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“I told you to be quiet.” I rub my temples.
He mimes zipping his mouth and throwing away a key.
My shoulders relax as we pick up our pace and walk forward quietly. For a few moments, I’m back to a bliss one can only find in the woods. Then, I become too aware of Cristen’s presence. The way his fingers brush mine every few steps. The slight puff of breath he exerts when we climb up a hill. I stare at him, and I swear I can even hear his thoughts. With his scrunched brow and the tornado of colors in his eyes, it’s as if he’s pondering the universe.He very well could be. What else does the Heir of Fate think about?
He catches me staring and offers me a questioning look, one brow lifted.
“You’re thinking too loud,” I complain.
His brows pull together, and his mouth twists. “I’m sorry, shall I simply not exist, Zora?”
“That would be wonderful,” I say with a sigh of relief.
His jaw clenches.
Good job. You really have a way with words. I open my mouth to apologize, but the words are torn from me.
Lying across the path ahead is a body. A woman with dark hair and vacant eyes. Something besides a warrior got her, her intestines pulled free, her mouth agape in a silent scream.
“Gods.” I crouch and close her eyes. I turn to Cristen. “How can you be okay with all this? These are innocent women.”
He presses his lips together, scoops a hand through his hair, and continues forward, ignoring me and the body.
“Hey,” I snarl and catch up to him, “I asked you a question,your highness.”
He grimaces. “If there was another way, Talis or Caya would’ve told me.”
I scowl but fall silent. I get there are rules he can’t break.But this?My stomach squeezes.Do I want the throne if it means continuing this tournament?
We slow at the edge of the stronghold, the smell of burnt flesh lingering.
I swat away leaves and step into the open.
Harmony sits by the fire. Her skin is slick with some kind of black ichor. She spins a nasty-looking piece of flesh on a spit, cooking it above the fire. She looks up at us, and her eyes flare with annoyance.
“Sera?” I ask, my eyes darting around the campsite.
“Asleep in the hut.” She reaches down beside her and lifts something, before tossing it toward me.
I catch it, then immediately thrust it to the ground. “Gah!” I stare down at a head, the face covered in slimy black scales. Two bulging eyes of sapphire with yellow slits stare lifelessly up at me.
“Youleft uswith that thing,” Harmony complains. “We’re supposed to be allies.”
“She was badly injured. If she stayed, she would’ve died,” Cristen says.
“I can speak for myself,” I snap.
Harmony waves her hands in frustration. “Hello? What isheeven doing here?” She glares at Cristen. “We are dying in your name, and you spite us by bringing yourself down into this pit, where you could easily be killed.”
“I should fight next to my future queen, should I not?” he asks.
She scrunches her long golden hair, her braid torn free over the course of the last 48 hours. “While it may be admirable, you are clearly picking favorites.” She gives me a pointed look. “We are all herefor you.”
Sera pops her head out of the hut. “Shut the hell up. I’m trying to sleep.” She spots Cristen and I, and her nostrils flare in rage. “Or better yet,leave.”
“You want to end our alliance?” I ask, looking between them.
Harmony bites her lip.
