Chapter 23 #2
Ivy returned just as they sounded the bell to stop the match.
I looked at her, but she shook her head with a subtle glance towards the journalists, telling me she couldn’t share what she found out.
I looked back at Egan and saw him grinning.
Spencer just lost this round. Rating him high would be impossible.
I was grateful the official scorekeeper would conceal the actual scores, preventing anyone else from knowing I still rated him first. I started hoping that Frederick does much better than Egan, to help make Egan’s loss make more sense.
Egan making it to the final round crossed my mind, but I immediately dismissed it. I couldn’t think about that right now.
They helped Spencer to a doorway; he disappeared, and I knew he would head straight to the infirmary for a medical evaluation.
I took a moment to scan the crowd and made eye contact with Juniper, sitting in a shaded seat.
She nodded to me, looked to the doorway Spencer just went through, and then returned her gaze.
Does she mean the Priestesses will help him?
I try to ask her with my eyes about Egan.
Could they know what he was doing? Did he do something?
Juniper shook her head no, but I didn’t understand why.
Did she read my mind? I took a deep breath, trying to refocus so my emotions stay with me.
Frederick had less than a minute before his round starts.
I looked over at Egan again, and he looked smug. He must be doing something.
I felt helpless. My mind raced, going through so many scenarios.
Could he have more than the ability to shock people?
Did he have a magical ability to control how people move?
Was that even something that could happen?
Maybe he was getting in their minds. What if he could make the soldier hit harder than intended?
Amyra’s hand reached for mine. Her touch brought me back to my body, and I realized that the dirt in the box was dancing along the ground.
I took a deep breath, and then another. I tightened my grasp around Amyra’s hand, signaling a thank you to her.
She replied with her hand squeeze for ‘I love you.’ I focused on my lips to hold back the smile that always came with that squeeze and squeezed ‘I love you’ back to her.
I turned my focus back to Frederick to watch his sparring.
He was much better at this, thankfully. He deflected more blows and stayed strong the whole time.
I watched Egan throughout the fight and realized he wasn’t as focused as he was with Spencer.
He likely thought that he had the win in the bag.
I wondered if he picked Spencer for a personal reason.
Could Egan and Frederick have already known that Spencer would be selected after this tournament?
Frederick’s round ended, and he was the clear winner, looking like he had just stepped into the ring while his opponent looked like he went through the ringer.
Egan and his opponent prepared for their round.
I stared into the arena, zoning out, almost dissociating.
There would be a break of thirty minutes when Egan’s round was done, and I was hoping to find any of the priestesses.
I couldn’t visit Spencer without being seen, but I hoped a priestess would give me information.
The signal to begin Egan’s round trumpeted.
I watched him intently. Just before his first move, he turned to my box and mimed removing a hat while bowing to me.
He deliberately waited for the signal before doing this, even though he risked being hit for leaving his guard down.
When he rose, he had a grin not just for me, but for everyone.
After turning to the crowd, eating up their applause at his antics, he turned back to his opponent to start the fight.
The crowd stayed wild for it, while Ivy and Amyra squeezed each of my hands, a show of support and strength for me.
I worked to keep my face as neutral as I can, but inside, my emotions were swirling and skidding around.
I couldn’t afford to lose control of my powers, but I was angry.
That he pulled off that stunt had my blood boiling.
His opponent shouldn’t have allowed that to happen.
Did that soldier allow that as a favor to allow Egan to flirt with the future queen, or was that a brazen statement designed to make me question Egan’s military connections?
I watched as Egan has the perfect fight. He only allowed the soldier to hit him twice. Both times were barely a graze across his arm, almost like he was off by half an inch in their practiced movements. The soldier took a good beating and would be sore for days, maybe even a week.
They called the match and declared Egan the winner.
Spencer was the only one to lose. I breathed deeply, then again, once more.
I stood up, turning away from the journalists that surely wanted to read into my every micro expression, to just be confronted with a courtier, holding a paper and pen to write my choices down.
Spencer was ranked first, then Frederick, then Egan.
I didn’t want to think about straying from the plan, even if the Generals had no way to score him high enough to make it.
After sealing the vote, Amyra and Ivy stood on either side while we made our way to my family’s designated break space. As soon as I entered the room, I saw Father already there, and heard Ethan behind us, quickly closing the door behind him.