“Rude,” he mumbled, blinking rapidly.
“Where did this handprint come from, Kael? It’s important,” I demanded with an urgency that he picked up on because he glanced at where my fingertips rested.
His face morphed from tired to somber. “I ran into someone in the woods. Before I found you and Isla.”
“What happened then?” Riv asked, dropping down to her knees beside his chair. “We have to know, Kael.”
“He had been laying in a puddle of his own blood since the beginning of the hunt.”
Riv wrapped her hand around Kael’s. “Who?”
“A guard,” he replied. “He shouldn’t have survived, but he did. Both of his legs were broken and the sounds he made when he breathed… like he was drowning on land. The entire right side of his body was purple from bruising.” Kael paused, and my heart ached for him. He coughed roughly before another glass of water appeared in his hand, and he took a long drink.
“Anyways, um, he had a moment of lucidity and realized I was there. He begged for my help.”
Someone in the crowd blurted out, “Your help for what? To get him back to the castle?”
Kael shook his head. “No. He knew he was too far gone for that. He asked me to end it. His suffering.”
My eyes were wet once again, and I wondered if I’d ever stop crying.
“Did you?” Corvus asked, studying Kael like he was the most fascinating thing he’d seen.
“Aye,” Kael admitted. “The man was owed the warrior’s death he was robbed of, and I gave it to him.” He held his head high in challenge, unashamed of what he’d done. Slowly, he formed a fist in his right hand and pounded it three times against his heart.
I found myself forming my own fist and bringing it down over my heart. For that guard, for all the lost ones, and as I scanned the room, I found every woman I could see doing the same thing.
“Well then!” King Eamon proclaimed, ending the moment. “The boy is a real dragon, then. Enough delay. I need a jug of ale as soon as possible after this unplanned event!”
So Kael had unknowingly solidified his bond with his dragon, even without shifting. Would he be able to?
King Ero smiled at his friend. “You’re not alone. I may require a barrel of it!” Several people laughed. He turned to Kael. “You’re entitled to a bride. Since you didn’t get to participate in your dragon form and we’re nearly done, you’ll be the last to choose. We’ll talk afterward and see what can be done about shifting.”
“Okay,” Kael replied, not sounding like himself at all. I didn’t blame him.
Torin exploded. “This is horse shit!”
With Kael being alive, would that affect the scoring? Hope flared within me and I was about to ask when Alden beat me to it.
“Does this change the outcome of first and second place?”
Every head swiveled in his direction, some with looks of shock on their faces as they clearly had not come to that possibility on their own.
King Cairo stepped forward. “It does not change a thing. The win was not about the kill, but the ability to act.”
My heart sank when the other kings, including Alasdair’s own father, agreed. Torin crossed his arms and glared at Alden, despite still being the victor. He hadn’t shown this side of himself at all during the ball and I wondered what other parts of himself he had kept hidden.
“Everyone, back to your positions. NOW!” King Ero barked, sending people scattering.
The panic I had moments prior to Kael coming back from the dead resurfaced in a rush. Hints of pine and cedar, the underlying aroma of wet earth after the rain invaded my senses, and I knew Dair was right behind me.
“Go with it, Evie.” I dipped my chin, hating the way my skin tingled in response to the rough timbre of his voice. “Trust me.”
Riv took my hand and shot a look over my shoulder, likely at the giant who was lurking there and whispering more lies in my ear. “Come on, Eves.”
I didn’t respond or look back at Dair as we marched to the platform to await our fates.
“Regardless of how you feel, listen to him, Evie. Don’t do anything stupid,” she said softly but sternly. “It’s all a game, remember? Be smart.”
