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The god was back.
She must have lost consciousness, because now she felt arms around her limp body and the rhythmic motion of being carried. She tried to open her eyes, to move…to doanything, but her body refused. She screamed soundlessly in pain as her body was laid on the ground.
“You’re safe now. Rest, goddess.”
She desperately wished she could open her eyes and get a good look at the god who was using the emperor’s body.
There was a thump as something dropped to the ground next to her, and everything went black once more.
Urgent voices echoed around her when she woke again. Her mind was unable to grasp what they were saying. Tempest cracked her eyes open a smidge, and blurry flashes of colors moved across her vision.
She slowly turned her head towards where the sounds came from and the blurs were moving while taking note of how quickly her body was healing. Being immortal had its benefits at times like these. She would be fully healed within a few hours. How she was going to explain that was beyond her at the moment.
Frustrated that she couldn’t make any sense of what was happening around her, Tempest let the darkness retake her in the hopes that she would be healed enough to figure out what was going on the next time she woke.
“But why were they together?”
“No one knows. Has the emperor already made his decision? Is she the next empress?”
Tempest kept her eyes closed and listened to the hushed voices without moving. After an unknown amount of rest, she could again make sense of the world around her. She decided to take the opportunity to listen in on what she doubted others would dare say if they knew she was awake.
“Will you two return to your duties and stop bothering them, please?” Sylvia whispered harshly. It was a relief that she was here and seemingly well.
“Just because you were selected as one of the competitors doesn’t mean you’re above us, Sylvia. You’re just a lowly servant like the rest of us.”
Sylvia’s silence told Tempest that this was not the first time she had heard this.
Tempest twitched her fingers and happily discovered that they were almost fully healed. She turned her head in the direction the women’s voices and slowly opened her eyes. Even though her body felt weak, she could feel her power pulsing through it, and her mind and senses were sharp. Her gaze connected with two women towering over Sylvia. The smirks dropped from their faces as quickly as their crossed arms fell to their sides.
“Leave,” Tempest commanded. So much of her power was near the surface as it mended her body that it leaked into the single, scratchy word, sending the two women scurrying out of the room. Sylvia spun around on her chair and stopped just shy of touching Tempest’s arm.
“You're awake!”
The tears rimming her friend’s eyes nearly brought them to Tempest’s, as well.
“Do you need a drink of water, or I should go get the healers?” Sylvia rambled, only stopping because Tempest rested a hand on her own.
“I’m fine. Is he all right?”
Sylvia nodded and sniffled, “He’s alive. He hasn’t woken up since they found you, though. What happened?”
Tempest tensed, then focused on her connection to Aiden. She only relaxed when she realized he was nearby and seemed at peace.
“Dragon.”
“What? What are you talking about? What dragon?”
Tempest coughed. “What do you mean, what dragon? How did you get past it for the final challenge?”
“There was no dragon. After we were separated, I was trapped in a dark room with taunting voices. After what felt like forever, I finally gave up and suddenly appeared in a garden with a chess board. I only had to win against one of the guards to earn the final token.”
“Did anyone else run into a dragon?”
Sylvia shook her head. “They all had to do the chess game, as well.”
This was strange. Why was her final challenge different from the rest of the women?
“You said he hasn’t woken up yet? How long has it been?”
