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“That’s hundreds of years away. Do you really think many of these people care about babies? Besides, they’ll keep doing what they’ve been doing. Believing a cure is out there. Believing they can sow fae seed in some mortal woman and that eventually it’ll stick.”
I blanched in disgust. “That’s madness.”
“There’s no other word for doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result,” Lyrastra agreed. “But that’s what they’ll do. You’re right. The court is dying. It’s withering like an infected vine. And Kairos? He’d have cut it off, right at the root.”
“You wanted him to win.” I stared at her. “You really did.”
Her lips twisted. “I would make a good empress.”
“You probably would,” I agreed, enjoying the look of shock that came over her face. “I wouldn’t have said that when I first met you, but now? You’re daring. Brave. You’reveryfucking brave, Lyrastra. And you’re loyal. You saved him. Don’t think I’ll ever forget that.”
“Don’t think I care what you think of me,” she snapped, reminding me of the first day we’d met.
Me lying frozen in the bed. Her standing over me with hate in her eyes.
I smiled. “Just like old times, isn’t it?”
She looked away. “He’s not as ruthless as he likes to think he is.”
“No,” I agreed. “He isn’t. That’s why he’s there.” I felt disloyal for even saying it but I still couldn’t get over that. Some truth I had taken for granted about Draven that I was now forced to question. I remembered when I had believed he really was simply a ruthless, mindless killing machine. It had been easier then, in a way, to finding out he had a soul. A heart.
“There’s a way around it.” Lyrastra interrupted my train of thought. “A way he can still win.”
“He can’t even talk or walk and you think he can still win tomorrow?” I shook my head. “No. We’ll go to Sephone. You and I, together. We’ll demand she summon the court. The entire court. Surely in Siabra law there’s something that says the rest of the court gets some kind of a say in all of this. We’ll beseech them to reconsider, to move the trial date.”
“No,” Lyrastra cut in. “We won’t. There’s no such law. There’s only one gambit here to play. There’s only one way to save Kairos. There’s only one way he can still win. And it doesn’t involve beseeching the court.” She shook her head at me as if I were a naive idiot.
I raised my hands. “Fine. Let's hear it.”
“There’s a stipulation in the rules. It only applies to those of the royal house.”
“What is it?”
“A Royal Paramour or Consort may stand in for the original challenger.”
I stared at her. “You’re joking. You want me to take Draven’s place?”
But the words were sinking in fast. Wasn’t this exactly what I had wanted as I watched Lyrastra at Draven’s side?
Except now I would be at Lyrastra’s side, not Draven’s.
“You want me there? You trust me there?”
She tossed her glossy black hair. “Do you trust me?”
“I honestly have no idea,” I said frankly. “You’re something of an enigma.”
She looked pleased at that.
“What happens if I don’t do this?” I demanded. “What then?”
“Then the prince dies. Either by forfeit or from his injuries.”
“Forfeit? I’d hardly call it forfeit. He hasn’t given up,” I protested.
“Can he compete tomorrow? No. Then he forfeits. He’ll be executed. Maybe Sephone will be merciful and wait until he finally wakes up to do it. Or maybe she’ll have her personal healer ensure he never wakens at all. Do you want to wait around and find out? Either way, he’ll be dead and Avriel will be the next emperor.”
I swore softly. “Fuck.” Then I looked at her. “I don’t just have to compete. I have to win.”
