Page 133 of Trial of Thorns
Caelynn
Rev and I still haven’tspoken since the task five days ago. Today, just before the beginning of our final trial, is the first time we’ve been in a room together.
Our eyes meet, and I’m flooded with a mixture of electricity and pain. We haven’t discussed our strategy for the final trial, but I assume we’re on the same page. We’ll continue to be allies until Brielle and Drake are eliminated.
We know they’ll work together, so we’ll be forced to as well if we want any chance to win.
I haven’t slept much since that first night. Raven is still nowhere to be found.
I’ve searched the grounds up and down, even braving the scrutinizing public, who pry mercilessly, asking all kinds of awkward personal questions. I saw a black bird in the tree below my widow one night. Again, flying over the Black Lake in the distance. But it never gets close enough. We haven’t spoken in six full days.
Is she avoiding me? Is she really that mad at me? Because of Rev? Because of what I said to her? I stare at the weapon’s rack, even though I’ve already chosen my weapons—I’m too distracted by thoughts of Raven. I shouldn’t have brought her here—I’ve always known that. But not for the reasons she thinks. Because I’m an idiot and spoke out of fear. Out of confusion and desperation.
Honestly, I’ve never made very good decisions when it comes to her, even knowing that she has feelings for me—I think I’ve known that for a long time, I’ve just avoided thinking about it. The truth is, I have feelings for her too. In a different kind of way...I think. She wants to be a couple. I want to just have her by my side for the rest of my life.
But I needed her in order to survive this. So, I brought her along to a worldshemay not survive, all to save my heart from disintegrating into nothing.
It’s not what she deserves, though. She deserves a protector. Someone dedicated to her wellbeing, even when the choices are hard. Even when it means leaving her behind.
My stomach clenches at that thought.
“I’m sorry, Raven,” I whisper out the window, knowing she’s not near enough to hear. How do I focus on the next trial not knowing what’s happened to her?
I’m a bundle of nerves, and I wonder if I can find a way to win today.
In a matter of hours, one of the four remaining fae will be the chosen savior of all of faery. In a matter of hours, I could be free of my punishment, but all I can think about is a black-haired human teenager whose heart is broken because of me.
***
FOR THE LAST TIME,I stand before the thorn gates, towering over us in all its brutal glory. We face the arena of cheering fae, not a boo in earshot. Not yet, at least.
The masses have come to respect me, if nothing else. They somehow learned all about how I saved Rev’s life, and it has redeemed me to some. Others see it as more manipulation.
I don’t really care what they think.
I stand on the end of our small line of fae warriors beside Rev. Drake and Brielle stand on his otherside.
Together, enemy and ally, we step out through the thorn gates into the arena.
My newfound respect isn’t enough to stop several pieces of garbage and rotten food from flying toward us. Nothing reaches within fifteen feet of our small line, but I know who it’s intended for.
“Today is the day you get what you deserve,” Brielle says through a tight-lipped smile.
“Looking forward to it,” I tell her.
On the very bottom row of the stands, in the middle, is a section for the rejected champions. Those that survived the trials. There are two that I don’t even remember, they lost during the first trial. Beside them sits Caspian, Kari, and Tyadin. That’s it. We started with fifteen fae. Four are still in the trials, and out of the rest there are only five survivors.
