Chapter 66
CHAPTER 66
Rosalina
T he metal gates rise, and Spring soldiers shove us between our shoulders to guide us into the arena. Kairyn has transformed it overnight. Huge plants snake through the sand, flowers stand as tall as me, and vines drape over crumbled pillars and broken statues.
“Kairyn has certainly set the stage,” I whisper. In the bright light, the scales dusting my arms gleam gold. Today, I wear a simple leather chest plate over a white shift and sandals on my feet to maximize quick movement.
“Looks like he’s found a use for all the things he broke raiding Hadria,” Dayton growls.
We step into a patch of sunlight, and as the crowd catches sight of their prince, a thunderous roar erupts that shakes the sands.
Dayton raises a sword to the crowd, a dazzling grin spreading across his face, as we approach the center of this twisted arena. I still haven’t caught sight of our opponent yet.
“Look up there.” Dayton nudges my shoulder.
I follow his gaze to see a spinning orb of light in the center of the arena. A golden circle twirls around it like the rings of a planet. It’s much larger than the tiny echosphere that hovers around to boost our voices.
“That is the Orb of Ancestors,” Dayton says. “Remember when Justus told you about how I won the Luminae Games? This is what we use. Inside, it holds the memory of all the fighters of this arena. It can create an illusion of them to fight upon the sands. Kairyn thinks he can best me with an ancient warrior? He will be sorely surprised.”
“Don’t be so cocky,” I hiss back. “We don’t know who he’s going to summon.”
Dayton sends another grin up at the crowd and is met with a welcoming roar. “Don’t worry. I’ve fought dozens of these matches, and not one has proven to be a challenge I cannot face.”
Still, something twists in my gut. The crowd goes quiet as the so-proclaimed Emperor steps forward in his box. Kairyn’s black cape hangs pin straight in the humid air, and my only consolation is that he must be boiling beneath all that heavy armor.
“People of the Summer Realm, you have joined us for a most spectacular match,” Kairyn’s voice, amplified by an echosphere, booms across the crowd.
I feel more than hear the wave of displeasure as Kairyn addresses the crowd. Booing him would only harm the people, with all the soldiers he has stationed among the audience. In the pulvinar beside Kairyn are numerous Spring soldiers, former members of the Queen’s Army, and several white-robed acolytes. I don’t spot Wrenley among them. I do, however, see the Nightingale gleaming in her prismatic armor. I haven’t seen her since she fled the monastery. I could have killed her with the Bow of Radiance, but I let her go instead.
I’m still not sure if that was the right call.
“My subjects!” Kairyn raises his gloved hands in the air. “I have seen how you enjoy watching your former Prince of Summer fight in the arena.”
Despite the use of the word “former,” the crowd still roars a cheer, Dayton’s name growing into a chant. Dayton soaks it in, raising both swords as a boisterous laugh bursts from his chest.
Kairyn doesn’t seem bothered by this new display of affection for Dayton. If anything, he stands straighter. Anticipation coils in my gut. What do you have planned, snake?
“I wish to please you, citizens of Summer,” Kairyn says. The owl helm tilts, the single silver streak glistening. “You have enjoyed watching one Prince of Summer fight in the arena, so why not three?”
The orb above the arena spins faster and faster until beams of light shoot from it and begin to take shape upon the sand in the form of two large fae males. One holds dual blades like Dayton, the other a shield and sword. Even if I didn’t recognize them from the mural, even if the crowd didn’t begin to chant their names, I would know who they are simply from the empty expression on Dayton’s face, the sound of his swords falling to the sand.
Kairyn has returned Damocles and Decimus to the arena.
“Pick up your swords, Dayton,” I breathe.
The two warriors prowl forward. They look fae and yet, they don’t. At times, their bodies are a solid illusion, but when they step into a beam of sun, they gleam entirely of light.
“Of course, we would find our little brother in the arena,” Damocles’ voice roars, an echosphere carrying it to the crowd. “It’s where he always escaped his royal duties.”
“I will give him the royal reckoning he deserves.” Decimus bangs his sword against his shield. As he does, a wave of black shadows passes through the light.
My heart sinks further. This isn’t like the Luminae Games Dayton mentioned. I would bet Kairyn has somehow corrupted the memories of his brothers into these twisted spirits.
They’re almost at us. Dayton hasn’t moved, hasn’t picked up his swords.
“Day!” I scream, pulling him to the side just as Damocles makes a running leap.
Heart in my throat, I pull us behind a huge fern, abandoning the swords for now. I keep running until we’re covered by the plants. The crowds cheer louder, Damocles’ name a chant. He must have stopped to rile the audience up.
Dayton mentioned that while he was training with Justus. Damocles was so obsessed with glory, it made him brash. He made decisions to elevate his status as a revered victor.
“Look at me, Day.” I grab his face.
He shakes his head. “Kairyn’s fucking sick for doing this.”
“It’s not them. You know it’s not. It’s just a twisted memory.”
He grits his teeth. “Everything is ruined. Even if I kill the illusions on the sand, it’ll look like I’m murdering my brothers.”
Dayton’s right. This is twisted. Far too twisted and clever for Kairyn. I wonder who came up with it … the Nightingale? It must have been. Why else would she be here if not to watch?
The plant splits and Decimus is before us with a crazed look in his eyes. He grabs me around the waist and hurls me twenty feet through the air. I scream, feet kicking, arms flailing. I land hard with a crack. Quickly, I sit up and pull my broken bow out from under me. Better my bow than my bones.
Across the sands, I see Decimus fly across the arena in a huge gale of wind. He crashes against a pillar, the stone crumbling. Dayton’s hand is outstretched, a shimmer of magic dancing from his palm.
The sand shifts, and Damocles runs toward me. His golden hair is cropped short, face menacing. He leaps and plunges the swords down, striking the sand just as I roll out of the way. I reach into my belt and pull out my short sword. I’m not as comfortable with this as my bow, but it’s all I’ve got.
With a cry, I slice it across Damocles’ calf. He hisses, red blood spurting from the wound before it turns into fractured light on the ground. I scramble up. I haven’t deterred this warrior. He lunges, striking a blow that almost cuts through my leather chest plate.
Justus’s lessons crash through my mind at lightning speed. Block, get away . All I know is I’m outmatched here. I swing my short sword and Damocles blocks it with no real effort.
“What’s a pretty little siren doing so far from the sea?” he says, approaching me with deadly intent. “Was my brother’s call enough to pull you from the ocean? It’s unfortunate he will be the death of you, as he has been for so many.”
Damocles knocks the short sword from my grasp, and it skitters over the sand. I back up as quick as I can but hit a stone wall. If I don’t use my thorns now, I’ll die. Damocles raises his sword—
It’s met with a clang that sounds through the arena as Dayton steps between us, blocking the attack.
“Get away from her,” he snarls, voice tinged with fury.
“He finally joins the fight,” Damocles says. “I thought you would sleep through it.”
Dayton snarls, matching Damocles blow for blow. Quickly, I search the arena for Decimus. He’s recovered from the collision with the pillar and races toward his brothers.
“Dayton! Look out!” I cry.
He catches my meaning, bringing up his sword just in time to block Decimus’s attack. I have to help him. He’s outnumbered and they’re all content to ignore me now.
Running back to the remnants of my bow, I pick up the pieces. It’s snapped in two. Quickly, I tear off a chunk of one of Kairyn’s creepy vines and wrap it around my snapped bow. It’s not much of a repair, but it’ll have to do.
Running back to the fight, I glance up at Kairyn and the Nightingale. I see they’re both on the edge of the pulvinar staring with rapt attention.
Well, watch this.
I draw back the bow, take aim, and shoot. It goes wide, the bow twanging awkwardly in my hand. Dammit. Hopefully, they didn’t watch that one.
Drawing a second shot from the quiver on my back, I aim it at Decimus’s broad shoulders. The arrow hits, and he roars, rearing back. Dayton takes the opportunity and strikes him across the chest. The light flickers. He almost has him.
The crowd gives a collective gasp of anticipation. Dayton hears it. I see it in the way his precise movements slow.
“Strike down your brother now,” Damocles snarls. “Give him another death as you did when you left him on the battlefield.”
“No, I—” Dayton stammers, turning just in time to block Damocles’ attack.
“Show everyone the death you caused,” Damocles says, driving forward, pushing Dayton back into Decimus.
“Our little brother always falters when there’s a decision to be made.” Decimus pummels into him with the bulk of his shield, pushing Dayton straight into Damocles’ swords.
I scream. Blood spurts from Dayton’s wounds as the swords draw out of his body. He gags, blood dripping from his lips.
“No!” I yell. Magic crackles within me as I run forward. But I don’t reach for my thorns. Instead, I connect with the plants of the arena, plants Kairyn created. Those of Spring, those of my mate’s magic. A towering coil of vines beside the brothers collapses. Both Damocles and Decimus back up, and I pull Dayton to the other side.
The vines create a divide between us. I grab Dayton around the shoulders and drag him deeper into the plants’ embrace, silently asking them to rise up around us. Hopefully, it’s not noticeable to Kairyn from this far away.
As soon as we’re shielded from the view of the crowd, I press my hands to Dayton’s bloody stomach, searching for my healing magic. I know that power must be inside me, but I’ve never accessed it before. I should have had Ezryn teach me the way he taught Farron.
Snarling, I remove my blood-soaked hands, rip the hem of my dress, and wrap it around the wound. At least no one can hear us in here.
Dayton grips my shoulders tight. “Get us out of here, Rose. I can’t do this. I can’t win.”
Every instinct in me wants to summon my thorns and spirit us away from here. But that would mean abandoning Summer, the chance at my bow. Abandoning all the people here, counting on us.
“That’s not true,” I say. “Justus said you could win against your brothers. You know their weaknesses. You told him.”
“It’s one thing to know it and another to do it.” Dayton shakes his head, blond hair wild. “They’re my brothers .”
“No, they’re not. It’s not them. Kairyn is doing this to frighten you. He’s doing this because he’s frightened.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s quaking in his metal boots.”
Outside, a call begins: Dayton’s name on his brothers’ lips as they search for him.
“Kairyn is afraid,” I say, gripping the back of Dayton’s neck. “He saw how you ignite the crowd. He’s not strong enough to corrupt their minds here. Not in this realm, not in your realm. He can only rule with fear, and you take that away. You give the people hope.”
His lips tremble, still red with blood. “Killing my own brothers in front of my people? How can I …”
“They’re nothing but corrupted memories. Remind the people of Summer what a true hero is. Remind them that it’s not Kairyn, or Damocles, or Decimus who is the High Prince of Summer.” I lean my forehead against his. “It’s you. Now go out there, face them, and burn so bright you blind the sun.”