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Additionally to the protruding hand holds, there were gaps between the stones, large enough to place my feet as I climbed. The tower was broader at the bottom and inclined just enough to make it easy to progress. After all, scaling the tower had never been the challenge.
I kept going, refusing to look down. Halfway up, I stopped, catching my breath as the strain hurt my fingers and toes. Clinging on like a limpet, I glanced under my armpit. Dyf, Daeary, and Than stood far below me, as if they would catch me if I slipped.
How high was I? Would I survive from this distance? I had to have been forty feet up, about between the fourth and fifth floor, if this were a building. My breathing sped up, and I closed my eyes, forcing myself to slow down. Maybe I’d survive if the guys managed to catch me from here, but I had another four storeys to climb. Nobody survived a fall from the ninth floor.
Something flapped next to me. My eyes flew open and my fingers cramped around the stones they were gripping. A few feet away, a creature hovered, keeping itself in place with the powerful beats of its leathery wings. Its eye sockets were empty, and its mouth stretched across its entire face, revealing fangs and a split tongue.
I held my breath, hoping against hope it wouldn’t notice me. But that hadn’t worked for its previous victims, and it didn’t work for me, either.
Against the drumbeat of my heart, there were voices shouting from below. They sounded like Dyf and Daeary losing their shit, but I barely heard them. Instead, I bent my head back as the creature moved closer. Its breath stank of acid corrosion, and the tongue darted in and out, tasting my fear.
When I couldn’t go any further without losing my grip, I stopped, clinging to the stone while my legs shook with the strain. I didn’t want to die here, suffering the agony of my face melting while I screamed all the way down.
The amulet heated up against my skin. I’d all but forgotten I even wore the damned thing, given how little use it had been lately. But now, there was a charge building up inside of it, and I could only pray it wouldn’t knock me off my perch.
A flash arced between my chest and the wyrm. I’d expected the pain, but it was so much worse than I’d thought. Gritting my teeth against the burn, I held on for dear life, squeezing my eyes shut. If the necklace had gotten rid of my attacker, I’d bear the agony as long as I made it down alive.
My heart sank when something hissed close by. The wyrm was hovering even closer to me, growing as it absorbed the weakening stream of magic from the amulet. How did I ever think a cursed amulet would hurt a creature made of dark magic? A sob escaped my locked jaw.
The wyrm was right next to my face, its tongue flicking against my cheek, swiping at my tears. Then it moved back and tightened its mouth into a funnel, ready to unleash its acid load into my face.
Chapter thirty-four
BLEDDYN
Iwasnostrangerto death, but this slaughter of men and women made my stomach turn. Under different circumstances, any of them would have been a worthy addition to the Gwerin army or the palace guards.
Yet for reasons unknown to me, Prys had decided to make the challenge impossible. Score after score of warriors in their prime found their death, and when their enthusiasm waned after the king’s mage turned the tower walls into a furnace, the guards forced the contestants at the points of their swords.
The audience had enough, the rumblings of discontent swelling louder as the afternoon wore on. The only reason I was still here was because I had spotted Beth early on.
At first, my breath stopped in shock. Why would the girl be here, amongst warriors who towered over her? Even the women were a head taller than the slight half-Fae. For a while, she clung to a human man whom I did not recognize. Daeary stood by her side, worry lines etched on his face. The tall water Fae with his distinct blue eyes and white-blond mane had to be Dyfroedd, the merman contracted to Prys’s father.
Beth looked frail against the three giants surrounding her. Whenever a new victim dropped from the tower and burst on impact like an overripe plum, she hid her face against the human’s chest.
Mal leaned over and said, “Is that not the kingslayer we are tasked with arresting?”
“Not a kingslayer,” I responded, not taking my eyes off her.
“I apologize. Is it her, though?”
“It is,” I confirmed, distracted by what was happening below.
Her red hair had grown longer since I had first met her. It softened her face and made her breathtakingly beautiful. The sun dipped below the arena’s top tier, and the shadows reached for the remaining contestants. A group of armed guards approached the group around Beth and, after a brief discussion, she kissed each of her companions.
My stomach crawled into my throat as I realized what was happening. It was her turn to be sacrificed to the new king’s pride. Her movements were as stiff as her expression as she stared straight ahead.
“Bleddyn. She will die if we do not act.”
The sight of my future queen walking to her certain death had chilled me to the bone, and for far too long, I found myself incapable of moving. Mal’s words broke through the icy shell, and I jumped to my feet. Together, we rushed down the stairs until we reached the barrier separating the spectators from the center of the arena. I vaulted over the railing and landed six feet lower on the sand.
Before the guards lining the perimeter could react, I held up my hand. “I am here on official business.”
It was not enough to stop the soldiers from advancing, but it spared us from being skewered immediately. The captain of the guard approached me, his face sceptical. “You are Bleddyn the Enforcer. I recognize you. What business have you got at the trials?”
“Hardly trials,” Mal muttered so quietly only I could hear him.
I thought quickly. They would not stop this farce as long as the king’s order stood against my command. And we did not have time to convince Prys to call off the slaughter. Worse, if he were here, he would have recognized his niece immediately and enjoyed her public execution. No, I could not rely on my status to save her.
