Goddess of Magic: A Snow White retelling (Kingdom of Fairytales Snow White Book 4)

me.
Knowing there was nothing else for me to do, I made my way over to them. Topher's face lit up as I approached, an expression I was certain was reflected on my own. Even though I'd parted ways with him less than twelve hours ago.
"How are you holding up?" he asked.
I shrugged. "I'm not sure what to expect." That was as much as I was going to admit out loud. I didn't want any of the other players hearing how nervous I was and taking advantage of it. Though, as far as I was aware, there wouldn't be any rounds where we were doing magic against each other.
"And that worries you," Topher observed.
"Yes," I admitted. "I should have spent more time on the welcome packet rather than cramming it this morning." I hadn't meant to leave it until the last minute, but it had just slipped my mind with everything going on.
"Take a deep breath," Topher instructed. "And I'll run you through it."
"Thanks." I followed his instructions and breathed in and out a couple of times. To my surprise, I actually felt better once I'd done it.
"There are three rounds. One will test your control, one will test your dexterity, and then there'll be one that's something like the assault course you did to qualify. You'll have to act quickly and accurately if you want to win that."
"Are they all weighted evenly?" Rhi asked.
I frowned. "I thought you'd been to these competitions before?" Though, come to think of it, she'd never said anything about competing in them. I'd just assumed she did them along with the boys.
"I have, but I didn't pay that much attention. My family is from the other side of the border. I didn't grow up with magic like the rest of you. I had to learn about it since going to university in Urbis with this lot," she explained.
"Oh." I was being a bad friend at the moment, and I needed to change that. It wasn't fair to her if I didn't.
"No, they're not weighted the same," Topher said, answering Rhi's question from before I'd side-tracked her. "The first two make up half of the marks in total, and the third part counts for the rest of it. I've seen people win solely based on how they performed on the final part of the test, though it's a lot harder to do that. Really, you need to score in the top five during rounds one and two in order to have a chance at winning."
I nodded. "Right. So, lots of contestants that I need to do better than," I muttered.
Topher reached out and squeezed my arm. "You'll be fine."
"Maybe I should have registered under my own name after all."
He chuckled. "And then you'd never have been happy because you'd worry that everyone let you win because you're their princess. Don't think I don't know how your mind works."
"You have a point," I conceded.
Adam and Jake swaggered over, the latter of the two looking rather pale and worse for wear. My cousin didn't look too bad, especially not from the shy smile he flashed at Rhi. I guessed things went well for them after we left the night before. That was good. I was glad about that. Rhi deserved something bright in her life. And she'd be good for Adam.
Jake groaned and dropped an arm around me.
I grimaced and shrugged him off. Didn't he get the message when I all but ran away from him last night? I'd have thought that was a giveaway that I was no longer interested.
"How are you all so awake?" he whined.
"We didn't drink as much as you," Adam pointed out.
Eurgh. He was hungover. That explained the whole situation. But it wasn't good for me. I didn't want to beat him because he was at a disadvantage. I wanted to beat him because I was the best.
"Kel's going to beat you if you don't pull it together," Adam joked.
It was impossible to miss the amused smirk on Topher's face, even though he covered it up quickly.
Jake's face was like thunder. It was almost like he'd already lost. He really was a sore loser. How could someone be this upset by something that hadn't even happened yet?
"She's not going to beat me." His eyes narrowed at me before he stormed away. I had no idea where he was even heading to. The only friends he had here were the people he’d just walked away from.
"Don't worry about him," Adam assured me. "He'll get over it."
I shrugged. "It's his problem. It's up to him to sort it out."
Adam nodded but didn't say anything else about it. There was no need to. We all knew that what he was saying was true.
"I'm going to go say hello to a few people. Want to come, Topher?" he asked.
"Yes. If we're not back before you get called up, then good luck, Kelis."
"Thanks." We shared a smile, and I could feel his well wishes as well as hear them in his voice.
The two boys walked off in the same direction as Jake had gone, leaving me alone with Rhi—finally! It would be good to catch up with her.
"So, what happened last night?" I asked the moment they were out of earshot.
"I could ask you the same thing," Rhi responded a note of amusement in her voice.
"It's a really boring story," I promised. "Jake tried to kiss me, and I freaked out. Then Topher and I went and watched the fireworks."
Why did it sound so much more clandestine when I said it out loud? Nothing Topher and I had done would cause a scandal, and yet it felt like I was saying something gossip-worthy.
"And did he kiss you?" she asked.
I shook my head. "I think we've come close a couple of times, though," I admitted quietly.
She leaned in, giving us a greater sense of privacy. "Do you want him to?"
"Yes." The word was out of my mouth before I meant it to be. There was no doubt in my