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Reality comes flooding in as the weight of her words hits me. They prepared me to rule the Air Kingdom. Helping to rule the Shadow Court is an entirely different animal. “If that is what we must do, then we do it together.” Straightening my back and squaring my shoulders, I smile with confidence.
Bella smiles and nods. “Excellent. If you’re up to it, we have to do the archery portion of the challenges today, then the formal ball tonight.” Bella beams with excitement as she bounces in the chair. “I have an idea about the archery portion. You’re left-handed, correct?” She smiles and tilts her head, looking at me.
“Yeah?” I’m very puzzled by my mate’s question.
“I’m right-handed, so if we time our dance correctly, we can end up back-to-back at full draw together.” Bella’s eyes light up with an excitement I have not yet seen from her.
Bella pulls out a notepad from lord knows where and shows the drawing to me. “You know the eighties thunder song, right?” I nod along because, of course, I do. Most of the war games use those kinds of hard-hitting tunes. She fiddles with her phone and puts the song on and points to different parts of the archery ceremony on the paper. As scary as it’s going to sound, her plan makes sense and the cues in the song are easy to remember.
A knock sounds at the door and Bella looks at it with what I can definitely call pure disdain. A wave of her hand and the mini blockade she had set up moves back to where it belongs. My mother strolls in and sees me laying back in bed, covers to my chin and Bella holding a book back in the chair. “How are my angels this morning?” Mom says with a smile.
Mom moves and kisses Bella on the top of her head first before moving over to check me next. “Bella was very brave the way she leaped off the top balcony and into the shadows to go find you. I am eternally grateful to you, Daughter.” Mom turns to face Bella, and she’s crying.
“Bella? Are you ok?” I ask, covers be damned, I move to the edge of the bed, making sure I remain covered below the waist.
“Yeah, I’m just not used to so much affection from a parental figure. Sorry…” Bella sniffles one last time then shuts down again, returning to her stoic princess routine as she stands and straightens out her clothing.
My mom moves to Bella’s side and hugs her tightly. “If you want to cry, you cry. There’s nothing wrong with crying,” mom says as her tone gives away that her heart breaks for the way Bella was raised.
Bella’s bottom lip quivers as she looks between my mother and me. Mom hands me a sweatshirt and I slip it on quickly. Thankfully, I went to bed in sleep pants last night. My wolf urges me to go to our mate and offer her comfort, and without a second thought, I hug my mate tightly. No sooner does Bella’s head rest against my chest than the floodgates open and tears freely fall from her pale gray eyes. Sobs rack her body as she quakes in my arms. Gently, my fingertips apply pressure to the muscles of her back in a smooth circular motion, trying to soothe her. After several minutes, she seems to calm down and her grip around my waist loosens slightly.
Innocently, she looks up at me as the last tears roll freely down her cheeks, disappearing into the neck of my sweatshirt. Her pale emerald eyes search mine. Smiling, I lean forward and reach out to grab hold of the hood of the sweatshirt that she is wearing. Gently, I pull the hood over her head and rest my cheek on the top of her head. My mother watches this tender moment between Bella and me.
A soft smile creeps across my mother’s lips as she nods slowly. “Thankfully for the two of you, the ball is tonight after the archery competition. In good conscience, I can’t keep you two separate any longer.”
Mom leans in and kisses us both on our foreheads, then moves to my bedroom door. “Come along Bella, we have to get you ready for the archery part of the ceremony.” Mom’s warm smile is the only thing that keeps Bella from losing her temper as she slides out of my arms.
Reluctantly, Bella follows my mother to my bedroom door, and she pauses there for a moment with her hand on the frame. Her eyes search mine for several minutes before a smile crosses her midnight lips. “See you soon, my mate.” Bella smiles again, then disappears down the hallway.
My heart thunders in my chest as I think about the implications of what the archery tournament means. Standing slowly, I walk across the room and start pulling out the ceremonial garb. A knock sounds behind me, and I turn to look at the door. My dad stands there with a broad smile on his lips. “Today my son takes a step toward ruling his own kingdom.”
Dad enters my chambers and closes the door behind him and sits in the leather chair. “They have made me aware there are four other suitors that claim that Belladonna is theirs.” My dad’s somber tone tells me he’s concerned.
I continue setting out my robes and slacks, listening to my dad. “Does Bella know?” As the words slip from my lips and Bella’s bellowing howls echoes through the castle. Smirking, I shake my head. “I guess mom just told her.”
Arching an eyebrow, dad looks from me to the door the back again. “That can’t be good.” My dad’s voice wavers for a moment. “We are going back to the traditional route. The females will shoot first, then the interested males will have to shoot the females’ target,” dad says with a smile.
“Okay, so I shoot Bella’s target. Then what?” Tilting my head to the side, I watch my father pace the room.
“The females will pull the arrow from the target, then shoot the matching males target sixty yards away.” Dad winces as he says that. For my sister, that’s an effortless task. Bella wasn’t raised as an archer. “To top it off, the other kings will be here to observe the ceremony. So that everything is kept legit.” Dad rolls his eyes, and I know he’s not thrilled over this.
“Lovely… Bella has never shot that far. How in the world do they expect her to succeed?” I jab my arms into my robe as I stare at my dad. Hopefully, he has an answer.
“Your mother is already taking care of that. She brought Bella and Ari to her private gardens and has targets set up for Bella to practice.” Dad smiles broadly then pulls a spare set of my crimson fletching’s out of his pocket. He waves them in my direction, then pulls out Bella’s black and crimson fletching’s. “Bella chose this without seeing yours. It seems she was always destined to be yours.” Father smiles then leaves Bella’s fletching’s on my dresser before exiting my room. I stare at the feathers, probably longer than I should. Briefly, I look up at the clock and realize I need to get a move on. The women’s portion of the ceremony is due to start in an hour.
Chapter8
Belladonna
Two gruelinghours of archery practice down and I feel like I can shoot the wings off a gnat at this point. Queen Lani and Ari have been so helpful in teaching me to shoot the greater distance. Who knew the other kings would push for this part of the ancient tradition? Queen Lani assembles all the females that are taking part in the great hall. One by one, she checks our bows and arrows. They immediately eliminate two of the females because they have not had the king inspect their bows as per protocol. The queen comes to stand before me, and I offer my bow to her. She inspects it in front of everyone, so there’s no favoritism. Once the inspections are complete, they herd us out into the main courtyard. The flowers are in full bloom, and the fragrance is almost intoxicating.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” King Coro’s voice carries across the open field. “You are about to witness a historic event. For the first time in recorded history, a princess from the Shadow Court is competing in the games.” King Coro motions to me and I step forward and bow to him and then the rest of the royals present.
I honestly hate being pointed out like that, and it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Glancing around the field, I don’t see Kaedyn. Ari notices me searching and pulls me to her. “The guys aren’t allowed to watch. It’s some part of the custom, so they don’t make us nervous,” Ari whispers to me, then shrugs her shoulders.
We move to where the targets are. Flood lights bathe the field with white light so that not a single shadow exists. I know they did this to level the playing field because of my dark gifts. Rolling my eyes, I look down at the ticket I was handed. Apparently, I get to shoot fifth in the lineup today.
I turn my head in time to watch the first girl step to the line and start her dance. Shaking my head, I drop my gaze as I trace the carvings on my bow. I refuse to watch the others in case they mess up. I don’t want to learn their bad habits.
