ready to do battle. “Whether you like it or not, I am your queen. Royals must make tough calls for the good of their people. Had I reached out to you, even once, you might have assumed you could come home.”
Intent. Always. Mattered. My mother wasn’t angry because I’d insulted her as a parent. She fumed because I’d insulted her as a sovereign.
“I’m done with this conversation.” Harsh words had been spoken, but no headway had been made.
“Where will you go?” she demanded.
I could return to the palace, where I knew Ashleigh to be, or I could wait for my battle heat at the coliseum, where I hoped she might make an appearance. The six days had passed, the time of our reunion at hand. Though my mother hadn’t returned to the Avian Mountains, I wasn’t going to request Ashleigh remain in the palace. She would be safest with me. I could protect her from danger better than anyone.
“It doesn’t matter,” I told her. “I am to be your king, and as crown prince my word is law. You will obey my commands at all times. You will not follow me. You will stay away from Ashleigh. There’s no need for me to tell you what will happen if you disobey me, because you will not disobey me. Isn’t that right, Mother?” I offered the question smoothly, my intent clear.
Her lips peeled back and she grated, “Right.”
Having gotten what I’d wanted, I flapped my wings and angled my body, shooting across the sky, heading for...the coliseum, I decided. I would watch the next heat and learn more about my competitors. When I reunited with Ashleigh, I would be in a calmer mood than this.
Two weeks remained on our countdown clock. A mere fourteen days until the tournament’s end and everything changed for us.
The crack in my chest spread with unexpected force, something corrosive spilling from the wound. Desperation? Sorrow? Helplessness? I gritted my teeth against it.
Our situation was what it was and it couldn’t be changed. From the beginning, I’d planned to bespell Ashleigh to sleep and lock her away. Now I wasn’t so sure I had the right to do it. The thought of sweet, surprisingly inventive Ashleigh trapped in some small, dank prison, a vulnerable target for any corrupt jailer... I experienced the full breadth of Craven’s viciousness.
What if we could find a way to keep memories of her past lives at bay? Would she remain Ashleigh for good?
Ashleigh wouldn’t require confinement. I could be with her...maybe.
Would she want to be with me?
Either way, the demand for restitution had to stop. I would find another way to appease my armies for her crimes as a child.
Movement on the dais drew my attention to Milo. The warlock trotted himself to the king’s throne and eased down as if he had every right.
If we fought in the same heat... I would take his head.
Ophelia stomped onto the dais, anchored one hand on her waist and waved the other in the warlock’s direction. He vanished, reappearing on the battlefield only a second later. When he realized where he was, he made a crude gesture to the witch.
He’d hoped to make a grand entrance, I realized with disgust.
As the crowd went wild, the other fighters flooded into the arena.
Just beyond the coliseum, amid a small circular clearing, Everly and Roth appeared, no longer clothed in their illusions.
Everly had a mass of glossy silver-white hair, eyes as silver as a mirror with rims of gold, and pale white skin with a smattering of freckles. Roth possessed black hair, green eyes and bronze skin.
They looked around, as if searching for someone. I searched the area, but no one else lurked nearby.
I angled toward my childhood friend and the new guardian of the forest, who often used trees as doorways, then tucked my wings into my sides and dropped. Just before I reached them, entering a secluded area encompassed by Everly’s magical mist, I realigned, slowing my momentum. A hard vibration rushed up my legs when I landed.
“You’re late, but I’ll forgive you at some point.” Everly raced over to hug me. “Noel told us something, something, something, and you have information for us, and that we should something, something, and meet you at this spot, five minutes ago. I love when I correctly interpret her gibberish.”
“First, you arrived two minutes ago. If you were supposed to be here five minutes ago, you are also late.” I released her and acknowledged Roth, the man I