Page 32 of Wrath of the Fae Queen
My stomach bottoms out as I glance at Dante. “What the fuck is going on?”
“You’ll see.” He doesn’t even bother to look over his shoulder at me as he marches toward that amphitheater.
I grab his arm and force him to turn around, stopping us at the base of a long staircase that climbs up into the building. “That is a fighting arena. Tell me, Dante, who is fighting this morning?”
A feminine voice rises from within, making an announcement, and the cheers of the crowd flare to greet it. We both turn toward the racket, my heart stopping, because I just fucking know.
The huge blocks of the stairs reach up to the height of a castle, disappearing through a great archway entrance. Colossal statues set at regular intervals line the entire top wall of the arena, depicting vicious beasts with fangs, scales, wings and claws.
Dante pulls free of me and steps forward, but I refuse to follow.
“I am not entering this arena until you tell me what is going on.” I grind my teeth.
Dante lets out a long-suffering sigh. “This is your final trial, Aldrin.”
“You could have given me a little fucking warning,” I growl, pushing past him and beginning to climb the damned stairs to my fate.
“For what purpose? Have you not been preparing for it every day regardless?” he calls after me. I snarl wordlessly at him and he holds up his hands. “It’s against the rules. The entire purpose of these trials is to test how you survive when thrown into dangerous situations. Technically, I’m meant to toss you into the arena,theninform you it is a trial, but you are standing on the steps, so it is close enough.”
I grumble a string of curses.
Pure dread builds within me, knotting up my insides the closer I get to that archway, but I have walked into countless battles before. I clench and unclench my fists, trying to release the tension, but it is no use.
I turn suddenly on Dante. “What am I fighting? A dragon? A horde of demons? Half the Assassins of Belladonna at once?”
Dante lets out a long whistle. “That’s quite the list, but I fear it’s worse than that.” A cocky smile grows on his face, but something else flashes in his eyes. Profound sadness? Regret? He continues before I can work it out. “You are fighting me. To the death.”
My entire body freezes as I stare at him in shock. I don’t even know how to kill his kind, and I really,reallydon’t want to slaughter this man.
“The final trial is the student killing their guide?”
He slaps me on the shoulder as he passes me. “No. The final trial is killing a member of the Wild Hunt.” He turns back for his final blow. “I told you when we met, Aldrin, you are a dead man walking.”
I gawk at him.
I had no idea he was a member of the…
Fuck.
The Wild Hunt is infamous for their brutality and ability on the battlefield. A single member is said to be able to wipe out a legion. There is a reason why they are legends of horror stories and nightmares in my court. And the man I have been dining with every night and forced to trust each time he poisoned me is one of their number.
From the whispers I have gathered during my time at the Haven of Death, I have discovered that the Wild Hunt are not only an elite force that are the best of the best of the Assassins of Belladonna, but that most of them helped begin this league. I had no idea Dante was so high up in their ranks.
For the first time since I arrived here, true fear grips me. Not just the kind that turns the blood to ice and weakens the mind. I cannot move. I can’t breathe. There is so much weight on my shoulders, so many people who need me, that I cannot die here. Iwillnot leave Keira in the clutches of my enemies, to be tormented every single day of her long life.
Those voices coming from the stands intensify, calling formyblood in growls, snarls and shouts that suddenly deafen me. I have to follow through with the trial or they will cut me down, right here on these steps, but I am frozen in place.
You can do this, Aldrin.Keira’s voice is soft in my head, light and encouraging, as she tries to hide the tremor.They don’t know you and your true strengths. I will watch your back. You have fought greater odds and worse battles than this. Do not let childhood fables and exaggerations cripple you now. Wild Hunt or not, Dante is still just a man. Treat him as such.
She sends so much faith down the bond it jolts straight to my brain and has me moving again.
I step into the arena at Dante’s side and the crowd goes wild. All those screaming agents of death in a full circle around me are incredibly overwhelming. They are a mixture of high fae and low fae Nightmares, some looking akin to myself and others with exposed bone, fangs and claws.
Dante takes my arm and raises it above my head. “It has been years since anyone has survived to the final trial! I present Aldrin, exiled King of the Spring Court. May the darkness bless him and bring him into our ranks.”
I stare at Dante, dumbfounded. How can he refer so cheerfully to his own death?
A woman in black armor adorned with scales and hugging her body like a glove steps forward on a grand balcony. The entire crowd falls silent as she raises a hand. Even Dante stares up at her with admiration. Her hair is most peculiar; one side is stark white and the other inky black.
