Page 106 of The Heartless Archer

“I bet he likes that,” Pika said his grin only widening when Noora threw him an annoyed look.

“What are you on about?”

“The fact you call him prince instead of king? You do that on purpose.”

This conversation was going in the wrong direction entirely. Noora felt the blood pool in her cheeks as annoyance spread through her at Pika’s words.

“Technically he has not been crowned yet so he is still a prince.”

“His father has been dead for years and he is the heir of the throne that makes him king.” Pika shrugged and tried to go for a grimace that made Noora think he was trying to look innocent. “You are only doing it to spite him and it drives him crazy,” he said.

“You are talking utter nonsense and if you do not stop, I will not defer from striking you in the face.”

Pika rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to go on, though Noora’s fist was quicker. She did not use any real force but Pika still groaned as her knuckles collided with the side of his face. His hand flew up to his cheek which was slowly turning redder. Pika shot her a look. “I understand you do not like to be teased.”

A quick smile flitted across her lips before she turned and started to stretch her left leg.

Chapter 42

Noora

Noora’s stomach felt queasy when she rose from her comfortable pillows and comforter. Something wound around her lungs and her heart, closing in every few damn moments until she was tempted enough to rip the bloody thing out of her chest and get rid of it. A guard picked her up from her chamber, ordering her to leave all her things except from Dainslief. Now that she was not in danger it felt strange to wind her fingers around the hilt, the ruby glinting forebodingly at her. When the guard didn’t pay attention, she slipped her bow and arrows with her, they would not separate her third arm from her. She followed the guard until she was brought into a chamber separated from the outer world, with no windows embedded into the stone walls, and no furniture littering the empty place. A few maids trickled in not a second later and started to wash and dress her. Many jugs filled with steaming water were brought into the space as they asked her to strip her body.

Noora was long past the point where she felt any shame for her body. The bite on her left calf had healed entirely, leaving an ugly raised scar across her pale skin, though she warned the maid to stay clear from it as she came close to it with the rough washcloth, they rubbed her skin with. When one maid wanted to go for her back Noora turned and grabbed her wrist in her grip until the young girl whimpered.

“If you go even as far as grazing my back I will rip you apart, understood?” she snapped.

The girl nodded frantically and the moment Noora let go of her she scrambled to scrub at her arm. Once they were finished, her skin was red with all the scrubbing, her hair braided back from her face and tucked under a silver helmet,the edges digging into her cheekbones. She was dressed in a soft layer of cotton until two girls walked over, their faces flushed with exasperation, a silver cuirass in their hands. Noora arched her brows at the curling coils that melted around the chest piece and raised her arms so they could slip it on her body. The piece of metal clung to her body like a second skin and she was scared the rattling of her heart would echo and burst against the plate of metal and everyone would hear it. She was nervous. An emotion that was usually foreign for Noora, though this was it. The last trial and she knew how important it was. After everything she went through there could be nothing worse that hindered her from receiving the gold and fleeing the kingdom with Lulva, that was all she had to keep in mind. Whatever came today, she would survive it because of her sister.

The maids proceeded to dress her in gauntlets, poleyns, and greaves until they handed her back her sword and bow.

One of them eyed the arrows. “You are not supposed to pick two weapons, with you.”

Noora narrowed her eyes at her. “Well, try to take it from me then.”

The maid sighed. “It will be no use to you.”

“I’ll just take it with me then, someone can keep watch over it,” she insisted.

The maid sighed again but nodded and waved her off.

“Before the last trial begins in the former arena, you are expected in the throne room by His Majesty,” the girl who almost scrubbed her back told her. Noora nodded and got off the pedestal they used for dressing her. A new guard was waiting for her at the door and accompanied her to the throne room. It was rather awkward being dressed like a royal knight, the metal clinking with every step she took and she now knew why the guards had as little armour as possible. She was starting to sweatlike the sardines entrapped in the rusty metal boxes sold on the market every seventh day.

“I can find my way to the throne room on my own,” she mentioned to the guard who threw her a side-eye. “Orders of the king,” he told her as if that would somehow refer to her words. She pulled at her breastplate, her skin growing hot with all this walking. Could the prince have called her into the throne room before she was stuck into a boiling pot of armour?

Finally, they reached the doors of the throne room and the guard motioned for her to walk inside, before positioning himself beside the three others standing rigidly at the wall. Then it dawned on her, that every contestant was assigned to a royal guard, probably because of what happened at the last trial. She stepped into the chamber still wondering how the guards were supposed to protect them from a threat that was not opposed to manipulation and poison. Guards were good for protecting against powerful forces, though all contestants, besides Sören, were able to protect themselves physically. What they needed was to find out who was not afraid to use Wolfsbane to murder and raise shadow creatures from the depths of Hel.

Pika, Kekoa, and Sören were all lined up and she waddled toward them as quickly as this damning armour allowed her, to stand across from Nikolai. Today he was dressed in white trousers and a uniform jacket in a deep red, shoulder pads shining in the same gold as his hair. Five gold buttons lined the left and right side of his chest, a golden rope swung from one shoulder to the other, and his white collar stood up around his neck. A golden crown sat atop the perfectly coiled strands of his, shining ominously at her. His hands were encased by white gloves, lined with the same gold that enhanced his whole dressage. Noora wondered if the costs that had gone into his clothing could feed a village for over more than five months.

Though his uniform was a symbol of aristocracy Nikolai looked as entrapped in it as she felt in the armour of metal that surrounded her.

“I am glad that you all found your way healthy here today.” He looked at all of them, his gaze lingering on Noora for a moment until she narrowed her eyes at him. His gaze flitted back to the others as he clutched his hands in front of his body, starting to pace slightly as he talked.

“Because of recent events, we decided to hold the next trial inside the palace, it will provide you with more safety and security. The royal guards are posted every three metres around the arena that you are all already familiar with from the first task.” Noora noticed a small pearl of sweat trickling down the side of Nikolai’s temple, his hands cramping up every few seconds, though the prince desperately tried to hide it, crossing his arms on his back.

“There are two stone pedestals provided in the arena where all of you will fight in one-on-one fights against your opponents. The person you will fight against for the first round will be drawn by coincidence that is why I called you here. The two winners from the battles will then go against each other, though you have to keep in mind that winning a battle does not always mean winning the tournament. Until now you have collected all points from the jury just like you will today, which means that even if you might lose one or even two battles your points could still be enough to make you come into first place.”

Noora tried to remember the current points she and the others had, though Tyra did sound confident in her points two days ago.

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