But the clothing had not been inside this wardrobe when I arrived. I would’ve seen it.
Lexie said no one had delivered clothing to her room.
It had to be him.
Heat surged along my spine, a strange, twisting thing. It curled low in my belly, sharper than comfort, colder than want. My breath came too fast.
Swallowing hard, I dressed in the black leathers. Braided my hair. And pulled on a pair of boots.
Because they were mine now.
My friends and I went to breakfast, even Maddox joining us this time, though he remained apart from the group, and sullen. He ate without replying to whoever spoke to him.
Though my stomach rebelled at the thought of food, and every bite felt like work, I made myself nibble on a slice of bread with butter and jam.
Beside me, Bryson spoke to Kerralyn. She laughed, the sound as delicate as falling snow. Across the table, Maddox tore into his meal like it had wronged him, his eyes full of quiet fire. No one mentioned Jaxon or Fara.
There were six of us now. No longer eight. We’d survived the Rite of Bonds, and made it out of the jungle with breath still in our lungs and blood still moving through our veins.
We left the dining hall together, walking through the eastern corridor in pairs. The stone underfoot had been etched with a winding pattern that glowed faintly as we passed, the light fading the moment we’d moved on. Faelights floated near the ceiling, casting a dreamy, watchful glow. Even at this quiet hour, the magic of this place hovered around us.
Kerralyn’s sleek-furred mole rode on her shoulder, sniffing the air whenever someone else passed. With her nose buried in a book, Kerralyn reached up absently to stroke his spine.
Beau scampered beside Bryson, getting under his feet, nearly tripping him until Bryson scooped him up and held him underneath his arm, Beau’s little feet dangling.
Each of my friends had not only bonded with an enormous beast, but they’d also made true friends with their beasts’ shifted companion.
I walked alone.
The others didn’t say anything about my missing minxpip. They didn’t have to. The void beside me said enough. Every empty step echoed louder for it.
The castle hadexpectationbuilt into it. Like every wall anddoorway had been carved with the knowledge that only the worthy would pass. Even the sunlight that managed to break through the glass felt heavy.
And I… I wasn’t sure what I was anymore. Not quite a princess. Not quite a sister bound by vengeance.
And not quite a rebel.
I’d grown up in a rival court and was taught to fear and condemn the people living in this castle and the surrounding villages.
But how could I condemn the people I cared about?
Rebel.The word curled around my tongue. It was the kind of word we’d been taught to spit, not say. A rebel was a traitor. A threat. A destroyer of peace.
But now I wondered—peace for whom?
It was easy to name someone a rebel when you sat on the side that wrote the rules. Harder when you were the one chained beneath them. And maybe that was what gnawed at me now, what made my chest feel tight and strange. Because if I peeled back the layers of what made someone a rebel, I’d find rage, loss, a refusal to bow.
How far was I from the same?
Maybe the difference wasn’t a matter of loyalty. It could be timing. Or silence. Or luck.
If I tumbled down the wrong side of the word rebel, would anyone catch me?
At the end of a long corridor, we stepped inside the training hall that had been built from huge stone slabs bound together by iron plates. A simple white ceiling rose two stories above, and our voices and footsteps echoed as we walked over to join the other warriors waiting to find out what happened next. Weapon racks gleamed on the walls, holding blades, staffs, bows, and strange implements I’d seen before but didn’t have names for. Training mats had been spread out in the middle of the room.
Built to hold at least a hundred, the training hall now housed thirty-seven, all of us survivors. Sixty-four had walked into the realmto compete in the trial, and only a few more than half had made it through. What a colossal waste of dedication, hope, and potential.
The air inside felt nice and cool, either from the thick stone walls keeping the heat out or it was magically enhanced. It would be easier to train here than in the stuffy tower room where Commander Thorne had patiently showed me one move after another, watching and guiding my hands and my feet until the exact position had been mastered.
