Carnival of Lies Read Free Page A

hurts.
    S HE WAS IN HER quarters gathering the things that she could take with her to her new apartment, when Belias came to stand in the doorway.
    â€œSo that’s it? You walk away from the marriage that we’ve both been expecting since you were born?”
    â€œYes,” she said as steadily as she could.
    â€œAnd I don’t even get the courtesy of a conversation?” Belias’ hands were talon-tipped now. He rarely lost control of his shape, but his anger was clearly consuming him. His hands curled, and the end of each finger extended in a glinting talon.
    â€œThere are rules, Belias. I filed the forms, told my mother, and it was left to you to determine if you still spoke to me after the dissolution.” Aya’s gaze dropped to his talons, and she wondered if he’d strike her in anger. He’d never done so before, but she’d never rejected him before either.

    â€œUndo it.” He took three steps into her room, nowhere near within touching distance, but at least he’d moved away from the doorway finally.
    She didn’t step back. “No.”
    He watched her from unreadable eyes, and not for the first time, she realized that the daimon before her would be as much a force within their world as his father had been. Belias was meant for power, had always been, and if she were able to hide the secret of her heritage, he’d be the perfect mate.
    â€œI will enter the competition; I won’t be ordered to obey.” Her own hands were now tipped with the same sharp talons he had.
    â€œAre you going to fight me, little bird?” The shock in his voice hurt. They’d never fought with talons.
    â€œIf I must,” she whispered. If he did fight her this way, she’d lose. This, too, would have to change. She needed to be able to fight against claws and talons in the competition—and for potential black mask jobs. She needed to be able to stand in such fights if she was to survive the competition.
    â€œIf I agreed to you entering the competition, would you—”
    â€œDon’t.” Aya stalked toward him. “Don’t try to lie or trick me, Bel. Once I became your wife, you’d make the decision for me. I know it, and you know it. Don’t insult me by pretending any differently.” Tears trailed down her face. “Let me keep the trust we’ve shared.”
    Belias laughed, but it was a bitter sound. “You severed our engagement without a word to me. I’m not sure how much trust is left.”
    Then he was gone, and she was alone in her childhood room packing her most essential possessions. She was unwed, without family, without everything that she’d thought would be hers—all because she was the spawn of a witch.
    A LTHOUGH SEVERAL DAYS PASSED, Aya felt like it was but a moment before she stood in the center of the carnival. She’d settled into a tiny apartment in the part of The City where ruling-caste men kept their preferred mistresses. The looks that were sent her way were filled with knowing that was unjustified. Belias hadn’t come to her, even after she’d sent a note to his home with her address. She trained in different fight centers, and she studied the most lethal of the daimons who moved through the carnival. No mask work had come her way, but she would be ready when it did. She’d be ready to fight in the competition too. For the past several days, she’d enjoyed a strange freedom she’d never known. That would change after the fighters were all entered into the competition, but she had both the blue masks of customers and her black mask if she needed anonymity to watch the goings-on of others. She’d already begun to hire street scabs to fetch small details about those likely to enter the competition—not all of them, of course, only the ones who were worthy fighters.
    As she walked toward the meeting place for contestants, the matchboard loomed large in front