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)
He reached down and touched her knife.
Think to me, and I will hear you.
Right. She’d forgotten about that, a Faerie sort of telephone.
She nodded.
He kissed her lips softly.
You shouldn’t show me so much affection, she said, falling into the feel of him. Everyone else will clue in to what the princess already knows.
You are human, a champion, and mine—you are already a target. I don’t want to pass up the chance to feel your lips, even for a moment.
He slipped his tongue past her teeth, and she groaned, clutching him tightly. He took his time, savoring their contact, before finally stepping back.
“Okay, let’s get you admitted.” He squeezed her upper arms.
Admitted? That didn’t sound promising.
They waited behind a couple of other nobles, and then it was her turn. Tarian gave his name and nudged her forward, and the attendant checked off “human.” Why bother with details?
Protect yourself, Tarian said as she was motioned forward. Come back to me in one piece. He squeezed her upper arms. I’ll see you soon.
Faelynn stepped around them, and then Daisy was walking through the arches. Almost immediately, someone grabbed her upper arm from the right.
Don’t fight, Faelynn said. You are a slave and now a prisoner. Go where you’re told. They won’t hurt you.
She didn’t sound sure, and Daisy didn’t make any promises.
A long, low tunnel led to a large, circular room. A few dozen people sat around the stone floor in the dim light, chains attached to their ankles and bolted to the floor. Everyone faced her direction, all those eyes watching who was led into the room. Assessing. A great many scoffed or smirked upon seeing her. They looked past to see who was next.
That’s a good sign, Faelynn said, following behind. They underestimate you.
Will we be able to see the fights that come before or after us?
No. You are held until it is your turn, and then you’ll be returned after. They don’t want the champions knowing what they will face until they are facing it.
That was good and bad. She wanted to catalog the strengths and weaknesses of these others. That would greatly help her plan. But she’d be routinely underestimated, and that was no small thing. It had always been her greatest asset.
Your greatest asset is now that chalice magic, Faelynn said, drifting away as the large attendant jerked her to a stop and pushed her down to sitting. He bent to attach the manacle around her ankle. Use it.
The chalice magic.
Daisy had pressed Tarian about that last night after everything had been seen to. She’d asked why he’d been acting so strangely when he picked her up after the scuffle in the hallway.
“You’ve been training for three days,” he’d said, shaking his head at her.
“And?”
“And you managed to analyze and understand the magic here in a way that took me years to learn. That many fae still don’t know how to do.”
“I assume you were in my head as I figured it out, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then you saw how I did it. I analyze magic, Tarian. I have since I entered the magical world. I internalize it. I stew on it. You’ve heard me do it. Lexi’s magic has some similarities. When you connect all the dots, all you have to do is go with it. It took me years to learn, too. I just applied that knowledge here, that’s all. It’s no great mystery.”
He’d kept shaking his head. “Your mind is a rare and amazing thing, my treasure. I think you would’ve been approached for the order of scribes.”
“Approached, not selected?”
He’d grinned and pulled her closer. “There is no way in the depths of Sylreth’s bog that you would’ve devoted your life to something so mundane as their order. You would’ve turned them down, insulted them while you did it, and never looked back.”
True enough.
On the floor, she pulled up her knees and hugged her arms around them as other champions came in. She didn’t notice them. Instead, she watched those who did. Watched them size up their opponents and the subtle change in their posture or body language. Felt the magic ebb and flow around the room, clinging to those with more capacity for it and drifting around those with less.
Healers sat at tables around the edges, drinking, eating, and occasionally chatting, their focus on each other and not the champions chained to the floor.
The prickle of eyes on her drew her gaze to the right. A mousy character looked at her from between long sheets of black hair. Its eyes were watchful and solemn and its bony shoulders tented the drape of the black fabric it wore. She couldn’t tell if it was female or male, and it didn’t matter, because she could tell it was sizing her up in a way no one else was. Subtle violet light flickered in the depths of its eyes, magical in a way she hadn’t seen before. It didn’t blink. Didn’t look away. Just continued to stare as though it were a member of an audience waiting for Daisy to perform.