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“You mean fashionable?” the prince asks.
“No, I mean like the female version of your stuck-up ass.”
Oliver peers toward Barclay. “He really is this way all the time, isn’t he?”
Eden stays oddly quiet on the subject, which doesn’t go unnoticed by me.
“Can we get back to the problem at hand?” Alaric takes a mouthful of his coffee before setting it back on the table in front of him. “The first Trial is tonight. We have to prepare Eden.”
“And Oliver,” Eden adds.
“I’m here to watch you,” I snap. “Not his royal pain in the ass.”
“I’m sorry, is there a gnat nearby?” the prince questions. “I’m constantly being pestered and irritated, but I can’t see anything.”
Barclay sighs like we’re insufferable. “You all have one common goal, right?” He even glares at me. “You want to be Knights? You help each other. That’s it. That means you two get through the Trials with flying colors, and you… You make sure you don’t fuck up again. You’ve been tasked with helping her, you help her.”
His tirade silences us.
Grinning, he continues, “The Trials are meant to test you in every way possible. Your mental toughness. Your physical toughness. Cleverness, aptitude, and even the ability to push through your fears.”
I swallow as memories of my own Trials bombard me. Not going to lie, they were killer. Some of the guys I started out with didn’t hack it. And they were a lot bigger and stronger than Eden.
It’s all a big test, and if you fail, you’re out. There are no second chances.
Eden pulls her shoulders back. “Okay, what’s the first thing?”
“They start with a big one,” I say. “It’s meant to weed out the weak early.”
To her credit, she doesn’t balk. She just waits for us to give her the answer.
“They point out your greatest vulnerability…then torture you with it.”
14
Eden
Biggest vulnerability? That could be anything.
Alaric and Jarvis are oddly quiet. Alaric especially seems to have retreated from his egotistical, if good-natured façade—his brows pulling together in contemplation.
The Knights can do with me whatever they want. They want to break me? Fine. Try. I’m already broken.
Oliver, however, looks worried.
Never in a million years did I believe I’d find myself at Carnegie, let alone surrounded by my best friend and two guys from the richest, most powerful families in the US. This was always supposed to be Dee’s life, not mine. She knew how to maneuver inside it while I didn’t have the fucking patience for playing games upon games. It’s like constantly walking through a house of mirrors. Nothing is as it seems.
The sad part is, I didn’t give Dee enough credit when she was alive. If I could have her back for one second, I’d tell her how proud I am for all that she did.
“When’s all this stuff going to happen?” I ask. Hell, if they’re assigned to me like I’m some sort of celebrity, I may as well take advantage of it.
“They switch it up every year,” Barclay remarks. "Knights are usually in the know, but since I’m part of your group, they haven’t told me anything. Afraid I’ll pass it on to you, I suppose, giving you an unfair advantage.”
“What are some of the other obstacles I have to get through?”
The guy who came up to our table before passes behind Barclay and Jarvis, shooting looks over at me. I try to make myself smaller. I never anticipated all the looks I would get by being here. Back in California, I was just a part of the crowd—somewhere I would rather be.
“In years past, they’ve made Pledges follow through on a favor for a Knight,” Leo answers as if he doesn’t think I’ll be able to do that. “They’re never the fun kind either. It’s to prove loyalty.”