AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’mthis closeto smiling my way out of the banquet hall and going about my life without The Prince or Cristen orwho the fuck cares.
This. Damn. Close.
But as it turns out, a woman’s war cry can stop me in my tracks.
I swivel back around, my eyes flying wide as a female warrior charges toward me. “Fuck!” I screech as her leather-clad shoulder rams into my chest and knocks me to the floor.
“You will not insult our Heir,” the woman hisses with venom. She jams her forearm across my neck and cuts off my windpipe.
“How ironic of you,” I squeak, remembering her face, “just moments ago, you were worried about me.”
“That was before I knew you were a despicable brat.” She pushes her forearm down harder.
I bat at her sides, and victory scores through me when my fingers find a dagger strapped to her waist. I rip it free then plunge it into her bicep.
She howls and falls off of me.
I spring to my feet, bend down and tear the dagger free from her arm. I pant heavy breaths as I rake my eyes over her in displeasure. “You shouldn’t attack an enemy without knowing their strengths.” I lean over her with a snarl. “Mine is being cornered.”
“You’re disgusting,” she growls.
“Better that than pathetic,” I snap back and bare my teeth at her.
“That’s enough,” a low voice murmurs.
I falter to the side. My insides twist with unease.
Cristen Estal stands a few feet away. His face is grim, but I swear there’s a hint of pride lighting those ever-swirling eyes of his. “Tonight is a night of peace for us all. Tomorrow begins the tournament.”
I reel in my fatigue, embarrassment, fury, and find my indifference. I fold my arms over my chest and purse my lips. “I no longer wish to compete.”
Cristen’s gaze darkens, fleeting between maroon, indigo, and emerald. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. Not without wiping your memory.”
I scowl. “I don’t care. I clearly don’t belong here, so I want out.”
His shoulders tense beneath his cloak. “I would have to erase every memory since your initiation to the tournament that is tainted with my presence.”
Something cold and mournful rolls through me.Every memory of Cristen, of The Prince – gone?I chew on the inside of my cheek.No, it would be more than that. I would forget the only lead I have on my brother, too, because Cristen was there.I swallow and flick my gaze around the banquet hall.
Everyone stares. No one speaks.
I level my gaze with his. I don’t need to say anything. He knows I can’t back out, not if it means giving up the only lead on my brother. Still, I can never control my snake of a tongue. “Then I’ll stay, but not for you. For my brother.”
The tension in Cristen’s shoulders amplifies along his neck, his jaw. His eyes become nothing more than a storm, and it’s hard to tell if it’s anger or pain. His lips part slightly on a small, barely conceivable inhale. Maybe he thinks himself stoic, that I wouldn’t catch it, but I do, and it makes the cold, mournful thing inside me grow teeth. That small, pained inhale – it saws in half whatever faint line of feeling was left between us.
He gives me a single, cold nod before he turns away and points to the orchestra. “Play,” he demands, and it’s the voice I remember he used with Ferris. It’s the voice of a Boss.Or, perhaps, one day a King. He gestures to the crowd with annoyance. “Dance. Feast. Celebrate. In a week, one of you will be the future Queen of the Kingdom of Estal.”
And just like that, the festivities commence.
I stand still, fidget as eyes fall on and off me. People mingle, but it’s obvious what their main topic of discussion is:me. I scan the room for Talis and Gretta, but they’ve disappeared. My eyes trail Cristen as he climbs up a spiral staircase to the balcony.
His sister latches to his arm as he moves to the curtain at her back. He shakes her off and whispers something angrily in her ear before he swipes the curtain out of the way and disappears.
The Princess finds me staring and shoots me a disgusted sneer before she parts the curtains and stomps after him.
Someone bumps into me,hard.
I turn my head and find the female warrior who attacked me.
