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

until Jake and Adam had both left me. I assumed they must have been calling people based on when they qualified, which meant I'd probably be last.
My gaze kept flickering towards the scoreboard, even though I knew it wasn't updating with each performance. They wouldn't update the final scores until everyone had competed, probably to keep stress to the minimum.
It wasn't working. Nervous energy filled every part of me, and there was no escaping it. Even so, every time I looked over at Topher and Rhi, one of them waved or offered some other indication that they were watching and supporting me.
Finally, I was called.
I stood in the entrance of the third test, taking deep breaths as I opened and closed my fingers around my wand. The only way I was going to crawl up that leader board was if I focused and did well on this task. Adam had said it would be like what happened when I qualified, which reassured me. He wasn't like Jake. He didn't have an ulterior motive when he said things like that to me. That was probably exactly what this test was.
A light flashed to my left, and I zapped it with a quick spell. My heart pounded in my chest as adrenaline coursed through me.
Another light. Another spell.
None of the other contestants had exited the same way they went in, and there hadn't been another exit, which meant I'd need to go through the course. Hopefully, it was as straightforward as that, though I feared it might not be.
Each time a light popped up, I hit it with a spell. All of them hit, as far as I could tell, though, the haze of nerves surrounding me didn't help in the slightest.
Focus, Kelis.
If I reminded myself of that enough, then perhaps it would rub off. The only way I was going to do well at this was if I concentrated. Competing was all about pushing the worries to the side.
And that meant more than just how I felt about the competition itself.
I took a risk and closed my eyes to center myself. I pushed aside all thoughts of anything that had been weighing on my mind. Mother. The curse. The future. The people with the golden eyes. Jake. Topher.
Actually, the last one was a lie, even to myself. Topher was probably the easiest part of my life right now. He didn't deserve to be lumped in with all of those other things.
My eyes snapped open. I wasn't going to be distracted now. I could do this.
Two more spells left my wand, magic thrumming through me as it passed out into the air and hit the lights exactly the way they should.
When the next one appeared, I intuitively knew it was different. This one moved. I tracked it for a moment, not wanting to allow myself too much time to overthink what I was going to do. I had to rely on my instincts.
I shot down the next set of lights and moved closer to the exit. Other than the intensity of my nerves, this wasn't as hard as I had anticipated.
I turned the next corner and stopped suddenly in my tracks. I was at the end? Already? How much time had passed? It didn't feel like very long, but there'd been about fifteen minutes between each contestant being called to go through the maze.
What if I'd done it wrong?
I pushed that thought away and walked forward.
"Thank you, Kel," one of the officials said. "If you’ll join the others, we'll tally your score, and then the winner will be announced."
I nodded, at a loss for words, then followed the instructions.
I found myself in a large tent. It was completely empty except for a number of large blocks. I turned around to ask one of the officials what I should do now, but he’d already gone.
The exit of the tent flapped in the wind. I walked through the tent feeling uneasy. The third test was meant to be difficult. People from all over the kingdom came to participate in these competitions and I’d managed to get through quickly without much problem at all. Something didn’t sit right with me, but having never done one of these competitions before, I had nothing to go on. Maybe it was just that easy. Just shooting stunning spells at lights. It was what Topher had taught me after all.
I left the large tent and found myself in a smaller tent.
All of the other contestants were milling around while they were waiting, but unlike before the tests, no one was actually speaking to anyone else. It was as if the imminent results had sapped them of their conversational skills.
“You got through?” the girl with the braids asked me mechanically. She looked a little pale. “It was really hard wasn’t it?”
“Err. I guess,” I lied.
The others spoke in hushed tones, conversing with one another. I heard snippets of them talking about how difficult they’d found it and how it was the hardest competition they’d ever taken part in.
I thought back to what I’d just gone through. Sure, hitting the lights had taken lightning fast reflexes, but the spells used weren’t complicated.
Jake found me before I saw him.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” he said, wiping his brow. He looked exhausted and more than a little sell shocked. “Phew. I’m glad it’s over.”
Now that I thought about it, they all looked pale. The other competitors looked like they’d just run the gauntlet where as I might as well have strolled through a park. I wasn’t even out of breath.
“I think I did it wrong,” I whispered to Jake. I knew he’d tell on me and I’d be disqualified if I’d messed up somehow, but I’d followed the course perfectly and couldn’t for the life of me remember any other ways I could have gone.
“What do you mean?” he asked cheerily.
“It was easy. Ok, not super easy, but I got through it quickly. All I had to do was shoot stunning