Chapter 20

TESSA POV

"Submit. Time is up."

The coordinator's voice rang through the examination hall. My fingers clicked submit on my laptop just as the timer on the large screen hit zero. I leaned back and let out the breath I'd been holding, and for the first time since the competition began, I let myself actually look around.

The hall was enormous. Rows of students sat behind their laptops, some staring anxiously at their screens, others already shutting their computers closed. Cameras stood positioned around the room, recording everything for the thousands of people watching live through their screens across the empire and those present. This was the final...