Page 27 of Spirit Trials
And just like that, I’ve had enough. I throw the door open and march into the room. The prince shoots daggers my way and glares behind me at where I’m assuming Lox is still standing. But I don’t care. I purposefully ignore the king and walk over to the prince. “Good morning,” I say brightly. He stares down at me, jaw tight. The king clears his throat loudly, and I turn around and feign surprise. “Oh, good morning. I didn’t realize we had company.”
His eyes narrow at me. “How come you don’t bow to me like every other person in my kingdom?”
“Oh, that’s easy.” I face him head on. “You’re not my king.” He shoots his gaze to the prince, and I wonder if I shouldn’t have let that slip. Hopefully he’ll think I’m from the Jaguar Kingdom.The king steps forward, and I don’t miss the fact that Rysden steps closer to me.
He stares down at me before he laughs.Again. I sigh. He really needs to stop that. “I can’t wait until you fail,” he says in a hushed voice.
“Why?” I ask. I can’t help it.
“So, I can banish you with the rest of the worthless lot who don’t have a spirit animal.”
I meet his gaze head-on. He doesn’t scare me; I’ve dealt with men like him before. These kind of men would come through our village, looking to trade. I knew from experience that you couldn’t give them an inch. “You sure about that?” I ask.
His face turns red, and he steps forward. Rysden stands in front of me a moment later. “Back off.”
The king looks between the two of us before he smiles and then leaves without a word. I watch him go, and Rysden stands beside me, stiff as a board. He turns to me after we hear the front doors close. “You shouldn't have done that. Now you have an even bigger target.”
I ignore his words. “He's so awful. Why don’t you overthrow him and become King?” I think he’s going to stay quiet, but he surprises me.
“Because then I'd have to kill him,” he says in a low voice.
“And that’s so bad?” I ask.
“No. But I won’t do that.”
“Why ever not?”
“My mom.”
My heart squeezes in my chest; he’s never said anything about his mom. “Your mom?”
“Yeah. She’s bound to my father. If I kill him, I kill her.”
“What?” I breathe.
“They’re bound by magic. All royal couples are.”
I take in this new information and wonder what kind of person would bind themself to that man. “Did I miss her last night?” I ask in confusion.
“No. She doesn’t approve of the spirit trials and wants nothing to do with them. She doesn’t attend those events.”
I look at his face; I want him to say more but can tell he’s done. “Did you eat?” he asks, surprising me by the change of conversation. I nod. He stares down at me, and I wonder what he’s thinking. “Farrah, I—” A knock at the door silences him. He gives me one last glance before opening the door. “Stay alive.”
“I plan to.”
Before he leaves with Lox, who knocked, he turns back. “There’s something else in your wardrobe for you for the trials.”
Curious, I make my way back to my room and open the wardrobe, wondering what I missed. When I don’t see anything, I look up at the top shelf. My eyes widen. “Oh my goodness,” I whisper. Very carefully, I pull down a bow. It’s the most gorgeous bow I've ever seen, and I know he had it commissioned just for me because I’ve never seen one as small as this. I take out the quiver and arrows and pull one out and stare at it. It’s marked the way I mark all my arrows, with a red star. I stare at them, unable to process the magnitude of this gift. I throw the quiver over my shoulder and wrap my fingers firmly around the bow. I glance around the room, committing it to memory and vowing myself to make it back. Then I make my way quickly through the huge castle, trying to find Rysden. I find him at the front door, almost ready to head out. “Rysden.” He turns around immediately. I run over to him and throw my arms around him. I know this is sorely inappropriate, and he’s probably cringing right now, but I don’t care. I pull back and look up at his face. “Thank you! This is the nicest, most amazing...” I shake my head. “I can’t believe you did this for me. It’s so...I just can’t...” I fall silent when words fail me.
“So, a weapon is what it takes to make you speechless?”
“Oh, definitely. The way to my heart is definitely through my bow,” I tell him and then regret my words instantly. I want to take them back, but I can’t without making it extremely awkward. So, I just move on. “Seriously, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He stares down at me so intensely.
“What?” I finally ask. He looks like he’s going to say something, but he doesn’t.
“Stay alive,” he repeats his words from earlier.
