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  “Are you surprised?” Kristoff asked him. “After I told you about the three attempts already made on my Lady’s life—one of them right outside your Council Room yesterday? And to that I must add a fourth as her drinking vessel exploded in her hands yesterday just as she was about to take a sip of langra tea.”

  “All this is most shocking and dreadful,” Head Councilor Tannus interrupted, frowning. “But it is not the reason we are gathered here in the Great Hall today. We are here that the Trials of Ascendancy may be completed by both candidates for Goddess-Empress. Are the candidates ready to begin?”

  I could see Kristoff scowling at the way the Head Councilor was ignoring the issue of the many assassination attempts that had been made against me. The youngest Councilor still looked outraged and I thought a few of the others looked distinctly uncomfortable. But no one moved to contradict the Head Councilor when he changed the subject to get down to business.

  Eucilla stepped forward, brushing a lock of platinum blonde hair gracefully out of her lovely face.

  “I am ready to prove I am the True Incarnation, oh honorable Councilor,” she said in a clear, well-modulated voice. She held her chin high and today she was wearing a pure emerald dress that set off her eyes perfectly. Her feet were strapped into extremely high heels that made her six inches taller—she towered over me in my bare feet, making me feel like a shrimp.

  “Remember,” Kristoff murmured in my ear. “You are the True Incarnation, Charlotte. Step forward and claim your place without fear.”

  “I’m, uh, ready too,” I said, taking a step forward as he’d said and trying not to sound as nervous and unsure of myself as I felt.

  “Very well.” The Head Councilor banged on the podium-table with the fist-sized pink crystal which seemed to be a kind of gavel. “Then let us adjourn to the Testing Suite, which has been made ready for you.”

  My honor guard surrounded me once more and with Kristoff by my side, we all marched out of the Grand Hall and then down the broad main hallway for what seemed like forever.

  At last we came to a smaller offshoot—a dim side passage that looked like it didn’t get much use. Here the Head Councilor stopped the whole procession and raised a hand over his head for silence. The crowd of Majoran nobility slowly stopped talking and waited expectantly.

  “This is the corridor of the Trials,” he said, his voice carrying surprisingly well in the packed hallway. “It is forbidden for any save the candidates, their companions, and the Council of Wisdom to enter and see the Trials.”

  There were grumbles of disappointment but I got the feeling the Majoran nobles and Royals weren’t that surprised. Myself, I was relieved. I didn’t want all these strangers watching me do…whatever it was I was going to have to do. Plus, there was no Earthly way they could all fit into the much smaller passageway we were about to enter.

  “Come,” Kristoff said, taking my arm firmly as the Head Councilor led the way into the dim corridor.

  We were behind Morbain and Eucilla and they were so tall I couldn’t see around them but soon we stopped and the Head Councilor turned to face us.

  “Back, please—away from the Trial doors,” he said, motioning peremptorily at us.

  Once everyone took a step back, against the right wall of the corridor, I saw that the left wall had three doors in it at widely spaced intervals.

  “Three Trials of Ascendancy have been ordained for the finding and delineation of the True Incarnation,” Head Councilor Tannus said, his bushy blue-black eyebrows drawing low on his forehead. “They should be sufficient but if for some reason there is no clear choice…we do have the fourth.”

  Some of the other Councilors sucked in their breath at this and looked at him uncertainly. I looked at Kristoff to see if this meant anything to him but he merely stared straight ahead, his handsome face impossible to read.

  God, I really wished he would have briefed me on what was about to happen!

  “And now for the first Trial,” the Head Councilor said. “That of the Orb and Scepter.”

  “I believe Eucilla should be allowed to go first,” Morbain said, stepping forward.

  I looked at Kristoff to see if he was going to object but he simply nodded serenely. “Let her.”

  “Very well.” Casting a somewhat uncertain look at Kristoff, Prince Morbain stepped forward, holding Eucilla by the elbow. “Go, my dear—claim what is rightfully yours. What you have already claimed once before,” he said, raising his voice grandly so that it carried out to the waiting nobility beyond the small corridor.

  “As it is agreed, the Lady Eucilla shall have the first Trial,” the Head Councilor said. Stepping forward, he opened the wide, black door outlined in gold. “And Lady, ahem—I am sorry, what was your name again?” He stared down his nose at me.

  “Charlotte,” I said, beginning to get sick of his arrogant bullshit. “Charlotte Walker.”

  “Yes, well—Lady Charlotte then—you may stand in the doorway and watch. After Lady Eucilla has had her turn, it will be your time to enter.”

  “But what are we supposed to do in there?” I asked as Eucilla walked through the door, as stately as a queen. “I don’t know anything about any of this.”

  “You require an explanation?” His bushy eyebrows went up in disbelief.

  “I’d like one, yes,” I said, trying to keep the irritation I felt out of my voice. “Along with a little courtesy. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”

  “Oh, very well.” He rolled his eyes as though I was being childish by asking. “Within the first Trial room is the royal Orb and Scepter—those implements which the Goddess-Empress holds as she sits upon the Golden Throne. The Orb and Scepter are imbued with sentience and they long for the touch of the true Goddess-Empress’s hand. In fact, it is said that they will fly from their pedestal to the hand of their true mistress the moment she steps into their immediate vicinity. Watch,” he added, motioning at my competitor.

  Eucilla had taken a step into the long room which was bare except for the rich gold and crimson pattern that completely covered the walls and made it look like the inside of a Faberge egg. At the end of the small, jewel-like area was a pedestal with two black silk cushions on it.

  On one cushion was lying a large gold implement about the size of a baseball bat. It had a ruby as big as my fist on one end. On the other cushion was what looked like an immense crimson-red pearl about the size of a soccer ball. It was encrusted all over with diamonds and trimmed with gold, making it glitter and gleam like an exotic, expensive fruit in the dim, warm light.

  “Wow,” I breathed, looking up at Kristoff. “And those are supposed to fly to my hands the minute I walk in the room?”

  “They will fly to the True Incarnation’s hands,” the Head Councilor sneered, correcting me rudely.

  “Charlotte is the True Incarnation, Councilor,” Kristoff said, his voice filled with quiet menace. “I’d have a care how I spoke to the future Empress if I were you.”

  The Head Councilor opened his mouth to retort but just then Eucilla took another step towards the pedestal and both the Orb and Scepter jerked up from their black silk cushions and flew to her waiting hands.

  “You see?” Morbain exclaimed triumphantly. “And that is exactly what happened yesterday! Which is why we should stop this travesty right now and invest Eucilla as the True Incarnation.”

  I looked at Kristoff whose rainbow eyes were narrowed. What was going on here? He’d told me that I was the True Incarnation of the Goddess-Empress. So then, why had the Orb and Scepter flown to Eucilla?

  “Let the Trial continue,” he said, frowning at the Head Councilor. “It is now time for my Lady Charlotte to enter the chamber.”

  “But…” I looked at him uncertainly. “But they already…” I gestured at Eucilla, who was standing there holding the Scepter in one hand and the Orb in the other, looking unbearably smug.

  “Go on, Charlotte,” he said in a low voice. “All will be made clear. You will see.”