She turns back to me. “If he’s trying to help you win, then he wants you to be a danger to everyone. Why? Did he say anything else?”
My conversation with the Prince of Bones runs through my head. “He said we needed to prepare for the real war and stop this game.” I feel exhaustion creeping into me. I need to find a place to sleep very soon.
Rhion’s expression becomes thoughtful. “There have been whispers,” he says slowly. “Azric has tried to convince some of the other champions to talk to their gods about ending the war. I heard Echo talk about how she’d laughed him off when he’d brought the idea up to her. I doubt she was the first since she was widely knownas one of the most dominant champions, second only to Azric in battle prowess.”
Ainslee shakes her head. “But why? What’s he planning to get out of this if Fiona wins?”
“How many people does a champion typically kill in a battle? And what would happen if they stayed dead?” I ask.
“Hundreds,” Rhion says softly, a look of shock on his face. “Hundreds of Godforged die each time a champion takes to the field, especially one as powerful as Nyxthos’s. No god or champion would allow their army to go to war with them.”
It’s obvious now that we’re putting words to it. “Azric wants to convince the gods to stop the war. That would be averybig stumbling block to continuing, wouldn’t it?”
“Someone could always try to kill you,” Rhion responds. “If you died, then the war would continue on as planned.”
I turn to him. “And if Azric backed me, if he truly allied withme. Not with Nyxthos, but with me. How many champions would attempt to kill me in battle? How many assassins would risk their lives then?”
The room’s silent as the realization hits us all at the same time. I could end the war by winning this.
“Then we make sure you win,” Ainslee says. “Even more than before, you have to win. I’ve fought this war for eighty years. It needs to end. For the first time since it began, we have a chance to do it.” She looks from me to Darian, and finally to Rhion. “That’s my order. For the next two months, we’ll do everything we can to make sure that Fiona wins.”
She looks at Darian then. “And if you can, during the trials, I need you to help her. Remember, it’s not about survival anymore. It’s about making sure that when this is done, her eyes burn black.”
He nods to her. “Yes,” he says respectfully, without an ounce of sarcasm or laughter in his voice.
She looks around the room at all of us. “The plan remains the same, though. You stay here. We’ll get food and drink for you, and if you need to leave the room, you’ll always be escorted. I’m sorry, Fiona, but for the next two months, your safety and training are the most important things to every human and Lesser Fae in Nyth.”
I take a deep breath. I’ve lived my life knowing what I did was rarely in my own hands, but my father’s words keep echoing in my mind.Don’t forget that you can’t trust any of them.
While I don’t know why they’d lie to me if they’re trying to stop the war that’s ravaged Nyth for eighty years, my father had a reason to give me that advice. As Ainslee said, no one could have foreseen that a human kingdom could stand against them all.
But he did. It would be idiocy to ignore his warning, even if I don’t know why or how they’d be lying to me.
For now, at least, I’ll remain cautious. I’ll remember the laws I’ve lived by and trust only Priests. Ainslee, Rhion, and Darian may be allies, but that doesn’t mean they’re Priests.
I just wish my father was here to help me navigate this new world. That’s when the side-effects of the Tortoise hit me, and I have to lay down on the hard stone. I should have said something sooner, should have prepared in some way. Now it’s too late. Iknow that everyone is staring at me even as my eyelids refuse to open, and I quickly say, “Infusion side-effects. Don’t worry.”
Then sleep overtakes me.
Chapter 14
You will save the innocents. You will protect the ones who cannot protect themselves. You will fail many times, but our goal is not to prevent their deaths. It is to give the living hope. It is to give them life when death is all around them.
~Edicts of Adelynne, the Goddess of Hope, before she became Adelyth
Fiona
Days pass as if they’re weeks. I’ve never been this bored in my life. There was always something to do. Lessons with Cedric, training with Bram, or missions with my father. The room we’re in is tiny, and while banter with Darian is entertaining, even he can’t keep it up for days at a time.
We tried training the first few days, but there’s just not enough space. It’s a prison cell, but it’s a prison cell that’s working. The first few days and night were interspersed with battle cries and screams—both human-sounding andother. How many of thosewere competitors looking for people like me, the ones who aren’t nearly as battle-capable?
Rhion and Ainslee have come and gone, as they both have responsibilities elsewhere. Only Darian has remained constantly at my side in my cell.
Through Rhion and Ainslee, we’ve learned that a quarter of the competitors, including many of the Burning Ones and Chained, failed the Shadow Road.
No one knows for certain what the next trial will be, though.
That’s only one of the reasons that when I wake up on the morning of our fifth day that I leap at the chance to leave. Ainslee walks into the room with a furious look on her face and a sheet of paper in her hand.
