The bloody blade drops to the sand and I turn around.
On the opposite side of the clearing, three figures emerge. It’s Noire, followed by two monks. I wait for them to reach me.
Noire wears a victorious smile on his face, and even his eyes are brimming with excitement. I blink in surprise when he sinks to his knees in front of me and the monks follow suit. They bow their heads, fists pressed to their chests, right over their hearts.
“Ezkai General Phoenix Wildarrow, we’re honored to serve and follow you until the very last moment of your reign,” Noire says and the monks repeat it after him.
It’s over.
Finally, all of it is over.
I won.
Yet I don’t feel victorious.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
PHOENIX
An image of Dad looking at me with his head cocked to the side, loving smile on his lips, surfaces to the front of my mind.
I had people I loved taken away from me.
Vasquez’s untamed laugh rings in my ears, the ruthless waves of the ocean echoing somewhere in the distance.
I have left people I cared deeply for in the past.
I close my eyes, but it doesn’t help.
The image of Daegel’s eyes widening with hope a moment before my blade sinks into his throat is vivid in my mind. All-consuming.
The pain of losing loved ones, of leaving them behind as a sacrifice, pales in comparison to taking away the life of someone who once felt like home.
I thought the dark hole in my chest where my heart lies couldn’t get any deeper.
Until I find myself at the very bottom, sinking farther down.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
PHOENIX
My reign starts the moment Noire and the monks escort me from the arena. Flanked by four Ezkai, Noire ushers me into a carriage and we travel back to Jaakii.
The arena is not too far away from the city, so the journey is quick. I’m sticky with blood and sweat, but nobody says a thing. I don’t speak, staring through the small window until we each the Ezkai Castle.
“My stuff is at Vera’s studio,” I say to Noire right before we climb out of the carriage.
My voice is foreign even to my own ears.
“I’ll send people to pack it up and bring it to you at the castle immediately,” Noire says.
I don’t know what else to say so I nod and get out. Noire shows me the way to my chambers on the upper floor of the Ezkai Castle. It’s vast, and I don’t remember the way. I’m still too shaken up after the last trial.
My chambers are huge. I have a large bedroom with a king-size bed in the middle and wide, tall windows overlooking the city. The bathroom is the size of my bedroom at Vera’s studio,with a massive square bath carved into the marble floor. I can fit seven people in it at once, easily.
I even have my personal armory-plus-wardrobe where I can store my dresses and my bows, right next to each other. I won’t lie, that’s my favorite part of my living quarters.
After showing me around, Noire leaves. When the door shuts behind him, I’m enveloped in a ringing silence. I stand in the middle of my bedroom and look at the last rays of the setting sun lingering over the horizon.
