The Underworld Crown (Series)

Chapter 23

"Favouring me?" I cried in outburst. "Since when has Hades favoured me?"

Artemis, watching me closely, put her fork down as if to give me her full attention. "Since you only experienced three fears in the first test. Everyone else had upwards of fifteen."

Dread pooled at the bottom of my stomach. "I don't see how that suggests Hades is favouring me in any way. Everyone knows Hades isn't responsible for making or running the tests. Besides, if anyone bothered to use their eyesight they'd see how much he hates me." My voice was rising and I had to reel myself in to make sure no one else overheard us.

Artemis shrugged as if my desperation wasn't clear. "That's just the story going around at the moment: You're in Hades' pocket and he's using his power to up your chances in the tournament."

My grip on my knife and fork was vice-like.

"People will believe anything when it means they can excuse their own poor performance," Himeros chimed in with a roll of his eyes. "They'd much rather blame the fact you had next to no fears on nepotism rather than question why they themselves had so many fears."

I sighed and rubbed my temples, letting the consequences of this rumour fully sink in. Finally, I voiced my fear. "They think I'm their competition, don't they?"

Himeros nodded, and my dread cemented.

I wasn't entirely sure whether I imagined the lull in conversation that passed through at that moment, but now I was all too aware of the drop in noise level. A few seats down, one of Adephagia's children shot me a chilling look as they played with the food on their plate. I sucked in a quick breath and focused my attention on Artemis again.

"It shouldn't be a problem," I told myself as much as I told Artemis. "They'll figure out Hades doesn't like me when my blood is splattered on the castle walls."

Artemis leaned forwards in her seat, resting her elbows on the table. "There's really no alliance between yourself and Hades?"

A scoff got caught in my throat when I realised Artemis wasn't joking. "You're seriously asking me that?"

Artemis' eyes were shadowed with distrust as she pursed her lips. I frowned and ate the remainder of my food as quickly as possible, overwhelmed by the desire to get out of there.

Himeros grabbed my wrist as I stood. He sent through sparks of light that danced along my skin and made me shiver. I ripped my hand away from him.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "That was on instinct. But you're leaving already?"

"Absolutely," I shot back, my eyes glancing back to Artemis as she sat there with a half-guilty, half-suspecting frown. "I'm done eating. I'm going to bed."

Himeros chewed on his lip, thinking. He actually could have passed as a normal human when he looked like that. "Be careful."

"My bed won't bite," I replied.

His frown deepened. "I wasn't talking about your bed." His eyes flickered down the table, over the other contestants. "I was talking about the others. Now that they see you as competition, they might act rashly."

The dread in my stomach told me that I believed him.

*****

Even the softness of my mattress was unable to lull me to sleep that night. I blamed my uneasiness on the heat. I tossed and turned in my bed, kicking my sheets into a ball at my feet. A layer of sweat soaked my skin, but this was bizarre considering the inside of the castle was normally so much cooler than its exterior. Perhaps the changing weather patterns had something to do with the magic on this place.

I gave myself five more minutes of tossing and turning before I sat up and dragged a hand down my tired face. My stomach released a growl, desperate for food. I lit the handheld candle beside my bed and let its light guide me as I moved to the door. I would go scour the kitchen right now for some leftovers. I knew I shouldn't have been so keen to leave the Dining Hall earlier tonight, not when I was still so hungry.

I was surprised there wasn't a Crown Guard stationed at the entrance of the hallway as I padded along the stone floor. As far as I was aware, there were normally one or two milling around this area at night, trying to make sure no one was up to no good. But perhaps they were in the middle of a rotation or change of shifts. I debated turning around, but my stomach growled with the ferocity of a lion and I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep without getting at least a slice of bread.

I'd never walked around the castle alone at night-time before. The novelty of it quickly turned into wariness. Without the bustling of servants, the stamping of footsteps from moving guards, or general chatter, even my breathing was too loud as I moved through the hallways that would lead me to the kitchen. I was beginning to regret leaving my bedroom when the silence felt as though it might suffocate me. This was exacerbated by the pervasive darkness, only kept an arm's reach away by the candle.

"We should just kill her and get it over with," a female voice emerged from the darkness, causing me to freeze mid-step.

A gasp escaped me. I peered in front of me but was unable to see where the voice was coming from. One glance behind me also told me they weren't sneaking up on me from that direction.

"Killing isn't the answer to all of our problems," a gruff, deep voice answered with an air of casualness.

Killing? My mind repeated that word as their voices swirled closer. Himeros' warning to watch out surfaced in my mind, and I wondered if they were speaking about me. Quickly, I blew out my candlelight to avoid attracting unnecessary attention. The darkness moved in quickly to greet me and I felt my way along the wall, until I was tucked away carefully behind a statue. The smell of burnt candlewick lingered in the air, and I swallowed stiffly.

"If we don't kill her, then she'll kill us first," a third voice spoke up, to my surprise. Another woman.

It took me a while to place their voices. I'd seen little of the children from Gluttony City during my time in the castle, but their voices had a distinct edge to them – it as if they spoke in a kind of raspy hiss. I hardly moved as the sounds of their footsteps emerged from the darkness. They were turning around a corner I had been about to pass. Any second, they would pass by my hiding place.

My throat tightened.

The footsteps stopped.

"Serena?" the first woman asked.

I squeezed my eyes shut tight. Perhaps I'd imagined them stopping–

"Are you playing a game of hide and seek with us?" the man asked. The owner of that voice popped up in my mind – Gresil.

I slammed my eyes open again. The entire room was pitch black, I don't know how they knew it was me.

"We're able to see in the dark, you know," the first woman deadpanned.

Oh.

I stepped out slowly from my hiding position and could only just see the outline of each of their bodies. As I'd guessed, there were three of them.

"Hey," I said lamely. "How's it going?"

"You were listening to our conversation," Gresil pointed out.

I scoffed. "No, I wasn't." Fantastic. I may as well have held up a sign saying I was an idiot.

"You do realise it's not a good idea to try to sneak up on us, alone, at night?" the second woman asked.

I gulped and took a step in the direction I prayed was away from them. "I didn't mean to run into you guys. I was only heading towards the kitchen for a snack."

A heartbeat of silence passed, as if they were glancing at each other. "Funny, I was just feeling like a snack, too," the first said.

I had only a moment to consider the meaning of what they were saying.

Then their hands latched onto my arms and shoulders.