Legendary

by Stephanie Garber

The Aracle. She did not know what the strange name meant, and unlike the other cards, this one did not appear to be violent. The edges were covered in ornate swirls of molten gold, and the center was silver like a mirror – no, it was a mirror.

‘Your future can be whatever you wish. We all have the power to choose our own destiny. But, my sweet, if you play with those cards, you give the Fates pictured inside them the opportunity to shift your path.

In her haste to pick up the deck, Tella’s mother hadn’t noticed the third card Tella had turned over. The one still in her possession. The Aracle.

Tella could not forget the letter in her pocket, reminding her of a debt to be paid and a mother who still needed to be saved.

Tella had been fascinated by the Prince of Hearts ever since he’d predicted her loveless future when she’d pulled him from her mother’s Deck of Destiny.

For it was also said the Prince of Hearts was not capable of love because his heart had stopped beating long ago. Only one person could make it beat again: his one true love. They said his kiss had been fatal to all but her – his only weakness – and as he’d sought her, he’d left a trail of corpses.

‘Legend is not the prize, but if you win Caraval, the first face you see will be Legend’s.

be warned, winning the game will come at a cost you will later regret.’

‘As fantastical as Caraval might feel, the next five nights are very real. Elantine has invited us here to save the Empire from her greatest fear. For centuries the Fates were locked away, but now they wish to come out and play. If they regain their magic the world will never be the same, but you can help stop them by winning the game.

‘Is this because you don’t have my payment?’ Jacks looked down on her with a smile so disturbing it could have made an angel weep.

‘I think it’s too late for that.’ She wanted to call him by his name, the Prince of Hearts, but she wasn’t quite ready to utter the words out loud.

Every story has four parts – the beginning, the middle, the almost-ending, and the true ending.

Y did everyone highlight this

Your sister didn’t win because she solved simple riddles. She won because of what she was willing to sacrifice for those riddles, and for what she was willing to sacrifice in order to find you.’

Legend was Julian’s brother. How had Scarlett kept this a secret?

Oops i forgot tella didnt know

lips sewn shut,

Is nigel a fate?

So then why did Tella sense that Aiko had stolen something even more valuable?

Now tell me what the object was.’ Tella slowly lowered the notebook closer to the flame until she could smell the heating leather. ‘It’s a cursed Deck of Destiny,’ Aiko spat out.

If her mother’s Deck of Destiny had been the one imprisoning the Fates, it explained why her mother had been terrified to find Tella playing with the cards.

Tella couldn’t believe she’d touched the deck holding all the Fates – the mythic Fates who’d once ruled the world had been in the palm of her hand.

Because it wasn’t merely a card. It was a Fate, and Tella had it tucked inside of a little trunk.

‘You really care about her?’ Another pause. ‘I care about finding those cards, and she’s our best hope for it, brother.’

BROTHER!

But maybe there was one secret Tella could reveal that would make things better instead of worse. ‘I think Dante might be Julian’s brother.’

But be careful with that heirloom of yours.’ Her tone hushed to a whisper. ‘That looks like one of the keys from the Temple of the Stars, and, if it is, your mother must have paid a very high price for it.’

Is this where the deck is?

‘I’m going to drink his blood, straight from his veins. That is how power is given and stolen.

Does tella have powers?

but to her horror all that came out was: ‘You should never wear a shirt.’

Cringe

‘I’d never give them both to you,’ Paloma said. ‘But you can have my second-born.’

Savage

Tella had thought herself so bold and daring by attempting to change her mother and her sister’s fate. But maybe Scarlett’s fiancé was actually a decent person.

‘But I’m not the hero,’ he reminded her. ‘Then perhaps I’m here to save you.’ This time she kissed him first. But it wasn’t as sweet as before. It tasted acrid. Metallic. Wrong.

Thank god this ws getting sooo cheesyy

It was almost as if Jacks were watching, waiting for Tella’s one moment of happiness so that he could rip it away.

Dang it i ws hoping for a plot twist

because now he was definitely stealing her heart, and she wanted him to take even more.

Cheesy

‘Trust me, Tella. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.’

I think this s so cringe

Either Dante really cared about Tella, or he was the master of Caraval and he didn’t care at all.

What had her sister been doing with Jacks?

Tella would be damned before she allowed any of them to use her like a pawn on a game board again.

Finally

‘You really haven’t heard? The whole palace is bubbling about it. They’re saying the real Lost Heir, Elantine’s missing child, has reappeared. Of course, no one has confirmed it.’ The maid hushed her voice. ‘The empress fell ill right after the rumors started.’

Tella? Scar?

“Criminals don’t love,” she once told me. But I think Paradise was afraid of love because when she loved, she did it as fiercely as she lived.’

‘Not everyone gets a true ending. There are two types of endings because most people give up at the part of the story where things are the worst, where the situation feels hopeless. But that’s when hope is needed most. Only those who persevere can find their true ending.’

Tella swallowed a curse. Five sharp pieces of obsidian, tipped in gleaming black opals, stared at her from the floor. It was now a mirror image of the Shattered Crown.

Dante should not have come to her aid. It gave her more hope that he wasn’t Legend.

Or that once legend gets his powers it wont matter

Theron’s voice instantly flooded the vault. ‘Do not use that vile magic here, or I will close this door and you will never get out.’

‘Tella—’ A low, achingly familiar voice, called from the base of the steps, followed by the echo of Dante’s heavy footfalls. She froze. If you win Caraval, the first face you see will be Legend’s.

Yeppppp

‘It doesn’t matter. I did it for you and I’d do it again.’

He did it for the power...

But Tella could take her mother’s place.

Dont b fucking dumb rn

‘I broke the curse on the cards.’

Ok redemption

‘There’s somewhere else I need to be. And, no matter what this looks like, I’m still not the hero in your story.’

Oh nvm lol

‘Pining doesn’t look good on you.’

Agree

‘I made a mistake, Scar. I never wanted to fall for anyone, but I think I’ve fallen in love with Legend.’

Ugh

‘They’re saying the new heir – her missing child – is now making his first appearance from the golden tower.

Why do i think it will b dante

Tella could not clearly make out his face, but she could see his top hat. Sharp and black and unmistakably Legend. That blackguard.

Yeppp

He hadn’t come to Valenda merely to destroy the Fates and take all their powers for himself. He’d chosen this city as his game board so he could claim the throne.