Page 168 of Unrivaled
“Xerberus,” said a wiry knight, offering me his hand.“Saltrocks.I lost to you in the third round last year but made it to the finals.”
I dropped the ladle back down and shook the offered hand.“Good to see you back.”Saltrocks wasn’t far from the Black Borough.If I’d been Kadan’s man, I’d’ve been wary of him.As Audrey’s man, I didn’t know who I should be wary of, apart from everyone.
“The lady, will you champion her?”he asked me, politely, the way you might ask a father if you could dance with his daughter.
I took the excuse to glance up toward Audrey.She was in her spot at the railing, as she’d been the whole tourney.Beside her, Yasmine and a vaguely familiar older woman were in conversation.Whenever I looked, she was not speaking.
She was as breathtaking as ever, but of course she was.She wore a dress that’d cost more than most fiefs spent on seeds, and somehow managed to make that green smolder.It was part of her privilege.I knew there were other reasons she’d made those choices that didn’t simply involve her serving cunt.
The woman was breathtaking in a thrice repaired sweat-stained shirt and a grin.She had ulterior motives, and I trusted they were worthy.
She didn’t look at all distressed by the morning’s events, but I expected no less.The cracks wouldn’t appear until the evening, and even then, they weren’t guaranteed.
“Lady Audrey didn’t mention who she’d champion,” I told him, pulling my eyes away from her.
His grin was fast.“We all know it’ll be you.”
I raised my brows.“Do you?BecauseIdon’t.”And after what’d happened that morning, I hoped she didn’t.
Right now, I didn’t need more eyes on me.
“She’ll choose the winner,” someone nearby called.“And that isn’t you, Saltrocks!”
There was some good-natured laughter, some back and forth.Names were called and we waited out of the sun on the edge of the field.I didn’t let my eyes drift back up to her, not until after I’d been on and off the field twice.Thomas’ voice was in my head.His quick, no-nonsense correction of my foot placement played on a loop.I hadn’t lost despite what Thomas would’ve thought was an error, becausehere,I wasn’t fighting with others.I needed to protect myself and no one else.
It felt…superficial.
So my eyes had to go to her, up on the stands.The rippling dress and waves of her hair made her quite a picture, but it was Kadan who I noticed beside her with relief.If he was here, then Luca was well and truly dealt with.
I’d wondered, in the past, if Luca one day managed to beg, borrow, or steal his way into her bed, whether I’d be taken by a murderous rage.
If it’d turned out differently and he’d been able to keep on fooling her, perhaps I would’ve.
What was the point in killing him now, though?He’d done as much damage to her as he ever could.He was done.Only his death would cause more harm and draw unneeded attention.
Audrey met my eyes across the distance.I couldn’t make out the nuance in her expression, but my mouth went dry.Luca is alive.I wished I could’ve told her, so she didn’t wonder.He won’t talk about it to anyone, and he won’t give you any more trouble, and he’s fine.There was no hiding his oath had started to trigger.Fucked if I knew how we’d avoided having a half-melted corpse on our hands, but we had.
“There’s betting on who she’ll pick,” Xerberus told me, when I made it back.He was grinning, but it was in a good-natured way.“Odds are long for the rest of us.How’s it feel to be the chosen of the Beacon of La’Angi?”
My heart twisted.I reached for the ladle again to quench the desert in my mouth.“Couldn’t ask for a better noble,” I managed.“But the standing around gets old.”
He laughed and nudged the bucket of water closer.
Did shewantto champion me?
It made no difference to me.I’d already won the buckle from this tourney.It’d gone somewhere, along with the ribbon she’d worn and gifted me all those moons ago.
I knew which one I’d have back.
The roar of the crowd ebbed and flowed.The competition was fierce, but they didn’t know how I’d been training for months.I’d lived and breathed this, and I’d done so with four other equally driven, brilliant warriors.
“I’ll win this fight for you, my lady!”someone called.
A snort from my elbow made me glance over.Callum, light brown hair gleaming in the sun and boots unpolished, stepped up beside me.“Just stopping by.See how you’re going.”
I glanced up at Audrey again for the third time that day.I hated that I needed to count, and I hated even more that I wasn’t there, close to her.The sun sparkled off Kadan’s hair where he was telling a joke to the nobility that gathered around them.The rogue sunbeam found him and lit him up like the gods themselves were trying to highlight him.But even in the shadows, Audrey burned.
“Everything’s all good at our end,” he said, the words so general that everyone in the area instantly knew there was a hidden meaning.
