Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
She sat back and finally took a drink of water.
“Why did you tell me?” she asked. More champions must’ve been filing into the holding area, but none came out to sit on the grass. She’d noticed him on his own the day before—no one wanted to get too close. To either of them.
He didn’t look over at her. “Your benefactor will kill anyone you get intimate with, right?”
“Yes. He’s compelled to. Except the royals.”
“Right. Well, I don’t need you crawling into my lap later. I might have a moment of weakness and not see the dawn.”
She looked out over the drop. “So you won the last couple years? For…”
“Lady Lavinya. You’re Tarianthiel’s toy. I am hers.”
Lavinya…Daisy didn’t recall the name. But then, she didn’t know many of the names, just faces.
“She likes to watch me battle,” he continued. “A lot of the nobles do. It’s why we wear so few layers. I was surprised you were so covered up. Though…I guess yours is a lot more possessive than most. Lady Lavinya loans me out if it will bring her favor.”
Her eyebrows lifted as she drew up her knees and looped her arms around her shins. “You don’t sound beat up about that fact.”
He huffed out a laugh, looking at her with a smirk. “I came from nothing. Less than nothing. My mother was killed in the wylds, and my dad didn’t bother sticking around. We were left to fend for ourselves. I would’ve died if not for Lady Lavinya. I tried to steal food from her manor, and her guards caught me. She gave me a choice: be her pet, or receive my punishment.” He finished the last morsel on his plate. “I eat like a king. I spend my days training and fucking. Only twice has she loaned me to a male, and for that I suck it up, but otherwise, I pleasure and am pleasured by the nobility in this kingdom. I’ve never had it so good.”
Couldn’t argue with that. He clearly wasn’t put out by his situation.
“So you’ve won the last two years?” she repeated.
“No. I might’ve. Last year I was the strongest and best champion, but when the competition gets too fierce, the lady pulls me out. She wants me alive. How about you? Tarianthiel seems to want to keep you alive, too.”
“It sounds like the king is going to pull me out before Tarian can. He has taken…an interest.”
The male jerked, his face whipping toward Daisy. He didn’t say anything for a long moment. His expression was neutral, but she didn’t miss the pity in his eyes. He nodded, though she wasn’t sure why, before looking out over the cliffs again.
“Maybe you should drink the elixir after all,” he said softly. “Flying would be a nicer way to go.”
31
Daisy
Three people flew. They took a running leap, stretched out their arms, and said weeeee all the way down.
The rest didn’t get much sleep. All but three reveled in each other’s bodies, and the three sober ones tried to stay out of the way—Daisy, the big champion…and the female who’d helped Daisy the night before.
After telling the female about the elixir, Daisy had said, “I am not saving your life.” It was probably even true.
She’d earned a small smile and a slight nod. They were even.
But now that female walked out of the dark hallway and into the glow of the Court Hall. Her lank hair fell beside her thin face, her eyes darting this way and that. She already held a knife, clutched tightly in her small hand. Her knuckles were white.
Daisy let out a slow breath as her stomach twisted. She replayed all the fights she’d seen with this female, as seen through Tarian’s eyes. She reassessed the movements, the strikes, and the feints. Then she tucked her thoughts down deep where they couldn’t be found. Not that it would matter—cutting out magic would take care of that naturally.
The floor was slick with blood at Daisy’s feet. The nobles were all in their places, having watched all the fights for the day, save hers. She and this female were last.
The king waited on his dais, his blood-red eyes gleaming. The diamond chalice sat beside him on the chair, his long, spindly fingers wrapped around it.
The female stopped on the other side of the pool of blood. Her gaze flicked down to it, over to the king, then finally to Daisy. Her expression was unreadable. Her free hand flexed and then curled into a fist. The female had helped Daisy, Daisy had helped the female, and now one would kill the other. Welcome to life with the fae.
“Do not kill the human,” the king called out. “Break her, only. If you can.”
He leaned back on his throne, his smile predatory. He’d pitted Daisy against arguably the weakest of the champions, save Daisy herself. Both of them were hiding their true skills. Neither could hide any longer.