Frost (Frost and Nectar #1)(70)

Maybe this wouldn’t be a difficult fight.

The crone ascended the dais, then turned to face us. Her strangely long, white teeth gleamed as she grinned. She shrieked into the sky, “Begin the fight!”

I pointed to my rapier at the Selkie, and she slowly lifted hers to face mine. I slashed at her blade.

The water maiden parried weakly. I tested her again. Again, she halfheartedly deflected my blade.

“What are you doing?” I asked in a low voice.

“Just beat me,” she hissed quietly. “I don’t want to do this anymore. I just want to go home.”

I circled her. “Then why are you bothering with any of this? Why did you sound like you were annoyed the crowd was cheering my name?”

“It’s not about the king. I don’t even like males. But our clans demand success.” She backed away from me. “It’s a point of honor among us. That’s all this is. You’d understand if you were from here.”

We circled slowly. “Fine. Well, if your honor is at stake, I’ll let you pretend to get a good shot in first.”

Her features relaxed immediately. “Really?”

“Go. Just don’t make it hurt.”

She stabbed at me. I parried her blade with ease, but pretended that it was more difficult.

“Good one,” I whispered. “Now do another.”

Again, she stabbed, and again, I parried. After a few more gentle, back-and-forths, I sensed the crowd was growing bored. Some of them started chanting at us to fight.

Our match didn’t have the visceral drama of Moria and Cleena, and I wasn’t quite sure it looked real.

“Are you ready?” I asked. “I’m going to have to draw some blood.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

I sliced at her thigh where her armor didn’t protect her, a superficial cut, but enough to spill blood onto the snow.

“Ow!”

“Sorry,” I whispered back.

At that point, whispering wasn’t even necessary. The sight of blood had the crowd roaring with excitement, drowning out anything we might say.

“A blow for Ava Jones!” the crone screamed.

“You, okay?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “That wasn’t too bad. Just get this over with, okay?”

I slashed again. This time, I scratched her right wrist with the very tip of my blade. The crowd roared.

“All right,” I said. “Are you ready for the final blow?”

The water maiden nodded, but she looked like she was about to cry.

“What’s the problem?” I hissed.

“This will look like a failure for me. I’ll be letting down the clan of the Selkie.”

The crowd was chanting my name, but I ignored them.

“Get in another blow, then.”

The Selkie smiled at me, her brown eyes gleaming. I circled her, and this time, when Eliza struck, I let the very tip of her blade slash through my left bicep. My blood dripped onto the ice. It hurt like hell, but I’d recover.

She grinned at me, victorious.

And now, I desperately wanted to end this fight for good. I slashed a third and final time, cutting through her thigh.

Her smile faded, and she clutched her leg as the crowd roared.

The crone lifted up her arms, her expression exuberant. “Three successful attacks for Ava Jones!

She has won the round.”

Dizzy, I turned to see the cameras closing in, and I clutched my arm, trying to stop the bleeding. I hadn’t even noticed the cameras during the fight, and now they seemed intrusive.

I wanted to crawl away and let my bicep heal—alone. But the tournament wasn’t over. Not even for the day.

“The tournament demands we continue until we have a winner. Cleena has announced that she has resigned from the tournament.” The crone’s voice floated over the amphitheater. “Princess Moria of the Dearg Due will now fight against Sydoc of the Redcap.”

IN THE TUNNEL, I CLOSED MY EYES, RELIEVED TO GET A MOMENT OF REST. I HELD TIGHT TO MY

shoulder, though I wasn’t sure it was bleeding anymore.

I leaned against the wall, trying to forget what I’d just witnessed.

Shalini stared at me. “Did you fucking see that?”

“I told you what the fae were like, Shalini,” I hissed. “You’re the one who wanted me to come here.”

“Okay, I was wrong. I fully admit that. I didn’t know it would be this bad. The fae are very secretive.”

I took a deep breath. “Torin wants me to win,” I whispered. “You saw how he stopped Moria before. He can do it again.”

“He didn’t stop Sydoc.”

In a daze, I watched as Sydoc took on Moria, Etain’s blood still streaking down the Redcap’s face. But Moria wasn’t as easy to beat as Etain had been, and their swords clashed in the bright sun, the sound ringing out over the amphitheater.

I heard the sound of gentle footfalls behind me and turned to see Orla approaching me. “You’re hurt,” she said quietly. Her pale, milky eyes were half lidded.

“At least I’m alive.”

“You won’t be for long, Ava,” said Orla. “I can hear the blades. You need to know that Princess Moria has a glamoured sword. It’s how she’s winning so easily.”