“But I remembered how good you smelled.” His voice was ten octaves deeper.
My mind was scrambling to figure out what was going on when his fingers came up to brush across my lips. The whimper I’d been holding in released then and he pulled back to look at me.
“And for as long as I live, I will never forget how you kiss, Zara Swiftwater,” he stated and my legs nearly collapsed beneath me. “And I dream of being stuck with you forever, I don’t fear it.”
There were no words for this moment. I didn’t have anything to say so I just stared at him. Why was he muttering all of these incredibly romantic things to me? He left me at the summer camp after his brother reminded him of his duties to the throne. I was Mud Flats trash, not good enough for him.
The memory of how that all went down rose up inside of me and I took one step closer to him so that my body was pressed flush against his. My breasts slammed into his chest and his eyes widened slightly.
“Axil Moon, I pray that you remember how I kiss, for the rest of your life.” I leaned in and dragged my lips lightly across his, delighted to hear the moan of pleasure escape him. Then I pulled back and met his gaze. “Because you will never taste this mouth again. I will win the trials, become your wife, and leave you to an empty bed until my dying day.”
With a snarl of anger, I pulled away and sidestepped him, walking quickly back through the woods the way I came.
I thought I heard the sound of snapping bones and when I reached the open grassy knoll behind the castle, a tortured howl rose up across the forest behind me.
Whatever he was feeling now was an ounce of what my fifteen-year-old self had felt when he rejected me.
Now, more than ever, I was motivated to win this competition. If nothing more than to see the look on Axil’s face when I slammed the bedroom door shut on him on our wedding night. I didn’t care who I would have to kill to get my revenge. This was our way, and I’d been stupid to question such traditions.
FOUR
The next morning I hurriedly washed up at the outdoor communal bathhouse and then put on fresh clothes. Cyrus said that he’d gotten drunk with one of the king’s advisors last night and that they had let slip that the next trial was one I was well suited for, living in the Mud Flats, but I might have to go hungry for a few days. Going without meals didn’t worry me, unless of course I was weakened and then called into a fight, which was probably going to happen. They were testing our strength. So instead of the light breakfast I normally ate, I scarfed meat and fresh fruits until I was sickeningly full.
When I arrived at the blue champion tent, it hit me that there were only twelve of us left.
How quickly we’d been culled in half shocked me but I got over it quickly when Ivanna gave me a grin.
She was no doubt still basking in her ability to have made me take no weapon into my fight yesterday.
I walked right up to her and looked her in the eyes. “I still won,” I reminded her.
Her gaze narrowed but she said nothing.
“Hello champions!” a familiar voice called behind me and I turned to see the same male advisor from yesterday. He was holding a large canvas sack and held it out to us. Eliza slipped into the large tent last, looking sleepy and possibly like she’d been up all night crying. I wondered whether yesterday was her first kill and how she was taking it.
“Place any weapons or personal items, other than clothing that you have on, in here.” He shook the bag.
We all looked at each other in confusion.
“You will be searched,” he added and that got us moving.
I reached down into my boot and pulled out my small knife. Ivanna did the same and some of the others too.
Eliza took a fancy jeweled hair clip from her blonde tresses and held it up. “Will I get it back?” she asked and I rolled my eyes.
This girl was begging to die.
“Of course,” he said as she dropped it warily in the bag. He cinched it shut and then tossed it onto the ground in the corner of the tent. “For the next trial you will be blindfolded and dropped off at an unknown location.”
A few gasps caused him to nod. “You must make your way back here to basecamp, living off the land to keep you alive. A queen of the wolven needs to be able to live off the land.”
My attention immediately went to Eliza and I watched as the blood drained from her face and she swayed a little on her feet. This wasn’t a normal Queen Trials challenge. At least not in any of the ones I’d heard about.
This was it. This was how she died. Wet, cold, and with no food in her belly as a giant cougarin split open her gut while she slept. I sighed when she looked at me in terror.
Don’t make friends.
My brother’s words bounced around my skull and I tore my attention away from her.
Two wolven guards entered the tent then and patted us down for hidden luxuries that might make our wilderness survival any easier. They took my leather strap belt which only caused me to roll my eyes. I could go into the challenge naked and still fare better than Eliza and most of the others.
Ivanna was from Crestline pack and I knew she would have knowledge of how to survive the elements. Olesa too. I’d met her yesterday and come to find out she was from Upper Rim pack. It was better weather than Crestline, but they weren’t as modernized as the other packs.
Everyone else was screwed. The other nine girls were from cities or villages that were extremely spoiled, with market stalls to buy their food from. I could guarantee none of them had so much as picked a piece of fruit from a tree their entire life. Or skinned a bearin.
When we were completely stripped of anything of use, we were called out of the tent. The crowd cheered wildly at the sight of us and we made our way to a set of three wolf sleds. My gaze flicked around the crowd until they landed on my brother.
Find water first, he hand signed.
I nodded.
Make alliances. Assassinations possible, he added and my stomach dropped.
Of course. Ivanna could cut my throat in my sleep and say I died of a bearin attack.
I nodded again to indicate I understood him.
Relief spread through my chest as I realized I would be able to help Eliza without feeling like I was betraying my brother’s command not to make friends. I snaked my arm out and grasped her hand, pulling her next to me.
She looked terrified and when I drew her to me, she peered at me expectantly.
I hung back with her a few paces as all the others walked ahead of us and I was sure the roaring crowd was too loud for anyone to hear.
“Do you want to have an alliance? I can help you survive the elements if you take watch while I sleep. We can rest in shifts,” I said quickly.
Relief washed over her face and she squeezed my hand. “Yes. I didn’t want to die on my birthday.”
I stilled. “Today is your birthday?”
She nodded shyly.
A sickly feeling washed over me then. She shouldn’t be here. Why was she even put forward for this fight? She was too sweet. Dominant yes, but too loving and innocent and all the crap you needed to not be in order to survive these trials.
“Well, this is the shittiest birthday party I’ve ever been to,” I commented and she barked out in laughter, which made her look like a young teenage girl.
“Thanks. I needed that.”
I inclined my head and we carried on, following the others onto the backs of the sleds. A troupe of guards stepped over to us and the king was among them. They all held thick strips of cloth to bind our eyes. The guards approached each woman and I steeled myself when the king approached me.