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As Maksim read the scroll, he started to grin, then kissed me on the forehead, insisting that everything would be well and that we had to get to the jousting grounds right away. He had embraced Aidan without a word, and then the four of us had crept out of the castle unseen.
Up ahead now were the jousting grounds. In the middle of the gathered crowd, I saw my own mother and stepfather, sitting high on the stone platform that was positioned in the middle of the stands. Mounted on his own steed, Prince Galen addressed the crowd. Maksim and I stopped to listen, and Maria and Aidan did the same behind us.
“Your prince is a coward!” Prince Galen shouted as his horse spun and wheeled, forcing Galen to keep turning to face the crowd. “Princess Anika is mine to wed, mine to do with as I please!”
“You fucking wish,” Maksim grumbled beside me. I shot him a look to shush him, which he met with an angry stare. But I didn’t give an inch, instead widening my eyes at him. And he finally relented, looking down to wrap his reins more tightly around his hand.
“Upon our union, both of our kingdoms will be stronger!” Galen called out to the crowd. His supporters cheered enthusiastically, almost robotically. But our people… Perhaps it was just wishful thinking, but I could have sworn I saw a small hesitation, followed by applause. But it was empty applause.
Maksim’s horse nickered and huffed, pawing at the ground, mirroring Maksim’s growing tension. This was my last chance and I had to seize it. Letting go of my reins, I reached over and grabbed his hand.
“Please don’t do this. Please. Run away with me, start a new life with me.” I gripped his hand tight. “None of this matters. All I want is to be with you. Wherever, however.”
He was still resolute and shook his head. “That’s what you think. I wish I could tell you more, but this has to happen.” He ran his thumb over the back of my hand, looking at me with that protective warmth that I was starting to know so well. “It’s the only way.”
And with that, he clicked his tongue and his horse trotted forward into the clearing on the edge of the gaming grounds.
Maksim galloped forward and the crowd erupted—both our people and Prince Galen’s. I dropped my reins and placed my face in my hands. On either side of me, I felt both Aidan and Maria advance to come up beside me. Maria’s friendly hand touched my forearm.
“He’s right, you know. I hate to say it, but he’s right. He has to fight. Doesn’t he, Aidan?”
He inhaled slowly, carefully: the universal sound of bad news about to be broken. “He does. And he might win. Maybe.”
Maybe? I pressed my palms to my eyes so hard that I saw splotches, and then let them drop to take hold of my reins again. Up ahead on the grounds, I watched Maksim dismount and give his stallion a panic-slap to send him running. The gleam of Maksim’s sword caught the light as he drew it from its sheath.
I clicked twice for Rosie to advance. If I couldn’t stop him, I would support him. Even if it was the very last thing I ever got to do for him before he died in a duel to win me.
As if he’d ever lost me in the first place.
CHAPTER 27
Anika
Prince Galen looked genuinely pleased to see that Maksim had shown up to fight him, and he strutted up and down the jousting grounds like a cock about to crow. A circle had been drawn in the footing to mark out where the fight would take place. I felt sick to my stomach looking at that circle; to think that in just a short while, someone’s blood would be on that soil. And it would all be because of me.
Maria, Aidan and I sat on the benches nearest where the duel was to be fought. I sank down on the bench, watching the way that Galen warmed up, the way he moved and used his weapon. It was like watching a dance that I’d never seen performed before—the way he moved, the fluidity of his actions, that expert control he had over his body, all told me he had trained in a way that was far, far different than how we fought in Estana. If we fought like bears, they fought like snakes.
With sword in hand, Maksim took a knee in front of my mother and stepfather. “I am here to fight for the lawful hand of my wife, Anika.”
Before my stepfather or mother could answer, Galen stepped in front of him. Though duels were something I knew little about, I did understand that all these old traditions had a way of doing things. The gasp of the crowd told me that Galen cutting in between Maksim and the King and Queen was not at all the way these things were done.
