Page 8 of Surfaces
He inhaled but then held his breath, almost as if he was fighting back a confession.
Just like me.
My eyes caressed his jawline. He’d proved his loyalty time and again. And I’d thought more than once that he’d guessed at my issue—my failing heart.
Without meaning to, I stepped forward, so close that I could feel the heat of his body warming the water between us. I had to tilt my head up to gaze into his eyes, which had grown hooded.
Desire swirled inside my veins and nudged me up onto my tiptoes.
“Is it an issue?” he whispered, his tone promising that he’d keep it between us. “Are those attacks too much?”
Gah!I wanted to tell him. I wanted to tell him and then kiss him.
But … he wasn’t part of the tournament.
And I’d bound myself—sworn an oath before this tournament started only to marry the competitors who were declared winners.
Felipe and I could never be.
Shite!It was so damned ironically unfair that the man I was falling for happened to be the one who wasn’t competing for my hand. Over thirty competitors, but I swooned over my guard!
Torture.
It was torture.
I dropped down onto my feet and turned away so that the physical pull broke.
Just as I’d have to break the emotional pull.
I couldn’t let this happen.
“It’s not an issue. My magic will be able to stop them.”But I want to ensure no one has to stop me afterward.I couldn’t help a glance backward at him.
His eyes studied me sadly, as if he knew exactly why I’d walked away.
I was also certain my sharp guard had heard the unspoken “but” in the tone of my voice.
“Avia.”
His use of my first name made me clench my fists and the silence drew on. I struggled not to confide in him while his eyes dared me to. For a moment, I was brought back to the way he’d held me in the tunnel, when I’d given into my emotions and been simply a girl instead of a queen.
But that wasn’t our reality.
And my lips stayed sealed.
Eventually, Felipe gave a brief but firm shake of his head, breaking the moment and leaving me relieved. “I didn’t think it would be a problem. But you can’t let these men go. Itcannothappen.”
“Could I make it seem like these four got cut during this round?” I hedged. “The crowd won’t know any different.” I didn’t like the idea of locking men up simply for being cowards because then I was certain almost half the kingdom would be in chains.
“And keep the weakest for the throne? No,” Felipe’s expression was grim and downtrodden. “Believe me, Your Majesty, this isn’t something I like suggesting. It’s not something I say lightly. You don’t have to lock them up if you don’t want to. You can release these four after the next round if they’re the worst performers, but theyneed to compete. When they signed up for this tournament, they put their names on a magically binding document.”
Sarding hell, of course they did.My stomach sank. I knew all about magical contracts because Evaness had one for any men who married their queen. “What happens if they try to leave on their own?”
Felipe shrugged. “That was up to the castle mages. I was just told what documents to use for sign-ups and that I wasn’t allowed to use any other paper, to flip the scroll over and use the back if I had to.”
My stomach felt like a rock that had been skipped across the surface of a pond only to sink. I had no idea of the depths of the rules of this tournament. I’d declared it needed to happen and Sahar and my staff had taken care of the details while I tried to learn other things—like the history, the accounting, the current state of politics in Okeanos. Dammit all.
“Well, we’re not shackling innocent men.” I sighed bleakly and nearly reached to rub my forehead, where a tension headache threatened. But I remembered my transparent state when my hand was halfway to my face. I lowered it again and let my temple throb instead. “What else could I do?”
