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The stadium is packed with all kinds of people, and the excitement is palpable. Everyone here is gleefully anticipating a gruesome event.
In the front, warriors and anyone else who doesn’t care about getting bloody are jovial as they wait for the appearance of the challengers.
The designated royal area is higher up, a safer distance from blood spray or possible injury. Looking much more comfortable than the stone benches everyone else is sitting on, it’s the only shaded spot, with a silky blue canopy. Two upholstered chairs are under it. One is occupied by the current king. The other is empty.
The princess still has yet to arrive, and I’m betting she’s scheming and bargaining in the rooms below us right this second.
Zetipher, Yorenzo, and Rymus are in the row directly in front of us, and when I glance around, I spot many of Envy’s men scattered throughout the audience.
Since Hannah and I got here so late, we had to take the only seats left in the very top row. It’s mostly peasants and farmers up here, and when Envy joined us a few minutes ago, he griped about how far away we are.
He’s lucky.
Lucky I don’t take him to some version of hell just for spite. I could, after our deal is done.
Currently, I’m having fantasies about dropping him in the middle of the Endless Sea and leaving him there. By the time any Seeker could locate him, he’d be gone from the mortal dangers of the waters. Probably eaten by some nightmarish creature or lured in by the deadly sirens.
As far as I’m concerned, I’ve done what he asked. I brought him and his people to the past. Whatever happens beyond this is none of my business.
If it were my business, I’d be wondering what Envy plans to do if Ackealenvyos wins. His ancestor will be king, regardless of who caused the creation of the new universe. Perhaps Envy plans to challenge Ackealenvyos. Or murder him in his sleep.
All I know is that their world isn’t a place I want Hannah living in.
“I don’t feel any different,” Envy complains, impatiently tapping his foot. “I don’t think it worked.”
“Give it some time, Envy.”
“King Envy,” he hisses back, too quiet for any other audience members to overhear his claim for a title that isn’t really his.
Suddenly, Hannah gasps. Her fingers grab onto mine, and they squeeze so hard it hurts my bones.
“What?” I rotate toward her, my hand landing on her waist as I brace for another seizure or a blackout.
Instead, her facial features show happiness and shock. With her jaw dropped, she blinks before a smile starts to spread over her lips.
She beams at me with bright eyes. Her color is instantly better. Some shine has come back to her hair. She looks stronger, just in the way she holds herself, spine straight and shoulders squared.
Her joy comes through our tether like bolts of lightning.
I cup the side of her face and feel her cooled skin. No fever.
“Darling?”
“The new universe…” she breathes out. “It’s happening now. We’reinit.”
“How do you know?”
“You mean to tell me you didn’t feel that? The shift?”
I shake my head. “I felt nothing, except for your emotions.”
Envy reaches across me and catches her wrist. “Are you sure?”
I slap his knuckles like he’s a child who tried to steal a piece of bread before dinner has started, making him recoil with an expression so offended I almost laugh. Several of his men who happen to be sitting around us touch the hilts of their sheathed weapons as if they’re ready to lop off my head at any moment, but Envy waves them off with a fake smile plastered on his face.
“Dear Hannah,” he starts again through gritted teeth, keeping his hands to himself this time. “Please inform me of how you know this.”
“My symptoms. They’re gone. See?” Lifting her right leg, she rolls her ankle before stomping her foot. “No numbness or tingling. No headache. I’m just… completely healed.”
