Chapter 121 – The Luna Trials Novel by Marissa Gilbert

Filed To Story: The Perfect Luna by Marissa Gilbert

Truth be told, she hated it. What she hated even more was that they appeared to be a beautiful couple. Penelope was indeed a stunning woman fit to be a queen.

Today she was wearing a deep purple dress, the colour of the royals. And the golden hairband in her rich wavy dark hair looked suspiciously regal.

Kai said something, and she laughed, placing her palm on his chest as if it belonged there, as if she had done it many times before. What was worse was that it made the king chuckle as well. They indeed looked like this perfect couple, and Savvy wanted to wipe their smiles off both their faces.

“Savannah! Savannah!” Someone called her name, and she was surprised to see a cloud of pink moving toward her.

“There you are! Come with us!” A small hand grabbed her and pulled her away. In this pink chaos, she noticed pink curly hair done in two pretty buns and decorated with flowers.

“Petra?” Savvy tried to stay polite as the other girl giggled. She let herself throw one last glance in Kai’s direction, realizing that he was watching her intently now.

“Yes, come on!” Even though it was hard to see her in layers and layers of tulle, Petra insisted. “I like your dress, by the way! Do you also like pink? I love pink!”

She already regretted that she was wearing that colour today. However, when Petra stopped, she saw that some other contenders were already there.

“So, we are sharing information!” Petra announced proudly. “Penelope told us some things that no one else did! Did you know that there are cameras here everywhere filming everything that we do?’

“Really?” Savvy tried to sound surprised and caught Astrid’s approving gaze.

“Yes!” Petra nodded. “And also Penelope said that everything we do is judged all the time. We have to be really careful not to lose points. And did you know that we were lucky to come in the right dress colours yesterday?!”

“Penelope is so kind!” Bridgit was staring at her flute with what looked like a mimosa.

So kind to share the information they had already figured out on their own. Which was exactly what Bridgit hinted at, and everyone other than Petra understood her hidden meaning.

“She is,” Petra beamed. “I decided to follow her example and tell all of you as well,”.

“That’s so nice of you.” Naya purred, flipping her straight snow-white hair to the back. She looked gorgeous in a silver dress without any extra detailing.

“So, I thought….” Petra was fidgeting with the hem of her dress. “Maybe we could all share useful information? I know we are rivals, but we are also together in this … We don’t have to become enemies.”

“Sure, kiddo! Count on it!” Mikaela, another werecat, snorted loudly. It was clear that she wasn’t going to share anything, even if her life depended on it. “Nice dress, Naya.”.

She said before leaving in a tone that meant she hated the garment. “I take it you know each other?” Savvy asked the werecat and only received an eye roll. “l/l/e went to school together, and she was a b*tch back then too,” the cat replied.

“So, what do you think?” Petra attempted to bring them back to the subject

“I’ll share some useful information with you.” Bridgit gulped her drink and placed the empty glasson the nearby table.

“Beware of what Penelope says, and don’t trust the information you get from her.”

With that, the werebear turned on her heels and left their small company “What does she mean?” the pink-haired girl gaped just as her babysitter arrived.

“Petra, I think you should mingle some more!” The elegant woman, who had helped her at the first challenge, took her hand, leading her away. She was undeniably beautiful, and, unlike her ward, she knew how to play the game. Obviously, she didn’t want the girl to be seen with the least popular of all the candidates. Chloe and Claude spared Petra in their piece about the Trials, and there was no need to give them a reason to tear her apart next time.

“Okay, Evelyn.” Petra looked slightly startled but obeyed her mentor, waving her hand at the others as she was dragged away toward the “more popular kids”.

“I have to say I like that child!” Astrid let out a little laugh, and even Naya almost reacted to that but managed to keep her calm. She wanted to say something, probably something snarky, but her face changed suddenly, and her gaze shifted slightly behind Savannah’s shoulder.

Savvy turned to see what startled the cat and saw Kai walking in their direction. He was beside them in no time with a polite smile, looking very handsome in a black shirt and trousers while the wind was rustling his hair.

“Lad*ies, it’s nice to see you all again,” he greeted them.

Astrid stood up, smiling nervously, and Naya nodded slightly, holding her glasswith a cat’sgrace..

“We are honoured by your presence!”

Savannah didn’t look at him the second time. “Excuse me, I see someone I need to talk to.” She was about to leave when he caught her arm.

“Actually,” Kai lowered his head and locked his eyes with hers. “I wanted to talk to you /or a moment.”

Everyone around them went silent. It seemed like the whole garden stopped moving and breathing. It was as if they were utterly alone here …

“Some other time perhaps,” she answered, angling her head at him and then sharply removed her hand from his grasp, making him growl….

Frustrated and annoyed, Kai found himself in the foulest of moods. After spending the night in the woods hunting for Bjorn, he hadn’t gotten much sleep. There was no trace of the enemy, vet a million scents of all kinds of creatures, which shouldn’t be present in the first place, lingered all around him. It was as if the rotten bear was mocking him. Was this why he touched Savannah but left her alive? To let him know that he touched one of the contenders for the Luna of The North? That he had touched something that was his?

Before that, anyone who crossed him in the woods was later found dead. Mostly in pieces. There was, of course, the option of Savannah working with Bjorn. The more he considered that notion, the more he realised it was unlikely Gideon would ever let him close to his sister. He scratched that thought from the depth of his mind.

Savvy didn’t know. She had no idea who she had met and how dangerous he was. Thinking of her, he remembered how her bare flesh felt against him, how intoxicating her scent was … and how angry she got with him the previous night. He didn’t like her being unhappy with him. Somehow, the more he attempted to create goodwill between them, the worse the situation became.

Whatever the results, here he was now, unable to remove thoughts of her out of his head while he was attending to an entirely different task altogether.

“Kai, don’t just stand there!” Elene jabbed him gently with her elbow. “Go talk to the girls. The deal was that you would get better acquainted with each of them!”

He didn’t want to be rude, so he said nothing to his sister, who he blamed for his current predicament. It could have been different. If there were no Luna Trials, he would be engaged to Savvy at this moment.

She probably wouldn’t be thrilled, but he would have pursued her, made her see him from a different angle, a different perspective.

He couldn’t believe that his mind had gone there. Again. He had to snap out of it and get back to the responsibilities at hand. Scanning the garden, he couldn’t locate her, and wondered if she did get sick after all. She was trembling when they returned to the castle, and although he ordered his chef to make her a hot soup in the middle of the night, he did not follow up on that.

“Oh, look!” Elene said in a tone that he knew far too well. The tone that meant she was acting again. “It’s Penelope! Hi, Pen! How are you doing?”

“Elene! Kai!” The girl went up to them with a happy expression on her face. Her violet dress was a replica of what his mother had worn in one of her earlier portraits, and he recognised it at once.

“You look gorgeous! What a stunning dress!” Elene praised her best friend, although she was probably the one who suggested she wear this outfit. “Doesn’t she look gorgeous, Kai?”

“She absolutely does,” he nodded, looking for Savvy with his eyes. “Will you excuse me?”

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