Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
“I hope Gloomdancer doesn’t shatter,” Sabine mumbles, adding to the weight mounting on my shoulders, because all this is my fault. Sure, no one forced Vinia to deceive me, but none of this would have happened in the first place if I didn’t try to run away.
Kyran wouldn’t be in danger, and I… I would be a married man, in this world at least, as unbelievable as that is.
But there’s no room for what-would-have-beens when Kyran charges at Vinia. She steps back, wide-eyed, but just as he’s about to stab her, a bright light bursts from her hands. Its power stings my eyes, but the elves cover their faces and turn away, as if the voiceless explosion is sending shockwaves through the room.
Kyran recoils, shielding himself with one arm, and as everyone looks away, Vinia lunges forward, the edge of her weapon glinting like platinum. I rise to my feet with a cry, and Kyran jerks back right on time. The tip of her blade misses his stomach by a fraction of an inch, but he’s blinded along with everyone else, and there’s only so long he can rely on other senses and good luck.
Tristan swears behind me, squinting to watch on. “This can’t be happening. But I’ve seen the prince fight,” he adds grimly. “Some days he’s a master, and at other times, barely relies on his luck. At least he’s not fighting the older brother, Anatole. That bastard is a demon when it comes to fencing.”
“Is she allowed to kill him?” I ask.
“Yes,” Sabine says, her voice like a guillotine.
But Kyran never stops moving in the arena. Now I know why he’s wearing the long cape, which could be a hindrance in any normal fight. In his violent dance, the fabric swishes and billows, creating shadows. As soon as he shields his sword behind it, black tendrils grow around the blade, but when he tries to strike or reveals his weapon to push back Vinia’s rapier, the shadow on Gloomdancer withers.
I don’t know how long she can keep the blinding light alive, but it glows even in her eyes, making her pupils invisible. She fights as though her life is at stake, because it is.
Kyran is frantic too, but his shadow can’t reach his opponent. I know how much power those dark tentacles have when he’s able to use them. He just needs—
“Shadow…” I whisper to myself as my heart stops.
Vinia swishes her rapier forward, and Kyran manages to avoid spilling his insides onto the floor by taking a step back and pulling in his stomach, but his cape betrays him. He slips on it and falls to the floor.
I turn to Tristan with all the authority I can muster as Kyran’s promised.
I point to a lantern glowing green on the wall. “Hold it behind me!”
He’s not used to taking orders from the likes of me, but to his credit, he does exactly what I ask, and moments later, my shadow spills down the steps and passes through the blueish barrier, into the dome. I move so it can reach Kyran, who rolls away from Vinia’s attack and strikes her with his hand, landing a blow for the first time since the fight started.
She cries out, spinning away as if this is a dance, not a fight to the death, and Kyran drags himself up with a scowl. He’s avoiding my gaze, as if he’s ashamed of how long the duel is taking, but once he spots my shadow, our eyes meet, and he offers me a smile that has my heart thrumming with an excitement I haven’t felt in… forever.
That predatory smile now gives me a thrill. He knows he’s won. Maybe that makes me an accomplice to the impending murder, but Vinia had no issue with throwing me under the bus or trying to stab Kyran, so she can reap what she sowed.
I rise to my toes and even though Vinia huddles in the farthest corner of the arena, my shadow reaches her shoe. It feels like I’m towering over the room, as tall as the ceiling. No one’s stopping me either, so I feel more vindicated in my actions. Of course I’d do anything to save Kyran.
My prince.
My… promised.
Kyran sinks into the stark black strip I cast on the fine floor, disappearing from sight, and as Vinia gasps, her blue eyes darting in every direction, I can almost sense Kyran’s satisfaction within me. It… tickles. I don’t know how, but I feel him in my shadow. The contentment only lasts a moment, because Vinia collapses to the floor with a sharp cry, her foot bent at an unnatural angle. The sight of Kyran’s hand around her ankle shakes my confidence.
But I don’t get to think through my choices as he pulls her into my shadow and slices through her throat.