It would also be a deeply romantic story and the exact type of thing that would lend the Savero family some much-needed goodwill. It would be nice to see some rumors in Teddy’s favor for once, instead of just gossip about whether his father was a bastard.
As he peeked out from the private curtained-off warm-up room he’d been granted in the bustling competitors’ tent, he was grateful Grace had come with him. She peered out beside him, counting the other competitors who stretched and paced along the center walkway. Servants ran back and forth down the length of the corridor, delivering fresh water and linens and all matter of other things to those in the curtained-off rooms.
Teddy wondered who else was competing. He wished he’d gone to watch the hunters training before the event as his father had suggested. It was up to him to play catch-up now.
He knew what everyone would think when he walked into the arena in his fine ceremonial clothing. They’d think he was a spoiled prince playing warrior for a day. He needed to be ready to show them what he could do.
A particularly burly man with a fine tunic straining over his thick chest walked by, and Grace turned toward Teddy, looking pale. Her face was drawn with worry as she crossed the small space to the table and poured herself a glass of water from a crystal pitcher.
She drank slowly, not meeting his gaze until she was finished. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“I thought you were on board,” Teddy said.
“I am on board with you doing something you want instead of what’s expected for once, yes. But you’ll have to forgive me for hating the idea of you entering this tournament—which is, as you’ll remember from the bloodbath we saw just last year, deadly. I am uneasy with the risk you’re taking for me and—” She looked away, her shoulders slumping. It was so unlike Grace to look defeated. “I don’t feel worthy of that kind of risk. I wish you wouldn’t enter. You’veonly given your name. You haven’t taken the binding vow yet. You could back out.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “You’d prefer I give up on you?”
Grace frowned. “No, I would prefer you besafe. Who knows who these competitors really are? Some of them could be Sons of Endros who will see this tournament as a way to get easy access to you. There are already enough risks to your life on a regular basis. And before you ask, no, I don’t doubt you, but your attention will be divided in this competition. You will have more than defending yourself on your mind and—” She pressed a hand to her sternum. “The bond is certainly distracting at times.”
Teddy took her hand. “Is he bothering you?”
Grace’s face softened into a smile and she brushed his hair back from his forehead. “Always my protector. No. Arden is actually very respectful. He’s trying to learn how to control it.”
“Really?”
Grace nodded. “We’ve known Arden for years. I know this was unexpected, but he’s not a bad person. I think we’re all just trying to make the best of complicated circumstances, and it’s actually nice to have someone share so much of himself.”
Teddy felt both relieved and unnerved. Logically, he knew it wasn’t Arden’s fault. It was just another case of gods playing games. They had all been tangled up in the first place because the goddess had a bone to pick with Stella. But Teddy didn’t like that Arden had the chance to know Grace in a way that he never had. He was not prone to jealousy, but he envied that closeness.
“This is all Stella’s fault,” he grumbled.
Grace laughed. The sound was soft and comforting, and Teddy could not remember the last time he’d heard it. He’d been so wrapped up in himself, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d really thought about her as a person instead of justhisperson.
“Stella is hardly to blame,” Grace said. “You two are so alike and you refuse to see it because you think she has it easy.”
“She does,” Teddy insisted, but he sounded so petulant.
Grace glanced around the room, then pressed onto her toes tokiss him. She drew back and took his face in her hands. “We don’t tell each other what to do, but if you walk away from this now, we will find another way. I just want to be certain you aren’t exchanging safety for instant certainty. What might a little patience buy you?”
“I’ve been patient. I’ve tried to be reasonable with my father, but he isn’t having it. Look at Arden. He’s betrothed to one woman, in love with another, and heart-bonded to you. I am not waiting around to make a bigger mess. I promise I’ll be careful, but I have to do this.” Teddy kissed Grace’s forehead. “Besides, it will give me a chance once and for all to put the rumors that I’m weak and hiding behind my guards to rest. It’s time to let those who doubt me see what I’m capable of—even my own parents.”
Two men from somewhere deeper in the tent laughed and startled them apart. Though they were tucked into a private room that was partially closed off from the rest of the space by a curtain, for the sake of Grace’s reputation, Teddy didn’t want her to be caught alone with him.
She nodded and stepped away. “I wish you’d reconsider, but I trust you.”
Teddy’s mouth went dry. “Are you having doubts about me?”
“It’s quite a lot of pressure for you to risk your life to marry me. Is it so wrong to want you to be safe? To not feel worthy of that kind of risk?”
Teddy searched her face. He sensed the specter of something she was not saying. He’d been so concerned that she was stuck with this temporary bond to Arden that he hadn’t even considered how she’d feel about him risking his life. If the roles were reversed, he’d be beside himself with worry.
“I just think we should talk about it a moment before you’re hurt,” Grace said.
“I’m sorry. I should have considered how you’d feel about this, but I deserve to choose my partner for life and I am fighting for that choice. I love you, Gracie.” He wanted to kiss her, but the rest of the competitors were beginning to mill about and he couldn’t risk it. “I’ll see you soon.”
She waved tentatively, a tight smile on her lips as she ducked through the curtain, leaving him to stew in his nerves.
Teddy tugged on the sleeves of his tunic as he turned to the looking glass in the corner. He startled when Stella McKay’s reflection appeared behind him in the glass.
