Page 71 of Fae Champion

Pru chortled. “Pru is always wise, with or without tea.”

I snorted. “Well, Pru, you’ve officially weirded me out. Granted, that’s not hard to do. Since I got here, it’s only gotten stranger and stranger.”

“You returned from death once?—”

“Yeah, and let’s hope I don’t have to do that again.”

But the goblin wasn’t the only one whose inner voice was dispensing pithy wisdom. As Pru fastened my jacket and its flexible armor onto my torso, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the land had retrieved me from death for a reason.

And that it intended for me to prove myself worthy of that saving—sooner rather than later.

20.GIVE ‘IM DRAGONFIRE, LASSIE

Now that I was no longer under the guise of Zinnia but could overtly be myself, Pru escorted me to the arena through the vast palace and then across its grounds instead of through the cramped, dark tunnels. Her company wasn’t required, thanks to the handful of guards—clothed in the king’s forest green—who shadowed my every move. Indeed, I feared that Pru accompanying me out in the open, walking a mere half step behind me, was sufficient reason for the queen to punish her. In my many weeks here, I’d never seen a goblin walking next to a noble. They were only ever scuttling here and there to do their bidding before vanishing until they were next needed—only barely more visible than the human servants, whom I’d still never seen.

But the goblin walked with her head held high, vibrating with an underlying defiance that both inspired and terrified me. The reprieve from the manysevered ears and eyes that I’d enjoyed in my chambers was no more. Along with the band of guards, three ears and two eyes floated closely above our group, making it so that I couldn’t blatantly warn Pru, not even with a hushed whisper, about the danger she presumably already understood anyway.

Many times I’d wished Pru would be bolder, shuck the weight of the constant threat of the queen’s cruelty, and more fully enjoy the existence she’d been dealt. Now that she was doing it, I yearned for the “hurry, hurry, or it’s off with our heads” version of her, the unease now a constant simmer bubbling through my veins.

I’d only just made friends here. I couldn’t bear the thought of something bad happening to any of them.

When we neared the arena, even more horses and their carriages were lined up beyond the entrance. Again, there were the horses coated in scales like dragons, magnificent beasts, along with a few horses with fur, still powerful and beautiful. But now several scaled horses had wings pulled tightly against their flanks, the appendages membranous, thin yet ferociously strong, the same color as their scales—identical to dragon wings. I’d never so much as heard of these kinds of creatures before. How could they share so many qualities with the dragons when the beasts never mated beyond their own species, a fact I knew for certain from living with the dragon protectors of Nightguard? I couldn’t shake the feeling that I wouldn’t like the answer.

Inside the coliseum, more fae were crammed inthan the previous days. Practically every visible surface had someone perched on it. The royal parapet had grown in size—the dragon head footstool noticeably absent—and several more viewing balconies had cropped up around the stands to accommodate what had to be the favored courtiers.

The decor was even more opulent than before. Where the gushing waterfalls had lined the walls of the stands, first with water, then with crystals, a continuous stream of flowing rainbow light flowed down the surfaces now. The giant frogs, too, wore skins in the brilliant colors of rainbows. The nine large globes they carried between them were illuminated within by a soft, white glow. The miniature settlements inside them had to represent the eight fae clan territories, with Embermere in the center sphere. Even from across the ring I recognized the palace with its many levels, cantilevered towers, and flag-flying turrets, atop a diminutive hill surrounded by a wide moat. The ground of the fighting ring itself was a field of fluffy clouds identical and as insubstantial as those that floated overhead.

Here was where I’d face off with Rush.

Halting before stepping foot on the bright, shimmering field, I resisted the urge to swat at the ear hovering a hand’s length in front of my face, and announced loudly and clearly for its sake, “That will be all, goblin. You’ve done as I asked, and I no longer need you here with me.”

I’d never spoken to Pru like that before, not even inthe queen’s presence, so that alone might have made my statement suspect, but I had to try something to ensure she wouldn’t get in trouble.

The nearest amputated eye zoomed toward me, challenging me not to reveal that I was staring straight at a bloody eyeball, its veins an unnatural black, its iris a pale hazel that had probably been lovely when its owner was alive.

Pru peered up at me, her shoulders still defiant, her mouth opening. As subtly as I could manage, pretending to scratch my ear, I shook my head.

Pru’s eyes narrowed as if she were able to glare at the queen’s body-part spies, her jaw clenched as she eked out, “Very well, Mistress.” Next, more softly: “May your ancestors cheer you on from the Etherlands, and may you draw first blood.” Pru cringed at the second part of the saying though it likely wasn’t possible for Rush or me to emerge from the upcoming match without some kind of bloodshed. The queen would demand it.

Nausea squirmed in my stomach at what I might have to do today—at what would be expected of Rush.

I waited until Pru finished studying me, those dark eyes full of so many things unsaid, and left, her slight shoulders slumping as she faded into the mob, that strength and rebellion vanishing as quickly as it had arrived.

I turned to dismiss my guards.

“We can’t leave, milady,” an especially burly oneprotested. “The king ordered us to remain at your side at all times.”

I scoffed. “Even when I’m in the ring, fighting for my survival?”

A couple of the other sentries fidgeted at my question, but Burly held my eyes. “No, milady, not then, though we’ll remain in the dugout to intervene if necessary.”

I nodded at them, unsure my father’s apparent efforts to keep the queen from ordering my execution would be enough to stay her hand, and turned, stalking toward the dugout across the field of clouds. The puffs of fluff pooled around my feet before dispersing, nothing more than a spell. My combat boots found solid, even earth beneath them. The flat terrain would make fighting easier.

I snorted to myself.As if anything about this match will be easy…

The constant hum of so many people and creatures dimmed as thousands of pairs of eyes spotted my arrival and followed.

Before I’d even stepped into the dugout, I found Rush. Dressed in fighting leathers much like my own, he stood apart from the others, his legs wide, hands clasped behind his back instead of checking the dozens of weapons strapped to his person. His hair had been braided into a handful of small plaits then clasped together at the nape of his neck around the bow and quiver strapped to his back.

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