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“We were trained to sleep through hail storms,” Harmony adds. “Warriors don’t get much sleep, so when we get the chance, it needs to be quick and powerful.”
Sera gestures to Cristen. “What is this?”
Cristen stands and slicks back his hair.
“I don’t know,” I admit, and get on my feet. “Thatthingwas going to eat me, and Cristen…he…”
“I saved her,” he finishes for me.
I fold my arms and scowl at my boots.
“I don’t care.” Harmony’s tension flares into an annoyed snarl. “Why. Are. You. Here?”
“Nothing said I couldn’t be.” Cristen moves to the river and splashes water up his arms, washing off the remnants of the strange monster.
Sera’s face contorts with offense. “You’re going to fight with us?”
“I want an equal.” He stands, and I try not to stare at the way his abs shine with sweat and water. “That won’t happen if one of you sees me as your tormentor. It’s only fair that I fight alongside my future Queen.”
“Are we supposed to kill you?” Harmony questions.
I perk up at that line of questioning.
Cristen’s eyes dart between us before they land on me. His lips curl into a smirk. “You can try.”
My toes cramp in my boots. I grit my teeth and fight off a shiver.He doesn’t get my attention, I remind myself and turn away. I trudge toward the forest line.
“Zora, where are you going?” Cristen asks. He strides after me.
My ring finger ticks.
“Zora.”
I stomp through a thicket of brush and shove through leaves.
“Are you seriously not going to talk to me?”
I smile to myself.
“Please. I didn’t think I could tell you anything, but Talis came to me after our fight. He told me I needed to be here, that we needed to fix the chasm between us before it grows too large.”
Anger boils inside me. “So Talis sent you here,” I say at last, but I continue to break my way through the woods.
“Yes, but I also want to be here,needto be here.”
“If Talis hadn’t told you it was okay, would you have come?” I slow my march, wait for his answer.
It takes several long seconds.
“There are things —”
“Answer the damn question,” I spit and turn toward him. I take an immediate step back, finding him close,too close. My breath catches in my throat, and panic rises within me as I lift my gaze to his, to those impossible eyes.
It’s addicting knowing the galaxy in his eyes, all this time, was Fate staring back at me.And also fucking terrifying. My mouth dries.
“No,” he says finally. His throat bobs. “Talis is my anchor, Zora. Hefeelsthings that I cannot. If he felt the right path for the Kingdom was for me to sit back and stay on my throne, then I would.”
I let those words sink in, and my limbs feel heavier with each syllable. “Why can’t you make your own choices?”Why can’t you choose me?
