Page 166 of Of Nine So Bold

Resolutely, I dropped into the basin on the other side of the wall, bracing myself as the water splashed up around me. On the duke, the liquid had barely risen above his calves. On me, it was up to my hips, soaking me with its cold touch.

And it feltstrange. Tingly, but so faint it was only the barest hint of a sensation.

Living water…

Doing my best to ignore that, I forged onward to Ignatius’s side. With a calm expression, the old scholar gestured for me to face the rest of the room, and so I did, drawing myself up and trying not to shiver at the cold.

In the crowd, more than one giant didn’t bother to hide their amusement.

“Looks like a lil kid, he does,” someone commented.

“Ignatius’s grandbaby,” another replied.

Several people snickered, and the duke’s smirk grew. By the basin, Gwyneira glanced away from the giants to peer over the top of the wall as if checking I was okay. Nearby, Clay shifted position like he was fighting the urge to respond to the taunts and Ozias rolled his shoulders like he was doing the same.

I gave Gwyneira the best smile I could manage. But maybe it was for the best if the water decreed that I didn’t belong. That this was all some weird mistake, never mind what I’d felt by the barrier wall. After all, as Clay would say, who needed this kind of bullshit? In the end, it really would be best if we could just go back to the mountains and rebuild the cabin and live in peace where no one cared what we looked?—

The water began tingling stronger around me.Muchstronger. I glanced down in alarm, but I couldn’t see any reason for the change.

But gods, the tingling sensation was pressing in on all sides like needles prickling over my skin.

“Begin,” the dude called imperiously, like he was already the king officiating this entire ceremony.

“Ready?” Ignatius murmured to me.

I pulled my attention from the water. “Uh, yeah.” I cleared my throat. “Yes.”

Gods, I needed to sound more confident if I wanted to hold the predators at bay. Kingly, or even just like a powerful giant who knew he belonged.

Rather than a worried young man whodefinitelydidn’t want to get his friends killed because he’d been foolish enough to listen to the sorrowful cries of a glowing magical wall made out of dead people.

Gods, what had I been thinking?

Solemnly, Ignatius turned to face the crowd again. He extended his hands over the pool, murmuring the same words as before.

A heartbeat passed. Another.

Maybe this all really had been a mistake. Maybe it?—

The tingling pressure started to swirl around my body, coursing across my skin through my sodden pants. The water began to glow.

Around the room, the chuckles stopped.

A red shimmer rose from the water, but it wasn’t alone. More shades followed, shining like those nighttime lights in a northern sky—red and orange, gold and green. Blue as well, and deep purple. The rainbow emanated from the entire pool, like the water itself was made of light.

Shocked gasps came from the giants.

For a moment, I thought they were for the glow around me. But when I tore my eyes from the light, the crowd was staring at something behind my back.

Warily, I looked over my shoulder. Out of the shimmering mist, a shape was forming like a ghost. It looked like a giant, like a man. Clad in chain mail and armor, he stood with an enormous sword in one hand and a golden crown atop his head.

“King Archerias,” one of the giants cried. “That’s King Archerias.”

Suddenly, the apparition moved, its free hand lifting.

Coming to rest on my shoulder.

Alarmed cries broke out around the room. “The king claimed him! The king claimed the dwarf!”

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