Page 43 of This Prince Is Not Charming

“All of you have been given ten random tiles, which you are probably studying right now. Each tile represents how much gold you can potentially earn. The player who is the oldest gets to go first, and you will choose one of your tiles and place it face up on the table.”

Well, that was definitely Clio. She had a millennium or so on me.

“On the board, certain squares will transform from blanks to letters. Some blanks will be left between the letters, and it is your job to guess the correct letter to fill the blanks and complete the phrase or sentence.”

My knee bounced under the table, and I decided maybe I couldn’t eat, but a cup of hot tea probably wouldn’t hurt. I grabbed the cup and poured the steaming liquid in, the scent of ginger rising in the air.

“Does anyone have any questions before we begin?”

Marsten raised his hand. “What happens if we don’t pick the right letters to complete this phrase or sentence during our turn?”

“Then the tile you chose gets taken away, and therefore, that is gold you won’t earn.”

Meera blinked from where she perched on the table. “Are we actually keeping the gold if we win?”

Morton nodded. “Yes, it will be yours as well as the title of champion. Whoever earns the most gold between all the rounds will win. So fear not if you have one bad round—that doesn’t mean you can’t still win the other rounds and potentially win the entire trial.”

Lila called out, “Will we be timed during our turn?”

As if to answer her question, miniature hourglasses dropped from the sky and landed on our tables.

“Will that suffice?” Morton asked, and Lila nodded.

I took a sip of tea, staring at the board, wanting these questions to be over and the game to officially begin.

“Any other questions?” Morton asked with a patience that I did not currently have.

Thankfully no one raised their hand.

“Then, let the games begin!”

Clio took a deep breath and chose one of her gold pieces, placing it face up, the number 200 etched into it.

The board before us transformed, a small click sounding as different squares flipped over, revealing letters. My gaze scanned them. Three words total. But there wasn’t enough information for me to guess what this might be.

The hourglass turned.

“Player one,” Morton said, “your time has begun.”

Clio’s fiery brows furrowed, her gaze flicking to the sand falling in the hourglass. “A,” she said before it almost ran out.

Two A’s flipped over, and Clio’s two hundred gold piece flew up and landed in a velvet bag. I bit the inside of my cheek, studying the board and trying to make sense of this phrase.

It was my turn now, and the hourglass flipped over after I’d chosen my tile. I decided to choose conservatively, picking the smallest amount, a twenty-five gold piece. There weren’t many letters left.

L_A_ _H_ _AY

I was fairly certain I knew the middle word. “T,” I said, voice confident. The letter flipped over, and I breathed a sigh of relief as my twenty-five gold piece dropped into my velvet bag.

L_A_ TH_ _AY

Clio’s face broke out into a smile, and my stomach dropped. Not only had I chosen a much smaller amount than her, but if I was reading her triumphant smile correctly, I’d also just given her the clue she needed to win.

Clio flipped over a five-hundred gold coin piece. I gasped. Those were rare. The highest gold piece I’d gotten was three hundred. “I’m ready to solve.” She took a deep breath. “Lead the way.”

The tiles flipped over, and my stomach sank even further. She’d won.

“Congratulations,” I said.