Chapter 54
Chapter
Fifty-Four
ARA
I blink, but he is still there. But is he? Or is he just an illusion?
Is this another sick game of the goddess?
I hesitate while the man I love raises his sword.
“Now it comes down to us,” Tate whispers, and it’s his voice. “I’m sorry, Ara, but I’ve worked so long for this. You understand, don’t you?” He takes a step toward me. “I’ll make it quick. You’ll be a good girl and stay just like this, won’t you?”
I swallow. He takes another step toward me and reaches for me.
And I strike.
His eyes widen in shock, and Tate’s face disappears. The man from Kystis sinks to his knees, my dagger embedded in the cutout under his arm.
“This means war,” he whispers as his sword drops to the ground next to him.
“Well, let your death be the first then.” I leave the dagger. A message. A promise. “Your illusion had a massive fault, by the way. Tate would never expect me to give up. And he would never sacrifice me for his goals.”
The crowd erupts in cheers, chanting two words that reverberate around me: Phoenix rider. The words rise, joining my bird circling above, matching the pounding of my heart, and drowning out my enemy’s curses.
I grin while I turn to find the eyes I need to see most.
There he is, unharmed.
I exhale, tension seeping from my body. My hands come up in victory while his gaze sweeps over me like I’m beautiful and not covered in blood, sweat, and wounds.
Strands of my hair are stuck to my face and neck, and a coat of sand and dust seals it all.
I shake my head at him, still grinning, and try to catch my breath.
Rage takes over his features just when Solaris cries out, “Behind you!”
I whirl around, grabbing my sword with both hands, and with a scream of rage on my lips, using the force of my turn, my honed blade bites into his unprotected neck, decapitating him.
His sword clatters once more from his hands before his body and head hit the ground separately, the hollow thumps too loud in the shocked silence around me.
The roar of the spectators is deafening.
The barrier falls, and Tate is next to me in seconds, lifting me with a whoop that splits my face into a grin. The rest of our flight is not far behind.
“You were fucking amazing, Gray!”
“I bow to you, my queen,” Jared shouts, sweeping into a deep bow, and snickers when Tate scowls. “She chooses her own king, of course.”
“I’m so proud of you, girl.”
The voices of my friends blur together like the surrounding colors when Tate twirls me around, his grinning face looking up at me, the only thing that is crystal clear.
We fucking did it. We won the games. We survived.
A thunderclap startles me out of our celebration.
Right, there is a goddess and a king left to deal with. I look at the body lying behind my friends, coloring the sand a dark crimson, and my eyes snag on a small mark still visible in the crook of his arm, now prominent since the rest of the markings have vanished.
Three interwoven triangles.
It reminds me of something, but I can’t place it. Tate lets me slide down his body until my feet hit the ground again, but he never lets go, and I’m content with leaning into him.
A flash of light has me turn around in his arms. The goddess stands before us, and the power radiating from her is staggering. Her beauty is blinding, but her smile is anything but warm.
“Congratulations on your win. The trials have been enlightening.” She pauses, studying me. “Maybe Maita was right.” She flicks something my way, and I catch it out of reflex.
A golden coin burns my palm when I grasp it, its glow slowly subsiding. It bears a laurel surrounding runes on one side, and when I flip it over, I gasp.
Not because of Iza’s image on the other side, but because her likeness is now burned into my palm, like a brand. I look up in question.
“Choose your side wisely and your wish carefully. Remember, magic always has its price.” With those words and another boom shaking the arena, she is gone.
I slip the coin into Tate’s hand and close his fingers around it, fulfilling part of my promise to myself. He protests, but I stop him by placing a kiss on his jaw. Now I only have to make sure he gets out of here alive.
“I want you to have it. I already have everything I could ever want and took care of everything I needed to.”
“Why did you falter?” Tate whispers against my hair, his arms tightening.
“He suddenly looked and sounded like you.”
“Now I’m a little disturbed that you killed him that easily,” Tate jokes, and I huff out a laugh before kissing him like it might be the last time.
“The bastard made a mistake,” I tell him when I come up for air. “Your doppelg?nger chose the win over me and expected me to give up without a fight.”
His arms tighten around me. “Then he didn’t know either of us.”
“Hence the dagger in his chest.” I look up at him. “You’ve seen me at my worst, know my darkest secrets, and still didn’t run for the hills—that has to count for something, right?”
“You trust me,” he whispers, awed.
“With my life, my heart, my soul, and all of my secrets.” I grin at him. “Guess that means I’m yours now.”
Tate tightens his hold on me just when a fanfare blares. His body tenses.
Maybe he only now remembers what I’ve already been waiting for. I turn in his arms when the main gate is thrown open. Guards swarm in and surround the arena. Frederick and his entourage follow, Dar included.
I try to catch my brother’s gaze, but he stares stubbornly ahead, his face unreadable. I sigh.
Standing taller, I squeeze Tate’s hand before stepping out of his arms.
I can’t pull him into this. I can’t pull any of them into this. So I step away from my friends to face the king. And he is not one to hesitate.
“Tamara Summer Blackstone, I declare you guilty of using forbidden magic, of deception, and treason.” The king’s voice booms through the arena, amplified by the gifted by his side. “Your execution will be public. The date will be set shortly.”
Everyone seems to hold their breath while I swallow the rising dread and give him my best infuriating smile. Slowly, I walk toward him.
“Get everyone ready, handsome,” I tell Solaris, and he grumbles his displeasure about my plan, but I know he will do as I ask, because we have been over this a hundred times within the last days.
Frederick takes a step back, clearly not sure what my reaction means. His gift strengthens, but never reaches for me, perhaps because it didn’t work last time. Good thing he doesn’t know I spent all of mine during the fight.
“Seize her,” he commands, but no one moves; too fresh is the image of me bringing down Iza’s beast.
“Don’t you dare come even one step closer,” he threatens, but I laugh.
“What could you possibly threaten me with? Even slaughtering everyone in here wouldn’t make a difference.
” I shrug and study my nails. “But how about you send for a priestess?” I ask, too quiet for anyone else but him to hear, raising my eyebrows.
“You were so adamant about marrying me, and a throne seems what I’m missing, don’t you think?
” I smirk at him, and he clenches his jaw.
“I’d never marry you, never. You’re a—”
I tsk at him. “But you promised, so…”
“Tamara Summer Blackstone, I release you from your promise to marry me.” Frederick hisses, and my grin widens.
“But then I would be stupid to agree, wouldn’t I?” I shake my head at him. “And I’m not.” I shrug. “So I guess you have to postpone the execution.” He pales. “Unless you want to make another deal.”
Someone steps up behind me. I whirl around, raising a dagger, but it clatters to the ground even before I see the person’s face. I recognize his gift. Cool shackles close around my wrists, draining my remaining magic, while I look up into familiar eyes.
“I knew it would be you,” I say, and he flinches, then I give my friends the command they never wanted to hear. “Go.” And while my brother drags me out of the arena, my eyes are on Tate. Two rows of guards separate us, closing in on my flight. I softly shake my head.
Denial, horror, grief, anger, betrayal flash through his eyes before I’m too far away to tell anymore. This is not what we agreed on, but if I were to flee with them now, the king would hunt us down.
Without me, they have a chance. It’s a simple choice to make.
And for the second time today, I tell Tate that I'm sorry and hope he’ll forgive me.
Our birds swoop down, picking up their riders, and Solaris grabs Joel.
My eyes come back to Frederick. I expect him to gloat about seeing me in chains, but his expression is thoughtful.
It’s another person who looks gleeful, and that’s when it clicks.
Suddenly, I realize why the mark on the man from Kystis seemed so familiar.
I'm ushered out of the arena to the waiting carriage, with my hands constrained behind my back. And as soon as the people outside catch sight of me, unrest starts in the crowds surrounding us.
Angry voices demand my release. “Phoenix rider” is a chant that spans the entire square. There's fire everywhere. Torches decorated with stylized silhouettes of rising Phoenixes are held high.
People are pushing and shoving to see me, to touch me. The faces of the king’s men are growing more irritated by the second. I grin.
I’m thrust into the carriage, the door slams closed, and the curtains are quickly drawn, blocking me from sight, but they can't block the noise that follows us to the palace.