CHAPTER 18 #2
“Or this.” I gesture at my breasts. “Don’t you see Koen, I am a woman. Not a man. Look around you, how do you expect me to not bring attention to myself? The Queen knew what she was doing. As you said.”
His jaw ticks, and he bites his lip where his scar is before giving a subtle shake of his head. “You’re right. No matter what, they will always come after you.”
“I know I’m right, and you pushing me away is not helping me.” I stand more upright. “As much as you want me away from you Koen, I think I need you by my side.”
“No.” He lifts a finger before rubbing his head intensely. “That is not a good idea.”
I stride forward, letting my voice raise. “And how is this not a good idea? Because of what happened this morning?” I lean in to him as he tries to avoid my eyes. “Look at me!” I growl.
He shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath before his weary eyes meet mine. “Yes, because of what happened this morning. It will happen again. This is why I need to go to the archives. I thought I had it under control… but I don’t.”
“So. What,” I hiss. “You either stay beside me and help me get through this so we can go to the archives together, or I die in here.”
His lips tighten, the veins in his neck bulging as he contemplates the words I say. “You have Kaine and Theon, they are good men.”
“But they are not you.” I reach for his arm, pausing before I touch him and let my hand fall. “They fear you. You scared five men just by walking up to them. Kaine and Theon have been helpful, but the men here do not fear them like they fear you.”
He deeply breathes. “I could have killed you this morning.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Serene, this is a bad idea.”
“I’d rather you slit my throat than to be killed by one of these men because of who I am. I’d rather my life be ripped from me from someone I…” I pause.
He cocks his head, taking a stride up to me with a curious look. “Someone you what?”
I clench my teeth, feeling his eyes bore into mine. “Someone I at least… know.”
“Ahhh—” He cockily grins. “Sure.”
“Please,” I pause, feeling my skin prickle by the rushing feeling of tears wanting to stream down my cheeks. “I beg you, Koen, don’t let these men dictate when I die.”
“Fine.” His chin tilts high. “But if I ever hold a dagger to your throat again, stab me.”
My eyes narrow with annoyance. “Stop being foolish.”
“I am being serious. No games, Serene. And if you are ever near me on the night where the Azure moon turns to blood… you run.”
“I don’t understand.” My lips part. “What are you hiding?”
“Something I have sworn to never speak about.” His eyes meet mine. “Florian doesn’t even know the darkness that I hide.”
“How can I help?”
“You can’t.” He clears his throat, shoving his dagger back in his sheath. “But rumors have spread about the archives having the answers to what I need, and I must find them as soon as I can.”
But as Koen speaks, my eyes are drawn to the sight behind him, of at least twenty men advancing toward us, their strides kicking up the red dirt into a swirling cloud around their feet.
My heart seizes. Shit. Each man clutches a dagger, the blades gleaming in the muted sunlight filtering through the clouds.
As my eyes widen, small droplets of rain begin to fall and trickle down my cheeks.
A storm is brewing, but not only in the sky.
The majority of them have scars etched across their faces, reminders of past battles or fighting here in the games.
Their black suits are the same as ours, adorned with dragon scales that shimmer when they walk, which means…
they are not with Dryden. Their eyes burn with an intense, fiery rage, and are locked onto me.
I try to swallow, but my throat tightens as my lip trembles and I reach out towards Koen. “There are more.”
Without a second thought he turns, his curls falling from his messy bun and swaying in the wind that begins to strengthen by the storm that is pushing through.
“Skydance, long time no see, old friend.” Koen tosses his arms out, but the men around the man with the curls scowl at Koen.
Skydance. That name is so familiar. My eyes widen in shock.
He was the man ahead of me in line for the introduction of the competitors, yet I never saw his face.
His wild, brunette curls tussle in the wind but it's his eyes that make my feet stumble backward. The tones in his eyes are like nothing I have seen, a piercing crimson with golden flakes around his cornea. His gaze narrows by the second, locking onto my eyes with a fiery flicker. A leathery, raven eye patch covers his left eye, while jagged, healed claw marks slash across his neck, reminiscent of Koen’s.
I begin to wonder, how the hell do they know each other? And why?
“Koen.” Skydance halts the men, side eyeing them before snatching his gaze back to me. “How do you know this woman?”
Koen’s fingers tighten into a fist before shrugging. “She is nobody, nothing to worry about.”
Oh, a nobody.
“Doesn’t seem like a nobody.” He strides closer to Koen. “The men all saw the little interaction between her and the Prince, your brother.”
“Honest mistake, he thought she was someone else.” Koen crosses his arms in a nonchalant way. “Prince Florian has met many women in the Realms. He was in shock after seeing a woman in the games. Just as we all are.”
Skydance’s eyes narrow. “I’d like to have a discussion with her.” He peeks around Koen, his eyes tracing my body.
“I think we should let her train. She’ll need to fight a dragon soon which kills off half the competitors.” Koen glances over his shoulder at me.
I have to fight a dragon? My stomach turns as my palms begin to sweat. The men won’t kill me, a damn dragon will.
“She needs all the training she can get.” One man with raven hair twisted down to his hip elbows a man beside him, their obnoxious laughs echoing in the wind and mixing in with the thunder that rumbles in the sky.
“Leiance is right.” Koen makes eye contact with the man. “She needs all the practice she can get.”
Skydance’s head cocks to the side, his eyes darkening as a violent smirk tugs on his lips. “Why are you protecting her?”
Koen grunts, his muscles straining against his shirt before taking a step towards him. “I’m not.”
“Then why did you sleep next to her bunk last night?”
Ah, shit.
“I begged him to.” My lips move as I shout out to Skydance and begin to walk up to them. I watch Koen’s chin rise, staring at the clouds that begin to fall with rain. His lips roll with irritation.
The men surrounding Skydance erupt into a vile laughter, their bellows mixing in with the storm. Some clasp their friends' shoulders, shaking with amusement. My lips tighten as my eyes meet Koen’s furious glare.
He is pissed.
“Oh, so now you think you're special because Koen took pity on you?” Skydance’s eyes flash with malice. “You don't belong here, woman. Koen sleeping next to your bunk cannot keep you safe from the men here or the dragons you must fight in six days.”
I stand my ground despite the fear gnawing at my insides.
“Look, I never asked to be here. You guys can throw your threats my way all day and night.” I toss my hands to the side.
“But you all worrying about me, might weaken your chances of surviving these games. Focus on winning instead of focusing on me.”
Skydance shrugs, an amused smirk playing along his lips as he grabs his dagger and begins to twirl it in his hands.
“We don’t worry about you.” His eyes darken as he points the blade toward me.
“We obey the written ways of the Realms, which means, you being in here is against that. The Gods won’t be happy, and this rages the fire in these men. ”
The men have their arms crossed, some with daggers in hand while others have their lips tugging between their teeth as if they are ready to eat me for dinner. I really pissed off everyone here.
“You have the Queen to be angry at, not her,” Koen grunts. “Get back to training.”
“You have no room to talk, bastard.” Skydance takes deliberate steps towards Koen, gripping his dagger so tightly the veins begin to bulge in his arms. “You shouldn’t even be here, we have heard rumors about what you are… I am shocked the Queen allowed this.”
“She’s the one that threw me in here.” Koen grabs his danger in his sheath, ready to dance in a battle if need be.
“Then I’ll let the flames of the dragons decide your fate.
” Skydance’s jaw ticks, snarling at the two of us before spitting at the ground.
“Since I follow the Queen and will die for the Queen. And as for her fate,” his eyes glint with satisfaction, as if he knows I am dead anyway, “I will obey the Queen and let the flames take her. But I cannot control the rest of the men.”
Skydance nods for the men to leave, and they begin to walk away, sheathing their daggers against their hips and legs.
“So be it.” Koen violently shoves the dagger back into his sheath, steadily watching them as they walk away in the pit.
“One week.” He looks over towards me. “Stay alive for one week, and maybe the archives have something we can use to protect you in the games.”
“And why are you protecting me, Koen?” I step forward, crossing my arms over my chest.
He sighs, glancing at the men who practice around us before meeting my lingering eyes. “Because you might be the very thing that can keep me from being seen by the oracles.”