Page 82 of Rise of a Fallen Man

Her polite smile grew into a wide grin, too. “You’ll never have to wear any other shirts at all.”

I tilted my head, peering at her closely. Was my princess jealous?

“Well,” Lerrel stepped forward. “Our Mountain Bear is double the hero, Your Majesty.”

Upbeat, proud, and as boastful as ever, Lerrel’s attitude didn’t let anyone in on how much stress she’d been through in the past four days.

The mortal danger that thousands of spectators, including the royal family, had been subjected to at the last games threatened to close our entire establishment for good, and the games master had been working day and night, trying to get to the bottom of what had happened in the arena that day.

The initial investigation conducted by Madam Trela’s people in collaboration with the royal palace uncovered that our performance had been deliberately sabotaged. The showanimals had been agitated on purpose as traces of unknown substances were discovered in their food. Some of the safety mechanisms had been compromised or disabled. And there were reasons to believe that someone familiar with the show and the arena had done all of that.

Lerrel had been trapped between the necessity to uncover the truth and the need to bury it for good in order to save the games.

Her attire might be as bright as ever, her attitude upbeat, and her smile brilliant and wide. But I knew that she’d used the gladiators’ stage makeup this morning to conceal the dark circles under her eyes left by the many sleepless hours she’d endured lately.

“Not only did this man save the princess, but he also helped to apprehend the murderer who was justly executed this morning,” Lerrel announced.

“It was also you?” Ari gasped softly, her carefully created neutral expression slipping off for a moment.

“Oh.” The queen’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You truly are an exceptional man, aren’t you?”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” I bowed my head.

“And the crowd’s favorite,” Lerrel inserted quickly. “Raeb is our star of the show. Rightfully so. He’s strong, kind, and of stellar character and reputation. He was recommended by the most honorable lady chamberlain, and she had never been wrong about any of our boys.”

With the mention of her title, the lady chamberlain pressed her lips into a tight smile, avoiding eye contact with me.

“And as we have recently discovered,” Lerrel continued to sing praises in the same voice she used when making dramatic announcements in the arena, “he’s touched by the divine magic that allowed him to defeat the dragon and rescue our crown princess.”

“Oh, about that...” The queen leaned closer to Lerrel. “How did he do that? How did he conjure the fire?”

Lerrel gave her a sly smile. “You know, Your Majesty, we have to keep our secrets in order for the show magic to continue to amaze our audience.”

She spoke as if she’d had the full control of what my reflection did that day, when in reality, Lerrel knew even less than I did how it all happened. She’d questioned me in detail, but I could only tell her the same thing I’d said to Ari. It all had been only an illusion. I didn’t actually conjure the fire. I reflected and amplified the flames of the worms.

“Just tell me, please, that he isn’t practicing any kind of forbidden magic,” the queen insisted. “It wouldn’t do for us to publicly honor a warlock like that.”

“Oh, absolutely not. I give you my word, Your Majesty, Raeb’s abilities are strictly of the divine nature. Our magic is of the purest kind.”

The other lady present in the room, the one I’d never met before and who hadn’t been introduced to me, seemed relieved.

“Well, that’s fortunate,” she said, adjusting the reading glasses perched on her head over her forehead. “It’ll save us the debate about choosing a medal recipient.”

“A medal?” Lerrel’s face lit up.

“Lady Etah is referring to the conversation we had earlier,” the queen explained. “We decided to bestow the queen’s medal on one deserving man during a ceremony tomorrow before the ball.”

Lady Etah drew tighter her colorful shawl around her shoulders that she wore over her flowing pastel-pink dress.

“Since both heroic actions happened to be conducted by the same man, there is no need to choose.” She patted my arm. “Congratulations, sweetie, well done.”

The queen turned to Lerrel. “I would like to officially invite you to the festivities tomorrow. Sorry, it is a bit of a late notice, but our planning has been a little chaotic lately, with everything going on. I hope all your boys can come. And maybe you could put on a little performance for us, if it’s not too much trouble.”

Lerrel’s expression brightened even more. Her chest puffed up with excitement. I was happy for her. After all that stress and worry, she needed a little recognition too.

“Absolutely, Your Majesty. It’ll be our honor. We’re always prepared to give the best performance ever.”

“Thank you. We’re going to have a lovely celebration tomorrow. Madam Trela,” the queen addressed the Head of the City Guards next. “You and your women are also invited, in recognition of your hard work when identifying and capturing the killer.”

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