Page 135 of Jeweler to the Blessed
“So you’ve said.” She clapped her hands together. “Let’s finish this.”
King Rodric woke from his nightmare as Hart lost control of the power. He glared at his son. “You should have never come back.”
Rodric looked disappointed as he pointed at Hart. “Seize the Cursed King!”
“Sebastien?” Elias asked the name like a question as he, too, awoke. “What are you doing here?”
Hart rolled his eyes. “Nice to see you too, brother.”
Elias’s gaze darted to me. “I knew it was her.”
I didn’t like the look that crossed his face as he made whatever connections he thought he understood.
This had gone so far past sideways. Hart was the Cursed King. I couldn’t begin to process that. How did I get Alaric and myself out of this battle between goddesses and kings? That was what I needed to focus on.
The guards had risen from their stupor. They struggled to connect King Rodric’s words with the man before them—the man in guard’s uniform, whom they knew to be one of them. A few at the bottom of the dais glanced between Hart and Rodric. They moved slowly, as if waiting for reassurance.
“He’s the Cursed King, you fools! Seize him before he accesses more of his power!”
Something about that should have worried me, but the guards began to move at the king’s words. They flooded the dais. Hart regripped his sword and pushed me behind him as he prepared to fight us free.
Shadows filled the room, swelling to the same all-encompassing darkness I’d seen when I made my choice. When light finally parted the inky black that could only be magic, a woman stood next to Themis.
Her gown was black silk, slinking elegantly against her skin. Her hair was the color of a bonfire blazing in an autumn sunset. With lips painted the color of blood, the smile that crossed her face was anything but welcoming.
“Sister, dear, I don’t think you’re playing fair either.” Her words were directed at Themis.
“It’s over, Eris.”
The woman’s otherworldly beauty was apparent. I knew her for what she was the moment she graced the stage—Eris, Goddess of Chaos. Her power thrummed through the room, freezing the occupants outside the dais in place.
She tilted her head slowly from side to side. “I don’t think so, and you interfering like this isn’t very sporting. Didn’t we agree to let the champions decide?”
“You cursing my champion wasn’t very sporting!” Themis said.
Eris giggled. The sound was so at odds with the power that radiated from her; I wanted to laugh, but not more than I wanted to remain unseen in this room. Hart repositioned himself between me and the goddesses, deeming the frozen soldiers a lesser threat.
I wasn’t sure what to think of the action. He was the Cursed King. His use of magic proved he’d taken all he needed from me last night.
Tears pricked my eyelids as I held them shut, wishing this mess away. He hadn’t trusted me with this, even though I’d trusted him with everything. I didn’t know what to do. Anger bubbled beneath my skin at the thought.
Hart couldn’t be worse for this city than Rodric. How easy would it be for him to claim the throne in Order’s name?
But he didn’t.
The sharp smile that curved Eris’s lips was even more confusing than her giggle. “He’s lucky he isn’t dead.”
“I summoned him. He was mine. You aren’t allowed to kill him,” Themis shouted, lifting Alaric’s feet from the ground as she shook him by the neck.
“Unlike you, Sister”—Eris’s gaze drifted to Vaddon at Themis’s feet as a reminder of the claims Themis had madeupon arrival—“I didn’t skirt the spirit of our rules. Your champion challenged me. I had every right to kill him.”
Themis glared at Hart like she was seeing him for the first time. “You didn’t.”
I needed to get myself and Alaric out of here. Any hopes I had of keeping him safe by submitting to the royals was gone. But I had no idea how to get Alaric away from the angry goddess.
“That’s the problem with summoning your champions instead of letting them choose, dear. Especially such a proud one like him.” Eris’s glance at Hart was almost leering.
That raw, gurgling anger twisted in my gut, even as I told myself he wasn’t mine.
