Chapter 39
Lila
What the hell just happened there? Damon didn’t say anything, just walked out. I tried not to let it hurt, but even I could admit hat stung
I sat in the empty chair for what felt like hours but was only minutes before my hurt turned to anger and I stopped out the room.
Asher fell into step beside me as I slipped through the side garden archway and away from the music room.
“You survived,” Asher said eventually, his voice low and easy. “Wasn’t sure if you were going to faint or burst into flame when you rushed out of that door.”
“Both were on the table,” I muttered.
He chuckled. “You didn’t even look nervous when performing.”
“That’s because I couldn’t feel my legs.”
We turned a corner into one of the quieter stone corridors that ran along the outer edges of the palace. The distant sound of voices still filtered through the windows, but it felt far away now.
“Your voice,” he said after a pause. “It’s… not what I expected.”
“Bad?” I asked.
“Terrifying,” he replied with a grin. “I was halfway to proposing before the second verse.”
I gave him a side–eye. “Don’t joke.”
“I’m not,” he said. “Well, mostly not. You were good, Elena. Really good. I’ve never seen the Court shut up like that. Not even for Damon.”
That pulled a dry laugh from me, even though the edges of my stomach were still coiled tight from the private performance. “They didn’t clap for me. They clapped for the spectacle.”
“Maybe,” he said, “but even Jackson looked impressed. And that man’s blood is eighty percent salt. He really should see a healer about that.”
I didn’t answer. My throat still felt raw from the final note. I wasn’t used to being heard like that – on purpose anyway. My voice had always been something I kept hidden, folded into the quiet corners of my life. There wasn’t much else I could call mine alone.
We walked a little further in silence.
“You met with Damon earlier,” Asher said, more statement than question.
I glanced at him. His tone hadn’t changed, still light, still casual. But his eyes flicked sideways like he was watching me too closely.
“I did,” I said.
“And?”
“It was short.” My voice came out too tight. I cleared my throat. “He asked me to sing.”
“Of course he did,” Asher murmured. “You walked into that room and cracked the walls open I’m sure.”
I stopped walking, surprised by the way he said it. Like he meant it.
He turned to face me fully. “Don’t let him get in your head, Lucky. Damon… he doesn’t always know what he’s doing when it comes to people. Especially not when it comes to wanting things.”
1/4
16:59 Sun 1 Jun.
Chapter 39
My breath caught, “What makes you think he wants anything from me?”
because I’ve known him since we were pups,” he said. “And I’ve never seen him look at someone like that flot even once
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. My heart was doing strange things behind my ribs.
We walked again, slower now.
After a few minutes, Asher added, “The next selection trial is coming soon. Rumor is it’ll be political
“That’s what I hear,” I said. “Strategy and allegiance or some such thing.”
He nodded. “And it won’t be fair. It never is. Some girls have been… getting help. Quiet tutoring. From families, friends. Even a few council members
“That’s allowed?” I asked, shocked.
“Not officially,” he said with a grin. “But nothing’s ever official until someone gets caught.”
“Are you warning me?” I asked.
“I’m offering,” he replied smoothly. “If you want help, real help – not the kind that’s wrapped with all the pretty strings- I know the game. I’ve played it longer than most.”
“And what would that help cost me?” I asked.
Asher tilted his head. “That depends. Are you expecting to be saved, or just interested in staying alive a little longer?”
My lips pressed together. I didn’t trust him. Not fully. But he hadn’t given me a reason to doubt him either. Not yet.
We reached the hallway just outside my room.
“Think about it. And sleep well, Lucky,” he said softly, stepping back. “It’s about to get interesting.”
The door clicked shut behind me, and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. The room was quiet, dim, the only light coming the heart.
I shrugged off Asher’s jacket and draped it over the nearest chair. The weight of it lingered on my shoulders even after it was gone. I guess I was starting to collect male’s clothing lately.
I started humming the last lines of the song I sang for Damon without meaning to, the melody curling in the back of my throat. It hadn’t felt like a performance in front of Damon. It had felt like another offering. Showing him a piece of the real me.
The look on his face after… I didn’t know what it meant. I had no idea where I stood with him, and I was running out of time before Henry would demand an update.
+paced the room once, then twice. My nerves were still vibrating, my mind spinning in circles around Asher’s offer.
Help. Real help. Not from Emma, who was doing her best to keep me grounded, but from someone literally on the inside of this place.
I didn’t trust Asher. But I didn’t distrust him either. That was the problem.
I turned toward the bed, pulling at the pins in my hair, when something slid under the door with a quiet whisk. I froze.
A square of parchment, thick and expensive, sealed with dark wax bearing the mark of the crown.
My stomach flipped as I crossed the room and bent to pick it up.
The envelope was heavier than I expected. My fingers trembled slightly as I broke the seal and unfolded the letter inside.
To Lady Elena Ashford,
Chapter 39
You have been selected for placement in the Elite Group of Candidates for the next phase of the Triate. This group will be traliere le observation
His Majesty will serve as Primary Judge
Prepare accordingly.
Office of Royal Selection
My hands tightened around the page. Elite group. Not standard rotation. Not optional challenges. This meant I would be scrutinized, measured in ever move I made. And Damon would be watching the entire time.
The whole thing could’ve been a punishment. Or a reward. I couldn’t tell which. Maybe Damon didn’t even know.
I read the letter again, just to be sure I hadn’t misread. I hadn’t.
The next trial would test political knowledge, strategy, and alignment with the values of the Crown. I was playing a role I barely understood, based on a girl I had spent years trying not to become.
And I had just been cast center stage. A sick weight settled in my chest.
I had survived the combat trials on grit and instinct. I had survived the banquet by clinging to the scraps of an old lullaby. But this? This was politics and expectation and power.
This was Damon watching me with that unreadable gaze, trying to decide what kind of monster I was.
I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth and closed my eyes. Ruby stirred faintly in the back of my mind, her presence low and humming with tension.
He’s testing you now, she said. To be a worthy mate.
I wasn’t sure I agreed with my wolf. He’s testing all of us. I’m not special in this.
Her only answer was a growl of disagreement and a firm Mate.
I sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, the letter still in my lap. My mind was already cataloguing what I knew and what I didn’t: Packs and treaties, noble bloodlines, Council seats. None of it was enough.
But I couldn’t afford to panic.
I folded the letter with care and slipped it in the bedside drawer.
Tomorrow, I would wake up and pretend to be ready. I would wear the right mask. I would learn everything I could.
Because the only way out was forward.
And I wasn’t just playing for my survival, I was playing for my mother’s literal life.
And maybe, if I was being honest, for something else too.
Something that looked a lot like the way Damon watched me when he thought I didn’t notice.
