Page 71 of This Shattered Star

“I was only able to pull you out when you decided to fight back,” Theia mused. “To do whatever it took to get out of that place.”

But I hadn’t been courageous at all. I’d been a coward.

“You werenota coward,” she hissed vehemently. “Defending yourself against foes not even the strongest of warriors could face is far from cowardice. No one else would’ve been able to raise that knife. Your heart was nothing but pure.Isnothing but pure.” Her narrowed eyes were like daggers of ice. “Never speak of yourself that way. Is that understood?”

Her words settled something in me that had been cracking apart for longer than I dared admit. My throat closed up on itself, barring any protest, any argument. “Fine.”

“I’m glad we have an agreement.” She folded her arms over her chest. “I will be happy to remind you, lest you forget.”

Of that, I was more than certain.

It was Brannon’s turn to stand. He dusted his hands across his thighs before locking them behind his head. “That makestwo trials officially completed. Only one left. Thank the gods,” he sighed.

Anger, a familiar crutch, already waited for me to lean on. “That wasnota trial.” The root of the dream might’ve been an insect, but it was infused withMaverick’smagic.Hehad chosen what images to plant into those nightmares. He knew what their deaths had done to me. And he’d used them against me, regardless. “That bastard deserves the number of traitors vying for his head. You should hope the gods find enough common sense to help them pry it from his shoulders.” Kodhan’s chuckle sent my hackles rising. I turned to look up at him again. “Is there something amusing, Son of the Second?” I asked, lacquering the pointed question with false sweetness.

I became all-too aware of how his hands drifted from my arms, casually making their way down to rest across my lower stomach. His fingers intertwined loosely, a sign that he wasn’t inclined to move, either. A small, idiotic part of me wondered what else, exactly, those fingers could be used for. It would only take less than a few inches to find out, after all.

“Yes, the venom that you spew is often quite amusing. But it isexquisitewhen you direct it towards the king.”

“Jealous?”

His smirk grew. “Hardly.”

“Maybe the insects should have taken you down, too.”

He dipped his head closer, as if he could drink the insult directly from my lips. As if it fueled him. “Maybe?” Before our noses could touch, he turned his face so that his words reached the shell of my ear. “If you’re going to insult me, Eloise, you have to say it like you mean it.”

“You’re insufferable,” I hissed, and made to squirm out of his hold.

His locked fingers held firm. His thighs pressed harder against mine. Trapping me again. “That’s better.” He smiled against my cheek.

“How long was I unconscious for?” I didn’t care who answered. The question was a helpless attempt at focusing onanythingelse. Anything to stop me from delving too deep into the fact that the air was clear of smoke and ash. Kodhan’s magic was still tucked safely away. And yet every sensitive part of me ached with molten heat.Entirely my own.

Theia answered first. “It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how long. His magic did affect me, but only to a certain extent. When one is familiar with the act of entering someone else’s mind, it becomes blaringly clear when something—orsomeone—doesn’t belong in their own.” She paced the length of the small room. “I had to play along for at least a little while, lest it become obvious that my magic counteracted his.” Pausing, she tilted her head as she shrugged. “I’d say no more than an hour, at most.”

“We’re lucky it wasn’t a minute more.” Brannon added grimly.

Kodhan stiffened behind me. “I—” He halted, swallowing. “We almost lost you. You would’ve died if Theia hadn’t pulled you out when she did.”

My chest tightened, though nowhere near as tight as it was moments ago. “Thank you for saving me.” I made sure to meet both Brannon and Theia’s gazes. Then laid a tentative hand atop Kodhan’s. “All of you.”

Again,I almost added, but bit my tongue.

Distant screams wormed their way through the thin crack underneath the door. People were still trapped in their nightmares, it seemed. Or some had decided to prey upon others in their weakened states. Either situation was a possibility. Neither led to anything good.

“Actually, you would’ve made it out on your own. If I hadn’t been there, the courage it took you to drive that bladedownwards triggered the magic that would have awoken you without my help.” Theia then added softly, mouth quirking to the side, “I just thought you should know.”

But she’d chosen to save me anyway. From what bringing that knife down would’ve done to my soul, nightmare or otherwise.

The weight of her actions was a tangible thing, pressing in on my very being. A feeling I’d buried in an unmarked grave, years ago.

Kodhan’s hold on me became an anchor. A reminder that I wasn’t still in that wretched warehouse, coated in my parents’ blood.

I should have known.Right then and there in Maverick’s study, when he’d told me the number of rebels vying against the crown wasenough.These were not trials at all. They were punishment.

“So typical of him,” I whispered aloud, earning hesitant looks from the others.

What are you going to do about them?