Devon winced, but he still nodded. “Yeah. Like those.”
“I don’t know. Maybe Vance was already out in the woods. Maybe he’d been making out with a girl, like you said. Maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“But you thought Vance was a bad guy,” Felix said. “That he was the one who cut the rope ladder.”
I shrugged. “Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t. I don’t know anymore. And I don’t know how Vance’s murder fits in with what happened to all those tree trolls.”
“I asked around about your murdered monsters,” Mo said. “It’s probably some idiot in town for the tournament, trying to prove what a tough guy he is by trapping and killing a bunch of monsters. Some folks like to show off like that. It happened last year.”
“What happened last year?”
“A couple of tree trolls were found all cut up,” Mo said. “I heard about it from one of the Volkov pixies when I was making my rounds at the tournament yesterday. Their guards found the trolls on the edge of the Volkov property around this time last year. It wasn’t a pretty sight, and it sounds just like what you, Devon, and Felix saw the other night.”
I frowned. “Did the Volkovs ever figure out who had killed the trolls? Or why?”
Mo shrugged. “Not that the pixie had heard.”
I started to ask another question, but Claudia strode into the dining hall, a sword dangling from her hand. Everyone stopped eating and talking and turned to face her. She was wearing another black pantsuit and heels, with her silver cuff flashing on her right wrist. Her makeup was flawless, but tired lines grooved around her mouth and eyes. No doubt she’d been up all night, dealing with the Vance situation.
Claudia looked out over her Family, her gaze moving from one face to the next. “By now, you have all heard what happened to Vance,” she said. “That his body was found cut up in the woods along the lake. With the tournament and all the tourists in town right now, the other Families have declared it a tragic accident. They’re saying that Vance wandered too far into the woods and was attacked and killed by a monster. As a result of their declaration, the Tournament of Blades will proceed as scheduled today.”
Mutters of shock and surprise rang out, with the loudest and angriest ones coming from the table where Vance’s friends were sitting, including Henry, who’d made a full recovery from his broken leg.
“But we all know that it wasn’t an accident,” Claudia continued in a hard voice. “That Vance was an experienced guard, too experienced to be taken down by some mysterious monster without fighting back for everything he was worth.”
Murmurs of agreement rippled through the dining hall.
Claudia waited until the noise died down before she spoke again. “There is nothing I can do about the other Families declaring Vance’s death an accident. So we will go to the tournament today, and we will fight, and we will honor Vance the best way we can. Understood?”
This time, the murmurs were much louder, and every single person nodded his or her head in agreement, including me.
“But know this. Someone has killed one of our own, and I will do everything in my power to find this person and make sure that he or she is punished accordingly.” Claudia’s voice rang with steely authority. “I promise it to every person in the Family, just as I promised it to Vance last night.”
Silence fell over the room. No one spoke, and no one moved.
“But until then, we will do our absolute best today, and we will show everyone—everyone—what the Sinclairs are really made of.” Claudia raised her sword high, mimicking the Family crest. “For Vance!”
We all shot to our feet, raised our own swords, and echoed her words. “For Vance!”
And we all meant it—every single Sinclair.
CHAPTER TWENTY
After breakfast, we packed up our gear and went to the fairgrounds.
We got there early, but the stone bleachers were already full, and practically every seat was taken, since this was the last and most popular day of the tournament. I filed into the stadium with the rest of the Sinclairs. Everyone stared at us, with whispers springing up in our wake. Everyone had heard what had happened to Vance, and the other Families were waiting to see how we would react.