Page 12 of A Fate of Wings
“Tomorrow the remaining contestants will battle with swords, then I’ll send those winners on a task.”
“What about the other trials?”
“Forget those. We need to end this contest tomorrow. Make the arrangements for the sword fights.”
“Yes, your majesty. As soon as you are safe in your bedchambers, I’ll see to it.”
I nodded my thanks. Without my two personal guards, then I feared my life would have ended long before now. Shadows of death lurked in the wait for my life. I might not stop them from coming. If I chose a mate, would he see another arrow aimed at my heart?
Raelin, my handmaiden, had fussed over me last night. This morning, she was doing the same and her nervousness was making me anxious. Me!
“Stop.” I grabbed both her hands and held them in a tight grasp.
Her bottom lip trembled. “I’m sorry.”
I squeezed her hands and then let go. “Do up my gown, then you can have your nervous breakdown.”
She laughed softly under her breath, but her hands were steadier as she yanked the ribbons on the back of my gown. Today, I’d chosen a gown of vibrant fall colors. Every movement would appear like a hypnotic illusion, as though in one direction I’d be a radiant yellow, the other an iridescent orange, and the last a luminous red.
“You look beautiful,” Raelin said. “Do you have a favorite you’d like to win today?”
My mind immediately pictured the Beast. His tall, muscular frame. The virile masculinity of his horns. Those wings enthralled me with their featherless state. They were powerful and lethal looking with talons on the ends. I’d lay awake at night picturing him fighting with those wings. Were they as sharp as they appeared?
“You do have a favorite!” Raelin exclaimed.
Her body shook for other reasons now.
“I refuse to admit there is a certain contestant I’d like to win.”
I couldn’t let people see I had a favorite and have them accuse me of manipulating the outcome of the contest. It wouldn’t go down well with the other realms after all the trouble they’d gone to providing men. Some were here by force, most were here as tributes to help build a connection between our realms if they won, that is. As soon as they were fit enough to travel, I sent the loser back to their realm.
“I’ll see you tonight.”
She dipped a curtsy and said, “I wouldn’t dare intrude if you have a winner tonight.”
Without sparing a thought for tonight, because when the contestants won the sword fights, then I’d send them on a near-impossible task. I doubted any would make it back in one night if they could even complete their assignment. Only the most inventive, determined, and ruthless male would pass the lasttest. I had to make it this way with the shadows lurking around every corner of the castle.
I opened the bedchamber’s door. Raefa and Ailine stood waiting on the other side. My most trusted guards would stick close to me today. If another attempt on my life occurred, they’d be there to stop it.
Melanie stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” she said, sliding her arm through mine. “I lost my mind when I saw that arrow heading your way. Forgive me?”
“Of course, I would have felt the same if an arrow came for you.”
“You would?”
“Yes.” I frowned. “Since when did I give you the impression I didn’t care about your life? You’re my twin sister.”
She squeezed my arm, and for a second I thought how easy it would be for her to stick a blade in my side. I shook my misgivings away. If she’d wanted to do that, she’d had plenty of chances over the years. I was being paranoid.
“Of course,” she said. “How many more days of this boring contest must we endure?”
“Today is the last day.”
Her eyebrows rose.
“It’s time I chose a mate.”