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“Unless you’d prefer to let me win,” she said sweetly. “You know there’s a high probability I will.”
I nodded. It seemed pointless to deny it. “You’re right.”
She looked taken aback. “Either way, I want a seat at the table.”
“Draven said it was traditional for the follow-up winners to become advisors. I don’t think he’d deny you the position. He respects you a great deal.” I studied her. “But why are you really doing all of this? For the good of the empire? Or is there a particular rule you’re keen on changing?”
I saw my arrow hit home. Lyrastra’s face flushed.
“I’m tired of being viewed as nothing more than a discarded vessel for a dead prince’s spawn.”
“You want to be free,” I guessed. “Free to wed.”
“Free to choose.” Her lovely serpentine eyes fixed upon me as her face softened. “There’s someone above. In Noctasia. They’re not Siabra.”
“Someone you care about.”
She nodded reluctantly.
“What happened to wanting Kairos? To wanting me dead?”
She looked away. “It would have been simpler. It was what Sephone claimed I deserved. In keeping with tradition. But...” She looked back at me. “Things change.”
“In other words, you met this someone fairly recently,” I guessed, a grin forming on my lips. “Well, good for you.”
The blush crept across her cheeks again. She tossed her hair.
“So how do we do this?” I asked. “Do I go to Sephone now...?”
“No,” she said swiftly. “Don’t do that. Don’t leave this room until we send for you tomorrow. I’ll summon Javer when I leave. He’ll keep the wards up.”
My heart sank. “Because if we told Sephone now...”
“I doubt she’d let you live until morning,” Lyrastra said bluntly. “But if you show up at the challenge, there’ll be nothing she can do. Everyone knows the rules. They’re brutal but simple. In the meantime, I’ll start the rumors. Crescent will help me. We’ll whisper in the right ears. Remind the court that a chance for Prince Kairos still remains if the woman he loves chooses to take it.”
I tried not to let the sound of the word shake me too much. It was Lyrastra’s word, not mine. Not his.
“The court is merciless,” she continued. “They won’t care about love, but they’ll understand the motivation and they’ll be eager for a chance to see you bleed. Others will wonder why Sephone didn’t approach you herself. It’ll get back to her. When she sees you there tomorrow, she’ll be resigned. She’ll know there’s nothing she can do.”
“This is really within the rules? Has it ever happened before? Is there a precedent?”
Lyrastra looked at me consideringly. “I had Hawl look up the history of this particular stipulation. It’s always been on the books. But it seems it’s only been used once before. By a Prince’s Paramour.”
My heart sped up. “What happened to her? Did she win?”
Lyrastra’s lips twisted into a familiar cruel smirk. “It was a man. And of course not. He died. Quite spectacularly, too. I believe he tried to catapult from...”
I held up a hand. “Never mind. Don’t tell me.”
When the door closed behind her, I went back to the bed, sitting on the edge as I watched Draven’s chest rise and fall.
Somehow his vulnerability had revealed a deeper truth. We were linked, he and I, bound by something that went deeper than I could have ever have imagined.
He had stood beside me, guarded me, protected me, shielded me in every way he could.
Now it was my turn to do the same for him.
I wasn't worried that Draven wouldn't wake up again.
