24 #3
My ivory dress is simple. Satin with a broad neckline that exposes my collar bones. The back dips low and the hem stretches to mid-thigh. It’s elegant, and it covers the wound over my heart.
I choose a pair of matching tennis shoes for the night instead of going barefoot. My sole is scraped raw from the forest, and walking in the sand wouldn’t be wise. Though I suppose I could ruin Ares’s fun by dying of infection.
Niall clears his throat from the doorway. I wave him in.
“How is he?” he asks, keeping his voice low as he stands at the foot of the bed.
“Still sleeping. But his fever hasn’t returned.”
He puts his hands in his pockets, looking over the room. At anything but me. “Do you have more of the tea?”
I shake my head, wishing I did.
August walks out of the bathing room and greets Niall with a tick of his chin, glancing between us.
He’s wearing a casual white suit with polished leather shoes that match.
His shirt isn’t buttoned all the way. His hair’s still damp, which makes it look darker than usual.
He didn’t shave. A shadow of stubble graces his jaw.
I look away from August and meet Niall’s eyes. His dart away.
August comes over to peer down at Koda. Our friend’s soft, easy breaths are reassuring. He offers me his hand; I wince when I stand and somehow both men notice.
“The scrapes on the bottom of your foot?” August asks.
I nod with a smile.
My thighs are sore. Today’s trial took a toll – the attempt at climbing, jumping from the tree to get to Koda before the boar, even running over the thick, uneven forest floor.
“I’m fine.” The lie I live.
When Niall’s eyes flick to my prosthesis, I give him a warning glare in reply, then wave for him to follow us outside. He does.
“We can bring back food for you guys,” August offers.
Niall clears his throat. “No, Elias is going to stop by the championed palaestra on the way here.” His eyes meet mine, and in them, for a spark of a second, I see the young man I once loved. He gives me a brittle smile, his voice going hoarse. “You look pretty tonight, Cal.”
August straightens. He fusses with the buttons on his jacket.
“Thanks.”
“Good luck to you both,” he says, turning and going back into the house to sit with Koda.
We cross the sand path to the main island where August reaches out to thread his fingers through mine. “Part of him still loves you,” August tells me, speaking of Niall.
“Part isn’t enough.” I want to be wholly loved.
He brushes a thumb over the back of my hand.
In the distance, the unchampioned palaestra appears, shining like a beacon. Firelight dances along the walls and windows that ensconce the courtyard and pool.
Before we leave the windblown sand, August pulls me to a stop, his brows furrowed like he’s in pain, and my heart braces for the blow I know is coming.
He’s reconsidered. He’s going to tell me he wants to break our alliance. He’s going to ask me to move back to my oikos and say that we’ll remain friends, but he won’t really mean it. We won’t fight together, or talk, or even exist alongside one another.
When the wind drags a strand of hair across my lashes, he frees it and pushes my hair back from my face. He gathers me against him and holds me as he rests his forehead on mine again, like he did earlier.
This is goodbye. I try to memorize the scent of his bergamot soap as it wraps around me. Tears well in my eyes and I blink to keep them from falling. He pulls away and sees them. Of course he does.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s okay,” I tell him, my voice wobbling. “I understand.”
August shakes his head. “I don’t.”
A tear splashes onto my cheek. I swipe it away and look out over the water, pressing a hand to my aching chest. The movement causes the wound Torsten carved to reopen and blood seeps across the pale fabric of my dress.
A calloused thumb and forefinger pull my chin toward him. “I was just going to tell you that we can win. This is just another trial, and we can win it. We can both find champions tonight.”
I nod, blow out a long, tense breath, and try my best to smile. “Okay.”
“We’re allies to the end, Callalie.”
To the end.
It’s what Vailea said about her and Ulani, that they would fight for one another to the end. August and I will fight alongside each other to the end. And while I’m grateful, I don’t understand why he won’t distance himself.
“Why are you fighting alongside me? The Pythia even warned you—”
August puts his hands on his hips and laughs, but there’s no joy in the sound.
“The Pythia? You want me to believe Apollo asked her to warn me? It wasn’t Apollo, just like Athena and Aphrodite’s intervention the other day didn’t come from them, either.
Ares is doing his damnedest to make it clear that you are his target and anyone standing with you will suffer your fate.
And you know what? That’s what I want. That’s my choice.
If we’re going to die, I want to die with you. ”
My chest threatens to cave in. “You barely know me.”
“You’re wrong.” He gently grips my arms, dragging them down until he reaches my hands. He holds them up, like they’re something precious. “I’ve known you for a long time. We just hadn’t met yet.”