“It was the sacrifice. I’m sure of it. Sure enough, at least.”
He jumped to his feet. “If you had the Mirror, you would have your answer. You would know for certain.”
Isobel considered this, intrigued. The Mirror was one of the remaining five Relics that had yet to fall. It gave its user the answers to any three questions, as well as the ability to spy on opponents.
“I could ask it how I messed up,” Isobel said breathlessly.
Her hopes rose at the thought of getting her powers back. She wouldn’t have to continue hiding in this haunting, repulsive cave. She could stop hating herself for her mistake. She would march down this mountain, once again the most powerful champion of the tournament, and she would …
She would try to kill them all—kill them before they killed her.
She swallowed. This past week, she’d been so focused on convincing Alistair not to murder her that she had put off thoughts of all the reasons she hadn’t wanted to be a champion in the first place.
“The only problem…” Alistair said, his gaze fixed away from hers even as he leaned against the post at the foot of the bed. Cobwebs clung to the wood above his hair, forming an unsightly crown in the candlelight. “… is that there are still eleven weeks left. That’s a lot of time waiting for the Mirror to fall. With … me.”
His voice caught on the last word, and Isobel realized that even if Alistair had known her flirting had been theatrics, it had clearly made an impression on him. He sounded almost wounded.
Even though he’d said he was sorry, even though he’d given her the Cloak, he was the one who’d terrorized her. She didn’t have to apologize for hurting his feelings when she’d only been trying to survive.
That’s all this is, she told herself. A performance.
So why did her cheeks warm at the thought of eleven weeks alone in this Cave with Alistair Lowe?
Forcing her voice into nonchalance, she said, “I hope your crossword book lasts us until then.”
He laughed loudly, as though the moment before, he’d been holding his breath. “Not the way you plow through it.”
“The other champions won’t wait for that long,” Isobel pointed out. She was surprised they’d already waited this long.
“The Cave is the second strongest defensive Landmark in—”
“But if one of them claims the Crown, then all the Landmarks will weaken. Or if the Medallion falls, that can void other Relic and Landmark claims—”
“Then I’ll defeat them, all right?” he said fiercely. “It’s nothing I haven’t trained for.”
Alistair might’ve been clever and powerful, but even he would be outmatched against a gang of champions armed with Relics.
But he sounded confident, and he was a Lowe. Maybe he really had trained to overcome all odds.
“Can I ask you something?” Isobel whispered.
“Sure.”
“Did you always want to be champion?”
“Yes,” he answered matter-of-factly.
“Oh.” Isobel squeezed the sheets in her fist, thinking of her father. Maybe he’d been right. Maybe Isobel really had originally turned her back on her family’s legacy, on honor.
“I know how that makes me sound,” he said quickly, misinterpreting her response. “It wasn’t that I was eager to put myself in danger or kill a bunch of people. But…” His voice hardened. “All my life, we were told it was all that mattered. That we all had our roles to play.”
“By ‘we,’ do you mean you and your brother? He was with you at the Magpie, wasn’t he?”
For a moment, something sharp passed over his features, and she worried that she’d upset him somehow. “You don’t have to—I was being personal—”
“No, it’s fine.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. Then he asked, his voice strained, “What about you? I assume because you were named champion so early, you must’ve wanted it—being famous and all.”
She laughed bitterly, remembering the first time she’d been approached by a journalist on her walk to school. The way she’d felt nauseous when he’d called her a champion. The way Briony had smiled. Even after a year, the memories felt raw and fresh.
“All of that was a mistake.” Her voice trembled. “I didn’t ask to be a celebrity. If it wasn’t for…” For her best friend. For her family. But she didn’t want to get into that. “It wasn’t supposed to be like that.”