Chapter Seven
hat?” I ask, the spell the king just had me under splitting into“W hairline cracks.
“Come on,” Gabriel says, pulling on my elbow.
I dig in my heels and yank my arm back. “What do you mean the Final Tribute has never survived?”
Gabriel blows out a breath, his eyes once again meeting the king’s. He’s watching us again, and I bristle as they exchange a significant look.
“What’s that? Why do you keep looking at each other that way? You said I would get some answers if I came with you, but I’m more confused than ever! Tell me what’s going on!”
“Keep your voice down,” Gabriel hisses, his teeth gritted.
“No! No, I will not keep my voice down. I demand to know what I’m doing here!”
I’m causing a scene, a few curious heads swinging in my direction. Gabriel exchanges another quick look with the king and then turns to me, bending
over and hauling me over his shoulder. I let out a screech and pound his back before I aim my foot at his crotch. My toe connects with a rock-hard bulge and I cry out. Fucking armor.
Dark laughter accompanies a face full of white feathers, and I sputter, trying to bat them away. Gabriel spins around so he’s facing the crowd.
“Sorry about that, ladies and gentlemen. You know how these Umbra rats can
be sometimes.” He smacks my ass pointed straight at the room, and there’s a twitter of laughter solely at my expense. As soon as I figure what the fuck is going on, Gabriel is first on the list of people I’ll murder with a blunt object.
He spins around again, and I close my eyes as my stomach lurches. I’m still suffering from the effects of my earlier meal, and my body is still exhausted from my days in the Hollow. Gabriel opens a door, and we enter a room before he slams it behind us.
A moment later, I’m hauled off his shoulder and dumped onto a soft settee.
We seem to be in some kind of windowless antechamber, the walls covered in patterned gold silk.
“How dare you!” I jump up, my fists balled. “I demand an explanation this
instant!”
“Keep your voice down,” Gabriel says, his blue eyes flashing.
I stand up straight, take in a deep breath, and prepare to let out an ear- piercing shriek mined from the depths of my frustration.
“Do that and I’ll send you back to Nostraza so fast your head will spin.”
I pause mid-inhale and then drop my shoulders, the air wheezing out of
me.
“That got your attention, did it, Lor?”
I narrow my eyes. “Tell. Me. What. Is. Going. On.”
Gabriel runs a hand down his face and paces to the other side of the room.
“Atlas secured your release from Nostraza to compete in the Trials.”
I shake my head. “Who?”
“Atlas. The king.”
That brings me up short. “Why?”
Gabriel studies me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes, but there’s nothing suggestive about it. He’s a scholar trying to solve a complex
riddle and missing a vital clue.
“I don’t know,” he says finally. “I was told to retrieve you from The Aurora and bring you back here to stand in as the Final Tribute during the Sun Queen Trials.”
I spread my hands out. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why me? Why not get someone from this place you call The Umbra?”
Gabriel rubs his chin and shakes his head. “I don’t know that either.”
“Well, then I’m going to ask the king.” I hike up the front of my ridiculous dress and march to the door, but Gabriel blocks my exit.
“You will do no such thing, my lady.”
“Get out of my way right now!”
Gabriel takes a step forward, hands circling my shoulders. “You have been brought here to compete in the Trials. You will pretend you are from The Umbra and you will tell no one of where you came from. You may die, but you may also see your every dream come true. What mortal wouldn’t dream of marrying the Sun King? You’ll ascend to Imperial Fae and have all the
power and riches you could dream of. You would have magic, Lor.”
“What kind of magic?” I ask, because that does sound pretty good.
“I don’t know. The Sun Mirror decides that.”
I arch a skeptical eyebrow.
“Lor, you have no choice in this. You will compete in the Trials to the best
of your ability, and if you do not win, you will probably die. If by some miracle you manage to survive, you will be sent back to Nostraza to rot for the rest of your miserable life. Do I make myself clear? I don’t know why Atlas wanted you here, but this is his desire, and it is my duty to see you follow through on it.”
I’m so taken aback by his words, I don’t speak for a moment.
“Can you get Tristan and Willow out too? I won’t stay here without them.
If you can get me out, you can get them out.” The pitch of my voice rises at the end. Maybe I can finally secure their freedom. “There was a riot happening when you took me. I don’t know if they’re okay. I need them.”
“There was no riot,” he says.
“There was. I heard it,” I insist.
“You must have been hallucinating.”
I cant my head, studying him. Is he telling me the truth? But why would he
lie about that?
“Can you get them out? Please?”
“I can’t do that,” Gabriel says, his expression resolute, his wings giving a
soft shudder.
“Why not? You got me out. Why can’t you get them out?”
“It doesn’t work like that.”
I ball my hands into fists. “I’ll scream this time. I will.”
Gabriel takes another step closer, wrapping a large hand around my throat,
and when I try to wrench away, he grips it harder, my breath stuttering. A moment later, he shoves me against the wall, looming over me like an angel of death.
“Don’t make this difficult, Lor. If you don’t do as you’re told, your friends will be in danger, too.” I try to free myself again, snarling in fury. He grips
my throat hard enough that I’m starting to feel genuinely afraid.
“Did you just threaten them?” I choke on the words, tugging on his strong arm, to no avail. He’s steel and I’m an insignificant flea.
“I did. Keep acting like a spoiled brat and not only will your friends’ lives be forfeit, I’ll ensure you spend the rest of your days in that hole where I found you. Once again, I ask: do I make myself clear?”
He stares at me with such ferocity, my defenses begin to crumble. The sting of tears burn the backs of my eyes.
“Why is this happening? I don’t understand.”
Gabriel lets go of my neck and takes a step back, smoothing his hands down his front like he’s trying to remove a wrinkle from his golden leather armor. “That isn’t important. What matters is that you do everything you can to survive this.”
“You just told me the Final Tribute has never survived. How am I supposed to do that?”
Gabriel answers with a slow smile. “You were on the edge of death when I found you in that hole, and somehow you still managed to fight me. Do you
remember biting me, Lor? Use some of that grit.”
I’m too confused and surprised to respond. This must all be some kind of
mistake.
What does the king know about me?
Gabriel says nothing else before he opens the door and gestures for me to
follow. The throne room is now empty and our steps echo against the marble.
I walk over to the pair of large golden chairs, taking in their magnificence and feeling the weight of everything they represent.
“Don’t tell me you don’t want it,” Gabriel says softly, directly in my ear.
It’s a deadly caress designed to lull witless girls into places from which they
can never return. “A girl like you.”
I give him a sharp look. “A girl like me with nothing, you mean?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”
I snort and fold my arms, picturing myself next to the king. I’d be lying if I said the idea wasn’t tempting. I was sure I’d spend the rest of my life in Nostraza. Eventually, disease or violence would kill me. That I got out of
there at all is a miracle.
“I don’t even know him,” I say, gesturing to where the king was sitting.
“What if he’s a vile monster? What if he’s as boring as drying mortar? What if he has bad breath?”
Gabriel rolls his eyes. “You’ll get to know him. All the Tributes will have the opportunity to spend time with him.”
I swallow at that. Me in a room alone with an Imperial Fae so beautiful he makes my eyes hurt? What would I even say to him? I’d be completely lost, because I’m pretty damn sure there is nothing about the king that’s vile, boring, or smelly. I am a rat compared to the nine other butterflies I’ll be competing with. He’ll just laugh me out of the room.
“You could get your friends out if you win,” he continues, and that right there is all the incentive I need. If I’m the Sun Queen, I’d finally have some iota of power. If I ascend to Imperial Fae, I’d have magic and resources.
Money. A crown. A fucking army.
Yes, I’d get Willow and Tristan out and then I’d pay the Aurora King back
for everything I owe him. For every lash of the whip that tore open my back.
For those endless nights in the Keep when I screamed so loud my voice gave out. For allowing the warden to use me for his sick pleasure. For every night I
went to sleep hungry and cold and aching. For tossing a group of children into the worst prison in Ouranos and leaving us there to die.
For everything he took.
Gabriel is studying me carefully, but I keep the vengeance of my thoughts to myself.
Still staring at the Sun King’s throne, I nod slowly.
None of this makes any sense, but I’d be a fool to turn away from this chance. They’ve just handed me the opportunity of a lifetime. Living in
Nostraza, my days were always numbered, anyway. I have nothing to lose by competing in the Trials, and now I might have a chance at a future I’ve only dreamed.
