Page 37 of Rise of a Fallen Man

“It will be the highest honor to become your husband and your future king consort, Your Highness.” He sank to one knee, holding my hands in his. “I’ll strive to be the best spouse a queen can have. From now and always.”

Cheers and clapping soared from the patio into the gardens. The court guests couldn’t hear our conversation, but they obviously had been watching us closely and didn’t miss the prince going down on one knee in acceptance of my proposal.

The two of us stood on the path between the flower beds of fragrant rose bushes framed by jasmine flowers. The strings of golden lights illuminated us.

The scene must look beautiful, only the hollow emptiness inside me felt ugly.

Chapter 10

Salas

Ipunched the bag so hard, my knuckles cracked. My blood smeared the canvas cover as my skin split open.

Lerrel insisted I practice fighting without a sword more often. She believed it fit the best with the character of the savage brute I played in the arena. But the raw brutality of this form of fighting repulsed me. It was impossible to distance my mind from the pain I caused to my opponents when I felt their muscle tissue crush and their bones creak under my blows.

Ever since the announcement of the royal wedding, however, I couldn’t stop punching.

“Raeb!” Noil marched across the courtyard to me. “The training is done for today.”

I ignored him, hitting the bag again and again. The blows hurt no one but me. Sadly, the pain from my damaged knuckles was nothing compared to the agony raging in my chest.

I thought I was prepared to lose Ari. I never had her in the first place. How could it hurt so much to lose someone who was never mine?

There was no scenario in which a former whore, a slave, and a criminal could publicly claim a crown princess as his own. I knew it all along. But it all felt exceptionally final now. Not only she wasn’t mine, but she officially belonged with someone else.

Of course, I knew my only option was to accept it.

But acceptance proved hard to find.

“Raeb!” Noil shoved a hand in my ribs to get my attention.

I snarled, twisting toward him with my fist raised.

“What the fuck?” He caught my wrist, stopping the blow that would’ve smashed his face in. “I said it’s done!” he yelled.

Lerrel appeared at his side, dressed in a pretty, white dress with bright red flowers. Noil had his best silk shirt on, too, his tawny hair and mustache trimmed and smoothed down in style. The palace invited all royal gladiators to attend the marriage ceremony of Princess Aniri and her chosen groom, Prince Leafar. Everyone was dressed and ready to go. Everyone except me.

The games master propped her hands on her hips, pinning me with her glare.

“Do we have a problem here?”

“Do we?” I jerked my arm out of Noil’s grip.

“You’ve been doing this for almost two weeks now, Raeb,” she stated. “So far, you’ve broken three training dummies and are about to decimate your fourth punching bag. More importantly...” she grabbed my hand, turning my bloodied knuckles to light, “you’re damaging one of my most valuable assets—yourself.”

“You’re done here, boy.” Noil unhooked the prolapsed, blood-smeared bag from the frame in the rink.

“Go back to your room,” Lerrel ordered. “Clean the wounds. Get the healing witch to look at them when we all come back from the ceremony.”

“And ask the witch for some mushroom powder to calm the fuck down,” Noil muttered under his breath, taking the bag away.

“You’re not coming with us,” Lerrel said to me. “Not in this state.”

“I wasn’t going to, anyway,” I snapped back at her. “I’m staying here.”

She poked a finger into my sweaty chest.

“Whatever is eating at you, deal with it. Or I’ll deal with it for you when I come back.” She pointed at my hands. “Save this shit for the arena. Audience loves you. Don’t fuck it up.”

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