Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Pretty but Deadly
MAGNOLIA
Iwoke up the next morning repulsed. I barely slept after I sprinted from roof to roof to get back to my room, and the moment I did sleep, I kept dreaming about it being me last night.
I was the one they were burning—my Token wasn’t working, and I was dying as all the riders acted like I didn’t exist…
It was only then that I realized I had stopped dreaming about Masin since coming here. Every night for the past seven years, my nightmares were filled with the day he died, the day I became desperate enough to make my deal. But now, I was getting new nightmares.
Not that anything I saw was worse than what happened in Moriann, but it shattered my hope.
I always thought Viven was better. I thought it was the brightness cutting through the dark, the life against the death.
I was already awake by the time Bran knocked on my door to get me dressed for the tournament.
He got me ready in silence, and although I should have been using the time to ask him questions, I used it to build up my walls instead.
Because one thing was certain after last night, I had no qualms with Dahes completely annihilating the riders when the moons aligned.
It was the first time I actually wanted to hunt.
When I first came here, I felt guilty about it—not that I had a choice—but I saw all the people it would affect if he attacked.
Now, I couldn’t care less. I wanted to see them all burn. Before, I thought the drakins were just reclusive, but now they were all monsters in my mind.
And the rider who brought me here—I hated him the most. He dragged that girl into the fire and just stood there as she burned.
It was like my vision had been clouded in fog, but now it was clear. I’d been so caught up in how different Viven felt, that I didn’t realize how alike it actually was.
It just had a pretty bow on it to hide all the horror and death, and I was going to cut the fucking ribbon.
“Do you want to see yourself?” Bran asked as he pushed the final pin into my hair.
I stalled. I thought about it. I wanted to. I wanted to see who was going to destroy this place, but I wasn’t ready to face my past. Not yet.
I shook my head. “I trust that you made me look good.”
Bran cocked a grin. “More than good. You’re as bright as the damned Suns.”
I couldn’t help but smile back. I was dressed in diamonds again. The bodice was loose today, the skirts flowing down toward the floor, and every time I moved, the diamonds reflected off the sconces, making it look like I was glowing.
One single thought kept running through my mind—no one would expect something so pretty to be so deadly.
They’d never see me coming.
I smiled sweetly at Arrik before taking my seat across from him in the dining hall. His expression went from pure shock to rage, and I savored it.
He wasn’t expecting to see me. Whatever last night was, he thought I’d run.
Joke’s on him.
I ignored his glare and started filling my plate, putting on my best performance of complacency and ignorance as I ate my meal, casually sipping from my drink and eating the pastries without a care in the world.
But I could feel him. I knew he was still staring at me.
His fists were clenched as he rested his arms across the table, before flexing each of his fingers one at a time.
Did he regret not burning me last night? I saw through his lie. He thought walking me back to my room and trying to scare me would work, but I wasn’t leaving.
I hated both of them—the king for ordering it, and Arrik for being the one who actually did it.
But that didn’t matter right now. Instead, I just focused on the fact that I now had some sort of leverage over Arrik. Not that it was particularly useful. He wasn’t who I needed to focus on, but someone within the Drakin Army had to be a start.
Everyone was giddy today. The entire breakfast revolved around how the fights would go. From the conversations, I gleaned it was a free-for-all to the death. There was a mix of chatter about previous tournaments and assumptions on which initiates would survive the day.
It was a glorified betting pool.
The premise was simple—they had to stay alive until the suns set, and no one could leave the pit a second beforehand.
By the time the servants started clearing the table, King Elion had left. I waited until Arrik stood before I followed.
Just like the day before, he didn’t utter a single word to me as we walked down the outdoor steps leading to the Dome.
The only difference was, this time, I caught a glimpse of his expression as we descended down, and he was pissed.