Page 164 of Between Two Kings

To her surprise, Adelaide shook her head.

“No, Temperance. The ritual required you to prove yourself to us. Now it is the opposite. The contenders will be vying for your hand. They will view it as an honor to be chosen by you.”

Tem turned to Caspen. “I’m going to choose you.”

Caspen smiled. “Yes, that is the hope. But your heart may call to someone else, Tem.”

“How would it do that?”

“The tournament demands that you be honest with yourself. When it is over, your heart will call to your true mate.”

“Then my heart will call to you.”

“You cannot predict the outcome of the tournament.”

“Of course I can.”

“No.” He shook his head. “You cannot. It is not your decision to make.”

Tem shook her head. “I don’t understand. You said I would get to choose.”

“Your heart will choose. The heart does not practice logic or reason—it cannot decide who is best for you—it will simply decide who it wants most. It is not a practical choice, but a fated one.”

Tem didn’t like the sound of that at all.

Caspen finished quietly, “If your heart calls to someone other than me, we will both be forced to abide by its choice.”

This was a terrible time for Tem to be put to a test of fate. Her heart was in two places; it always had been. What if her heart called to Leo? She could only hope that a human wasn’t included in the ancient magic of the tournament. Perhaps her heart would only consider fellow basilisks. Of course, that wasn’t good either. Tem thought about Apollo and how close they had been lately. She couldn’t deny that there was an intimacy between them. It certainly wasn’t love, and it was nothing compared to what she had with Caspen. But the heart often knew things far before the mind did. And based on what Caspen had told her, it seemed there was always the possibility of surprise. The heart does not practice logic or reason. That much was certainly true. And it might be the end of her.

“Temperance,” Adelaide said. “I know this must be a lot to process. But you will be partaking in a tradition that is centuries old. The tournament has a purpose—one that is bound by fate. It is how we will judge who is worthy of your hand.”

“Caspen is already worthy of it. We’re already married.”

“That may be the case. But two things can be true. You are already married, and that marriage is now in question. Those are the facts.”

Tem crossed her arms. As it turned out, she hated those facts. She opened her mouth to protest again, but Adelaide held up her hand.

“It is an honor to compete for you. Our people will be anticipating the tournament.”

Tem shook her head. She’d had just about enough of these infernal basilisk traditions. Could they not do anything normally? Everything was a ceremony or a tradition or a special process that required a thousand impossible steps. Everything was complicated and impossible. Tem was tired of the course of her life being determined by a group decision. If she couldn’t decide who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, then what was the point of living at all? Perhaps death was preferable to such a lack of control.

“This is ridiculous. I don’t want any part of it.”

“You feel that way now,” Adelaide said gently. “But you may find that the basilisk side of you demands to join.”

“What happens if I refuse to participate?”

“It would be unheard of,” Adelaide admitted. “But it will not matter whether you choose to participate. The tournament will go on.”

“How?”

“The tournament is an avenue for your heart to make its choice. If you choose not to participate, the choice will be made for you.”

Tem wrinkled her nose. “And how, exactly, will it be made for me?”

“The twelve contenders would all fight for you,” Caspen said quietly. “To the death.”

***