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“Your Majesty.” Noora made antics to bow which drew Nikolai fully from the settee.

“There is no need for that.”

His mother threw him a dirty glare, though she consented. Noora gave a thankful nod, her eyes scanning the area just for a split second.

“I am here since I wanted to talk to you about the last trial.”

“Yes, that does not surprise me, child. The healers confirmed your injuries and though the tasks in the tournament are challenging, they should not be life-threatening.”

Noora raised her brows at that but his mother kept going.

“I have offered Kekoa compensation and I will provide you one too, for your efforts. Though we shall not reach for the stars, let’s say 20,000 Gulls.”

“Kekoa, what happened to him?” Noora asked, ignoring the second part of his mother’s offer.

“That is of no importance now, do you accept the offer?”

Noora stared at her, lips slightly parted and Nikolai imagined he looked much the same since he did not imagine his motheroffering anyone gold. As far as he knew his mother wasn’t even allowed to formulate an offer like that, this was his tournament, his contestants he needed to look after.

“Are you…trying to buy me?” Noora shifted on her crutches. His mother broke out into shrill laughter making him reach for his glass only to come up empty. It was still lying on the ground, the liquid had spilled onto the colourful designed carpet.

“Do not be silly. The crown does not need to buy anyone, this is merely for your well-being.”

“My well-being is intact, thanks—”

“But I can see that it is not, sweetheart.” His mother’s voice dripped with venom as she interrupted Noora. Noora steeled herself again, shifting on the crutches and the king sighed. “Sit down, would you? You’re giving me a headache with your fidgeting.”

Noora seemed surprised when she turned to look at him as if she didn’t even notice his presence in the room. He clenched his jaw tighter, gesturing to the place on the settee beside him and he could practically see her calculate all the wrongdoings that would come from it. Her aching limbs seemed more urgent than her pride as she sat down beside him. A grimace pulled at her lips.

“What happened to Kekoa?” she repeated. Before his mother could come up with another silly answer Nikolai made due. “He consumed a dollop of wolfsbane as he was travelling through the forest which made him go mad.”

“Well, that explains his behaviour.”

Nikolai sat up properly. “What did he do?”

“That is not important—” Nikolai held up his hand to shush his mother and gestured for Noora to go on.

“He started to attack me out of nowhere, I was not even in his path, it seemed like he tracked me down—which isnot a surprise taking his Sosye heritage into account. I knew something was different when he started to talk about killing me.”

His mother raised her eyebrows. “You just reminded us of his heritage, how would him wanting to kill you, be unusual for him?”

“For one, if Kekoa ever wanted to kill me he would make a spectacle out of it. A quiet killing with no witnesses, no glory, and cheers is not his style. And two, despite my and Kekoa’s…misunderstandings, he wanted to win the tournament and humiliate me in the end in honesty. He craves attention and for Hel’s sake his Chief is sitting on the stands of the jury, it would be cowardly to kill me in the forest. He looked strange too like he was… poisoned.”

His mother let out a laugh, making them both look at her. “Don’t be ridiculous, do you feel better that way? Blaming his hatred for you on poison?”

Nikolai injected, “Mother—”

“No, Kai. This girl is spewing lies to make us look bad.”

“How would this make you look bad? He got poisoned and the earlier you catch the perpetrator the sooner we can proceed with the tournament.”

“It is not your decision to make, little girl,” his mother snarled at Noora. The witch stood abruptly, forgetting that she needed the crutches, though Nikolai was quickly at her side, balancing her out with a hand on her back. His mother’s eyes took both their forms in.

“It would be in your interest to find the one who poisoned Kekoa since he is not the only one who received injustice. My skates were falling off during my travel over the lake—”

“A coincidence.”

“Both skates?” Noora shook her head. “Maybe it would be counted as a coincidence but there was something else thecontestants were not warned about. When I plunged into the hole in the lake something started to attack me.”