Page 193 of Between Two Kings

Adelaide didn’t answer.

You can’t possibly tell me that her picking Apollo is a good thing.

Not a good thing, necessarily. But an interesting one.

How is it interesting? It seems terrible to me. Caspen will be—

Caspenon will not be angry.

Tem found that hard to believe.

He understands the rules of the tournament, Temperance. He will take it as a challenge.

That was even worse.

It is merely her opinion. Nothing more.

But Tem just shook her head.

“Temperance,” Adelaide said gently. “I understand that this is difficult for you. But everything is proceeding exactly as it should. Now that you have chosen your contenders and Kora has chosen hers, the tournament can proceed.”

Tem closed her eyes. In her heart, she knew Adelaide was right. She respected the process. It didn’t matter if it appalled her; the tournament was happening either way. But that didn’t make it any easier.

“Apollo can’t win,” she whispered. “It’s not possible.”

“If he wins, it is because he was always supposed to win. We believe our fates are already written.”

“But that’s—”

“That,” Adelaide said firmly, placing her hand on Tem’s shoulder, “is the basilisk way.”

Tem fell silent. How nice it must be to leave everything up to fate, to believe that your destiny was decided for you. But that was not the way Tem did things. She was too driven by desire to accept that her decisions did not matter. The basilisk way was not her way. It never would be.

The woman descended the stage, disappearing back into the crowd. Tem watched her go, a horrible pit in her stomach. She barely noticed as the crowd dispersed around her and basilisks began seating themselves at the tables. It was time for the feast.

“You will eat at the head of the hall,” Adelaide said in her ear, steering her toward a table that was perpendicular to all the others. It was not unlike a wedding table, where the bride and the groom would sit, overseeing the festivities. Only this table had three seats, and two of them were already filled. Adelaide guided her to the seat in the middle.

“If you need anything, I will be close by.”

Then she left her alone with the Drakon brothers.

Tem stared straight ahead, utterly unsure what to do with herself. She couldn’t touch Caspen, and she didn’t dare touch Apollo. There was absolutely nowhere to go.

Finally, she turned to Caspen. “Are you prepared?”

He blinked. “For what, my love?”

“For the fight with Rowe.”

To her surprise, he laughed. “I do not need to prepare.”

Tem crossed her arms. “If you’re going to be fighting for me, don’t you think you should prepare?”

“Tem,” he said. “there is nothing to be done. I will win.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I have more to lose.”