Page 93 of The Kingdom's Crown

I stepped forward into the open space, turning slowly, searching for Griffin in the crowd. I saw Sam and Scrapper together at the edge. Cassius Thatcher was on the stage, seated on a stool as if he might pick up an instrument and start to play. No Griffin.

And then I saw the strange shadow on the floor, my feet narrowly skidding backward before Griffin leapt down from the balcony, landing on bent legs, red hair floating about her face.

"Worth a shot," she said, rising slowly.

"You're supposed to steal from me, not squash me," I answered, surprised when a few voices hooted in my favor from the crowd.

"You said you had lots to tell me?" Griffin said, walking casually around the edge of the ring in my direction.

I mirrored her in a slow opposite pace. "I suppose I'll have to show you later," I said, thinking of her face when she saw my tiger for the first time. The castle was aware of my new second nature, but there was no way the news had reached these parts so quickly, and certainly not Griffin's ears.

"And is it good to be home here in the south again?" she asked. My steps faltered as I thought of everything that had already happened. Griffin paused too, frowning. "I'm sorry," she mouthed.

I didn't know if she meant it about my grandmother. Or about the challenge, or all of the above. I only nodded and danced away.

"And you? How is your homecoming here?" I asked, eyebrow arching.

Griffin shrugged, and half of the audience booed cheerfully, including the southern king, making her roll her eyes. "Nothing around here changes much, as far as I can tell," Griffin said, raising her voice and tilting in Cassius' direction. "Sameoldfaces."

I didn't think Cassius looked that old, but he laughed loudly in answer. "Pick it up, Birdie. We can't watch the two of you in your contradance all night!"

"You can take her, Your Loveliness!" Scrapper called from the edge.

Griffin scowled, tossing him a dark look, and I took a chance, in spite of Aric's advice. Griffin was too quick yanking roughly away from me, but I saw enough, noticed the way she immediately pulled her left side away before her right. Whatever was precious to her was somewhere on the left.

Griffin's eyes widened, and she laughed brightly at me, surprised by my daring. "It's there, you know," she said, a little breathless, and I thought she meant her own item until she glanced down on my right hip. "I can see it beating against your skirt, flattening the fabric."

I held myself still, resisting the urge to flinch as she had. It didn't matter. She was right. The dagger Aric had fashioned for me was fastened to my hip as it always was, hidden away in the folds of my skirt.

"We said no blades," Griffin said, arching an eyebrow. "You should've taken it off."

I shrugged. "If I had, there would've been nothing for you to steal."

Griffin glanced over me, head to toe, and then offered me a warm smile. Oddly, I had never been more sure of the older woman's friendship than I was in that moment. She nodded to me, both of us certain I spoke the truth. My most precious possessions were the men watching from the edge of the crowd. If not for the dagger gift from Aric, I would've had nothing for Griffin to steal, not even in my royal finery.

And if she so much as dreamt of keeping the dagger once this was over, I would bite her hand off with my human teeth if I had to.

Griffin jumped forward, sudden and graceful, and rather than back myself to the edge of the crowd, I met her in the middle, my hands grappling at her left side, her eyes widening in surprise. I didn't really stand a chance, but I stood less of one if I didn't make an effort to win, and I'd promised her I wouldn't make this easy.

The room hollered as we wrestled one another, one of my hands catching hers before it reached my hip, twisting it roughly in my grasp and making her hiss. She caught my own hand near her side, our arms crossing and tangling. Griffin's arm in my hand tensed and then whipped over my head, making me stumble and spin, my back to her chest and my arms crossed in front of me held tight in her grip.

I stomped my boot onto Griffin's, my teeth gritted as I tried to shake her off, and she rewarded me with a pained grunt.

"Shit. I did think you'd make this easier," Griffin growled.

"Owen's been teaching me to fight," I gritted out.

And then I bent my knees, using my body and Griffin's grip on my hands to toss her over my head and onto the ground. It pulled horribly on my wrists, but the second her back hit the floor, she released me with a great oof of breath, a bright cry of delight rising from our audience.

"Shit!" Griffin exhaled with a little laugh, and I couldn't stop my grin.

This was absurd, but it was strangely fun too. Danger without terror.

"Bryony! Left back pocket!" Aric barked.

Griffin's eyes widened as I dove down, and with a quick twist from her, I landed roughly against her raised knees, bouncing away and then kicked onto my ass. I cried out as Griffin grabbed my ankles, tugging hard and making me slide across my skirts and onto my back.

Aric's shout was helpful and probably more instinctual than intentional. I could see the small hint of something in Griffin's pocket now, but I wasn'tmeantto win. Not really.

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