The atmosphere was electric, a roar of sound that hit them long before they reached the center of the grounds.
The neighboring farm had transformed its massive courtyard into a grand arena.
Tiers of wooden bleachers rose high into the air, packed with hundreds of spectators.
In one section, a sea of familiar uniforms erupted into cheers…the servants from their house had turned out in force.
They waved handkerchiefs and shouted Evryn and Brinna’s names, their voices a defiant swell against the skeptical murmurs of the other teams.
The neighboring houses watched them with narrowed eyes; it was the first time in years that house had deigned to join the competition, and the sight of two slender maids, a rugged werewolf, and a strikingly bored-looking vampire made them a target of intense curiosity.
The Maids’ Trial: The Threaded Maze
The competition kicked off with the domestic challenge.
A massive, tangled web of silk ribbons was stretched across a field of vertical poles.
Evryn and Brinna had to navigate the “Threaded Maze,” untangling a specific gold cord and winding it perfectly onto a spindle without breaking a single surrounding silk line.
“Ready?” Brinna whispered, her face pale but her eyes bright.
“Don’t look at the crowd,” Evryn replied, her focus locking onto the golden thread.
“Just look at me.”
They moved like a single shadow.
While other teams fumbled and snapped the delicate silk, Evryn’s steady, reddened hands guided the spindle while Brinna wove through the poles, ducking and pivoting in a synchronized dance.
Their movements were a blur of white aprons and flying skirts.
When they reached the end, snapping the final cord into place, a judge blew a silver whistle.
They had set the fastest time.
The Wolf’s Trial: The Iron Weight
The crowd held its breath as the werewolves stepped into the pit for the “Iron Weight.” Among them, Ray stood, as the signal barked out, he didn’t just pull; he let the change take him.
With a sound of tearing fabric and cracking bone, Ray shifted into his massive wolf form.
He was gargantuan, his ivory fur bristling with power, dwarfing the other wolves who looked like mere pups beside him.
His eyes, a striking, piercing blue, burned with an ancient strength.
When he lowered his head and lunged against the harness, the ground didn’t just shake…it groaned.
He dragged the massive sled across the sand as if it were made of feathers, leaving deep, jagged furrows in the earth.
In the stands, the girls from all the other houses leaned forward, their whispers a frantic hiss.
“Look at the size of him…” “He’s huge…” “Those eyes!” He was the undisputed winner of the strength trial, a powerhouse that left the audience in awe.
When the trial ended, the wolves retreated to the edge of the pit to shift back.
As the transformation reversed, they stood in their human forms, bare and glistening with sweat under the afternoon sun.
They reached for heavy towels, wrapping them loosely around their waists.
The sight sent a wave of heat through the crowd.
In the bleachers, the maids were flushed, waving their hands in front of their faces to cool themselves down.
Auren, who had been watching the display with a look of mild boredom, suddenly narrowed his eyes.
He saw Brinna leaning forward with wide eyes and noticed Evryn’s gaze lingering a second too long on the shifting men.
Without a word, he stepped behind them, reaching out with both of his large, cool hands.
He placed one over Evryn’s eyes and the other over Brinna’s without touching, effectively blocking the view of the half-naked werewolves.
“Eyes front, ladies,” Auren murmured, his voice laced with a possessive edge.
“The show is over.”
Brinna felt the chill of his skin against her warm face and couldn’t help but smile.
Evryn, however, wasn’t ready to give up the view so easily.
She reached up, grabbing Auren’s wrist and tugging his hand down just a fraction…enough to sneak one more peek through her fingers.
Auren frowned slightly and adjusted his grip, trying to completely block her line of sight to stop her from watching.
Evryn just laughed, her voice muffled against his palm.
“I am watching Ray!”
Auren let out a defeated sigh, his fingers tightening gently over her eyes as he thought to himself that at least Brinna had manners.
The Vampire’s Trial: The Blue Phantom
Finally, it was Auren’s turn.
The crowd went silent as he stepped onto the starting line.
The objective was simple but impossible for a human: a small blue fabric flag was pinned to a post a hundred yards away, guarded by three swinging pendulum blades.
Auren stood perfectly still.
He didn’t crouch; he didn’t even look like he was breathing.
He simply stared ahead; his hands tucked casually into his pockets.
The judge raised the flag.
“Begin!”
The crowd blinked.
Auren was still standing there.
A few people in the back laughed, thinking he had frozen in fear or was simply refusing to move. Get faster updates on g.com.
The judges looked at each other, confused, about to signal a forfeit.
“Is he going to move or what?” someone shouted from the stands.
Auren didn’t respond.
Instead, he slowly lifted his right hand from his pocket.
Between his fingers, he held a scrap of vibrant blue fabric.
The laughter died instantly.
Every head snapped toward the distant post.
The blue flag was gone.
The pendulum blades were still swinging, completely undisturbed.
He had moved, navigated the traps, snatched the goal, and returned to his exact starting position so quickly that the human eye hadn’t even registered a blur.
He hadn’t just been fast; he had moved like light itself.
Auren glanced at the judges, his expression one of pure, effortless arrogance.
He tossed the blue fabric onto their table.
“Is that all?” he asked smoothly.
The silence broke into a deafening roar.
Evryn stood by the sidelines, her heart hammering against her ribs.
She looked at Auren, who caught her gaze and gave her a slow, secret wink.
They weren’t just participating anymore…they were winning.
The roar of the crowd was deafening.
Cheers, whistles, and the frantic clapping of their fellow servants filled the air as the final results were announced.
They had done it.
“We won!
Evryn, we actually won!” Brinna shrieked, jumping up and down before sprinting toward the judges’ table to claim the heavy velvet pouch of gold coins.
Evryn stood her ground, her face glowing with pride as she clapped for Ray, who was walking back toward them with a towel draped over his broad shoulders.
But as she waited, the members of the second-place team…a group of seasoned servants from a prestigious neighboring house….
approached her.
“You’re all new to this area, aren’t you?” their leader asked, wiping sweat from his brow.
“Your house hasn’t participated in these games for years.
We didn’t even know you had talent like that.”
Evryn nodded politely, her smile modest.
“Yes, most of us are quite new to the household.”
The vampire on their team, a man with sharp features and a keen gaze, looked past her toward the gates.
“That man you brought,” he said, nodding toward Auren.
“The one with the black hair and silver eyes.
That color is incredibly rare.
It’s the exact shade of the High King’s eyes.”
He let out a short, admiring whistle.
“He’s dangerously strong.
What did you say his name was?”
“His name is Auren,” Evryn replied simply.
The vampire burst into a sudden, amused laugh.
“Auren?
Truly?
Not only the eyes, but the name too!
His parents must have been very ambitious.
I suppose they saw those royal silver eyes when he was born and hoped he’d share the King’s luck, so they gave him the King’s own name.”
The leader of their team chimed in with a smirk.
“Of course, it’s a common enough tribute.
What do you think?
That the actual King of the Vampires would be here in the dirt, playing games with us for a few gold coins?”
“Shouldn’t you know your own King’s face?” Evryn asked, her voice tight as she tried to sound casually curious.
The leader snorted, waving a dismissive hand.
“The Vampire King is not like your human kings, girl. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
He doesn’t parade around for the public.
He has his men to do his work outside his palace walls while he stays on his throne.”
They laughed at the absurdity of the thought and moved along, but Evryn didn’t join in.
Her smile remained fixed on her face, but inside, something shifted.
A cold, prickling sensation crawled up her spine.
She slowly turned her head, her gaze drifting across the crowded arena to where Auren was waiting.
He stood by the massive iron gates, leaning against the stone archway with his arms crossed.
He looked bored, detached, and utterly regal, even in his simple clothes.
He caught her staring and tilted his head, his silver eyes catching the light with a metallic, piercing glow.
The words of the other team echoed in her mind: the same color as our king.
The night air was cool as the small team walked back toward the farm, the sound of their boots rhythmic against the gravel.
Brinna was beaming, practically skipping as she reached into the velvet pouch and handed a heavy gold coin to each of them.
Auren took his coin, turning the cold metal over in his palm.
He looked at the gleaming gold, then at the exhausted, joyful faces of them.
He realized with a strange, heavy feeling in his chest just how much effort it had taken for them to win this single piece of gold…and how much it meant to them.
Ray let out a long, dramatic stretch, his joints popping.
“I’m dead on my feet.” he laughed.
He turned to Evryn, wrapping his thick arms around her and lifting her clean off the ground in a crushing hug.
But Evryn didn’t hug him back.
She didn’t even smile.
Her arms remained stiff at her sides, completely unresponsive to his warmth.
“So, you’d better go to sleep, Ray,” she said, her voice unusually cold.
From the shadows across the courtyard, Auren stood leaning against a stone pillar, watching the entire interaction with sharp, tracking eyes.
The moment he saw Evryn’s rigid, freezing reaction to the touch, a dark, deeply satisfied smile slowly spread across his lips.
Ray set her down, his brow furrowing in confusion.
He leaned in and kissed her forehead, trying to catch her eye.
“What?
Is everything okay?” He waited a beat, but when she didn’t answer, he just shook his head tiredly.
“Alright.
I’m going to sleep.”
Evryn watched him walk away, her expression unreadable.
Brinna leaned in close, whispering in her ear.
“You should follow him if you want to be sure about whatever is bothering you.”
“Shut up, Brinna,” Evryn snapped, her voice trembling slightly.
“Don’t push me.
Please.”
Recognizing the genuine edge in Evryn’s voice, Brinna backed off and headed inside.
A moment later, Auren stepped out of the shadows, his silver eyes fixed on her.
“You’re in a foul mood,” he noted, his voice smooth and observant.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, Your Highness,” she muttered, the title dripping with a sarcasm that was sharpened by her sudden suspicion.
Auren’s eyes flashed.
“Oh?
So, it’s my turn to be attacked now?”
He didn’t wait for her to snap back.
He reached out and grabbed her hand…the one still reddened from the boiling laundry water.
His touch was firm but surprisingly careful.
He pressed his gold coin into her palm and closed her fingers over it.
“Buy a treatment for your hands,” he said firmly.
“What?” Evryn blinked, looking down at the gold.
“Auren, no treatment in the world costs an entire gold coin!”
He didn’t stop walking, and he didn’t turn back to look at her.
He just raised a hand in a dismissive wave as he headed toward his quarters.
“The one for your precious hands does!” he shouted back, his voice echoing through the quiet courtyard.
Evryn stood alone in the moonlight, clutching the gold coin.
It was still warm from his skin, and for the first time that night, the coldness in her heart began to melt into something far more confusing.