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“Screw you! Whatever the hell is between you and Aden, it shouldn’t involve me. If you want to get stabbed by some weak little pussy, that’s on you. However, I don’t have to stand around and watch you do so. I’m too exhausted to deal with men swinging their pricks around to discern whose dick is bigger,”I growled, passing people with my quick, angry strides to escape the onlookers. I hadn’t come here to be thrown into the middle of a dick-sizing contest, nor would they force me to indulge either of the barbarians competing for a fucking swath of colored fabric.
“Fucking stop for a moment, woman!”Zyion’s words held urgency, but I was too angry to give a shit.“Aria!”
“Why the hell should I listen to you? Do you want to berate and belittle me some more? I know what you can do. How about you and Aden go play with your swords and just leave me the fuck out of it?”I demanded, but then my feet stumbled.
The hair on my nape lifted as a dark, oily magic fluttered across the field and a cloud blocked out the sun. The wrongness in the surrounding air was so oppressive it stalled the air in my lungs.
Air grew thick with tension around me. My ears popped as pressure built inside my head, and the hair on my arms rose with the power smothering me. Not knowing where the threat was coming from, I stepped back, scanning the surrounding faces, and I backed into something solid and unmovable.
“It’s just me, princess,” Zyion whispered so softly I strained to hear his words. “We expected an attack, but this is more. This isn’t just an assassination attempt on your life.”
“Excuse me? It sounded like youjustsaid you expected an assassination attempt on my life.” What the fuck was even happening?
“May I eat whatever it is? I’m a growing girl,”Ember asked in a sincere tone, hoping Zyion would sympathize with her plight.
“If you wish, Ember, I can send someone out to hunt deer for you if you need me to do so,”he promised her in a softened tone. It made me wonder if he knew she was talking about consuming people.
“Did you hear that? He said he’d hunt for me! I’m in love!”she purred.
“No, he said he’dsendsomeone to hunt. Do you know that, traditionally, men are satisfied through their belly or their sexual desires, not women. Ember? You’re not a male, so stop the antics. And for the love of everything holy, stop going all deer-in-the-headlights just because some asshole offers you meat of any variety. Now, shut up. We’re kind of in a situation here.”
“You know she’s feral, right? She’s likely a lot stronger than you are. I think I’d prefer—” Zyion’s words stalled as we both felt the incoming attack.
A man with his head covered with red and black colors, and armor carrying the royal house coat of arms rushed at us. I threw magic toward him, which resulted in him being shot with a violet bolt of lightning, and then sucked into the ground, leaving only his armor behind.
“Impressive, princess. You bonded with the land?”
“I did,” I confirmed. “Stop calling me ‘princess’. I promise you I’mnotdelicate or breakable. In fact, I’m more like a bomb with a short fuse, just waiting to detonate.”
Several men burst from the tents that surrounded the field. I stepped forward, but Zyion’s arm wrapped around me, yanking me back against the hard armor he wore. Lifting my hands, I slammed my magic against them, enjoying thecrunchof their bones as it pulverized them beneath the meteor-like ball of power. Zyion’s hiss of shock was satisfying.
“Where is the King’s Guard? Fuck! It’s a coup.” Zyion turned, looking at me, then at the men wearing the same armor as him. “Guard Griffon, it’s a coup,” Zyion called to the men rushing at us wearing similar armor to his.
My head whipped toward where Esme had been, discovering her gone. Fear sliced through as I turned, looking for any sign of her. The wind slapped my hair against my face as worry tightened my chest.
“Where’s Esme? Esme!”
“No one is after your friend, Aria.”
“You think I care? She’s not a great fighter, and she’s an even worse swimmer. And this? This looks like shit creek without me to keep her from drowning.”
“She’ll be okay. I saw her with Eva, who will ensure she gets out.” His tone held a trust that I didn’t share. “I should’ve trusted you enough to warn you about what we feared would unfold here.”
“Jeez, thanks for admitting it as we’re being attacked?” I muttered as he turned with me and then grabbed my hand to yank me back toward the middle of the field that he’d fought Aden on.
The sounds of screams erupted from the stands, causing my stomach to drop as I looked back toward the stands. Esme! I’d left Esme in order to hand off my colors, and now she was gone? I knew I should’ve stayed in bed.
I tried to pull free of Zyion’s hold so I could go find her, but his grip was unrelenting. Still, I searched for her in the stands where I’d left her, but they had devolved into a melee of fists and swords and people fleeing. Worry ate at the pit of my stomach as Zyion continued to pull me farther away from where she should’ve been.
“So much for this place being peaceful,” I whispered, realizing I hadn’t spotted Eva yet either. “I can’t find her.” Panic gripped my throat.
“Your friend’s safe, Aria. They aren’t interested in her. She didn’t come for the throne.”
I gave him an unladylike snort. “I neither wanted nor intended to claim any throne. Scylla informed me it wasn’t an option to walk away without it, though.”
Frantic shouting erupted to our right, but Griffon’s scream compelled Zyion and me to turn towards it. One of Baldrick’s sons was standing behind the king, an arm banded around his chest and a dagger pressed to his neck. A small rivulet of blood dripped from where the blade pressed to flesh, dripping down and staining the king’s collar.
“It’s a coup?” I wondered out loud. “I did not see that one coming.”
