Their Thirst For Pride

8 - An Irresistible Jewel

Trinity had never really been close with anyone. She’d always felt as far as possible from anyone she knew. It kind of felt like she was in the crowd of a reward ceremony her entire life, watching her brother get praised for even the littlest of things. Sometimes she wondered what he felt, seeing her up on that stage, a winner of the biggest game of the year. All she ever wanted was to get above him. Even if it was only for a day. She regretted that. For a couple days she was praised and pampered. She was loved and interesting. She even made a friend. That friend was dead the next night. Knowing her luck, she should’ve seen disaster coming. All she knew at this point was, if she was going to be forced to continue competing, she needed to be sure she won. She needed to make her mother proud. She craved it so much more than she used to.
She slid a bracelet on, looking into the mirror on her vanity. Trinity chose to wear the very set of jewelry that won her the competition to dinner that night. She wasn’t exactly worrying about what the night ahead of her beheld. She was thinking about her reputation in her family. What would really happen if she managed to win this game? If she managed to survive? She could only hope that a new door would open for her. Some kind of joy or pride. She’d felt those before but she tired of them quickly. That kind of joy and pride was stressful. She wanted less pressure. A sense of belonging.
A knock sounded at her door followed by a, “Miss Flint, it is time for dinner.”
And of she went. Determined.

A gloved hand glided over the various bottles hung on the wall in Mr. Garvish’s room. A couple potions were ripped from their places. A dark yellow mixture: Hypnosis. A black mixture: A curse of death. What an odd thing to possess. The strange person, the one Lyra had met earlier in the day,  set down a glass filled with a dark red wine and poured in the hypnosis, slipping the curse into the pocket of their robe. They left, the room vacant for a few minutes, and re-entered with a new object in the pocket. An opal locket. How could anyone even need a hypnosis potion when all they’d have to do is take one look at the beautiful, glittering jewel within the silver metal that held it in its clutch? Better safe than sorry. The curse was poured into a glass on the table and in fell a small strip of paper. Written on it was a cursive “goodnight”. The gloved hand reached into the glass, retrieved the paper, and placed it into the locket, shutting it tight. The mysterious figure threw away the glove which touched the potion and left, planning to discretely return the locket to its rightful owners room.

Dinner was slow. At least that what it felt like to everyone else. No one was able to get over Miss Amaryllis’s death and of course couldn’t forget the fact that they were locked in a castle with a murderer and an uncaring queen. Trinity was still thinking. It was worse than before if she was being completely honest with herself. Her wine tonight had a certain taste to it. A sweet taste. She couldn’t stop thinking. Thinking about her family, the games, her jewelry. Speaking of jewelry, she couldn’t help but marvel at everything the others were wearing. Their necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings. Pearls, emeralds, sapphires, rubys. She longed to get back to work. She’d make a necklace once judging was complete. She suffered through the meal, why was she so inspired? So motivated? She could wait but she was so close to nearly giving in.
A servant picked up her glass and walked away. Trinity stared around the room. It was empty. Dinner was over.  She got lost in her thoughts again. Something was wrong, something was telling her that but she was so happy she couldn’t have cared less.
“Miss Flint, you are to judge soon.” Her servant said, entering the room.
Again she only stared, not able to say much.
The servant held her hand out to help her out of her seat and she went off to the throne room. When she walked in, everyone stared at her. It felt as if their gaze was piercing into her like dull knives. She was terrified of what they must’ve been thinking.
“You need to get your head out of clouds and choose a winner.” Lyra muttered, standing next to her.
She shut her eyes tight, then refocused. Something drew her to the necklace Miss Cadman held in her hands. An opal locket. It was as if it had a spark to it, like it was going to rise into a flame.
“Miss Cadman,” She said, spitting the name out as if she struggled to speak.
A clap arose in the room, leading the others to join in. Suddenly, not so many eyes were on her, though she could tell someone was still staring. She just couldn’t bring herself  look. One blink and the room was empty once again. Her breathing sped up, tears made their way to her eyes, why was this happening to her? She was living in a shadow again. A worse one.
She made her way upstairs, turning to go to the women’s bed chambers. Someone’s footsteps accompanied hers farther down the hall. She turned around as quick as possible and met the eyes of Mr. Garvish, his eyebrows furrowed, and stance stiffened. He mouthed something, seemingly whispering to himself as he looked away from Trinity. She shook her head and ran the opposite direction.
Finally, her room. The aroma of a sweet rose candle comforted her. She walked to her nightstand to put out the candle as she prepared for sleep but noticed an out of place object. The locket. Her eyes widened as she stared at the glimmer the opal gave off. Knocks sounded at her door but she made no effort to allow the peson to enter or shoo them away. Instead, she picked the necklace up and cradled it in her palm. The knocks grew louder, quicker. Her name was being called by a familiar voice. She opened the locket and slowly picked up the paper inside.
The door busted open and River rushed in. “Trinity, no!” She screamed as she watch the jeweler fall to the ground, a black stained paper in hand.
The inky color of the paper seeped into her fingertips, the paper returning to its normal eggshell color as she laid on the ground. She wasn’t breathing. River, bent down at her side, read the word “goodnight” under her breath.