He has yet to check on me since the battle games, which makes my insides roll with pure anger. I rise swiftly, dusting off my pants before I stride away from Florian.
“I’ll be back!” I glance over my shoulder, tossing my hair out of my face. Florian’s arm stretches wide in disbelief, shaking his head before he sits on the log.
I jog up, but slow down my pace before sliding my back along the ridges of the rocks, flushing my back upright against the entrance of the Pyre. I see Koen’s hair pulled back high in a bun, his braids freshly woven in today.
But when I hear my name, my heart sinks.
I tiptoe, trying my hardness not to let my boots kick up the rocks underfoot.
“You promised she would be gone by now.” A woman’s voice is tinged with rage, yet whispering so softly for no one to hear. “What the hell are you doing?”
My body shifts to peek around, yet I can only see Koen’s back. His hands frustratedly dig into his head.
“Plans changed,” he mutters. “It’s not going to happen.”
“You obey me!I saved you!” Her voice heightens before dropping back to a rageful whisper. “You forget that you owe me a debt. Without me, you’d be dead. The last bit of light would have been swallowed whole by the darkness if it wasn’t for me.”
“I never asked you to do that,” he snaps back.
“You wouldn’t be here with her if I didn’t,” she hisses.
Her voice feels so familiar.
He drops his hands towards his daggers against his hips. “I know. But what you are asking me to do,will never happen.”
“Then the flame will just control you to do so. And when you snap out of it, you’ll know that you were the one to kill her.You.”
Koen goes silent. The breeze catches his strands as his shoulders rise.
“Or, continue our work by killing Serene and you shall have what you want in return.” I hear her footsteps kicking rocks as she leaves. “Don’t disappoint me. After all these years together.”
My hand covers my mouth instantly, holding in the gasp that almost leaves my lips. My eyes widen as my body heats—unsure if its rage or pure shock—but the damn world is spinning. I lose my balance as I stumble backwards, holding on to the ridges of the rocks to keep me standing.
I turn, faster than ever, and sprint back towards Florian as he stands by the wall, sharpening his dagger. Tears slide across my face as I wipe them off and hold in the cry that wants to escape my lips.
Damn him.
I should have never allowed him to enter my heart.
In shock, my trembling hands meet the log first before my body, and I gaze out to the Pyre as the men practice, and see Koen walk in. His fingers violently pull through his hair before kicking a rock, making it soar across the Pyre.
I look away as I notice him walking closer towards us.
I wonder if the day in the field of ash wasn’t by accident… what if he has been watching me all along?
“Are you good?” Florian walks over.
I nod, staying silent so he doesn’t catch the shakiness in my voice.
“We need to teach you how to ride the four.” He sits beside me at a safe distance. “The next battle game will be to ride some of the four, and then fight the others with the one you will bond with.”
“And if I don’t bond with it?” I turn towards him. “What happens then?”
“Then you don’t pass the battle games. You won’t make it out alive.”
My lips part to exhale a deep breath, staring at the rocks that tremble under my feet. I suppose I might have never had a chance to survive being here in the Realms. From the moment I arrived, death has been hanging over my head like a damn storm cloud, ready to take me.
My hands fall over my face. I need to snap out of this.
