Page 25 of Courting War
Kellyn knew Emmett was mad, he knew he had wounded his pride and honor, but Kellyn never expected it would rock their friendship this much.
He gritted his teeth to hold in the pain.Never show weakness. But Kellyn wasn’t enough. He’d never be enough for his parents, country, for the Sacrifice, and he wasn’t even enough for hisbest mate.
As his priestess approached, his heart sank completely.
It was the arrogant girl from the port. An arrogance far exceeding his own.
As she stepped next to him, Kellyn felt her presence like a physical force. Crooked and toxic. Everything from how she moved to the poison etched into her face saidshe didn’t want to be herelike she radiated a haunting unease. Nothing about her was normal, both far too stunning and far too broken to be real. But the most disconcerting thing was her expression. It was like battle spirits clung to her skin and murmured curses in her ears, her torment etched into the lines of her pouty lips.
Her hair was twisted into delicate raven curls that tapered around her neck, and the scarlet Theodic styled dress clung to her womanly curves, the sequins and rose petals dripping down her skirt like a river of bloody tears.
The girl was the embodiment of wrath, temptation, and bloodshed.
A true War Priestess.
She glared at the gods, her defiance a visceral, breathing thing. The fiercest aspects of her ire were directed at Nefeli.
A shiver ran along Kellyn’s skin, leaving gooseflesh in its wake.
Nefeli clapped her hands to gather attention back to her. “Thank you for generously joining us for our seven-day journey.” At the word generous, the priestess snorted and whisperedbullshitunder her breath. “A journey so intoxicating that even the gods can’t predict the outcome. At the stroke of midnight, the Sacrifice begins. You will have seven days to complete five challenges. Make it through alive, and you will be given a God-Blessed life. Fail, and you die.”
The priestess huffed beside him and whispered dark muffled words. It was hard to pay attention to her and Nefeli simultaneously. But Kellyn had to focus.
“Once you’re in the Champions’ Quarters, you will find the Room of Mirrors. Each mirror represents one of the nine gods and a possible challenge.”
Nefeli snapped her fingers, and an inching, burning sensationcoursed through Kellyn’s arm. Black spilled over his wrist, and a long riddle etched into his flesh. His eyes fixed on his arm, and he tried to translate the words, but he only got as far as,Welcome Kellyn to your fate, before Nefeli began speaking again, and his focus shattered.
“Use this riddle to find your first mirror. But be wary: step into a mirror out of turn, and you will die—forever trapped in its embrace.” Nefeli’s lips lifted in a devilish smile. “Between each challenge, you must face the Tribunal of Gods, where you will be scored on your performance and given your next clues.”
Kellyn’s stomach broiled, and his palms clammed up. The Tribunals were used in the past and were no joke. A mortal could live or die on how well they faced the panel of gods.
“Be warned, dear mortals, every moment is a test.” Nefeli’s voice was a commanding echo. “And trust is deadly at its best.”
Chapter Nine
KELLYN
Champion of Theoden
CHAMPION’S QUARTERS, CITY OF THE GODS
After the ceremony, Kellyn and the seventeen other souls cursed to be this year’s Sacrifice were escorted to the Champions’ Quarters and locked inside.
Now, the only means of escape rested in completing the five challenges in seven days, which sounded easy, but some challenges required days to complete. Or some required days to recuperate from.
Kellyn’s throat bobbed, and he clutched his carving tools tightly. His eyes scaled the two-story Common Room, fixing on the most striking aspect. The nine floor-to-ceiling hourglasses were carved into the walls like pillars—five on the right side of the room and four on the left. Each color represented a champion—Kellyn’s spilled blood-red sand. The hourglasses, one grain at a time, counted every second of the games. When the sand ran out, so would the corresponding champion’s life.
Kellyntensed and ran a thumb over the coarse wood of his unfinished lovespoon. He needed to finish it so he could sacrifice it to the Goddess of War and ask for help in the games. Kellyn was a devoted follower, praying at his altar every morning and offering a lovespoon to her weekly. He didn’t want to court War. He wasn’t so arrogant to think that he could, but he thought she needed a sign of love. It was instinct, and he’d been doing it since he was sixteen years old. He hoped his devotion would pay off and she would show up for him.
But first, he needed to find Cecile and get to work solving their riddles so that they could find their first mirror and challenge.
He searched the room, his eyes catching first on the passageway to the Hall of Mirrors and then on his priestess. She stood seething on one of the four spiral staircases leading to the nine Champions’ private suites.
She marked every statue lining the walls with her gaze like she wanted to devour them. Swallowing and clutching his carving tighter, he diverted his focus because she seemed to be bad news incarnate.
He spotted Cecile, walking across the room. “Cecile,” he called and waved her down, moving to intersect her path, but instead of acknowledging him, Cecile marched up tohispriestess, pulled the raven-haired beauty into a champion’s suite, and closed the door behind them.
What in all the pantheon was that?
