I sprinted, leaving the white carriage and my arguing family behind. The air was cold, but anything was better than that cramped cabin full of familial tension and too much perfume.

  The arena ahead roared—thousands of voices echoing through the valley. I peeked up at the sky. The sun was high. Way too high.

  I gave my borrowed skirt a pat for good measure, then made my way through the crowd and into the gate leading to my destination.

  My appearance gave me away immediately. A group of spectators loitering near the gate pointed and shouted as I rushed through the entrance toward the staging rooms below the stands.

  “That’s her! The crazy one!”

  “Really? She’s so tall for a girl...”

  “I want to see her fight again.”

  A group of women—all in alliance uniform—stepped in front of my path, forcing me to slow. One of them scanned me up and down, eyes lingering for a few extra, uncomfortable seconds before she smiled in amusement.

  “Hey, little cadet, why don’t you come find us ter? Drinks on me.”

  Fuck. Everyone’s in my way. I’m in a hurry, dammit.

  I kept my head down and rushed past them, keeping my eyes ahead while their ughter chased me. No time to make friends. A side door saved me, taking me into the byrinth of corridors beneath the stands. Each cheer that erupted knocked down loose dust and made my gut twist. Constantly reminding me of the duel I might possibly be missing.

  A few more turns and I found myself in empty halls, the crowd was repced by torches and damp-smelling masonry. There were a few officials who hurried past with clipboards, but they ignored me entirely.

  That better not be Kier and Victoria fighting up there, I thought, picking up my pace. Gods, why did Maribelle and Elira wait so long to wake me up? I’m so te. Ridiculous.

  I pushed open one st door, finally walking into the hall lined with each team’s staging room.

  But our staging room had a surprise. The door was shut.

  And standing beside it, arms behind her back and staring at the floor was—

  “Rheya?”

  She shuddered like I’d caught her doing something illegal. Her mint hair swayed as she turned, eyes finding mine before immediately darting back to the floor.

  “Ah... oh. L-Luna. Hi.”

  I held my palm out before she could form her next words, just like in our fight. “Wait. Are they in there?”

  “U-um... yes.”

  She looked miserable. Her armor was scuffed, scratched, and dented. Her posture was slumped, and her expression was enough to tug at my heart, knocking the edge off my current frustrations.

  Thank the gods. I’m not te.

  “Oh, good. So... why are you standing out here?” I asked in a gentle tone to keep her from running away.

  She swallowed but didn’t look up. “I... lost.” Her voice didn’t sound like defeat. It sounded like an apology.

  I looked at her, head tilted, confused. “How’d it go?”

  “One to two.” Her shoulders sank another inch. “I beat Kier. But Victoria...” Her voice wavered. “She beat me, then she beat Kulisse too.”

  Kulisse? Who’s that? Wait? She Beat Kier? That fucking idiot. Whatever, I guess I see what the issue here is, I suppose.

  “I didn’t even want to fight them,” Rheya continued quietly, “I wanted to fight you again.”

  Oh, so that’s what this is—why she’s hovering by my door. I wanted to fight her again, too. I get it.

  “Rheya,” I stepped closer and pced a hand on her shoulder. “You’re strong. I told you this already. You don’t have to fight me again to prove that.”

  “I know but—.”

  “You beat Kier. And I bet Victoria would agree with me. In fact, I think you’re at least top five in the tournament.”

  “You think so?”

  “Hmm... yeah! Of course! There’s me at number one, obviously, then Vicky, then that old guy, I suppose, you, and then Asher.” I corrected.

  She giggled, looking up at my eyes without turning away this time. “I think you’re biased, Luna. I’m not stronger than Asher.”

  Hnnnng... how can someone be this cuteeee? I just want to snatch her up and keep her forever. Nobody would bme me if I just kidnapped her, right?

  “I told my team, I’m not an archer,” she said, gripping the short sword on her belt. “Like you said. I’m good with the bdes. So I thought maybe this time—”

  She stopped herself and looked down again.

  “We’ll fight again,” I said immediately to cheer her up. “A real fight. No crowds. No points. No stupid stage rules.”

  Her eyes flicked up to mine. Bright. Hopeful.

  “Just us,” I met her eyes. “I promise.”

  She nodded, fast. “I’ll hold you to that promise. I’ll show you everything I’ve got.”

  “I’ll look forward to it.” I stepped past her and reached for the door. “Now let’s get to our teams. We’ve both got one more match in this tournament. I’ll watch you win with my own eyes, and you’ll watch me. Okay?”

  She snorted softly. “Right. I want to see you beat Asher, too.”

  “You will,” I was already turning away. “I’m definitely putting his ass in the dirt today.”

  I waited a few seconds, just long enough for her footsteps to fade down the corridor, then reached for the door to my team’s room.

  ...Actually.

  The idea sparked. I burst through the door, announcing my entrance, making sure my teammates heard me.

  “I AM HERE!”

  Victoria jumped, almost dropping her sword that she was busy polishing. She looked up at me and coughed, trying—adorably—to py it off like she hadn’t just flinched at my sudden arrival.

  Unfortunately for me, Kier didn’t react at all. He was slumped in a chair, engrossed in another book. And I found that unacceptable. I walked over and smmed my hand down between the pages.

  “Hey fucker.”

  He looked up, scowling. “What?”

  “You lost,” I harshly pointed out. “And to a cute little girl, too? I’m very disappointed in you, Kier.”

  “She’s not—”

  “Don’t,” I cut in. “She is cute. And she beat you.”

  “It wasn’t that simple—”

  “And you.” I quickly turned my attention to Victoria before he could finish.

  “Yes?”

  “You made that same little girl stand outside the room for who knows how long. “You should’ve either invited her in or told her to leave. Making her wait outside was mean, Victoria.”

  Victoria frowned. “I didn’t make her wait. She refused to come in. She was adamant about waiting to speak with you.”

  “Oh, okay... well. Good job then.”

  I turned myself and my fury back to Kier.

  “Now, back to you. I remember the words: Don’t worry about it, and Victoria and I can handle Silverwood. You said that, correct?”

  He hesitated. “I said we’d manage.”

  “Nuh uh, you said it. You’re not getting out of this.” I crossed my arms and gred for dramatization. “Victoria did her job. What about you?”

  “She caught me off-bance,” he said, irritation leaking into his voice. “And I still pushed her to the edge—”

  “But you lost,” I repeated, driving the point home. I exhaled through my nose, signaling my seriousness and the end of our banter.

  I gnced over at Victoria, who was now fiddling with her armor. I couldn’t tell whether she was faking it or not. “Vicky, what is our score?”

  “From the dueling rounds, we have ten points.”

  “What about Astaria?”

  “They currently have twelve points.”

  “Tch.” I turned away and started doing the math in my head.

  Final match. Everything else was tied—duels are the only pce we’ve slipped. Then we need... all three rounds to be wins. Ughhhhh... We’re only down because Kier keeps fucking losing. So fucking annoying. Do I just fight all three rounds myself?

  “Haaaaaah... Kier, be honest with me.” I gave him a sincere look, trying to get a serious answer from him for once. “Can you actually win against Astaria’s mage?”

  “Of course I—”

  “Don’t bullshit me.” I stepped closer, shallowing him with my shadow.

  “We need all three matches. Not two. Not a good effort. All. Three.” I leaned down, bringing my face level with his. “If you go out there, I need to know you aren’t going to crumble again. Can you actually win?”

  The room was silent for a long moment. Kier didn’t answer.

  Victoria paused what I was now sure was fake cleaning and tinkering and looked at me, with her analyzing silver eyes. “You’re taking things seriously. I’m very proud of you.”

  I shrugged. “We’re out of room to fuck around. We have to beat Astaria.”

  Kier chuckled, breaking his silence. “Damn, Luna, I got it. Rex. What is with you today?”

  “No.” I smmed my palm, smacking the book free from his grip this time. “This is our st fight together. Answer me. Or I take your spot.”

  Kier leaned back in his chair. It was almost like he was begging me to kick it out from under him if I deemed his next words stupid. “Yeah,” he finally answered. “I can win. No. I’ll win.”

  I stared at him, watching. Judging. I didn’t focus on his words. I focused solely on him.

  “I rushed,” he went on. “I thought I could pressure her into a mistake. I won’t do that again.” He looked over at Victoria. “If I force the cast and keep my distance, the mage folds. Simple.”

  Victoria nodded once in agreement.

  “Good, I trust you,” she said.

  I stared at him a moment longer, then relented, softening my posture. “I guess I’ll trust you, too.” I pointed at his face, nearly poking him. “But if you lose again, I’ll beat you up myself.”

  “Luna,” Victoria called out.

  She’d moved to the wall and was holding a rge sword. She held it out to me. “Major Elira had this delivered for you.”

  I took it, squeezed the grip, and gave it a few practice swings. The weight pulled me forward, still heavy, but different. Not my sword. The bance was off; it was smaller, slimmer.

  “Hate it,” I tossed it onto the table. It was incomparable to my beloved sword. A poor substitute, but it had to do.

  “You don’t need to like it,” Victoria replied. “You just need to finish your fight.”

  I clicked my tongue, but didn’t have anything to argue back with.

  She stepped forward, voice fttening into command. “Same order as before. I take the spearman. Kier, you take the mage. Force him to commit.” Her eyes shifted to me. “Luna, you take Asher.”

  “Easy.”

  Victoria locked eyes with me. “It won’t be. But, you can do it.”

  With the argument settled, there was nothing left to do but wait. Victoria returned to her pre-fight rituals—checking every strap, every buckle, methodical and neurotically precise. Kier buried himself back in his book, though I noticed he hadn’t turned a page in ten minutes.

  I tried to stay still. Lasted maybe forty minutes before the anticipation became unbearable.

  Nearly an hour crawled by before I finally gave up on sitting still and hopped onto the table in front of Victoria, restlessly swinging my legs back and forth. “Hey Vicky, I figured out something new yesterday.” The waiting was killing me. I needed to talk. About anything.

  She didn’t bother looking up at me. “I assumed you did.”

  “Rude,” I shot back. “I’m calling it [Detonation], it’s my new Aura Technique. Super explosive, super cool, fits me perfectly. I figured out how to control it st night with Maribelle. Though she’s kinda scary and unpredictable. But her house was nice, she’s married to a noble like you and Kier.”

  Kier snorted from the corner. “The healer?”

  “Yep! I like her.” I added. “I just need to keep her and my mom separated. Both of them in the same room makes me want to kill myself.”

  “Your mom?” Victoria asked, tilted her head up at me.

  “Oh yeah, Maribelle got mad at her and made her relent, so Elira is my mom now. I think.” I beamed at her, remembering the argument from earlier.

  “Huh, so she really was reted to you. Is that why you’re acting like that this morning? You seemed just like her,” Kier said, fully butting into my conversation.

  “You think so?”

  “I’m happy for you, Luna.” Victoria cut in, her attempt to escape from my rambling attack. “Just stay focused and try not to hurt yourself again,”

  “No promises.”

  The knock came right on time. The door swung open and a head popped in. “Aegis and Astaria, up in five minutes.” The official announced, then promptly departed.

  That was our cue.

  We headed through the competitors’ tunnel for one st match. The cheers drowned out my thoughts, but my anticipation still remained, growing by the second. We made it to the end of the tunnel, and the field came into view, snow-covered and scarred by all the battles over the past few days.

  I squinted, looking into the opposite tunnel. Astaria appeared shortly after. I waved to Asher, but was coldly dismissed yet again.

  Their mage stepped forward first. He looked calm, in his light armor, hood up, hands free.

  Kier rolled his shoulders and moved past us without looking back.

  “Don’t lose, and if you do lose, go die,” I called after him.

  He gave a small dismissive wave before stepping into the arena.

  The horn bred. The round started.