Tella had felt the world shift when he’d said the words, felt the power in them, the same fortune-telling magic she felt whenever she touched the Aracle. She would meet Legend if she won the game. But if the real Legend appeared at the end, did that mean the rest of the game was real? Did it mean that Fates other than Jacks were trying to return, and if they did, would Legend be destroyed?
Tella was so lost in her questions she barely noticed how long she walked or where Armando’s serpentine tunnel led. Until she heard the voices echoing against the tunnel’s ancient stone walls.
Tella picked up speed, following the sounds until they guided her to a cobweb-covered door. It was not the first door she’d seen, but it was the first time she’d stopped. She recognized the voices on the other side.
Scarlett and Julian’s.
They were muffled by the dirty door, but unmistakable. Tella knew her sister’s voice better than her own, and Julian’s voice was something else altogether.
When Tella first met Julian back on Trisda, she hadn’t been attracted to him the way her sister Scarlett was. But she had enjoyed the sound of his voice. Velvety and sonorous, Julian had a voice meant for casting spells. But tonight he’d have broken them instead. He sounded like salt without the sea. Rough, alone, and lost.
The scent of soot and cobwebs snaked up Tella’s nose as she leaned closer to the door, imagining her sister’s room inside the palace would be found just beyond it.
“Thank you for letting me in,” Julian said. “I didn’t think you wanted to see me again.”
“I always want to see you,” Scarlett said. “That’s why this hurts so badly.”
In the silence that followed, Tella pictured her sister on the other side of the door. It was now past three in the morning. Scarlett must have been standing in her nightgown, though knowing her, she’d probably grabbed a blanket to cover up. Tella could see her tugging it close, as her sensible head and her hurt at being lied to fought against her aching heart and her desire for Julian.
“My sister thinks I should give you another chance.”
“I agree with your sister.”
“Then give me a good reason to trust you again. I want to, but last time you lied to me after one day.” Scarlett’s shaking tone told Tella she was on the verge of tears.
Tella was intruding on a private moment. She needed to leave them alone, to start down the tunnel again.
“What about your sister—”
Tella stopped moving.
“—how many times has—”
“Don’t bring Tella into this.”
“I just want to know why this is different,” Julian said. “Why can you forgive her for lying about Caraval and Armando and all the other things she’s kept from you?”
“Because she’s my sister.” The fight returned to Scarlett’s voice. “You should understand that. Isn’t that the entire reason you lie so much for your brother, Legend?”
Tella’s entire world froze.
Legend was Julian’s brother.
How had Scarlett kept this a secret?
Because Tella had never asked.
Although it still felt like the sort of thing Scarlett should have shared. If it was true it would solve everything. Tella wouldn’t need any more clues to win the game. She would only need to convince Scarlett to coax Legend’s identity out of Julian.
But Julian was a liar and he worked for Legend. Tella wasn’t sure anything he said could be trusted. This could also be part of the game. A trick. A distraction, to keep Tella from finding the clues that would lead her to the real Legend.
Unless it was one of the clues?
Armando had told her that if she followed the tunnel she’d find the next clue.
Tella listened carefully to whatever Julian might say next.
“Crimson,” he pleaded, “please, I’m trying everything I can to keep you.”