I glare at her. “You’re missing the third option: Will he kill me?”
Her eyes widen. “But that’s not an option. He can’t kill you.”
“Yes, he can—”
“He bound himself to you. He can’t harm you. Not even to protect himself. Not even to defend himself against you.”
Everything spins around me. My stomach lurches and my vision blurs. I stumble back against my chair, coming up hard against its edges. “But…”
She studies me. It would be very hard for her to miss my shock right now; it’s slamming off me in waves. “You didn’t realize.” It’s a statement, not a question. “You thought that the deep magic from the Heartstone Protocols would override his oath and allow him to fight you?”
“Yes!”
Her eyes glisten and her Splendor heritage shines in them. “You hold the power now, Princess.”
“I won’t kill him.”
She stands straighter and her eyes light up with hope. “Then you’ll yield? Despite what you said before?”
“No. I can’t do that either.” I grip the edge of the table to prevent myself from sliding beneath it. My knuckles burn white hot against the wood. “I know that makes no sense. But I have no choice. I have to win, but I can’t kill him.”
She leans forward, assessing me, but it’s not a cold calculation, it’s a look as old as time, a female’s wisdom when she understands there are no good choices but a choice has to be made. “Then you need a solution—a solution that I can provide.”
I jerk backward, not trusting her closeness. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I owe you an enormous debt and I see a way to repay it.” She leans back too, giving me space, and cautiously sweeps her hand out in a gesture at our surroundings. “Do you like the flowers?”
I hadn’t noticed before, but I do now. Gladiolus flowers are scattered among the roses glistening on the ground, their gentle lavender petals mingling with the red rose petals. “Are you the reason for the flowers?”
“Not just me. I condemned the way you were treated during the battle in the arena. It was abhorrent. Beyond belief. I went to Mai Reverie immediately to seek her council about what I could do to protect you. I knew there was very little I could do to defend you physically, but if I could unite the people in your favor then you would have their support. I suggested the flowers and Mai grew them herself, hundreds of them.”
I want to thank her—I know I have to thank Mai and Iwill—but I still don’t know if I can trust Sahara.
She says, “Then you saved my son’s life. I knew that no matter what trial the Elven Command chose to administer, Sebastian would choose to die rather than fight his friends. Especially because he thought he’d lost Jordan.” She pauses, sucking in her breath. “The only way I can repay you for saving his life is by saving a life that you… care about.”
I zero in on her, choosing to ignore her comment about me caring about Baelen. I can’t acknowledge that to anyone. I can’t speak it aloud because then I’ll break down. I grip the table harder, not caring that the power of thunder gives me the strength to press so hard that splinters break off beneath my palms. I’m probably drawing blood but if I stop holding onto this table right now, I’ll lose my hold on my emotions. “Can you call off the battle? Can you make your father put a stop to it?”
“No, I’m sorry, but… are you aware that I’m a healer?”
When I shake my head, a jerky side-to-side motion, she says, “I’ve saved the lives of many beloved sons. And husbands. And lov—”
I snap, cutting her off. “Where are you going with this?”
“I don’t mind saying that I’m quite talented, especially in knowing which medicines to administer. Medicines aren’t spells of course, so they can be given to champions despite the protective spells.”
She pulls a vial from the delicate rose-gold clutch she holds in her hands. The vial is small, the size of a thimble, and sparkles gold too. “This one slows the heartbeat so much that it looks like someone’s dead. All you have to do is nick them and they fall within moments. And this one… revives them.”
The second vial is silver. She places both side by side on the table. She leans toward me, whispering, “Spin gold, shelter silver. He is worth more than both, yes?”
I stare at the vials as her footsteps retreat. One vial to make it look like he’s dead. The other to wake him up when it’s all over… Is this actually possible? Could this be the solution I desperately need?
When I look up again, she’s gone. Not wasting another moment, I scoop up the vials and hide them inside one of my gloves. I’m just in time before the dancers come alive around me again. Everything resumes as if nothing happened and Sahara Splendor doesn’t look back. She glides over to her son and gives him a hug, drawing Jordan into her embrace as well. The love between them is so strong that any suspicion I had about Sahara’s motives melts away.
The celebration might be continuing around me as if nothing’s changed, but something has changed. Sahara Splendor just gave me hope. My first real hope that I can keep Baelen alive.
