Three may keep a secret,
if two of them are dead
I raised both my hands up very slowly, then brought it down midway, spread like an eagle, then I raised my left leg up, stretching it like I stretched my hands before putting it down, then I fisted my hand before putting down at me sides.
I groaned in my head, this looked way cooler when I was practicing alone. I did a couple of moves before the beats changed signaling the start of the second chorus. I repeated what I did.
Here goes nothing.
Immediately the beats changed, I changed my slow moves to very fast ones as the beats sounded faster.
I was terrified, what if I tripped? What if I moved my hands in the wrong direction.
A lot of what if's resounded in my brain.
And then the beats stopped, making me freeze.
"Congratulations, you have all moved to the next level, there are food and drinks for you to enjoy, please make yourselves comfortable for the time being." The Host shouted while the crowds applauded with a scream.
I didn't realize my eyes were blurry with sweat until I blinked, I took in my surroundings and cried out in shock.
The score board showed 289 contestants left and still four more levels to go and 12 more trials.
The girls at my side weren't present again, I guess they made a mistake, I was so focused on not making one myself I didn't see them disappear.
★★★
What would this trial entail, will there be more girls dying? More horrifying moments?
Would I beg to die like the prince said on this trial?
No, no way, that psychopath's wishes will never come through, if at all I die, I'd surely prefer to die fighting than die a coward.
This time we appeared in an open field and the middle was decorated to look like a.... class room? A big one at that, there were single chairs and table arranged in rows.
"Please take a seat." The Host's voice sounded from somewhere, I could here the crowd murmurings from where I stood, looks like they were confused as well.
I took a seat closer to the middle, better to see from all sides.
Immediately I sat, a pen and paper appeared.
Okay now it was more than confusing, were we taking a test?
"The first trial for level two is technically a game." The Host didn't sound sure himself.
"You need ,6 points to reach the second trial, now how do you get this points? You need to answer correctly the questions I ask, if you get correctly you automatically get two points."
"If a person answers and you think the person is wrong, you can answer the question and if you're correct and the person is also wrong you get their point.
"There are numbers below your desk, this number indicates your identity."
I looked below my desk and saw the number was 227.
I waited patiently for the bad side of this.
"There's a twist though, our beloved people of Caravia will choose who gets to answer!"
What!"?
The sound of the crowd was deafening.
"A single bowl is to be passed around, it will be filled with folded papers containing each of the contestants numbers, whichever number gets picked gets to answer, and if you never get picked, well...Laeta has made it like that!"
I sighed, what else was I expecting, a fair trade? Why did we need the paper and pen then?
Were we going to be answering maths questions? I wouldn't put it past them.
Oh Laeta, no, anything but maths.
"The first part of the question is about history!
"Here we go: What name do we call the year that the summoning started?"
"268." Someone in the crowd shouted.
A girl in front of me stood up trembling as she did.
"Uhm, The year of the last Apocalypse."
"Correct, Two points to 268."
The way the girl sat down still trembling and clutching her clothes made me sad, us living was based on answering correctly, Oh Goddess Laeta, how could you let this continue.
"Why did the quintessence start the summoning?"
"144."
A woman beside me stood up, she was standing like she had nothing to fear, her chin upwards her stance perfect, only the slight tremble in her hands betrayed her cool look.
I wondered who wrote the questions, did the prince write it? Or was it the quintessence who gave them, I wondered how the woman was supposed to answer the question when no one knew the real reason why the quintessence started the summoning in the first place.
The woman swallowed repeatedly before she opened her mouth.
"To find a befitting consort for the Ice prince of Caravia."
A loud pop sounded above the woman, making her jerk back, but before she could right herself she disappeared.
We all gasped and then started sobbing.
What other reason was she expected to give, as far as I knew, that was the only reason the royal family gave.
"Anybody want to try." The host asked, nobody answered.
The voice in my head cackled.
I closed my eyes to keep from shouting. Is this funny to you? I asked.
No. It replied. What's funny is all of you thinking the quintessence will sacrifice thousands of life just to find a good consort, if the prince is so selective, why not just make him choose someone who would be a consort in name only, and if it's about producing an heir, that isn't so hard to do, why go through so much trouble?*
This was one of the circumstances that I hated when the voice was right.
But if no one could possibly know the real reason apart from the royal family, why ask it in a life or death situation?.