Page 83 of The Crimson Princess
“No. It is not.”
Music begins to play in the arena and my gaze lifts to find my father watching us, a smile curving his lips. He thinks I’m playing along. Unfortunately, I assume others believe I’m truly involved with Bellar. My father turns toward the music and my gaze locks with Toren’s. His hair seems longer than it did yesterday, the dark strands further down his neck, but then he’s been home twice, where time is different in Bloodstone. And he looks at me with such hunger, such intimacy that I know now what Raven witnessed.
You were friendly with Bellar, princess,Toren says in my mind.
He told me he now knows I’ll never be his.
Because you’re mine?
For a thousand years of not seeing you?
I will never let that happen,he assures me.
And my father will never allow it to be otherwise. When I told him to partner with you, not the druids, he told me you’re a vampire, and vampires are the sludge of all worlds.
Did he now?
My father’s eyes fall on me, disapproval sharp in his attention and I quickly cut my stare from Toren’s. There’s an announcement blasted through the arena. “King Kilian wishes to speak before the Challenge ceremony begins.”
My father stands and blinks to center stage and my gaze shifts to Toren’s.This is not normal. There is a traditional order of things. He never speaks first.
Did you expect normal today?
I lean over to Bellar. “What is going on?”
“They tell me nothing. We’re beneath them. You know that.”
He’s not wrong. Damn it. Toren stands and walks to the edge of the banister. I join him. I really don’t care what anyone thinks. “What is this?”
“You tell me, princess.”
Idris steps to my side. “What is happening?”
“I was hoping you knew.”
A microphone appears in my father’s hand. “My gales. Today is the day we put the past behind us.”
“Oh no,” I whisper. “If he announces me and Bellar marrying, I will lose my mind.”
That’s when the lights go out. And when I try to use my magic to create one of my own, it doesn’t work. “What the hell?” I hear Idris curse. “I can’t use my magic.”
I reach for Toren and he’s gone.He’s gone.
I try to blink and I can’t. I climb over the banister, using my memories of doing the same as a kid, when I was just messing around in the arena, to guide me. I manage to get to the stairs, when the lights come on. There’s a group gasp as we all realize what is before us. Toren, Ruhn, Darus, my father, and another I know to be Alister, the fae king, are all standing center stage, the tension palpable.
It’s a war of worlds any second now.
“Get everyone out of here,” I order Idris. “Evacuate.”
He grabs me and turns me to face him. “Stay out of this. It’s your responsibility as the future queen to live to be the queen. Understand?”
“Yes. Yes, I understand. Just save our gales.”
He nods and starts shouting for the gales to exit.
I rush down the stairs and the battle erupts before I ever reach the bottom. No one is leaving. They’re all spellbound. I climb the railing to the arena and by the time I step forward, the druid king and my father are facing off with Toren, as the fae king is battling Ruhn. And Ruhn looks so much like Toren, it’s freaking me out. Bellar and Raven appear beside me. Toren slices Darus across the chest and the druid king cries out. Bellar yells out, “Father!” and when he would run out there, I grab his arm. “You will die if you go in there.”
“You told me to fight.”
