchard, sunshine between the leaves, a bird sitting on a branch heavy with fruit…
Her body relaxed after a few minutes and eventually, she fell silent. She rested her forehead against the wall. One moment of peace, of normalcy, before she left to submit a Challenge to the Arbiter. When the Arbiter announced the future duels, she needed to be able to endure the stares of thousands of eyes as she had done earlier. She needed to be ready to fight. But, for now, all she needed was to be alone.
“Tough day?”
Lannahi startled at the sound of a low male voice. Her thoughts scrambled and her hands flew to the knife in her thigh holster.
The stranger’s large body blocked the exit, and his bright eyes closely followed her every move, but he himself didn’t move. Lannahi froze with her fingertips grazing the handle of her knife.
“I was informed that this room was unoccupied,” the stranger said. When her gaze slid to the key stuck in the lock, he added: “If you wanted a room, you only needed to get a key from the Chamber of Keys. Didn’t anyone tell you?”
His matter-of-fact explanation and levelled tone calmed Lannahi, but then she became aware of her behavior and a treacherous blush crept up her cheeks. She quickly removed her hand from her knife. There was a time when murdering one’s enemies at parties was acceptable, but since the establishment of the Rules and Arbiters, reaching for a weapon in social situations was widely condemned. Lannahi’s defensive posture was not only a show of fear and weakness but also suggested that the stranger had no honor, casting him in the role of an assassin. It was a grave insult.
With a knot tightening in her stomach, Lannahi straightened. “I came here just for a moment,” she said with a cautious smile. “Come in, please. I’m just leaving.”
She tried to gauge the mood of the stranger. He didn’t seem to be one of those hot-tempered fae who were just looking for an excuse to duel. There wasn’t a calculating glint in his gaze that suggested the man noticed her mistake and saw the advantage in it, but Lannahi felt uneasy anyway. The man was surrounded by an aura of calm confidence typical for a fae who wasn’t afraid of confrontation with strong opponents. It wouldn’t surprise her that she was dealing with someone of royal power, but it was his connections that worried her the most. The courts eagerly gathered information about their rivals. A story about meeting a frightened singer didn’t seem to present much value, but even insignificant information used at the right moment…
It didn’t help that there was something familiar about him, even though Lannahi was certain this was their first meeting. She suspected that she must have seen his portrait in one of the albums, and that thought somehow failed to comfort her. When she recalled which albums she looked through recently the knot in her stomach tightened even more.
