Tears pressed against Stella’s eyes, and she tried to blink them away. She didn’t know why his words made her feel so emotional. Maybe because she’d never felt that way. Maybe because she was feeling everything he was feeling.
When she didn’t say anything, Teddy turned to look at her. “Are you crying?”
She brushed the tears away with a violent swipe.
“For me?” Teddy asked. He didn’t look disgusted so much as bewildered.
Stella shook her head and blinked the burning from her eyes. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure if she was feeling pity for him or herself.
His face was the picture of baffled shock. “But you don’t like me.”
Stella huffed. “Well, yes, but it’s easier not to like you when I don’t know how sad your life is.”
He looked suddenly outraged. “My life is great. I’m the heir.” He crossed his arms and glared at her. “Are you always so?—”
“Intense? Emotional?” She shook her head and met his gaze. “Sensitive?”
Gods, did she hate that word. Her parents had always beencareful not to label her that way, but the rest of the world hadn’t been so kind.
Teddy pursed his lips but didn’t say anything.
The silence stretched on awkwardly. Stella stared up at the ceiling, trying to push away the fear that she was going to lose Arden.
“You’re lucky you have godly relatives. At least you have someone who can go over your parents’ heads to do favors for you,” Teddy said.
“You got a glimpse at the kind of favoritism I receive tonight, Your Grace,” Stella said, tapping her chest. “It’s not all roses having goddess aunts. Trust me. As far as I know, the only way to get real favors from the gods is to enter the Gauntlet Games.”
He adjusted the pillow behind his head for the fourth time.
“You don’t look very comfortable,” Stella said. “I can make room in the bed. It’s plenty big. You won’t even know I’m here. I promise not to tarnish your honor.”
Teddy leaned his head back. “I’m fine over here.”
“Suit yourself, Your Grace.”
Stella stilled as an idea took form in her mind. She’d said it off-hand, but it was true. The tournament was meant to channel the post-war violence into a contained event to stop the spreading rebellion, but it was also a reminder that the gods were watching. The competitors fought hard every year because the prize was from the gods, and there was nothing in the two kingdoms more valuable.
If Stella won, she could ask the gods to bless her marriage to Arden and no one in the two kingdoms would refuse her. Better yet, the entire kingdom would have seen her triumph in the Games and would want her to be queen. It would be a different path than what she expected, but she felt empowered by the idea of fighting in the tournament to win the hand of her prince. All great love stories started with a little adversity. It was the opposite of all the fairy tales she read, but she’d spent her life training for a battle that had never come. Perhaps this was the purpose of all of that work.
Besides, the Gauntlet Games were about more than just brute strength. They were about understanding the main tenets of Olney culture: Wisdom, Memory, and Magic.
Stella could admit that, after the past few days, she hadn’t shown abundant wisdom, but she’d always loved solving puzzles with her father, and she had plenty of memory and magic.
She took the first deep breath in hours and closed her eyes to sleep with the comfort of a new grand plan.
7
TEDDY
Absolutely nothing was going according to plan. Teddy had woken early the morning after the bonding and fled the temple while Stella was still asleep, riding back to Olney City with Grace.
But the crowds heading into the city ahead of the Gauntlet Games tournament had slowed their progress, and they didn’t get in until well after midnight.
Teddy had crashed hard from the exhaustion of the ride and had woken so late that he’d nearly missed the deadline for reporting to the competitors’ tent behind Olney Castle. The priestesses had been in the middle of rolling up the scroll of competitor names when he had walked in.
It was for the best that he’d had no time to second-guess himself or consider that this wild idea had come from the least likely place.
When Stella was speaking about how the only way to guarantee a favor from kings or gods was to enter the Gauntlet Games, Teddy realized he had one last chance to get what he wanted. Of course, it was a risk, but a lifetime of happiness was worth it. Entering himself into the contest and winning meant whichever god was thegamemaker of this year’s tournament could grant Teddy the ability to choose his future wife. His father would never refuse a union blessed by the gods, especially one made so publicly.
