The other Great Ladies share a knowing look while Adair grits her teeth, a muscle twitching along her jaw-line. “Quiet, Avery! I’ll get to you in a second.” The Scala Heir inhales a deep breath, and then gestures to the girl seated next to Gianna.
“This is Lady Keisha from the House of Horus.” Adair points to a girl in a bronze gown with ebony skin, large mismatched eyes, and dreadlocks down to her waist. Keisha sends me a smile that’s somehow warm and icy at the same time.
Adair nods to the next girl in line, who wears a blue gown. “Here we have Lady Nita from the House of Kamal.” She has creamy cocoa skin, striking bone structure, long brown hair, and nasty sneer on her face. Adair doesn’t bother to point to the girl at the end of the row. “I guess you already met Avery. She’s from the House of Acca, like me.”
Avery waves again. “Hello, Myla! So nice to see you again.”
I force on my best smile. “Hello, everyone.”
Adair turns her attention to my gown. She eyes me from head to toe. Twice.
I bite my bottom lip. Here it comes.
“You look very festive, Miss Lewis.” The rest of the Great Ladies snicker.
I’m about to cause another inter-realm incident when an older, plump man with receding red hair steps onto the tournament green, a crossbow in his hand. His barrel chest almost bursts out of his black-and-yellow tunic. Avery claps her hands and points. “Look, there’s father!”
The Scala Heir shares a snide glance with Gianna. “We can all see him, Avery.”
The Earl of Acca raises his thick arms high. “Welcome to the autumn tournament and exhibition! This display of fighting skill prepares us for the real event, the winter tournament, where the greatest warrior in Antrum will be named!” The crowd breaks out into wild applause. “Of course, I’m hoping it will be Acca’s honor this year.” The applause dies down.
The Earl lifts his crossbow. “I’ll begin today’s exhibition with a display of my own fighting skill against a dreaded Limus demon!”
I grimace. I sure hope it’s not Sheila.
The fence on one end of the tournament grounds swings open. A Limus demon floats through, its body a towering mass of green goo. I scan the face. Not Sheila, whew.
The Earl of Acca loads a metal bolt into his crossbow and starts firing. The missiles fly harmlessly through the goopy demon and thud into the wooden wall around the field.
I nudge the Scala Heir with my elbow. “He’s not really using a crossbow against a Limus, is he?”
“What’s a Limus?” She frowns. “Oh, that green thing. Father knows what he’s doing. He’s a thrax, Miss Lewis.”
The Limus speeds toward its victim. The Earl of Acca firms up his stance, shooting bolt after bolt through the demon’s body. I glance around me. A lantern hangs from one of the posts that hold up the pavilion’s fabric ceiling.
Yeah, that would do it.
The Limus slams into the Earl. Green goo encases the man whole. Inside the demon, the Earl of Acca flails, trying to whack his way out with the crossbow. Next to me, the Scala Heir and Gianna continue chatting. I nudge her in the ribs again.
“Your father’s in big trouble.”
She looks at me and arches her eyebrow. “No, he’s not. And if you keep interrupting me, Gianna’ll put a hex on you.” She turns to face her friend, showing me as much back as possible.
On the tournament grounds, the Earl of Acca feebly kicks and punches from inside the Limus demon. Some thrax stand up in their pavilion seats, their faces twisted with worry. The Earl stops moving altogether.
That’s it.
I rip the lantern off the post and hurl it with all my strength. The fire slams into the demon’s skin. The Limus bursts into emerald flames. The thrax in the pavilions gasp. The fire dies down, leaving the Earl standing alone, wheezing and covered in green goop.
He points at me, slime dripping from his finger. “YOU! How dare you!”
For a few long minutes, there’s a lot of confusion, gasping, and cries of ‘how dare you’ from the Earl. It’s all a big blur until a familiar hand grips mine. I turn to see Cissy standing beside me. She tugs on my arm. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
She pulls me past the tournament field, stopping behind one of the tents. Her eyes grow large with alarm. “What happened back there, Myla?”
“I saved that guy’s life.”
“Everyone said he was doing fine.”
“Everyone’s wrong. A Limus demon was about to digest him whole. He was not doing fine.” I fold my arms over my chest. “He’s just a pompous blowhard who didn’t want to get showed up by a girl, even if that girl saved his life.”
Cissy grinds her teeth. “The House of Acca is freaking out. I need to do some damage control.” She winces. “This could take a while.” Cissy’s forehead creases with concern, the same expression she wears when feeding stray cats or tending her shoebox of moth cocoons. She doesn’t want this blow-up to cause trouble for Zeke and his family. Which, since I’m associated with them and their house, it very well could.