Page 43 of Prisoner of Steel and Shadow

The carriage rolled to a stop, and even the hushed conversations ceased. The door opened, and three familiar faces poured out. Dmitri was the first to appear, followed by the High Lord, who offered a hand to the final occupant, a leather-clad Shadow.

If she was stunning in a gown, she was breathtaking in the skin-tight leathers with her hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail high atop her head. Ronan’s mouth went dry. Her outfit left nothing to the imagination, but provided plenty of inspiration for a whole slew of other things. From the rumbles of appreciation around him, he wasn’t the only one to notice.

“Damned shame she has to die,” a man grunted to his left.

Ronan shot him a dark glare.

Bannock.

You just found yourself at the top of my list, brawler.

Shadow might be the only one here with a target on her back larger than his. He’d have his hands full ensuring she made it through these trials alongside him. The knowledge was enough to dampen his ardor.

“Gather round,” Dmitri called, waving the crowd of competitors in.

Ronan hung back, allowing the others to press in so he could observe them while listening to the details of the day’s task.

“In just a few minutes, the sun will have fully risen. The trial begins as soon as the field is completely illuminated.”

He glanced to his left, watching the last sliver of darkness melt away from the knee-high field of stocks they were standing in.

Dmitri continued with his speech. “There are thirty tokens hidden around this field.”

“What are the boundaries?” Marin called. Like him, she stood near the back, her arms crossed casually over her chest.

“If you can see it from here, it’s in bounds.”

Ronan heard a few whistles. That was quite a bit of ground to cover.

“So that’s it? We find a token and we’re done?” Loren asked from his place front and center.

Kiss arse.

“Not quite,” Dmitri said with a smirk. “The token is only half of the task. You cannot cross the finish line without one, but between recovering it and getting to the end, you’ll also have to swim across the bay, climb up the eastern cliffs, and then sprint through town until you reach the palace steps. Besides the marked-off section of the bay, there’s no set course you must run. You may reach the steps however you see fit. Between here and there, there are a number of traps you might encounter. There’s also nothing in the rules stating that you must find a tokenbeforemaking your way back to town.”

Meaning the contestants could procure their tokens through any means necessary, chief among them outright thievery.

“Not very sportsmanlike, is it?”

This was from Bannock again, whose shit-eating grin clearly conveyed his approval of the fact. The snickers in the crowd said most of them agreed.

Only Ronan, Calix the poisoner, and the veiled maiden Dichen seemed not to share the other’s amusement at the endorsement of underhanded tactics.

Interesting.

“The High Lord is not interested in your morals, only your ability to get the job done.”

“I look forward to your creativity in accomplishing today’s task,” Erebos said, his silky voice rubbing against Ronan’s ears like the scratch of sand in a wound.

“It’s nearly time. Are there any questions?” Dmitri asked, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

“How do we know she won’t receive special treatment?” Cedric called, jerking his chin in Shadow’s direction.

“I’m assuming you mean how can you be sure she hasn’t been given any privileged information?” Dmitri asked, his expression thunderous.

To his credit, Cedric didn’t shrink away. “Exactly.”

Shadow rolled her eyes. “Perhaps you should worry about your own performance, Aldair.”

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