Eris reached forward from the dais, lifting Hart’s chin with her finger and thumb. He didn’t drop his defensive stance. Every part of me recoiled at the action—at Eris’shand on his skin. My foot slid forward, my hands clenched into fists at my side. It was like the first night I’d encountered Hart in the streets of Kavios. Something had driven me to the edge. Something had told me to pick up the stones and cast them into a crowd. Start a riot to save a single man. Something unknown and uncontrollable unfolded deep inside me at Eris’s presumption with Hart. My breath caught as I considered the lengths I might go to save this particular man.
And it was one more feeling I wouldn’t consider too closely.
Hart’s non-sword arm stopped me. With tense muscles and a rapid shake of his head, he begged me to stay in place behind him. The taste of his fear shifted once again. I knew without reason that his fear for me returned. The purple gem flashed brighter, and my forward progress faltered.
Eris’s gaze met mine, and she smiled broadly. “Lovely.” She nodded. “This might work after all.”
She dropped Hart’s chin and straightened her spine. “You’ve chosen a path that will anger my sister. She’ll feel Sebastien’s slow separation from her magic soon enough.”
“Did you feel mine? Is that why you’re here?”
The red curtain of her hair swayed with the shake of her head. “You’re not doing quite as well, darling. I’m here because you called at my altar.”
Her words were like a slap, but I couldn’t deny them.
“There is hope for you yet,” the goddess said. Her gaze lingered on the spot where she’d touched Hart. Even the look set my skin on fire. “But time is short.”
“What will Themis do?”
“Whatever she can.” Eris spread her hands. “Sebastien is right, she didn’t follow the spirit of our game before. I doubt she will once she realizes what is happening. You must bequick.” Her gaze rested on me. “You cannot continue to hide truths from yourself if you hope to accomplish our goals.”
I shook my head before I could get the question out. “Are our goals really the same?” I clutched the necklace tighter. Staring at a goddess who called me her Champion, it seemed foolish to admit to her that I wanted to break free of her curse.
“A Champion of Chaos needs only to challenge what is known. I require nothing else from you but that.”
I clenched my fists again. “What about Kavios? If we succeed in these trials, if we break the curse, how do we save the kingdom?”
“Changing the status quo in Kavios sounds like challenging what is known,” Eris said as her lips curled into another devious smile.
Hart scoffed. “We need more than endless riddles.”
Eris seemed to wipe away Hart’s comment with the swish of her wrist. “You have everything you need to change the tides of Kavios. Do it together.”
My anger boiled again at the meaningless words. Hart must have felt it. He did his best to block my path to Eris, the bitter taste of his fear for me spiking again on my tongue.
“I have nothing I need,” I said. “You hid everything from me.”
Eris shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry so much about me. Focus on your trials. Focus on the hurdles Themis will throw your way. She warned Sebastien that he was out of time to claim the throne. She won’t tolerate his continued dismissal.”
I still didn’t trust Eris’s role in all of this. She’d called me her Champion but had done nothing to help me find my path. Yet, despite Hart’s fear that Eris would attack at any moment, she seemed uninterested in doing so.
“You think she’ll send soldiers after us again?” I asked.
Eris smiled, a little sadly. “I’m sure she’ll get more creative.Then, she was only trying to remove you from the gameboard. Now that emotion is involved, she needs to convince Sebastien that there is no hope but to acquiesce.”
A flash of cool mint hit my tongue. It reminded me that this new facet of our curse. “Tasting each other’s emotions was a bit heavy-handed, wasn’t it?”
“I can’t say I know of what you speak, Champion.” Eris cocked her head in thought. “If that is true, it is a detail that none of us could have anticipated.”
“Wonderful,” I mumbled. That she would deny doing this sounded about right. Chaos never provided a straight answer.
The tension in Hart’s shoulders didn’t fall, but he shook slightly before me. Was he … laughing?
“I’m not sure he’s well, Champion,” Eris said, glancing once again at Hart with confusion.
Hart pulled himself back up to his full height. “Any other cryptic messages for us? We really must be going.”
Eris smiled, her lips pulling back to expose all her teeth. At no point in this conversation had I considered her anything less than dangerous, but the attempt showed the inhumanity of her features.
