Kingdom of Lies by Penelope Wright

Author:Penelope Wright [Wright, Penelope]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

What? No! I don’t want to be first off the bus. I’m supposed to hang back and let other people trip the hazards and make the mistakes. It is not a reward to be first off. Is Horst somehow trying to manipulate myself and Odessa into a situation where we have to fight?

Well, if he is, at least that gets me out of an immediate cage match with Snow. I have to put as much distance, physical and mental, between myself and her as possible. As fickle as the Rotunda is, if we make our relationship boring from this point forward, they might not get as excited about the idea of seeing us fight.

I need to give the viewers something more sensational to care about. “Why don’t you go first, Odessa,” I say sweetly, turning and flourishing my arm toward the bus’s front door. “You seem pretty worn out after fulfilling your wish last night with King Ergondy. It’s only fair to give you a head start.”

“What a kind and friendly sentiment, Princess Clio,” Horst Dressen says warmly.

I give him one of my rare, dazzling smiles, but I make sure the broadcast camera drone is pointed straight at my face when I do.

“I am not ‘worn out,’” Odessa snaps. “King Ergondy is an incredibly virile and energetic man.”

“Yes, you’ll need to get into much better shape if you expect him to believe you can keep pace with him the way his queens must,” I say, turning her attempt to flatter him on its head and heightening her anger.

With a frustrated snort, Odessa pushes past me, though I’m not in her way at all, and she flounces out the door, the skirt of her tiny, black negligee flipping up and revealing enough that the camera drone’s footage will probably have to be censored for the viewing audience.

As I follow her slowly and regally with my head held high and my back straight, I have a second to think about what Horst Dressen actually just told us. He named our first event. A slumber party.

What on Earth does that mean? I know “slumber” means “to sleep.” Are they going to have us all sleeping in the same quarters and only the women who can stay awake the longest will survive? Are they going to force us into each other’s minds during a dream walk to wreak havoc that way? That doesn’t seem fair, since only the dream walkers can hurt other people. Glory’s explanation, several weeks ago, about dream walks has always stuck with me. Anything the dream walker does to the dreamer happens in real life. Anything the dreamer does is just a dream. So if they are going to have us invade each other’s dreams in this “slumber party,” will it just be luck of the draw as to who plays the role of the aggressor and who plays the victim? And not to mention it’s still daytime. How are they going to get us to quickly fall asleep? They’ll probably spray us like they often do.

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