Page 65 of A Fate so Wicked

Mine and Calandra’s faces puckered from the image.

“Mine makes me run laps until I throw up,” Calandra said. “And then makes me drag these weights attached to my back.”

The longer they went on about their situations, and all they had endured, the more and more trivial mine became. I shifted in my seat, trying to keep up with their conversation, but the guilt that riddled me made it hard to concentrate. Of all the stories I’d heard about the fae, maybe I internalized some bias against him?

No.

No, he was arrogant. He was a prick. Not to mention rude. And yet, despite all his negative traits, he was also oddly patient and kind. He’d taken care of me when I’d needed someone the most—twice—when he could’ve left me to rot. And after the way I’d been treating him, I wouldn’t have blamed him.

My leg bounced under the table as I reminisced about how his magic filled me. His soft caress.

Calandra frowned. “You didn’t hear, did you?”

I shook my head, offering her an apologetic smile.

“He went off on this rage-fueled tyrant about how you cheated,” she went on. “I heard he destroyed his entire bedchamber.”

My head spun, trying to jump into a conversation that felt miles away, but I fell short. “I’m sorry. Who are you talking about?”

“Aeron, girl, keep up,” Breana said, as if I hadn’t zoned out for the last two minutes. “Talon restrained him before he got to your room, but it was scary.”

“Let me get this straight. Aeron thinks I cheated and tried to attack me?”

They nodded, and I chewed my nails. Sure, I could talk to animals, but he didn’t know that. Unless he saw me? Or he could do the same thing.

“How could I have cheated?” I asked.

“I guess because you rode out on a stag instead of dragging one in, bucking and bleating like we did. Stars forbid anyone shows up that piece of shit. Congrats, by the way, I meant to tell you,” Breana said.

“I treated it the same way I would my horse back home.” I bobbed my shoulder, hoping I appeared nonchalant and unsuspecting. “Sugarfoot was known to freak out from time to time. She’s very touchy. So, I approached the situation like I would with her.”

Calandra beamed and held out her fist. “And thank goodness for that. I don’t care how you did it. I’m just glad we didn’t end up like Irving.”

“Thanks.” I bumped my knuckles with hers and slumped back in my seat, astounded. If only I knew how dangerously close I was to being attacked. Killed. “Wait, you said Talon restrained him?”

“Yeah,” Calandra spoke. “It was hot. He didn’t need to put a hand on him, either.”

Sounds of the drowler’s bones crunching in the forest rang in my head—how effortlessly Talon had killed it still terrified me. Yet knowing he had come to my defense minutes before healing me made my insides warm.

“He didn’t say any?—”

“Why would he?” Calandra rested her forearms on the table. “It would’ve just caused additional stress. We debated telling you.”

Breana nodded. “You had the right to know, though. Figured maybe you could use it as motivation.”

“How? They’re barbarians. He and Kelvin were seconds away from killing me during that trial. Going against them is next to impossible.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. They ripped my sword away from me and were about to stab me with it when a stag wandered into view, and they raced after it. It was sheer luck I could wrangle one with some vine.”

“Irving, too.” Calandra added, “It was like he was possessed.”

“Jealous.” Their faces were expectant as they waited for me to elaborate. “Well, Irving was jealous that Calandra had weapons, and he didn’t. If you didn’t stab him, I don’t think you’d be sitting here. The king himself said, ‘May you not let resentment get the best of you and lose sight of the goal.’ What if each trial is designed to bring out a different moral dilemma?”

Calandra straightened. “And use our human tendencies against us.”

“In the first trial, the vynx were placed there to tempt us with the things we want most—to devour us if we went after it.” I pulled my feet off the table and sat back in my chair, my head buzzing with theories. “Why?”

“It was all in the mirrors.” Breana appeared deep in thought. “They showed us who we really are. The truth… our greed.”

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