Stella felt sick just thinking about her foolishness. Her mother, pregnant for the first time in twenty-three years, trying to keep calm and collected while watching Stella fight for her life in a tournament. She’d been so reckless and selfish, throwing herself into this fight. So angry at Arden for not loving her more. So shaken by losing her status as the only biological child. It was idiotic to be jealous of a baby who hadn’t even been born yet. A babyshealready loved. She hadn’t stopped to consider that Endros could be the gamemaker, because it had never happened before.
Teddy ran a hand through his hair. “I keep thinking about how he even seemed to be trying to humiliate Cato with this part of the challenge. Making him the map-keeper. The way he had the ancient witches who created the Gauntlet involved in this, creating this bastardization of the original Gauntlet designed just to hurt the competitors. Not to mention the magical cost to them.”
“Because of the memory stones?” Stella asked.
Teddy nodded. “Think about it. It takes a tremendous amount of magic to make memory stones. My father said it permanently robs the creator of some of their magic. Those witches had to make a stone for each of us. I’d say it’s an appropriate punishment to rob the women who sabotaged Endros’s plans by also robbing them of some of their power.”
Teddy’s theory made sense. Stella had been stunned to see a pile of memory stones. They were so rare and precious that she’d only seen one in her entire life—the one Cecilia had made for Rainer.
“And now with these memories, it feels clear he’s trying to haul all our parents’ most painful moments back to life. They had to relive them to put the memories into the stones.”
“And then we had to suffer along with them,” Stella finished. It was diabolical. “It’s like this whole tournament is reminding everyone how terrifying he is.”
“That’s what I’m worried about. Even if he’s not working with the Sons of Endros, he’s still benefiting from their work, and from having a platform,” Teddy said.
Stella shuddered thinking about it. Centuries ago, the gods had lived among people, in mortal bodies, but greed and infighting and fearful humans forced most of them from the realm. The ensuing war that their parents had eventually brought to an end was a ripple effect of the end of the rule of gods in Olney and Argaria.
When the gods died, they ascended to the Otherworld and, while they could still visit and influence the mortal realm, their power was much more limited and they couldn’t stay corporeal for extended periods of time.
Endros’s power in the realm came from belief in him. His sudden presence as the gamemaker of the Gauntlet Games was a reminder to fear him, and the way he’d conducted the interrogation the other day, staying in corporeal form the entire time, was a flex of his strength. As far as Stella knew, no god had ever been born a second time into the realm of the living. But if Endros wanted to test if it was possible, he’d chosen a strategic time to do it.
“I know this is probably the last place you want to be, but I think we should rest here for the night,” Teddy said. “We’re only a few miles from theMuddled Mind and if we wake at first light, we’ll be home by nightfall tomorrow.” He studied her for a moment. “Is there something else bothering you?”
Stella couldn’t meet his eyes, but she shook her head. She was still trying to come to terms with the fact that her romance with Arden had been a fantasy she’d conjured out of loneliness. She wasn’t ready to admit to Teddy that he’d been right all along.
32
TEDDY
Stella and Teddy rode back into Olney just before sunset on the sixth day of the memory challenge. They went directly to the arena, where a small crowd was gathered to await the nightly showing of memories.
Teddy had expected that the priestesses would need to summon Endros, but the god was seated in his place of honor, waiting for them when they rode into the arena.
Out of the corner of his eye, Teddy watched Stella. She was looking at her parents in the royal booth. Cecilia was pale and very poorly hiding her relief.
Teddy couldn’t bear to look at his father. He’d been so focused on putting one foot in front of the other, in completing this task so he could move on to the next one, that he’d hardly had a moment to process the memory he’d been given.
Xander had raised him with the knowledge that being king meant making impossible choices for the sake of the kingdom. Teddy had always thought he was speaking about the personal relationships his role had cost him. Now, Teddy knew that it was so much more.
It was looking into the eyes of the person most dear to you and saying that you couldn’t save them. Back then it had been Cecilia, butonly months ago the king had done the same with Isla, and Teddy had been cruel about it.
He’d never felt so young, foolish, and uncertain if he had the strength to do the same. His entire life, he’d sacrificed his personal happiness to be the symbol his kingdom had needed. But it was one thing to surrender his own well-being and another to sacrifice someone he loved.
Teddy didn’t know how the king had done it, or how he seemed so publicly at peace with it now.
Stella glanced at the booth again, and the reality hit Teddy like a gut punch. She wasn’t just looking for her parents. She was looking for Arden, and Arden wasn’t there. Only King Marcos sat stoically in the booth, his wary gaze fixed on the gamemaker’s dais.
Endros stood and clapped his hands slowly as Teddy and Stella dismounted their horses. “Excellent work. We weren’t sure we would be seeing you two after reports from your fellow competitors had you wounded and lost in river rapids,” Endros said.
Teddy had been looking for Rett and his friends since they’d arrived at the arena, but they had probably already completed their task and could no longer attack competitors per the rules of the tournament.
Endros held out his hand. “I’ll take those memories now.”
Stella went rigid beside Teddy. The blank expression she’d worn while riding in had morphed into narrow-eyed anger. Her rage seared through their connection.
“Steady,” he whispered.
Stella’s gaze snapped to him, and Teddy could practically read her mind. Endros had just made their parents relive their worst memoriesandshare them with their children. Now he wanted the pleasure of enjoying them personally and sharing them with the entire audience.
