A floorboard creaked on the stairs just outside of the living room. Leo and Rosie had been sent to their rooms to give Stella, Teddy, and their parents some privacy, but it was clear they were just listening from their perch at the top of the stairs.
“There’s nothing to be done now,” Stella said. “It will fade in a few weeks and all will be well.”
“And what of the competition?” Xander asked.
Stella winced. “We hoped my parents could advise us on how to control our temporary bond better.”
That was the entire reason she and Teddy had fessed up about what they’d done. If they were just navigating it in daily life, they probably could have gotten away with it, but in the Gauntlet Games, feeling each other’s every rush of panic and pain would be very distracting.
“As if it’s such a simple thing to learn,” Cecilia snapped. “All for some man.”
Rainer finally stepped in. He brought his hands to Cecilia’s shoulders. “If anyone should understand impulsive decisions made for love, I would think it would be you.”
Cecilia cast him a scathing glare. “Then wouldn’t I know best?”
“I take offense to that,” Xander interjected.
Cecilia shook her head and pointed at Xander. “You stay out of this, Xan. You may be king, but this is my house and my daughter.” She turned and poked Rainer in the chest. “And you! Could you be any more wrapped around her finger? She lied to us, ran off with an unmarried man. Then she entered herself into the Gauntlet Games in the year it’s being managed by Endros!”
Rainer blew out a breath and gave Stella a look that said he knew there was no winning. No matter who he sided with, he’d face fury. Stella had inherited her mother’s temper—it burned hot and fast but fizzled out quickly, though she had the same propensity for thoughtless words.
“I’m saying that those of us in this room are the only ones who know about this, and both Stella and Teddy have reason not to share this secret,” Rainer said, his voice calm.
Cecilia rubbed her temples. “I wonder what Sylvie thinks. It’s so unlike Grace to go along with a plan like this. Gods, I’d pay good money to hear what Evan has to say about it.” She muffled a laugh and looked to Xander.
The king smirked. “The Gauntlet Games aren’t Teddy’s only concern right now, I’d say. Interesting that these two ended up connected, though.”
“It’s not as if I wastryingto be bound to Teddy,” Stella huffed.
Rainer held his hands up to try to ease the tension. “Any other secrets we need to be made aware of?” he asked. “Like maybewhyyou were at the Temple of Desiree in the first place.”
Stella looked down at her hands in her lap, ignoring her mother’s burning gaze. “I went to be bonded to Arden.”
“Teripin?” Her father was slow to anger, but she sensed it in the tone of his voice. “As in the prince of Olney? As in the man whose betrothal to Princess Eleria was announced at dinner the other night?”
“As in the prince she’s been sleeping with for the past six months,” Cecilia said.
Stella’s cheeks burned furiously. “Mama, you said you wouldn’t say anything.”
Cecilia glared at her. “Trust is earned, Stella.”
Rainer looked crestfallen. Stella watched as he realized she’d been lying to him regularly for months. He had always prided himself on having a great relationship with Stella and her siblings. She knew he’d be hurt that she had held something so important back.
She pressed her hand to her sternum. “Isn’t being connected to His Broody Highness punishment enough? I know that I messed up, but it’s only a temporary problem.”
Cecilia twisted her hands in her skirt. “Maybe we could get them out of it. Maybe there’s something written into the covenant of the Games.”
“I don’t want an out,” Stella said. “I want to win.” She looked pleadingly at Teddy.
He finally spoke up. “We thought maybe since you all created the Games all those years ago that one of you might have a loophole in how the rules were written.”
Stella tipped her head back and sighed. “For the last time. I’m not quitting so you can win. If you want a loophole, let’s be clear that it’s soyoucan save face.”
“I can’t quit. I would never live it down,” Teddy said. “I thought maybe another god could step up as gamemaker.”
Rainer shook his head. “The gamemaker rotates every year, but once a god has taken up the mantle, they have to finish it—just like there’s no way out for either of you once you’re bound to the tournament.”
Xander sighed and rubbed his temples. “We were very intentional. The covenant of the Games is bound by the gods and holds for as long as peace does. So unless you want to start rooting for a rebellion, the competitors are held to their binding promise the same way the gods are held to deliver a favor to the winner.”
