“And used her momentum against her,” Finnrey added.
The move was one none of us could have achieved.Perhaps Broga had enough strength to manage it, though I doubted she could flip a man so much taller than she.What fools we were.We’d practiced attacking on the training fields, thinking we’d be facing a man more interested in painting than fighting.
But Taio of Zulen was a warrior.The only way to beat him in hand-to-hand combat was to be faster and more agile.
The Zulenii were counting again.“Un.Duo.”
“Get up!”Broga yelled.
“Treh!”
“Cameed!”Morga cried, probably not realizing she’d called her by her true name.“Get up!”
“Quatre!”
Cameed rolled and climbed to her feet, looking disoriented and wobbly.This time the prince didn’t give her time to recover.When she moved toward him, he sidestepped, put out a foot and tripped her.
I didn’t wait for Cameed to hit the ground.
I slipped through the railing while my sisters were distracted by Cameed’s misstep and took off across the field.I tore my mask from my face and pushed the hood off my hair.A gasp went up from the arena, and there were shouts.I heard my mother’s above all the others.“Mara!No!”
I locked my gaze on the Zulenii prince and shut out the rest.My people would not lose their honor for me.Mayhap the court had lost its values, but I hadn’t.I could never be the heir to the throne if I didn’t have my honor.My people wouldn’t respect me.Even worse, I couldn’t respect myself.
I must fight this prince.I didn’t know if I could win.Before I’d seen him fight, I would have been confident in my abilities, but I’d underestimated him.
We all had.
Cameed was on her knees, shaking her head.Her own mask had slipped down, and I could see blood seeping onto the cloth from her injured nose.“Go back!”she hissed as soon as I was within range.I kept my gaze fixed on the prince.
He stared right back at me.He didn’t look from me to Cameed.His brow didn’t furrow.As I’d suspected, he’d known all along he was deceived.I wondered what he thought of us, what he’d thought of me—sitting in the now-fancy pit and allowing my sister to fight for me.
I halted a few feet from where Cameed struggled to rise.Taio stood on the other side of her, his bare chest gleaming in the midday sun.I had a funny feeling in my belly and looked away.I wouldn’t look at that chest.Too distracting.
“Lady Mara,” the prince said.“How good of you to join us.”His voice dripped with sarcasm.I couldn’t fault him.
I wanted to say this hadn’t been my idea.I wanted to apologize and tell him my people had more honor than this.But in his place, I wouldn’t have believed anything an Earslehen told me.I would think of all of us as liars and cheats.
The arena had gone very quiet.
I looked past the prince and scanned the shocked faces in the crowd.I spotted Gaz.His expression was one of fury.
You’re mine.
But I wasn’t his or anyone’s.I was my own person.I was heir to the throne.I would have my honor.And there was nothing Gaz or my mother could do to stop me.
I turned and glanced at my sisters.They still wore their masks, and they looked mouthless and eerie standing in a line of white.Then my gaze rose to the box above them.Mama was on her feet, two spots of red on her cheeks, eyes blazing with anger.Papa had not risen from his throne, but I could see his jaw was tight.
“There’s been a mistake,” I said, my voice echoing in the quiet.I was no public speaker, and hearing my voice come back at me made my knees go weak.I really had not thought this through.I’d much rather fight than give a speech.But I had to say something, and I must say it publicly.That was the only way I could ensure the honor of the kingdom would be upheld.“I am the Lady Mara,” I said, which was obvious.I had no idea what to say next.If I had been with my mother in private, I would have yelled at her for her deception and her duplicity.But the people of Earsleh didn’t want to hear that.They weren’t culpable for her well-intentioned treachery.They were feeling the same loss of integrity I was.I had to give them their honor back.“The prince from Zulen has chosen me for the challenge.”
I glanced over my shoulder and Taio raised a brow.
“I will fight him.If I lose, I will return to Zulen with him and his retinue.There is to be no question about that.”I said it to the prince and then I made certain to meet Gaz’s mahogany eyes.The fury in them burned into mine before I turned my back on him and stared hard at my mother and father.I seared them with my gaze until they could not help but understand that no matter the outcome of this fight, they were not to intervene again.No one but me would touch the prince.“If I win,” I continued, “I will kill the Zulenii prince in this very spot.”I took my boot and made an X with the toe.I could already imagine the prince’s blood soaking into the dirt under the lines I’d drawn.
I turned to the prince now.“Agreed?”
He made a slight, almost mocking bow.His gaze slid to Cameed, who was on her feet now and scowling, as usual, at me.I gestured to the pit where our sisters waited, essentially dismissing her.If I did defeat the prince—no,whenI defeated the prince—she would have plenty to say about this.But I’d worry about a tongue lashing from Cameed later.
Right now, I had a prince to kill.
