Chapter 5

O ver the next two days, Mateo watched the landscape morph from barren and rocky to green and flourishing. Rolling fields of blue and purple and blooming flowers of pink and white carpeted the landscape. Ripened red and gold fruit hung from trees and dangled from bushes. No longer in the dying Sublands, the air teemed with a sense of renewal. Mateo's destiny lay ahead.

The carriage driver shouted, "The palace is in sight!"

Mateo's nerves activated as those lightning bugs swarmed his stomach. His head rested against the window. He soaked in his first sight of a real-life palace. Set against a backdrop of rolling hills and lush forests, he spotted the ivory and gold turrets and spires of Stromm Palace. It glistened like a dream.

"A grand sight," Lady Verona uttered.

Mateo tore his eyes away. "There is nothing grand about it." He gripped his knees. "More like a hideous display of power and wealth." The palace could have housed the entire Sublands.

The road of trampled dirt and packed gravel converged with another. Ahead rolled two more carriages, and behind filed in another.

Lady Verona folded her long hands on her lap. "Excellent. Right on time."

The palace loomed closer, and the carriages drew nearer. In front traveled the carriage for House Baffin of Sand Bluff. Their white banner with gold lettering flapped in the wind. It featured the flower, a bluebonnet, representing their province. Above the bluebonnet a large "B" was painted in black. Following House Baffin rolled the fancy carriage for House Lind of Cuesta. Their banner featured elk antlers with an "L" painted in red. Behind House Cuesta traveled the carriage for House Brunt of High Meadow. A sprawling oak tree covered their banner with a white painted "B."

The witch's words from earlier lingered, refusing to leave him alone. His last name crept up everywhere he looked. If Mateo and the Sublands had a banner, it would have been brown and the symbol would have been a red rock. His letter would be a "V" for Vela, not an "S" for Strong.

The carriages came closer to the palace, with people lined up on both sides of the road. They cheered and hollered like back in the Sublands, tossing flowers and ribbons. They waved the Summit Range banner with its mountain peak and tree-lined forest. A gold "S" covered the banner from top to bottom. They celebrated their own, not any others. Especially not the Sublands.

A Stromm palace guard with an emblem on his coat banged on the carriage's door. "Stop! Move aside!"

Mateo craned his neck. "What is happening?" The Sand Bluff and Cuesta carriages moved forward while theirs stopped, allowing the High Meadow carriage to whip around and pass them. "Why are they moving in front of us?"

Lady Verona's jaw tightened. "They are putting us in their preferred order." With lips pursed, she gritted her teeth. "With the Sublands last."

"They hate us." Mateo seethed at the second-class citizen treatment. No wonder the Sublands had to make a deal to get into the hunt—they weren't wanted here.

Rhyka raised her voice. "We are the lowest of the low." She quirked a brow. "For now."

On that one thing, he agreed with the witch.

The carriages continued toward the palace in their new order. The closer to the palace, the more people gathered, and the din grew louder. Hollering, boos, and hisses blared toward Mateo and his carriage. Sublander scum! No lowborns! Spit flew, and balled fists banged the carriage. Mateo had never felt more unwelcome. Highborns had no idea the manner and respect with which visitors should be treated. Anger boiled inside of him. He would have speared them all—every single Stromm supporter. They deserved nothing less for their insolence.

Lady Verona nudged his knee. "Pay them no attention."

The carriages rolled up to the palace's opened gates. The entryway soared to impressive heights. Pure ivory. Gilded filigree. The carriages continued in a circular path around spraying fountains, manicured lawns, and flowering bushes.

A Stromm palace guard yelled, "Halt!"

Shoulders back, Lady Verona's chin raised higher than normal. "Keep your head high at all times. Let us show them the true nature of Sublanders."

Mateo's eyes narrowed. He would stare down each competitor. Especially Engrendorn of House Stromm, the soon-to-be last place finisher. He would be certain to fall first if Mateo had anything to say about it.