Page 54 of Trial of Thorns
Rev
Brielle grips my forearmtightly as we watch my brother’s murderer repeat the crime right in front of us. We can’t see his face or his body, but we know he’s there—in her mind.
The whole crowd gasps as she shoves a dagger through an invisible victim.
We all know what she just did.
My vision goes black for those moments afterwards. Then she passes through the orb untouched and silence settles in the stands around us.
This is their reminder. This is the evil fae who murdered their future king.
After the dwarf’s challenge, there was stunned silence and then an eruption of cheers. After hers? Stunned silence, followed by an eruption of boos and jeers.
Fruits and cups and even a weapon or two fly into the arena, aimed at the most hated fae in our world.
Her face is calm, still, as she passes through the arena to sit beside the dwarf. More items fly at them both, a few getting close to hitting their target. A stone wall raises from the ground, protecting their backs. I sneer but can’t blame the dwarf for not wanting their hatred for her to hurt him. Especially knowing that he’d rejected her alliance.
“Brielle of the Flicker Court!”
Brielle tenses next to me, as if it were possible to be tenser. I worry she’ll crack her own nails, gripping her sword handle so hard.
I grab her upper arm and pull her to face me. She gasps, her eyes huge. “Listen to me,” I say sternly. “They’re going to make you face it. You’re—" I pause, my voice suddenly lost in my panic. “They’re going to make you watch him die,” I whisper, my voice breaking, even though it’s barely there to begin with.
She winces, a tear already forming in the corner of her eye.
“I need you to remember something: nothing you do will change it. Nothing will bring him back. The only thing we can do is complete the task so we have the chance to avenge him. Complete the task because that’s the only way to get toher.” I openly point to the murderer. She doesn’t notice or care. Her eyes are cast to the dirt between her feet like she’s just bored and waiting for the chance to leave. The crowd murmurs, and a few jeer in response to my pointing.
Brielle looks me in the eye, only slightly less terrified.
“We’re going to kill her,” I tell her definitively. “But I need your help to do it. I need you beside me in the next challenge.”
I take in a long breath, and then she nods and stomps toward the orb.
