Page 50 of Bonded to the Fallen Shadow King

Vad fisted a hand in Thalen’s hair and yanked him away, and Silus flanked Vad’s other side with a huge scowl.

I tore my gaze away and took in the room. The smile slipped from my face.

Everything had changed. Yet nothing had changed. The reapers were still there, standing ominously on the platform to the right of the royals in dark gray and light gray robes with thick hoods. I hated them. I dug my fingernails into my palms, using the sting to ground myself. I hated that they’d pulled me into this mess without any care for what I wanted.

More than anything, I hated how Vad had looked at me last night. I scanned the area, trying to determine who his special visitor had been.

He’d said things that had made me think I was special, but I should’ve known better. He hadn’t meant any of it. Hadn’t known what he was saying. It was the alcohol. Just the alcohol, and he'd managed to sooth his frustrations with one of the other ladies here. Bitterness froze my blood.

Before I could dwell on it, Rhielle swept through the doors, face pale and a thick bandage wrapped around her neck. Her magenta eyes locked on Kaylen, but Kaylen wasn’t looking at her at all. She crossed the room to where our friends stood.

I hurried over to her on weak legs. She was injured worse than when I’d left her with the physicians, and we had another trial to get through. “What happened?”

“Someone tried to kill me last night.” Rhielle’s nostrils flared.

Our entire group reacted. Thalira gasped, Myantha covered her mouth, and Quen stiffened, orange fire flaring at her fingertips. Velessa cradled her injured arm in its sling and stared at her in horror.

Yuki’s eyes went wide, and she asked, “How did you—”

“Survive?” Rhielle cut in. Her voice was sharp and furious. “I can summon my shadow shield in one beat of my heart. The assassin barely nicked my throat before I blocked the attack.” Her gaze was pure fire. “But the blade was poisoned. I spent the rest of the night in the infirmary, and I didn’t see who attacked me in the darkness.”

I wanted to vomit. Not even in our own rooms with guards outside were we safe. How was that even possible?

“That’s terrible,” Myantha said, her hand at her mouth. “Do you think it was—”

“Of course it was her. And I’m going to make her feel threatened out of spite.” Rhielle’s eyes flashed with anger.

I understood the sentiment. I was close to wanting to rip everyone not in our circle to shreds. “I completely support you.” The problem was, now, a part of me actually wanted to win, which was asinine.

Rhielle turned to me and whispered, “I don’t want to win—I just want to make Kaylen believe I do. Veralt will understand.”

My brows furrowed. “Veralt? Are they on one of the councils?”

“No.” Rhielle rubbed the spot over her heart. “He’s my lover. I hope to marry him, if I can get out of this mess.”

My body quivered with even more rage. Fate had selected a woman whose heart was already taken and had thrown her into this mess? Why did she spite us so?

Vyraetos, head of the reapers and the leader of all this nonsense, stepped to the edge of the platform. He cleared his throat and lifted his pale wrinkled hands. "Congratulations. You have all survived to be part of the second test, and none were disqualified in the night.

“Today your intelligence will be tested. Before you depart, you will each be given two discs. One will be fastened to each of your wrists. If you survive, you may keep them. When the test begins, you will be placed on a platform at the start of a labyrinth, and you will have to find your way to a tower and navigate your way to the top. At the top of the tower, you will find round slots with an emblem that matches each of your discs. You will place your discs in the slots, and then the straps will come free. If you have wings, they will be magically bound when you are transported through the portal of the shadow-beast sigil. I suggest you draw them in before you leave the Ascension Hall.

“If you have magic, it will be restrained while you’re in the labyrinth itself with one exception—the starting platform. If you try to use magic anywhere else, you will be punished. Passive magic may be used so long as you do nothing to command it. The glyphs and sigils throughout [ED1] [JG2] will prevent you from doing more than that. All you will have to help you are your wits and these weights, which hold the sign you are to match."

A lump formed in my throat as he waved his hand, and servants in dark blue appeared with blank dinner-plate-sized bronze discs. The servants moved down the line, fastening them to wrists with thick leather straps. Once both plates were fastened to a woman, light pulsed in the discs, and an image formed.

Lovely. I was quite certain that I’d be imageless again. So I’d bet there was no way I could “win.”

Quen stood beside me, a fire beetle appearing on her discs.

The servants took both my wrists and fastened the slick leather to them. As soon as they stepped back, light flared on my discs, revealing a butterfly with flame wings identical to my tattoo.

When I dropped my hands, the discs pulled downward, surprising me with their weight. They were annoying, but not nearly as unwieldy as I’d feared.

Kaylen hefted them like they were nothing, giving me a mocking pout when she saw me looking at her.

“Too heavy for you?” she called out, her voice dripping with false sympathy.

I hoisted the discs over my head and held them, giving her a toothy grin in response.

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