‘It looked like you enjoyed it plenty—you even ran off for seconds in the hallway.’
The drums began, signalling the start of the duel. Shaking him off, I stepped into the centre of the arena. Visarous went to claim a seat while the crowd hushed. Viv and I paced on ourrespective sides of the line that ran through the middle as the drumming crescendoed, then stopped, and so it began.
I lowered my stance, carrying my weight on the balls of my feet. Viv did the same and ran towards me without hesitation. As I closed the distance between us, I raised my sword, and it met hers in the air, blocking the strike. Our swords met again in a resounding clash that reverberated throughout the arena. I blocked every blow while stepping toward her, forcing her further back. Minutes passed, and she was growing tired as each strike of her sword failed to find its mark.
Moving into an offensive position, I struck with such impact that she doubled back. I noticed the shake of her wrist as she tried to hold onto her sword. She parried my attacks, but I was not working at full strength yet; I was only warming up. As steel met steel, we danced in twists and turns around each other. It was a violent elegance. I feigned a misstep to draw her close, then slammed the hilt of my sword against her temple. She stumbled back, blinking through what seemed like a concussion, as I swung my sword just short of her, cutting through the vambrace on her forearm. It clattered to the ground.
Before she regained herself, I kicked her knee so cleanly that I heard a crack. She dropped to the floor in agony as a scream escaped her. I knew her, and she was both ashamed and angry in that moment. Forcing herself back up onto her one good leg, she slashed her sword at me. I couldn’t contain my laughter at her feeble attempt. Rage flared across her face as she snarled at me and screamed.
‘This! This is why you will never have what I have. You are sick and twisted and so fucked up! You are my friend, not just my queen! You should be happy for me! You are so fucking selfish. You only care about us to the extent that we serve you. You expect us to never have needs apart from you! I deserve to be loved! Just because you were never loved and don’t know how to love does not make what I have wrong! It is real! And you will respect it!’ she screamed at me, and the entire arena gaped inshocked silence. No one spoke to royalty that way and lived. But the wards would prevent a killing blow. In this moment I wished we had of waited to do this on my own lands. Since she wanted to humiliate me in the process, I could do the same, but words would have no effect on her. I had to bring her to death’s door.
‘If I were only your Queen, I would have made you choose, and when you chose wrong, I would have killed you,’ I whispered so the others could not hear of my mercy. Raising my hand, I showed her the second red ring that marked my finger. She paled. ‘Instead, we both chose you.Ichose you. Even after your betrayal and lies. I chose what was best for you, not for me or our people. You are one to talk about respect. You’re akin to a feral wildling in the woods—the only way to teach you respect is to beat you into submission, you ungrateful bitch.’
I flung my sword toward her, about to strike, but she was still in such shock that instead of truly blocking, she allowed me to fling her sword across the ground, where it skidded and kicked up dirt. Without missing a beat, I kicked her in the chest and sent her flying onto her back. I needed to make her bleed but she was too weak and had no sword. As I stood over her exploding with frustration at all this rage that had nowhere to go, I raised my sword high above and slammed it down with so much force, screaming a primal sound that was no longer human. I drove it right through the ground next to her head. I saw the fear I so desperately craved in her eyes.
In that moment I wanted to cry, instead I dropped to my knees as my fist landed on her jaw, the other on her eye and hit her over and over and over again. I screamed the whole time right into her face as I punched, fighting back the tears I felt wanting to spill over. At some point, she had stopped fighting back. I felt arms grip me, pulling me off her as Viv coughed up blood, and Visarous rolled her onto her side, rubbing her back and comforting her as healers rushed to her side. The injuries would be gone by morning, but until then, she would feel everylick of pain. Visarous looked up at me for a moment, hurt in his eyes.
Slowly, I started to become aware of my surroundings again. The ringing in my ears dulled, and the voices in the arena filtered back in. Prince Acheron was sitting in his chair, gripping the armrests so tightly that his knuckles were likely to burst through his skin. His sister Lejla laughed at Viv on the ground and then at me, the unhinged queen thrashing in the arms of two men.
Stop fighting.I heard that familiar voice in my mind. Demir. I stilled instantly. Pulling myself out of his grasp, I whirled to see Everett standing there as well, hands raised to signal that he was no threat. Why had they, of all people, intercepted the fight?
‘Where are you going?’ Demir asked. ‘I’m not done with you yet,’ he said, smirking as he flicked a coin that landed between my feet. A duel. Everett raised his brow and stared me down, as if questioning whether I would accept. But there was no real choice in this. I picked up the coin and my sword from the ground.
‘Finally,’ I said, a sinister smile taking over my face as I forgot Viv’s existence the moment they dragged her away. I had dreamed of the day I could wrap my fingers around his neck and watch the panic in his eyes and after everything my bloodlust still was not satisfied. I needed to kill to calm down but this was the closest I was going to get while here.
The drums echoed through the room, building and building before they came to a stop, marking the beginning of the duel. Demir stood in front of me holding a pair of what looked like three pronged Sai. But these were far deadlier, with each prong shaped into a blade rather than the usual blunt spear. My sword would do nothing in such close combat, so I threw it to the side and pulled two blades from my boots, one in each hand. The drums climaxed and then stopped, ushering in the beginning. Now, this would be a bloodletting.
I ran towards him with everything I had in me, every emotion I had felt over the last two days fuelling each stride.Just as I stepped in front of him, slashing across his abdomen, he spun right out from under me. I caught him again, but the centre of his Sai blocked my blade. He pushed it back, the screeching of steel-on-steel ringing throughout the arena.
It was a violent convergence of blades. Every strike was either parried or blocked. As fast as I was, he was faster, there to meet every strike. It was chaos, blow after blow, metal against metal until he broke through the fray and sliced the inside of my arm, my blood splattered to the floor. His lips quirked into an almost curious smirk, as if he couldn’t believe he had drawn blood. Beads of sweat drenched his shirt and glistened on his skin. I heard the crowd cheer in the distance at the first drops of blood. Not even acknowledging the pain, I pressed on with a series of rapid strikes, forcing him backwards and conceding ground. I was quick to block any counterattack. I pushed him further and further back until his back hit the wall of the arena. The crowd cheered above; they loved it when people got pinned against the wall where they sat for a front row show. He seemed almost shocked, realising how much ground he had lost. Just as quickly his honey-coloured eyes turned into deep resolve. He raised his arm high, using the momentum and his strength to strike a powerful blow. But he left himself exposed in that moment, so I drew my blade back and then forced it into his abdomen. I watched him fold in on himself as I pulled it back out. Blood dripped from my blade, and as I twirled it in my fingers a menacing laugh escaped me.
He threw his shoulders back in fierce determination and lunged for me, throwing out technique and now relying on his overbearing size and strength to catch me off guard. Thinking I wouldn’t anticipate it right off the back of me stabbing him. But I knew how cornered animals lashed out, I was one. Even so, I wasn’t quick enough to fully escape his grasp before his fingers closed around my belt. He pulled me back and under him as he all but collapsed on the ground from the blood loss, using his body weight to drag me down. His legs locked mine in place ashis hands gripped my shoulders. With the weight of his muscles, I could barely move and the panic began to flood through me.
I was at his mercy; my nightmares had come to life and were plaguing me. For the briefest moment, I felt powerless. I had lost control. I needed that control. But I refused to let it show. He was smirking down at me; satisfaction oozed from every pore of him at the fact that he would win this.Maybe she isn’t Ruhi but fuck she feels good underneath me.His thoughts bled into me at his touch. I felt his hips grind into me ever so slightly, and my eyes widened in shock. Was he fucking hard right now? Registering what he had done, he instantly paused, and his eyes mirrored the shock in mine.What the heck did I just do?I used his confusion as my chance to bring my head up and strike his chin, causing his teeth to smash against each other. While he was temporarily stunned, I pulled my leg free and slammed my knee between his legs. Demir let out a laboured breath before wrapping his hand around my hair and pulling my head back down to the ground. Now I was the one mixing pain and pleasure, and I was confused as hell. Wanting to both stop him and beat my own thoughts away, I drew my head back, even with his fingers fisted in my hair, and smashed my face against his jaw. I tried for a headbutt but with the restriction of his grasp I did more harm to myself likely shattering my nose.
Raising his fist, he said loudly enough for the crowd to hear, ‘I’ve been waiting for this, bitch.’ But he hesitated. It was brief, but it was enough, and it would cost him. I gripped my blade and slammed it into the side of his body. He gasped, the pain loosening his grip on my hair. He braced himself against the floor as I twisted the blade further. I pulled it out and then slammed it back into his shoulder, not giving him a chance to recover. He completely collapsed on top of me, soaking me in his blood as he bled out. His breathing heavy.
I can’t do it. Why… why did it have to be her, was all I heard of his pained thoughts before his body was pulled off me.
I had won, and rather than applause, the arena sat in silence,staring at me drenched in blood. Everett pulled Demir to his feet but had to carry him; his eyes were barely open, yet they held my fierce gaze. The blade in my hand was covered in Demir’s blood and glistened. Standing, I used the blade to cut open the top of my tunic so the black mark would be exposed. I smeared his blood on it. The next time I spilled his blood, he would be just another number among those who had fallen at my hands.
The crowd looked at me in disgust, with most expressing horror and fear. This was a side they had not seen. Demir looked right through me, lost in the pain—as if he were barely registering what I had done—while Everett turned him around and helped him to the healers.
Thirteen
When I opened the door to the infirmary, I was met with the scent of garlic and dandelion. Queen Jade of Voldina stood there, stirring a pot that was boiling with the two. I had almost forgotten she was a healer. She rushed to my side after seeing my broken nose and pulled me to the bed to sit down concern lighting up her features. The room was half infirmary, half laboratory, with tinctures and jars of things that looked more like experiments than any type of medicine I had ever seen. It was a far cry from Sienna’s innate abilities to heal through words and touch alone; however, it was no less effective.
‘I need to reset your nose. This is going to hurt, a lot,’ Jade said, worry etching her features, as she placed her fingers on either side of my nose and, without warning, shifted it back into place. The pain seared through me, followed by a wave of nausea. More blood poured from my nose as Jade moved back to her boiling pot on the fire and soaked a cloth in it.
‘I had this prepared, knowing there would be far too many injuries for so few healers today. Let me clean the blood off you so I can see what we’re dealing with.’ Every time she wiped the blood off my face, my shattered nose throbbed with pain andmore blood spluttered out. Being of royal lineage, Jade’s abilities were much stronger than those of other healers. She placed her bare hand on the cut on my arm and another on my nose. Her touch was gentle and her fingers were cold; it was soothing against the pain I felt radiating through every bone in my face. She whispered in Voldinian—the language of her people—and slowly the pain faded away. I could feel the bones move before fusing into one piece again, and my skin knit back together with each passing second. She almost looked shocked at my lack of reaction to something that should have undoubtedly caused excruciating pain, but I had felt worse.
‘Raleigh would have laughed at me for seeking treatment after a fight—there was no one tougher than your sister. Had she been a Skin Seeper, I would have chosen her as my second instead of Vivianna,’ I said to her. Jades eyes brimmed with tears. ‘Your sister would be on death’s door, yet something would still leave her standing and fighting. I don’t know where she found such will or where it had come from, but I… envied it. In everything she did there was some grander purpose she was working towards that kept her going. It made me feel inadequate, as though I didn’t deserve my throne. She had a vision for the future. I’ve never seen beyond ending my enemies. When she died, a piece of my hope shattered along with her. It’s people like her who should be leading these realms, not me. They took her, and with her, they took any hope for a better future.’
Jade was crying, her whole body shaking.
She whispered to me desperately between sobs. ‘Thank you, thank you so much, Queen Skylar. I want to continue her work; I want to be a ruler that my sister would be proud of. I’m surrounded by traitors who killed her and didn’t shed a tear when she was gone. They hold my mother captive saying she has gone mad, but I knew it was because she was pushing back. She wanted better for her people, while others wanted more of the same. Please, please help me. I know I am asking for too much, but you are my only hope. I need these people gone, I need mythrone back and I need to help wipe out Morgad for everything they have done. King Sebastian ruined my court, poisoned their minds, and I lost my kin to his greed. Please, I am begging you,’ she pleaded with me. The flame within me hummed in acknowledgement that what she spoke was true.
‘I didn’t know you weren’t truly one of them, that you hadn’t almost let it happen.’ She flinched at the accusation but levelled a stare at me.
