Page 116 of Ecliptic

The crowd let out another collective gasp, and I barely turned around in time to see a ring flying right at me. I ducked, narrowly missing being decapitated.

This was a steel trap of death!

I sprinted towards the third marker, my body veering to hug the innermost lane of the ring. I dropped to the ground and quickly lit the marker, this one engraved with a series of planets.

The rings began to spin faster and faster, and terror sat in my throat like a stone. I removed the heavy thought, needing to be as light on my feet as possible. The sun was setting by the second, the bright light lessening as it curved back behind the earth, but I still had one last marker to find.

I ran around the ring, searching for the final marker. I couldn’t see it anywhere. I jumped to another shifting platform, and there it was! Placed on the center orb of the armillary sphere.

I raced against the sun for the final rune.

I waited for the ring to pass and timed my jump, but with a gust of wind and the axis shifting, I lost my center of balance and slipped off the edge of the ring.

My fingers barely caught the smooth lip as my legs dangled beneath me, and I swore I heard someone scream my name.

My arms were on fire as my legs searched for a foothold that wasn’t there. The wind rushed around me and threatened to sweep me off the celestial globe. My wrist screamed out in pain, but I couldn’t let go. I wouldn’t survive a fall from this height.

With trembling arms and a shaking wrist, I screamed as I pulled myself up. I wanted to lay back and kiss the ring, but Ididn’t have time. My body shook with adrenaline as I darted up and sprinted to the final marker.

As I placed my bloody palm on the final rune, silver-white light surged through the structure, alighting the whole armillary sphere in runes. A mixture of silver and gold light shot out of the globe in a beam of intertwining moonlight and sunshine.

I made it. I won!

My chest heaved as relief coursed through me, and the sphere stopped spinning. It lowered to the ground and halted in a plume of dust.

As I made my way down the staircase, clutching the railing for support, Aedris appeared through the sand, striding confidently toward me. He didn’t look furious or upset. He looked happy.

“You lost,” he said with a smug grin.

“No, I didn’t,” I shot back, exhaustion threatening to overcome me. “I lit all the markers before the sunset.”

“Your heel hit the shadow, I’m afraid. You have failed, Alcreon Light Bearer,” he said, walking toward me. “Though you did put on an impressive show.”

“Wait. No. That’s not?—”

“You are mine now,” he said, pulling a gold collar from his robes. He must have had that all along! He’d never meant for me to win, and now he would collar me like a dog. “This is just for precaution. It is imbued with the power of our deal.”

Two of his guards snatched me off the staircase and held me before the king. Their fingers dug into my flesh and bruised my skin.

Aedris stepped up to me and brushed my hair away from my neck. “You will be my greatest treasure—a celestial light collared for me to command in whatever way I choose.” He encircled the choker around my throat, and the cold bite of the metal raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

Familiar voices erupted in fury.

I slammed my eyes shut as disgust bubbled inside of me. “We had a deal,” I gritted out as he latched the collar around my neck.

“We did,” he said, and I could hear the grin in his voice. “And you were foolish enough to pledge your body to me. There are so many possibilities. I’m not sure where to begin.”

A small smile spread on my face, and my eyes flashed open. “I pledged myself to the true ruler of Hara’dune. And that’s not you, is it?”

Aedris’ hands fumbled as the latch wouldn’t take. It was not him to whom I pledged myself, and when he realized what I’d done, his eyes widened in outrage. “How dare you utter such accusations!”

I raised my voice for all to hear. “Rayal is the true descendant of the throne. And you stole it from her. She is the rightful queen of Hara’dune.”

The crowd emitted a unified gasp, looking to their leader.

“That is not true,” he answered, the veins in his forehead looking like they were about to explode. “I wear the crown!” He acted like a petulant child unable to play with his favorite toy. “You have defied the great king of Hara’dune and are therefore sentenced to a life of labor in the sand pits.”

Elves shouted from the crowd. “Usurper!”

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