by Sarra Cannon
“But it’s a diamond key,” I said.
“Exactly. That proves there are diamond gates somewhere, Aerden,” she said. “I think there is more to learn here in this city than we ever dreamed. I want to get to the truth of it before we figure out how the hell to get back home.”
I shook my head, something bothering me about my mother’s story.
“Listen,” I said. “If you’re going to start looking into this, there’s something else you might want to find out about my mother. Do you remember the old scholar who used to run the schools? Trention?”
“I remember him. Why?” she asked.
“He’s here in the dungeons with me,” I said. “We’ve been talking a lot, and he told me that he discovered a book inside the castle’s library that contained a map of the Shadow World he’d never seen before.”
“What’s so important about a map?” she asked.
“On the map, there was a third kingdom, Lea. To the east across the Sea of Glass,” I said. “A kingdom bigger than the north and south combined.”
She laughed. “That’s impossible, Aerden. You think we wouldn’t know about another kingdom like that? You know the Sea of Glass as well as I do. Once you get far enough out, there’s nothing but a wall of darkness at the end of the world. There’s no way through it, and there’s certainly nothing beyond it.”
“Trention said the pages of this book were made of diamond dust,” I said. “That has to mean something, right?”
She looked away, trying to make sense of it.
“But there’s something else,” I said. “He tried to take that book to the council and show it to the king, but my mother intercepted him before the meeting. She promised to show it to the council for him, but the next day, he was arrested and thrown into the dungeons. As far as he knows, she never showed that book to anyone. Why would she want to hide that book, Lea? A book made from diamonds?”
“Do you trust this demon? Trention?”
“With my life,” I said.
“Then I’m going to find the answers, Aerden. I won’t rest until I figure out what’s going on in this city.”
“What are you planning to do?” I asked. “If anyone finds out what you’re doing...Even coming here to talk to me could put your life in danger, Lea. If they believe you’re still loyal to me—”
“I’ll always be loyal to you, Aerden,” she said, gripping my hand tighter and filling my heart with a strange mix of joy and terror. “You’re one of the most important people in my world. Nothing can change that. If I could have, I’d have gotten you out of this mess by now.”
“You’ve already sacrificed enough for me. I can take care of myself,” I said. “How are they treating you overall?”
“It’s better than life in the dungeons,” she said. “Those were not exactly fun times, let me tell you.”
She tried to keep her voice light, but my chest tightened at the thought of her alone in those dark dungeons with no one to talk to.
“I shouldn’t complain, though,” she said. “I mean, just look at you.”
She ruffled my hair and stuck her tongue out.
My cheeks warmed. “Awful, huh?”
“Nah, you just look rugged and tough,” she said, smiling. But soon, the smile faded from her face, and she shook her head. “Aerden, why are you doing this? These games?”
“It’s just something I need to do,” I said, hoping she wouldn’t try to talk me out of it the way my mother had.
Her eyes searched mine, and I knew if anyone in any world could understand why, it would be Lea.
“You’re still that little shadowling near the cliffs, trying to prove himself,” she said. “But the truth is, you are the greatest warrior I’ve ever known.”
“Then I’ll have no problem winning.”
She smiled, and though it was not the sun-bright smiles of our childhood, for now, it was enough.
“Well, from the looks of you, you could use some help with your training.”
I suppressed a smile. “Oh, and you think you could teach me something in that dress?” I asked, eyebrow raised.
“I could kick your ass in this dress,” she said, laughing. “If I had time, I’d prove it to you.”
“I await the day,” I said.
Our smiles faded, and the true gravity of the moment fell on both of us. Our time was running out.
“Someday soon,” she said, holding my gaze for a long time.
I wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms again and tell her the truth about my feelings. I had waited too long. Lost too many chances already.
But how could I tell her here? Now? When I was still a slave?
“What’s going to happen to us, Aerden?” she asked, leaning closer. “There are times when I feel like it’s all slipping out of our hands. You’re fighting in the games. Harper’s gone and no one seems to know where she is or if she’s even alive. Jackson’s out of his mind looking for her and still trying to keep the Southern Kingdom safe. Brighton Manor is gone. As much as I thought I hated it at the time, I miss our life there.”
“Harper is alive, Lea. I can feel her, even though she’s distant. And Jackson is strong. We’ll all be together again, someday,” I said. “We have to believe that, Lea. We’ve always known that defeating the Order wasn’t going to be easy, but at least now we know it’s possible. We can’t give up. Not now.”
“I just wish…”
She paused, looking away. Finally, she sighed and shook her head. I wondered what it was that she was struggling so hard to say.
“I should go,” she said, taking my hand in hers. “Promise me you’ll win, Aerden. I can’t lose you. Not after everything.”
“I promise I will do everything in my power to win,” I said. “And when I do, we’ll find a way out of here together.”
A shadow of a smile crossed her lips. “I like the sound of that,” she said.
She threw her arms around me, and I held her close for as long as I could.
“When you walk onto this battlefield in a few days, look for me in the prima cavea,” she said, motioning toward the front row in the center of the arena that held two large thrones and a section of tall chairs meant for the council and their families. “When you need strength, look into my eyes, and I will give you mine.”
I ran my hand along her face, wishing I could tell her that she had always been my greatest strength and my deepest weakness.
“You should go,” I said, breaking my own heart with the words.
She turned and started back toward the north exit.
“Oh,” she said, turning when she’d only gotten a few steps away. She met my eyes and smiled. “I have a present for you, but it’s a surprise. Keep your eyes open for it, okay?”
I nodded and smiled back at her. “I will,” I said. “Goodnight, Lea.”
“Goodnight, Aerden,” she said, gathering her skirts in her hands and running across the last strips of moonlight before disappearing through the archway.
The Fire Of Six Suns
Lea
I couldn’t sleep.
After leaving Aerden, I spent most of the night tossing and turning in my bed, feeling guilty that he was sleeping on a floor somewhere while I had every comfort in the world.
It was difficult to see him there, dirty and wounded, but deep down, I knew my sleeplessness was about more than that.
I’d originally gone to see him, because I wanted to confront him about the key. To ask him why he’d given it to me when he’d known it was something meant to keep him safe. And I wanted to know exactly why he’d left the castle in the first place.
But seeing him again after our months apart, I realized I was terrified to ask him the truth.
And I’d been nervous as hell to tell him about Kael and the fact that I was expected to marry another demon.
But if Aerden and I were nothing more than friends, why did I think he would care? I doubted Aerden would want me to marry anyone who didn’t have my best
interests at heart, but it was more than that. I knew the news would hurt him.
I turned over in my soft bed and brought a pillow to my face so I could scream into it without anyone in the next room hearing me.
What was truly happening between Aerden and me?
In my mind, I was simply going to visit a dear, old friend and make sure he was okay before the games. But in my heart, the moment I had turned to see him standing there, I knew he meant much more to me than any friend.
I could still feel the soft touch of his hand on my face.
When had this happened? During our months at Brighton Manor? Or had there been something between us before, when we were shadowlings?
I’d been told at a very early age that Denaer—who would, of course, someday change his name to Jackson—was to be my future mate. We were promised at birth, and as a dutiful princess, I had never questioned it or thought of wanting someone else. It was simply the way it was meant to be.
And I loved him.
But I loved Aerden, too. The three of us were nearly inseparable as shadowlings, always adventuring and training together. I cared for them both. The only difference was that Jackson was meant to be more and Aerden was not.
Thinking back to it now, I wasn’t sure if that spark of electricity had existed before last night. I couldn’t remember ever looking at Aerden and feeling that way before, but there was no denying that it had been there last night when he’d gathered me into his arms and pulled me close.
I’d wanted to hold onto him forever. To know what it was like to be kissed by him.
I closed my eyes and screamed into the pillow again.
This couldn’t be happening. Maybe the stress of being in the castle and having to pretend to be someone I wasn’t was making me think I felt more for him than I really did. It was just the happiness of seeing an old friend, right? Of seeing someone who knew me for the Lea I truly was?
That had to be it.
Of course I cared for Aerden and was happy to see him. I wanted him to be safe, and the way I felt for him was no different than if it had been Mordecai standing there last night, or Joost.
But the moment that thought came to me, I knew it was a lie.
The butterflies that fluttered through me every time I pictured Aerden’s eyes on mine was not simply because he was any friend.
It was because he was Aerden.
Dammit.
I couldn’t let this happen. As much as I wanted to keep him safe and get us both back to the Southern Kingdom, I simply couldn’t allow myself to feel more for him than friendship.
I had tried love once, and look where it had gotten me.
And yes, there was a part of me that hoped Aerden felt the same way when he saw me last night, but once upon a time, I’d believed Jackson loved me, too. The way men fell in and out of love was confusing and hurtful. It couldn’t be trusted.
I wouldn’t open my heart to anyone like that ever again. I wasn’t sure I’d survive it a second time.
Aerden was nothing more than a friend to me. One I cared for very deeply. There would never be anything more to it than that. Period. Thinking there could be more would only distract me, and I couldn’t afford that type of distraction right now. I had a lot of things to do before the end of the King’s Games.
“Princess?” Presha came into the room and frowned at the pillow pressed to my mouth. “Are you feeling alright?”
I sat up and tossed the pillow aside. “I’m fine,” I said. “Is it time to get dressed?”
“Yes, Princess,” she said. “There is an early meal in honor of your father this morning in the dining room. He requested your presence, specifically. I believe only members of the council will be present.”
I lifted my eyes in surprise. Members of the council only? Was Ezrah’s one wish coming true?
The one thing the Resistance seemed to want from me right now was information about the council’s meetings. They wanted to know my father’s plans. Only, now, I wondered if they were really my father’s plans at all.
“That sounds wonderful,” I said, standing.
She helped me into the bath and later, into a soft pink dress that whispered across the floor when I walked.
As she and the other girls braided my hair, I asked questions about Kael as innocently as I could.
“What do you know of him?” I asked.
“What would you like to know?” Presha asked.
I shrugged. “Everything, I guess. I’m supposed to be mated to him, after all, and I know almost nothing about him except what he looks like.”
One of the handmaidens giggled, and when I glanced at her, her cheeks were the color of raspberries. She ducked her head, and Presha snapped at her.
“Don’t be disrespectful, girl. He is not intended for you.”
“It’s fine,” I said, smiling at the girl. “He is quite handsome, isn’t he?”
She blushed again and nodded.
“What else have you heard about him?” I asked. “Do you know where he grew up? Or when he came to the city?”
Presha focused on my braids but didn’t seem too suspicious of my questions. She also didn’t know much more than I did.
“He’s been here for a short time only,” she said. “Maybe twenty years or so? I’m not sure where he came from, but he was the talk of the city when he first arrived.”
“How so?” I asked.
“The rumor was that he simply walked through the gates one morning and went straight to the castle, demanding a meeting with the king himself,” she said. “For a while, some told the story that he almost killed a guard who refused to let him in, but I don’t think you should worry about that, Princess. I believe that was nothing more than a rumor.”
I seriously doubted that.
“He sounds very confident in himself,” I said.
“Oh, yes, he is. In fact, with the king in such poor health, Kael often runs the council meetings, from what I’ve heard,” she said. “He is very well trusted by the king.”
I raised an eyebrow at this.
Tatiana had warned me that the council existed in name only these days and that someone else had taken control, but I wasn’t certain she meant Kael until just now. If even a handmaiden realized how much power he’d claimed for himself over the past several years, then it must be known by almost everyone in the city.
They already saw him as the right hand of the king. A marriage to me would only solidify his standing.
How the heck had he managed that in such a short period of time?
“Presha, may I ask you a difficult question?”
She met my eyes in the mirror and nodded. “I can’t promise I’ll be able to answer it, but you may ask me anything you wish, of course.”
“What happened to my father?” I asked. “Why is he in such poor health?”
She and another girl exchanged glances, and at first, no one said a word. Finally, though, Presha cleared her throat and gave me an answer.
“He began to grow weaker shortly after you came to the castle for the last time,” Presha said. “Many believe his illness is the result of a broken heart. That’s why this festival is so incredibly important. Many demons here in the city are hopeful that your return will restore his health.”
Guilt rolled through me in waves. Was that true? Could heartache and regret cause a demon as strong as my father to deteriorate so quickly?
I shook my head. I refused to believe this was all because of a broken heart. I had begged my father to help get Aerden back and to go after Jackson once he disappeared into the human world. He knew I intended to follow them both if he didn’t help me, and yet he refused, calling me a traitor.
I knew he wasn’t happy to see me go, but he hadn’t stopped me back then, and he hadn’t done one single thing to help me. Besides, it wasn’t like he was truly happy to see me when his guards brought me back here.
No, he had thrown me in the dungeons like a piece of trash.
There had to be
more to his illness.
And I wanted to find out the truth, no matter what kind of danger it put me in here in the city.
The problem was, I had no idea where to start. I rarely ever got a chance to get close to my father, and I wasn’t sure that asking him about it directly would get me anything more than a trip back to the dungeons below.
My mother acted like nothing was wrong, so I doubted she would tell me anything useful, either. Aerden’s mother, Tatiana, had talked to me truthfully more than anyone else here so far, so maybe she was a good one to try to talk to about my father.
Still, I wasn’t sure I could trust her, either. For whatever reason, she wanted me labeled a traitor, too, and I couldn’t forget that. Maybe last night’s conversation was just her way of luring me into a trap where she could prove that I was not as happy to be home as I pretended to be.
Then there was the matter of the book she had taken from Trention.
Other than that, my only ally here in the castle was Ezrah. I was so focused on getting to Aerden last night that I hadn’t thought to ask Ezrah about Kael. If I found a chance to see him again without bringing any suspicion to his loyalties, I would ask him, but I was anxious to find out more now. I didn’t want to wait.
Patience had never been one of my virtues.
“Are you ready, Princess?” Presha asked. “The king will be waiting.”
I studied my appearance in the mirror, once again wishing I could just wear jeans. But there was nothing to be done about it right now. I just had to be a snake in the grass for a little while longer.
Maybe when this tournament was over, Aerden and I would be free to talk without having to sneak around. We could figure out how to escape from the city.
We could go home.
“I’m ready,” I said.
“Come with me,” she said. “I’ll lead you to the dining room.”
I rolled my eyes. She said it as if I had no idea where the dining room was in this castle, even though this had been my home much longer than it had been hers.
I followed her through the doorway, but before we could take more than a handful of steps, Kael appeared in the hallway and bowed to me.
