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I know they’ll find out soon enough. I can’t stay disguised forever, nor do I plan to, but what I do know is the king won’t stop the gauntlet. Once it starts, there’s only one way out. Win. After that, it won’t matter. The king will have to pardon me or risk uproar from the clans.
Deciding to chance it, I wait, watching the balcony of the king’s observatory like the others. It’s a weird dome at the top of one of the towers, made up of glass planes and crystals. The soft sound of the waves hitting the pillars of the bridge stops, followed by a rumble that grows louder by the second.
The pledges shuffle as their heads swivel, trying to place the noise. It’s not until I spot the line of hooded figures along the rocky edge of the mainland that I put it together. It’s the mages. They’re pushing the water out of the bay. Pressing my hands to my ears, I try to muffle the noise, but it’s too loud. My eardrums scream as the water builds into a single wave and gushes out of the bay, leaving jet-black sand behind.
Stone lifts at the opening of the bay into the sea, blocking the water from coming back in. I peer over the bone railing. The sea floor is riddled with skeletons and saturated plant life, but it’s open. There aren’t many places to hide.
I’ve heard of Poseidon’s punch bowl, but I never would’ve expected it to be this. I thought it might be in the marshes, some sort of canyon maybe, but not the entire fucking bay.
I swallow hard, wondering how we’ll get down there. Steps? A ladder? Are they going to toss us? More importantly, how does one get out?
As if on cue, stone slabs shoot from the cliffside, creating a staircase into the canyon and the pledges at the far end of the canyon begin to descend. The troll doesn’t even bother with the stairs. He simply jumps from the edge, landing with a thud strong enough to shake the bridge.
“The torches along the castle walls have pierced the night for years since my father sparked them into existence. They ignite in the dark when the hell flame’s light can no longer reach them. Not a moment sooner. There are some along the ridge of the mainland, but they are not to be used as weapons. You may not bring physical weapons into the arena with you, but you’re welcome to scavenge for something to use as one once you’re inside. Magic will be prohibited for anyone with my wristbands during the fight.”
He must use magic or something to project his voice because it echoes through the cavern, reverberating his every word. The hell flame is almost gone now.
I step down the floating slabs of stone, careful to keep my balance until my boots sink into the black sand. It crunches beneath my feet like glass, and it’s now that I can truly appreciate the size of this place. The cliff stretches up over a hundred feet high. It’s been eroded by the water, but I can still make out the ancient markings carved into the edge.
The vertebrae and dragon skeletons swirling around the thick pillars of the bridge are larger than I expected, having only seen them from up top. I thought it was magnificent before, but now, seeing what was hidden beneath the water... It’s incomparable. A single rib bone is taller than I am, and the entire rib cage of one could be made into a small ship. The skeletons of the pillars are staged, like the dragons were petrified mid-battle, climbing up the pillar to scorch their enemies.
Skulls from gauntlets in the past peek through the sand at my feet. The hollows of them are tangled in the vines of the sea life that now lays limp against the ground. I wonder if swords and discarded weapons might be hidden there as well.
People from the villages line the cliffside, ready to watch the bloodbath. As the last pledge hits the sand, the rock ledges disappear seamlessly back into the cliffside like they were never disturbed.
It’s hard to see much in the dim light, but I catch motion near the ledge at the base of the castle. Thrones come into view, and as the torches light, I see Scarlet and her sisters resume their seats. She lifts a hand ever so slightly, as if to wave to me, and something about it makes me chuckle. It seems rather mundane for a time like this, but I’ll take it.
Her father appears at her side, branching a hand on the back of her throne, and her expression turns to stone, zoned out on the horizon like the rest of her much younger siblings. It’s like he requires them to be porcelain dolls.
The king lifts a chunk of crystal to his lips as if to speak into it. “This tradition was made to unite us, and it has for decades. Let it unite us again tonight. May the fates sew in your favor, but if they don’t, know your sacrifice will allow our realm to prosper. My daughter—your prize—will ring the bell and upon its toll, the gauntlet will begin.”
The king nudges Scarlet out of the golden chair, her crimson dress swishing as she makes her way toward the bell. Frantically, I look around the edge of the cliff, searching for Zephyr, but he’s nowhere to be seen.
The wind picks up, swirling around me before carrying on. “Behind you, you fool.” Zephyr’s voice is plain as day. Spinning, I find him sitting along the edge of the cliff, far away from the crowd. “You don’t truly believe I’d let you enter a fight to the death on your own, do you? I’ll watch your back.”
My skin prickles and I suck in a breath. The magic holding my disguise together is waning. It won’t be long before it fails. The prickling grows stronger and stronger until the glamour gives and the bell tolls. The gauntlet has begun.
6
Hook
Withmyglamourgone,my true face is revealed. Silence falls over the crowd, gathered around the top edge of the cliffside. Not even the other pledges move, mouths agape as they stare at me like they’ve seen a ghost. For a breath, it’s as if time itself stops.
The only sound is the distant sea breeze and the suction breaking on my boots with each step I take. The wet sand will make this difficult… Whispers from the crowd gathered around the top of the cliff become static.
They can’t possibly have anything nice to say about me. My family has sunk the Solarian merchant ships for decades, bleeding them dry. I’m sure the king’s people blame us for their lack of trading goods, but stealing them is all we can do. It’s not our fault these people chose to stay here and accept the king’s leashes while on their knees. My people might be pirates and traitors to his majesty’s crown, but we’re not weak. We do what is needed to survive, and if it means crippling the king’s ports, then I consider that a win-win situation.
Those living in the Luminaries–my people–stood up for themselves. They were forced to flee and settle on the islands far off the mainland. They rely on the pirates to protect their shores from the beasts that live in the sea, and to bring back what they can from the king’s ships. It’s a matter of survival for us, but to them, I’m nothing more than a thief.
“It’s the Dark One,” someone breathes to my right. Twisting my head, I find one of the king’s men, a dire wolf shifter from his royal guard. The moment my eyes connect with his, he bolts, heading straight for the island the castle is perched upon as if he’ll find a place to hide there.
“Coward.” My lips curl in disdain as I glance up to where the king and Scarlet are perched, regal in their thrones. Her little sisters are nowhere in sight now. Perhaps the king does have a heart, letting the small children stay innocent of the slaughters we’re all about to witness.
Scarlet’s eyes soften for a fleeting moment, a hint of a smile playing on her lips, but it’s swiftly replaced by an icy facade. It’s different from the emotionless mask she wore in the great hall. There’s a flicker in her eyes, an indecipherable emotion. Is it hope? Fear? Or the weight of our shared agreement?
I just pray she’ll follow through. Even if she doesn’t, I don’t suppose it would change much. If I die today, then that’s it. And should I win, I’ll be married to her by sunrise. Either way, I’m not sure I’d blame her for being scared. She might be my enemy’s daughter, but she’s a pawn in this scenario, innocent, and blindly following her father’s lead.
If our conversation in the great hall was anything, it proved to me that she’s doing this out of duty. Still, she’s smart enough that if I were to pull the wool out of her eyes, she’d see her father for who he really is. I can work with that.
