I WAS TEN years old when my mother told me I would have to kill my friends.

I remember it. My face fell, and I asked, "Why?"

She told me, "For the Crown, Violet."

My eyes dried up and I smoothed my skirt. I never asked why again.

It's been six years, and I've been awaiting the day. Not to kill my friends, which are more my family.

I'm awaiting the day I'll take the Crown of Elsara and fulfill the prophecy of Elsara being one again.

I'm probably not going to enjoy plunging my knife into the heart of the boy I loved.

But for the Crown, there are some sacrifices I'm willing to make.

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WE'RE EATING LATE meal, but the only thing I can think of is how my dress needs to be hemmed.

We're all in the Golden City again, the fourth time this week, and I know that it's because tension is so high. Mother and Aunt Schytha's eye contact is so palpable I could reach over and slice it with my knife.

In one month, almost all of the children here at this table will be fighting to outwit, outsmart, outmaneuver, and ultimately, outkill each other.

I look across the table and see Matthias Fox staring at me.

I study his cold blue eyes and wonder if I will be the one to steal the light from them.

The sound of silverware tapping against a chalice juts everyone out of their dazes and we all look to the head of the table, where the three most powerful men in the world sit laughing with each other.

I peer over Matthias' shoulder to watch as nearly the entire population of the Golden CityーRemarysーturns their heads to the dais we dine on. They want to hear what the kings have to say.

I would too, if I were them.

King Madden Dagon, my father, stands. "Friends and family," He starts, and I place my silverware in the shape of an X on my plate. "The Contend of Elsara draws near. At the end of the next month, our children will begin to fight for the crown of Elsara as the prophecy intends, and for five hundred years the heirs of that dynasty shall rule, until they divide the crown and the prophecy begins anew."

My father pauses. "However, some of our children will not have what it takes to survive in Elsara."

The three queens stiffen.

"But we must do what is necessary for the benefit of all." His eyes shift focus from the crowd to something past them, something faraway, and the gilded crown on his head seems to shine more than it usually does. 

"Thousands of years ago," He begins. "Our ancestors gathered together. Their KingdomーElsaraーwas engulfed in chaos. There was no one to rule. So they chose three men, three intelligent, noble, brave young men, and gave them each a crown." He motions to his head where the golden ruby-encrusted crown sits, then to King Hendrix, who wears a silver sapphire-studded crown, and King Fox, whose head is adorned with an onyx and emerald crown.

"But," He continues, looking back to the crowd. "They also made another. A crown of crystal and glass, to be worn by the winning heir of the Contend of Elsara. It is to be placed upon only the heads of a single bloodline for five hundred years, to ensure peace and dignity in the Kingdom of Elsara. The crown has been split for five hundred years. It's time to reunite Elsara and begin the prophecy again."

My father takes a long pause before speaking. His voice echoes up and down the grand dining hall, nary a whisper uttered from the crowd.

"The Contend is a dark time in the Kingdom of Elsara. It is a time when we lay our children to rest, saying goodbye to an old age and entering anew. It is a time for mourning, yes, but a time for hope. And a time to look not back, but forward, and bring the Kingdom of Elsara along."

The crowd erupts in respectful applause, and my father swallows hard before sitting down.

I feel like I've aged a hundred years in the short time of his speech, and I want to be anywhere but here.

I stand, almost tripping over the bloodred fabric of my gown, and excuse myself from the table, taking the back staircase to the private rooms.

I shut the door to the lounge tightly behind me and collapse on a chaise by the window. The sun has just begun to set over the Talahousan mountains, and we've got a long way to go to get back to Orient Elsara.

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I look up at the crystal chandelier. I could just beg Mother to let us stay in the Golden Castle tonight... maybe for the entire week. I don't necessarily want to spend an excessive amount of time around the Rulers and Masters, but I'm desperate to cherish what little civility we have left between us.

I shut my eyes tightly, fighting off hot tears and memories, but my mind is still running. Flooding my vision with images of Matthias as a child, with his triplets, Maithan and Maiklos. Me and Talisen, my older brother, running through the garden. Me and Mirit Hendrix, my best friend, dancing to the upbeat orchestral music in between etiquette classes. Me and Mirit sparring, me, Mirit, and her twin brother Bastian against the triplets.

I smell the rose garden my mother read in, the musty pine scent of my father's workshop, the way the palace kitchen always felt like a warm hug, the echoey corridors of the Golden Castle, the Labyrinth at the Fox's castle, the one Aunt Scytha warned us not to go into alone, for it was too easy to get lost.

The way everything seemed to have a spell over it.

But the knowledge of the Contend fractured the spell, and my sixteenth birthday shattered it altogether.

Now I'm just counting down the days.

"Vie? Are you in here?" 

I swallow and respond without opening my eyes. "Yes."

My older sister, Elspeth, enters the lounge and sits on the end of the daybed. When I don't open my eyes, she places a hand on my knee and squeezes.

I peer at her, eyes narrowed. Her features are soft, relaxed. She looks calm.

She's twenty-one years old. She escaped the Contend easily. What does she have not to be calm about?

"How are you doing?" She asks in a honey-sweet voice. Elspeth and I are very similar appearance-wiseーboth with long, dark, wavy hair, sharp features, dark hawk-like eyes, and deep olive skinーbut when it comes to our personalities, we couldn't be more different. That's why, even though we look alike objectively, the way we carry ourselves is so distinct you could hardly tell we're sisters.

I shrug.

Elspeth draws her hand back to her lap, priming her lips and studying the marble floors.

"What are you doing in here?" I ask, eyes trained on the ceiling. 

There's a pause before she answers. "I saw Matthias following you, so I sent him back to his seat and came to check on you myself."

I sit up on my elbows and give her a hard look. She ignores me, though, and I can't really blame her. I'm not mad at her for itーI don't actually think I care either way.

"Well, I'm fine." It's a lie, but it's infinitely better than detailing every single thing that's eating at my conscience to my sister.

Elspeth doesn't buy it, I can tell, but she gets up and leaves nonetheless.

I sigh. She means well, but now that she's gone, a deep pounding has set into the side of my head, and I have no desire but to fall asleep and stay asleep, preferably for about five hundred years.

I've started to doze off when the door to the lounge creaks open.

I pry my eyes open and immediately sit up.

Matthias Fox wears his signature smirk as he takes another step into the lounge. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," He says, the tone of his voice suggesting otherwise.

"I'm sure," I respond, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. "Didn't Elspeth lop off your head and serve it as the main course?"

Matthias' brows cut upwards. "I suppose not." He glances behind him. "Did she have plans I don't know about?"

I curl my lip. "Most likely not. If she hasn't done it by now, it'll never get done. You know El."

Matthias meets my eyes. "I do."

I return my gaze to the window.

He clears his throat. "I was just checking on you. Meal is almost over and everyone was wondering where you are."

"What's with everybody checking on me?" I ask. "First El, now you." I tilt my head back to look at him. "Can't a princess have some time alone?"

Matthias' cheeks flush, and I hide my triumphant smile. "I guess we're worried about you. We care about you, you know." He smiles a little.

He means it to lighten the mood, but I can't stop the response I bite out next, "Yeah, I suppose that's why they're tossing me into a city to kill my friends, don't you think?"

Even with him only in my peripheral, I watch Matthias' jaw clench. "You're not the only one going out there you know." 

I don't say anything.

"You do know." I don't usually hear Matthias vulnerable, but when I do, it's hard to keep my composure. "We're all going to be there."

I still don't turn to face him, but he just walks around to stand in front of me.

He tries to meet my eyes, but I'm already looking away, the tears making it hard to see when I toss my legs over the chaise, walking across the room to stand in front of another window. 

I see Matthias walking over to me in the glass and turn my head again, but he places his hand on the underside of my jaw, tilting my face to his. Our lips are a hairsbreadth apart and a million memories swarm my brain, but they're all drowned out by the pained look in Matthias' eye.

"Vie," He says, voice shaky. Looking into his eyes feels like drowning in the ocean, freezing cold, alone and desperate. "I have to kill you."

I swallow, his fingers shifting with the movement of my throat. "I know," I creak.

He shakes his head, pressing his forehead to mine for a moment before I shrink away. "I can't."

I'm looking into his eyes, and the boy I thought was brave, the boy I thought was strong, the boy I thought was everything, is crumbling and expecting me to pick him up and put him back together.

I shake my head and take a step back, pulling away from him.

"Then you are weak." The words are barely said above a whisper, but I watch as each one lands.

I turn and don't look back, closing the door tightly behind me.