30. Will You Cheer Me On?

Chancellor Vesper makes his way to the middle of the field, flanked by sentinels on either sides of him. Behind him is a figure in those dreadful robes that I can never forget. The Grand Mistress. Her hair is styled in a complicated updo that must have taken hours of careful structuring, and her hands are folded in the overflowing sleeves of her robes.

Her blank gaze is fixed ahead, but I have a feeling she can see everything.

The silence in the stadium as they approach its center is unsettling. Chancellor Vesper waves dismissively at the teams formed below and they immediately clear the area, heading toward their designated seats.

I spy Darian behind, moving at his own pace, like he has all the time in the world. My heart squeezes a little as I recall earlier this morning. I don't let myself dwell on it. Thinking on his words will make them real.

And they are not.

The ground under my feet moves a little and my eye is drawn to the centre where the the earth cle