Chapter 54
Iscan the crowd from lowered eyes. Caelus and Isolde sit at the top, flanked by royal guards, and a sliver of tension releases from my shoulders. They’re too far away to recognize me.
A flash of red catches my eye from the opposite end. Marianne stands and taps Gemma’s shoulder, pointing at me. Our gazes lock, and the color drains from Gemma’s face.
She holds out her hands and mouths, “I can’t.”
I nod. “I know.”
Her hands drop, and Marianne sinks into her seat. I tip my hat. If I don’t make it out of this trial, I hope they know how much their help meant to me.
In the distance, Thea clings to the rungs of her cage. And beside her—I squint my eyes. A man sits on the metal floor with his knees tucked into his chest, and on his lowered head—a black helmet.
Elias.
As if he senses my stare, he lifts his head and turns in my direction.
A body shoves me from behind.
“Where have you been?”
I stiffen at the familiar voice and yank the hat farther down, dipping into a shadow. Closing off my mind, I clear my throat. “I slept in.”
Her boots crunch over loose rock. “You haven’t been in your bedroom for days, and I haven’t seen you since the night of the ball.” Another menacing step. “I’ll ask one time, pirate, did you tip off Caelus? Did you tell him where I was going?”
“What?”
Frost sparkles over the stands and silences the crowd, tearing Kressa’s attention away, enough for me to widen the distance between us.
Caelus rises, and a grin pulls at his lips. “Welcome to the final trial. Competitors, you may have noticed there is someone important to you at the other end of the arena, hanging off the cliff. The cages are charmed in such a way that the person inside cannot free themselves.”
The cages swing in the distance, the hinges squealing.
“When the cannon blasts, you have thirty minutes to make it to the other side and free your loved one before he or she falls to the ocean below. If you are still in the arena when the final cannon blasts, you will die, and your target will be dropped.”
I scan the plateau and furrow my brows. Nothing separates us from the cages but a craggy expanse. If I hurried, it would take no longer than five minutes to get to Thea.
Guards roll a massive hourglass into the arena.
The tip of Kressa’s boots comes into view. “Answer me. Now.”
“I didn’t tip off anyone.” I shove my hands into my pockets and stare at the ground. “I’ll answer all of your questions later.”
She takes a step closer. I retreat one.
Her hand rests on the hilt of a dagger I’ve learned she keeps hidden at her waistline, and her voice lowers to a growl. “Where were you when Briar left the castle? Did you hand Thea over?”
I flinch. “Of course not.”
“Then why won’t you look at me? What are you hiding, Harriet?”
She reaches for my hat, but I throw my hand on top of it. My heart leaps to my throat, and I duck farther into the shadows, but she only follows.
There’s only one thing I can do.
I open my mind.
Cordelia?
Her entire body stiffens, and she stumbles back. I peek out from under the brim of my hat. Shielding her eyes with a hand, she searches the stadium.
I swallow a gasp at the deep bruises peppering her jaw, and the swelling at her brow. A swollen eye. My hands ball into fists. Caelus couldn’t kill her, but that didn’t stop him from coming close. I don’t need to see the rest of Kressa’s body to know bruises cover her ribs, her legs.
Her hand falls from the dagger. Briar? Where are you?
My throat aches. After everything I’ve done, her voice still softens for me. And that voice—the same one that whispered into my ear in the cell—is the only things that kept me from rolling off the edge. I bite my cheek and stave off the tears gathering behind my eyes.
I caress her mind. Does Caelus know who you really are?
Her gaze rakes over the crowd, the far edges, the rocky mountains cradling either side of the arena. No, they think I’m Elias’s lover. Not illegal enough to execute me apparently.
A lump rises in my throat. I’m sorry.
We both made mistakes. Are you in the stands?
My mouth pinches into a half smile. No.
Then where are you? Are you okay?
My fingers brush the pendant beneath my shirt. Don’t worry about me. I need your word that no matter what you may discover about me, you’ll never look at me any different. I need to know you won’t hate me.
She runs her hand over the back of her neck.
I commit her to memory—the breadth of her shoulders, the way the ends of her hair curl slightly, her soft, comforting hands.
The way my soul calls to hers. If I die today, I want to die with the memory of her fingertips trailing a line of fire down my skin.
I want the ghost of her lips to live on mine forever.
Warmth sweeps into my mind, and I lean into it.
A swallow bobs her throat. Nothing could change what I feel for you, Briar.
And Cordelia?
Her lip quirks. I’m Kressa to you. I always have been and always will be.
I watch her, but I don’t see Cordelia. I see Kressa—my bonded. The other half of my soul. Would she see me the same, if she knew who I really was?
I shove the thought away. Don’t harm Harriet. She had nothing to do with this.
Kressa glances sidelong at me. I don’t trust her.
But I do.
Her tongue prods the inside of her cheek. Fine. I won’t harm her. On one condition.
What’s that?
Your forgiveness. If it means I drop to my knees at your feet and beg, so be it. I will crawl to you if I must—if it means you’ll forgive me for lying to you. If what you truly want is to never see me again, so be it. But I cannot bear my existence knowing I hurt you.
Silence stretches between us—each beat of her heart echoing as if it’s my own. I could lose her in this trial, and nothing would hurt like that. I need her to live.
Survive, Cordelia. And I’ll find you.
The cannon blasts.