Page 53 of Spirit Trials
“Yes. Go before you fall into your food.”
Lox keeps a steady stream of conversation going, but I get up as soon as I’m done. I feel exhausted all of a sudden, too. I know the longer I sit near the warm fire, I’m going to doze off. I need to clean up my mess before I do that. I set my plate in the sink and step back, right into a hard chest. I whirl around and meet Rysden’s eyes. “Go take a bath and then get some rest. You can use my room.” His voice is a low rumble.
I wave him off. “I have to clean up my mess.”
“I’ll get it,” he says in return.
“It’s okay. I made the mess. I’ll—”
He snags my elbow, cutting me off. “You’re dead on your feet. Everybody’s fed, and your friends are taken care of. Go take a warm bath and then sleep. I’ll make sure you’re not bothered.”
I stare up at him. “Why did you make us stay in the trees all night?” My voice isn’t as strong as I wish it were in this moment. I can hear the lingering hurt, and I chide myself.
His hand tightens around my elbow for a moment before it loosens, and he runs his thumb over the bare skin there. He glances over his shoulder and then back at me. “The second trial. You have to stay in the trees,” he says in a voice so quiet, only I can hear him.
I stare at him. “Really?”
He nods. “But you didn’t hear that from me. I’m not supposed to tell what the trials are. Ever.” He shakes his head. “But I find myself breaking all sorts of rules when you’rearound.” I must be more tired than I thought because his voice almost seems affectionate.
“So, you weren’t just trying to punish me?” The words slip out, and I bite my tongue.
“Punish you?” He looks confused.
“Never mind.”
“Tell me, Farrah.” His voice is gentle, even in his command.
His voice compels me, or maybe I’m just too tired to fight him. “I thought maybe you were punishing me for,” I pause. “Pushing you away.”
He laughs darkly. “It’s not the first time.”
My heart tugs in my chest, and I battle against the emotion there. It’s confusing because I want to hate him for taking me from my mother and brother, and sometimes I think I still do. But at other times, it scares me that I don’t think I hate him nearly as much as I should. “You’ve been nothing but good to me since I came here. I know I wouldn’t have made it through that first trial without your training. So, thank you.”
He stares at me intently. “Even though I’m the reason you’re in the trials in the first place?” There’s a darkness to his voice.
Chapter 29
“Yes,” I say simply. “I won’t say that I’m happy with how it all started, but...” I lift my shoulders and drop them. “This may end up being the best thing that ever happened to me and to my family. I just have to win this thing. No pressure, right?”
He steps back. “Yeah. I’ll do the dishes; go take a bath.”
“No, it’s fine. I made the mess; I’ll clean it up.”
“You are so stubborn.”
“Me?I'mstubborn? Have you looked in a mirror, Prince?”
He scowls. “Don’t call me that.”
“Prince? I hate to break it to you, Big Guy. That’s your title.”
“And I’ve always hated it.”
I start scrubbing dishes. “You shouldn’t hate it. It’s a gift you’ve been given; you should use it. I’m serious,” I add when he shoots me a dubious look. “You could do a lot of good, especially when you become king one day.”
“I don’t want to become king one day.”
“Okay, but think of all the good you could do.”
