Isla swallowed. The king had been alive for more than five hundred years.
What if she kept the crowd waiting here for hours? What would that say of her and her abilities? Of her worthiness of surviving the Centennial?
What if sheneverbested it, and the mirror kept her?
Isla knew how important the use of this relic was to their plan. But she suddenly wished her friend had chosen a different trial.
Azul was next. He took five minutes. More than the king, but not by much.
When he left the mirror, Isla couldn’t help but notice that his smile was a little duller than usual. Something in his expression looked haunted.
What had he seen?
What fear had he been forced to face?
Isla’s palms began to sweat. She brushed them against her cape and took a deep breath.Get it together.
The moment Cleo placed her pale hand onto the mirror, Isla knew things would be different. The glass didn’t ripple nearly as much. Her eyes closed and she froze completely, a ruler turned to ice.
It was not two minutes later that they reopened.
Gasps sounded among the crowd. Cleo had beaten even the king. By over a minute.
Isla’s teeth ground against each other. The Moonling must be heartless. Or fearless. Both dangerous qualities in an enemy.
Grim finished his exercise in just under three minutes.
Celeste did hers in five.
Then it was Isla’s turn.
The room was silent as she made her way over to the towering object. Her heels echoed through the hall. Her knees trembled beneath her dress, and she was grateful for its length.
Too soon, Isla found herself holding up her hand. Her fingers shook slightly before pressing against the mirror.
It moved—shifted.
Then something yanked her through the glass.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SHATTERED
Isla was pulled through the mirror into a crystal world.
In the many months she had anticipated this demonstration, she had determined her greatest fear: failing her realm.
She had readied herself to see a field of fallen Wildlings. Burned forests. A dead Poppy and Terra at her feet.
Now that she was in the trial, there were no bodies, no flames, no dying wildlife.
Only a room.Herroom, in Wildling.
It looked exactly like it did when she left it. Clean. Proper. Her wall of swords glimmered at one side, winking their hello.
She expected to feel a rush of relief at being back, at being in a place so familiar after two weeks surrounded by strangers. In a strange land ruled by secrets.
But all she felt was dread.
