Page 199 of Tale of the Heart Queen

“Come on!” she screams, and then she heaves on my arm, and my shoulder pops with the force. I ignore the pain that radiates down my limbs and lurch for the edge.

Lor keeps tugging on me and then grabs the back of my jacket, hauling me up.

“The ladder! Go!” The platform disintegrates around each edge, herding us into the middle.

I leap onto the ladder and start the climb. I peer down over my shoulder and watch as Lor grabs the bottom rung just as the platform disappears in a falling shower of dirt and stone.

“Go! I’m fine! Go!”

Keeping one eye over my shoulder, I watch her swing herself up and then start climbing.

“The ladder is disappearing!” she cries, and I pick up my pace.

Hand over hand, we scramble up the rungs as that same cracking and crumbling follow us. The crowd is awake now, screaming and shouting as I aim for the top. It seems like a hundred miles away as I keep climbing, my muscles and my aching shoulder protesting with the effort.

“Faster!” Lor shouts just as I clear the top and look back. The ladder melts out from under Lor, and she screams as she begins to plummet, but there’s no fucking way I’m letting her go. I leap out and reach down to grab her, hauling her up by my good arm just as the ladder completely evaporates.

She collapses against me, our breath heavy and our hearts pounding. I’m shaking all over, and I can feel her trembling against me. A breeze cools my cheeks, and I look up, exhaling a choked breath.

The forest spreads in every direction below, and we’re once again under the mirrored dome, although the screeching crowd is also under it this time. I shake my head, attempting to understand how any of this is happening.

Lor’s gaze meets mine, her dark eyes pooling with uncertainty before we both look up.

We’re on a rocky plateau with a single red rose spinning slowly above us.

We did it.

We’re on top of the mountain.

CHAPTER 70

Cautiously, Lor and I rise to our feet with our hands clasped. Cheers greet us from every side, mingled with boos and hisses. Herric watches us from his box. Everything has shifted, so they’re closer now, forming a circle around the mountaintop.

Is this all an illusion? How is any of this possible?

I don’t really care. None of that matters. All that matters is Lor and getting us out of here. I capture her face between my hands and kiss her deeply as the crowd’s chants swell to a crescendo, their feet stamping so hard I feel it vibrate where we stand.

Perhaps no one can resist a love story.

And if we survive this, ours will be one for the ages.

Lor pulls away and blows out a relieved breath.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“I’m fine,” I say with a wince as I attempt to rotate my shoulder. “Go and get the rose.”

She nods and then runs across the plateau and leaps for the flower.

Suddenly, I’m seized from behind, my arms pinned behind my back as I grunt in pain.

I watch as the rose melts into the air, and Lor lands in a crouch.

“What the—” She spins around to face me, her eyes widening. I’m being held by two massive trolls wearing beaten leather armor. I’ve never seen one before, but I know they dwell in the deepest caves of the Beltza Mountains and are constructed of brute strength and vicious tempers. One wrenches on my bruised shoulder, and I fall to my knees with a cry.

“Let him go!” she shouts at Herric. “We made it! Let him go!”

Herric laughs, and my chest caves with the disappointment of knowing I was right about him all along.