Page 34 of Prince of Ruin

“Kind of like…a platypus.” Interesting. I set the glass down. “So... where is this wyvern, anyway? Somewhere in the palace?”

“In the field with the others.” They return with an armload of clothes.“Now get dressed.”

I slowly begin to undress, and Mandi assists me into the tunic and then layers me in the black metal armor with twin bat wings carved on the breastplate. I guess some part of me still feels like this is a dream. I’m not…I’m not as scared as I should be. Maybe it’s all the epic fantasy books I’ve read, but marching into battle feels familiar, somehow.

“This is surprisingly light,” I say, lifting my arm with the armor strapped around it.

“And fireproof, too.”

Oh, wonderful. Fireproof. Which means there will be fire on the battlefield. Nothing about this scenario screams victory on our part.

I help them adjust the strap around my rib cage, but I can’t seem to get my pinky to cooperate. The numbness has become more pronounced now, as if it was lying beneath a heavy boulder all night. I finally lift my hand to examine the appendage, and a breath whooshes out of me. My pinky has turned an ugly shade of blue. I shake my hand again, growling in annoyance.

“Everything okay?” Mandi asks as they cinch the strap.

“My hand is asleep. Not my whole hand—my pinky. I can’t feel a thing.” I try to bend it, but even the muscle in my pinky doesn’t respond.Nowpanic grips me. Not because of the looming battle, but because I can’t move my goddamn pinky.

Mandi straightens, their silvery eyes wide. I’ll never get used to their fae appearance, the way they look twenty years younger. They grab my wrist with slender fingers and inspect my pinky, which is swiftly turning gray now.

“Who did you make a pinky promise to?” they ask in a lethally quiet voice. They glare at me. “And then break it?”

I start to laugh—when I realize they’re not kidding. “A pinky promise? I don’t know—someone in kindergarten?”

“No one since then?”

I open my mouth to respond when—oh wait. God, no.

“I promised Tarsus I wouldn’t come back,” I whisper in horror. “He had me pinned down, made me pinky swear never to return to the faerie realms. I thought it was the dumbest thing ever.”

“You pinky promised?” Mom’s grip tightens painfully around my wrist. “What did I tell you about making promises? And a pinky promise!” With my wrist still in one hand, they pinch the tip of my pinky between their thumb and their index finger, and give it a little tug, completely removing my pinky from my hand.

The room begins to spin, the ground shifting beneath my feet as I watch my pinky being plucked from my hand without me feeling a thing. I wouldthink it was an illusion, but when they release my wrist, there’s no pinky there. Just a pink nub of freshly healed skin where my pinky used to be.

“Sit down, you’re turning green,” Mandi snaps, guiding my hind side to the edge of the bed.

I think I might throw up. Darkness begins creeping to the edge of my vision.

“What...what did you do?” I manage to say as they force my head between my knees. The darkness slowly ebbs away.

“Idid nothing.” They march across the room. I lift my head just in time to see them toss my pinky out the window.

“No!” Leaping to my feet, I race to the window, gaping while two giant lizards—or are they baby wyverns?—fight over my discarded appendage. Stars explode across my vision, and I try to blink them away. “I could have had it surgically put back on.”

“No. It was dead. You made a pinky promise, and you broke it. Such is the punishment for being a liar. Be happy it wasn’t a promise sealed with a kiss that you broke, or it would be your lips that rotted off. And your tongue, depending on how deep a kiss it was.”

I whirl around and gape at them in horror. “What the fuck?” I stare at my four-fingered hand, my eyes wide and my stomach turning. I realize I’ll losemuch more than my pinky by the time this battle is over, but still...

“It’s just a pinky, Clav.” Mandi tilts my chin up and arches a perfectly shaped brow. “The finger you use the least.”

“On my dominant hand!” I squeak.

“Be careful about making promises in the future, yes? A pinky promise should never be broken.”

Mandi shoves leather gloves over my hands, hiding my missing pinky. Then they place a black helmet with a long black ponytail over my head. I twist my neck, trying to get used to the metal covering my head. This armor was clearly not catered to people with sensory issues, but at least it will conceal my terror on the field.

As soon as I step out of my room, a host of advisors are waiting for me, including Abaddon. Like me, he wears armor of thin metal that allows for free movement. Slits are built into the back where his wings flare out. The advisors all greet me with a bow. Thank god my shocked and terrified expression is hidden. With a curt nod, I proceed down the hall with long, purposeful steps. They ask me questions that I have no answers to, but thank God Abaddon answers for me.

He should be the sovereign. By all that is right and fair in the world, he should bear the title for leading my kingdom in my absence. He seems toactually care for the people, instead of hiding behind his palace walls doing nothing while the continent suffers from the smoke and ash of the volcano.

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