This shouldn’t have bothered me as much as it did. Maybe I was just naive coming here. I thought life in Viven was put on a pedestal. That the entire kingdom was kind and just—a far cry from Moriann’s crimes. But I was wrong.
Viven was just as twisted and dark as Moriann, and King Elion might be just as conniving as King Dahes. Only he hid his violence behind the jurisdiction of contrived rules.
I stayed until the girl stopped moving. I had no idea why I thought that was helping, but something in me didn’t want her to die alone.
All I kept thinking was how that should have been me down there…
As I turned to leave, pale eyes caught my attention.
Arrik was staring directly at me. He was the only person not reveling, the only one not drinking or rejoicing in the celebration.
My heart stopped as his gaze didn’t shift. Hekeptstaring.
I should run. I should be scared. I should do anything but stare back at him. All it would take was one move and he could have me down there burning next to the girl’s charred bones. His dragon was still on the terrace. It’d probably get to me before I could blink. I would be dead in an instant.
But instead, I found myself flipping him off, before I scrambled back to my room.
Chapter Seventeen
Pretty but Deadly
MAGNOLIA
Iwoke up the next morning repulsed. I barely slept after I sprinted from roof to roof to get back to my room, and the moment I did sleep, I kept dreaming about it being me last night. I was the one they were burning—my Token wasn’t working, and I was dying as all the riders acted like I didn’t exist…
It was only then that I realized I had stopped dreaming about Masin since coming here. Every night for the past seven years, my nightmares were filled with the day he died, the day I became desperate enough to make my deal. But now, I was getting new nightmares.
Not that anything I saw was worse than what happened in Moriann, but it shattered my hope.
I always thought Viven was better. I thought it was the brightness cutting through the dark, the life against the death.
I was already awake by the time Bran knocked on my door to get me dressed for the tournament. He got me ready in silence, and although I should have been using the time to ask him questions, I used it to build up my walls instead. Because one thing was certain after last night, I had no qualms with Dahes completely annihilating the riders when the moons aligned. It was the first time I actuallywantedto hunt.When I first came here, I felt guilty about it—not that I had a choice—but I saw all the people it would affect if he attacked.
Now, I couldn’t care less. I wanted to see them all burn. Before, I thought the drakins were just reclusive, but now they were all monsters in my mind.
And the rider who brought me here—Ihatedhim the most. He dragged that girl into the fire and just stood there as she burned.
It was like my vision had been clouded in fog, but now it was clear. I’d been so caught up in how different Viven felt, that I didn’t realize how alike it actually was.
It just had a pretty bow on it to hide all the horror and death, and I was going to cut the fucking ribbon.
“Do you want to see yourself?” Bran asked as he pushed the final pin into my hair.
I stalled. I thought about it. I wanted to. I wanted to see who was going to destroy this place, but I wasn’t ready to face my past. Not yet.
I shook my head. “I trust that you made me look good.”
Bran cocked a grin. “More than good. You’re as bright as the damned Suns.”
I couldn’t help but smile back. I was dressed in diamonds again. The bodice was loose today, the skirts flowing down toward the floor, and every time I moved, the diamonds reflected off the sconces, making it look like I was glowing.
One single thought kept running through my mind—no one would expect something so pretty to be so deadly.
They’d never see me coming.
I smiled sweetlyat Arrik before taking my seat across from him in the dining hall. His expression went from pure shock to rage, and I savored it.
He wasn’t expecting to see me. Whatever last night was, he thought I’d run.
