The Luna Trials by Marissa Gilbert

Northern Blood

Kai had seconds to collect himself as his sister reminded him of his place, letting go of the girl in front of him.

He was the King, and he had a role to play. Especially with all the cameras pointed in his direction.

He would be thinking about Savannah Stormhold later. Savannah. F*cking. Stormhold.

It was unbelievable that out of all the people here, he was drawn to her. His guilty pleasure, his little maid, turned out to be the woman he tried to avoid marrying in the first place. Moreover, she was the little sister of the guy whose guts he hated the most.

His head was buzzing with a million questions, so he just waved for the event to start, ignoring Elene’s displeased gaze at him and his earlier promise to deliver a short speech. She would have to figure all of this out on her own since she was the one who started this mess in the

first place. Which she did just perfectly.

Of course, her bestie Penelope was the first, and he didn’t even listen to how she solved an old northern riddle for five-year-olds. Elene could have at least given her something a bit more challenging, so as not to make it too obvious that she was helping her. Penelope wasn’t an idi.ot.

Neither was Princess Savannah. His eyes were searching for her at every opportunity, and each time she averted his gaze. Apparently, everyone and everything in this room was more interesting to her than he was – the lamps, the walls, the floor, the people…

He gritted his teeth, focusing on the women before him. A witch just passed the test. A witch… Elene must have been crazy to invite her. Witches should have been avoided at all costs.

“Salome Gray from the White Tree Coven”, she introduced herself and gave him a seductive glance with her onyx eyes, which he did not return as he was staring at Savannah again. Her delicate shoulders were poking out of her feathery dress, bringing sinful thoughts into his mind.

She looked nothing like the last pictures of her that he had seen. Then again, the last time he was interested to see her was years ago, when she was just a cute teen with freckles. Interested wasn’t even the right word. He wanted to make sure she was nowhere near ready to get married to piss off Gideon with his offer after he humiliated his sister.

That was stupid, and he knew that now. But back then, it seemed like a good idea after he saw Elene crying for hours. Both he and Gideon were young Alphas back then and it was a given that his elders would try to persuade him to accept such a marriage.

Now the joke was on him. Because Savannah grew up. And the woman she had become was… really something.

It all made sense now. Her destroying the bushes, her looking guilty for kissing him back…

She was no maid indeed.’

The next girl was another werecat, Mikaela something. That meant that now there were two werecats in the game. Two too many. This kind was free and not cut for a traditional marriage.

It was almost Savannah’s turn, and he couldn’t wait. As soon as this farce was done, he would drag her away, and they would talk about.. everything

He didn’t know what that ‘everything’ meant precisely, but they had to clear the air. Judging by her reaction, she thought that he had been purposefully messing with her all this time on purpose. And although he was initially guilty of creating this whole situation in the first place, he wanted her to know that he wasn’t playing with her when he kissed her. It was an honest mistake that he would never repeat again.

That thought felt sour to him, but he had to push it deeper into his mind. This had to be the end of them. He would never allow himself anything with her. After all, they weren’t mates, and they were too different. This could never work…

Some girl he didn’t know got’her riddle that for some reason, seemed to be harder than what the other contenders got. She managed to solve it, and when she introduced herself as Astrid, a daughter of some eastern Alpha, it became clear to him that Elene was playing a game of her own, trying to eliminate the ones she disliked the most first. He wanted her to find a way to stop the Trials, but she also had to understand that they had to keep their face in all of this. Showing favouritism was against everything the North believed in.

He grunted at the thought that they would have to have a conversation about all this again. And although he loved his sibling with all his heart, he had had enough of her for the past two days already

It was Savannah’s turn now, and she stepped forward. The defiance and determination on her face was admirable. But then the props arrived and he realised that she wasn’t getting a riddle like everyone else. He felt anger rising at the bottom of his chest.

“There are nine coins on the table,” Elene smirked, “but one of them is fake. The fake coin is slightly lighter than the rest. Our contender can weigh the coins two times and no more. Then, she has to tell us which coin is fake. Good luck!”

his throne, their eyes meeting for

hell, Elene?” he demanded via the mind-link. “Everyone got a children‘s

to him. “You wanted her out.

was so afraid

anyway! Just wait and see... Besides, it‘s not that hard.

who was slowly counting the coins in her palm with her delicate fingers. The same fingers

his

her any other riddle and make up something about his sister pranking the other only other princess

turned to him on her heels, it wasn’t an expression of gratitude that she wore on her face. Her brows were knitted on

a fake smile, and she

cameramen came closer to avoid missing anything. “I love this test, and these ancient northern coins are exquisite. I have never held one in my hand before, and however this ends, this was already worth it. To touch the history of the North… It really means a lot to me. You see, a long time ago, a member of my family married

respect for his culture was unbelievable. She even mentioned having northern blood, which he wasn’t aware

of the coins into her fingers. “If I had to choose by just looking at them, I’d pick this one. It’s scratched just like the others, but the scratches seem… shinier.

paper and returned her sneer from earlier. “Regardless, I have to weigh the coins,

and then demonstrated to everyone the one she already considered fake, placing it a bit further away from the other two

hand and carefully put them on the scales, waiting just a few seconds

see, these two groups have the same weight,” she announced with the tone of a teacher. “If the fake coin was in any of the two groups, the scales wouldn’t be even. So, we

and took another

correct, then these two coins will have the same weight, meaning that the remaining coin is the lighter one. Also known as the fake

golden cups, and

she took the last coin, the one she bet was the fake one from the very beginning. “And here is the one we’ve been looking for!” It was quiet at first, but soon someone started clapping. Then another person

bowed gracefully before the

growled, trying to end this fast and hurried to their side.

riddle, Princess,” Savannah commented calmly so that others couldn’t hear them, “And I wasn’t lucky. I

eyes met, and it was nothing less than

back to the throne, not even bothering

a slight problem locating the ties

motion made them both freeze, and he felt his breathing getting ragged. Absent-mindedly, he

mask, announcing her himself.

the contenders. This was where he was supposed to stand for their group shot, and something told him

glance which he ignored as he stood right next to the Western Princess, trying not to

to have such wonderful, strong and beautiful women come to our palace to honour our traditions by fighting

came out dry, and he could swear he heard a little

right to this if he was honest

when she slid her arm around

think it’s time for us to announce the main

looked at the princess in confusion. What was she doing? That dangerous

out of the ceremony hall. But she turned back to the

was such a wonderful and ancient tradition. As I have already told you, I love history, and I am especially fascinated with the history of the North. One of the ancient rules of The Luna Trials was that it wasn’t just the King making his choice. The people of the North were choosing

she continued, “During each test, when contenders are eliminated, the people of the North can save one

their hearts. You are all a part of this! Up

guests started buzzing

tonight,” Kai announced before she threw something else at him with a curt smile and then gestured for