Page 131 of Once the Skies Fade

“No. The last word.”

“Male?”

“No, you said mate.”

“Did I?” She seemed genuinely unsure. My head bobbed in a string of nervous nods. “If I did, I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just a word.”

“It’s not just a word, Isa,” I said, my nerves returning.

“Wait,” she breathed, angling her head at me and staring. “You’re not?—”

“No.” I shoved the word out of my mouth but then had to back track. “I mean, I don’t think so. Hopefully not.”

Her chin jutted out toward me, her eyes narrowing even more. “You haven’t kissed?”

Slowly, I lifted a shoulder, squeezed my lips into a firm line, and shook my head.

“But you’ve?—”

I nodded.

Isa slumped back in her chair, dropping her hands into her lap like a mother who’d given up trying to get her children to listen.

I pushed to my feet and began to pace out a small square in front of my friend, twisting my hands awkwardly in the air as I tried to explain. “We were…I was…about to kiss him to make sure we weren’t… you know…but then you walked in.”

“Oh,” Isa breathed out.

I continued moving, pushing all my nerves down into my meandering feet.

“If you are, though…shit,” she muttered. “We should have probably included a provision for that in the tournament rules, because what happens if he is…but doesn’t win?”

“The stars wouldn’t be so cruel, would they?” I asked, though I already knew the answer. Of course they would be. The stars didn’t actually care about anyone down below as they knit together hearts and souls with their bonds. Isa rose from her seat and grabbed my elbows, forcing me to stand still and face her.

“It will all be okay, Calla.”

I wished I could believe her.

Chapter 56

Matthias

General Isa’s footsteps had barely stopped echoing down the hallway after locking me back in my cell when Sera hissed out a question.

“You’ve already slept with her, haven’t you?”

I leaned my head back against the cold stone wall and smirked, even though she couldn’t see my face from her cell next to mine. Raven could, though, and she sniggered. I shrugged at her and responded to my sister.

“With the general? She’s not really my type.”

My sister let out an exaggerated sigh. “You know who I mean.”

“It’s not nice to speak about Raven while she’s sitting right here, Sera.”

Sera, growling, kicked the iron gate of her cell hard—at least, I assumed she kicked it. For all I knew she might have thrown her whole body against it, though that seemed unlikely.

“All these evasive answers just prove your guilt, brother.”

I chuckled under my breath. “Could never hide anything from you for long, sister.”

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