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“You were amazing, Zuriel!” she exclaimed once I dismounted and joined her huddle with High Ladies Liliana and Domi. Thanks to my gift, I also knew about the former’s rise in station.
I shrugged off her compliment but allowed a small smile. “You three were as well. I see all your names topping the board.” I dipped my head in the direction of the giant stone currently burning new names into its facade.
As Liliana and Domi craned their necks to glimpse the scores, I spoke into Izidora’s mind.“So you accepted the bond?”
The blush that crept across her cheeks confirmed what I already knew.“How did you know?”
“A lucky guess from the way you two looked at each other when you arrived.”
“Kazimir bothered me shortly after.”
“I saw.”
“Why do I still feel a connection to him if I accepted Ruslan?”
My brows lifted for a moment as shock hit me like a punch to the gut. That was not something I had an explanation for. A bond between three was nearly as rare as empath magic, and in my life, I’d only heard whispers of a few, and read even less in written texts from reliable sources. But I knew, because I was there, that the Goddess’s Prophecy spoke of choosing between two mates.“That I do not know. Perhaps you must speak the words to him to break the bond like you had to speak the words to Ruslan to accept it?”
A subtle dip of her head acknowledged the suggestion before Liliana and Domi’s attention returned to us.“Do they know?”
“Not yet. I want to keep it a secret for now, so Kazimir doesn’t find out.”
“A wise choice, cousin.”
“High Lady Domi, my cousin tells me you breed horses,” I said casually. Before she had a chance to respond, the announcer boomed over us all, calling for the next event – a race. “I’ll take that as my cue to leave.”
“See you later, Zuriel,” Izidora called as I gripped my horse’s reins to lead him toward the waiting Telivér.
“Remember, our training resumes tomorrow,” I called over my shoulder.
After all, war was coming, and I could not allow my cousin to enter it unprepared.
28
Béke Day Six
The crowd hummed with excitement as the officiants tallied the final scores of the horseback riding events. Those, combined with the scores of the previous days’ events, would determine the overall winner of this Béke’s competition.
The Iron Realm better fucking win.
The Fae, Félvér, and Telivér clumped together on the ground around the stage where I stood, patiently awaiting the slip of paper that would declare the winning realm. Izidora chatted animatedly with the Telivér, throwing her head back and laughing loudly at something one of the Demons said. Watching her slip into the carefree moment warmed my heart, especially knowing how much she had suffered since the arrival of the other Fae.
A male crossed the stage, handing me several slips of folded paper, and a hush settled over the competitors and onlookers as I unfolded the first. On it was the list of individual event winners, and when I saw Izidora’s name next to two of the events, Icouldn’t smother the grin that broke across my face. One by one, I called out the names, the helpers behind me stepping forward with the respective prizes.
Izidora approached the stage, bouncing with excitement as I lifted a small leather bag from the male stepping forward, and handed it to her.“You can put all your new rings in this while you ride.”
“You or Mistik?”Her eyes flashed to mine, filled with heat, and our bond thrummed.
“My dirty sprite.”
She winked and sashayed her hips as she returned to the crowd. I watched her the entire way, forcing myself to remain in place when all I wanted was to snatch her in my arms and ferry her to Roc Palace.
High Lady Domi, unsurprisingly, was the overall winner of the day’s event.
The final slip of paper contained the overall scores of the realms, ranked from lowest to highest.
Crystal Realm… Day Realm… Iron Realm…
I nearly crumpled the paper when I saw the fucking Night Realm had beaten the Iron Realm bythree points.
