Crush the King (Crown of Shards #3)(109)
“Do you accept?” I asked, a loud, mocking sneer in my voice. “Or are you going to keep being a coward and sending others to try to kill me?”
My insult whisked away his surprise, and cold calculation filled his eyes. Maximus knew as well as I did that I’d twirled him into a corner with my challenge. He had to accept, or he would be confirming everything that I had just said about him—including how weak he truly was.
“I accept,” Maximus said, his voice booming just as loudly as mine had.
Everyone started talking and yelling at once. I let them chatter on for several seconds, then held my sword up again, calling for silence.
“Excellent,” I said. “Let’s talk terms. Since we’re at the Regalia, why don’t we give the people a show?”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Why not make the challenge the finale of the Regalia? Why not let the people gather in the arena to see who triumphs? Our ancestors did it all those years ago. Why not continue the tradition and finally finish what they started?”
He kept frowning, turning the idea over in his mind, even as more and more whispers of excitement and agreement surged through the crowd. Maximus’s gaze cut left and right, and his frown deepened. He didn’t like my idea, but once again I had twirled him into a corner, and he couldn’t refuse, given the rapidly growing support for my suggestion. Proposing a more private battle now would make it seem like he was hiding something.
“Very well,” he said. “We will fight at noon tomorrow in the arena. I’m looking forward to it, Everleigh.”
I gave him a cold, thin smile. “As am I.”
My challenge delivered and accepted, I whirled around and strode out of the ballroom, my bloody sword still clutched in my hand.
Chapter Twenty-Five
My friends and I left the island and went back to the Bellonan camp to get ready for tomorrow.
I had Auster triple the number of guards on duty. Just because Maximus had agreed to the royal challenge didn’t mean that he still wouldn’t send more assassins to try to kill me beforehand. So Auster posted guards all around camp, as well as in the surrounding trees to keep an eye out for strixes, in case the Mortan king decided to attack from the sky instead of the ground.
While Auster dealt with the guards, my other friends and I gathered in my tent, studying maps of the island and debating the best, quickest, and easiest routes to get from here to the arena without running into another ambush. But there really wasn’t one, and we finally decided to go to the arena the same way we had been for the last two days.
We also talked about what to do given the outcome of the challenge. Our own contingency plans, as they were.
“If Maximus kills me, then you have to find some way to kill him before he leaves the arena.” I didn’t want to ask my friends to risk themselves again, but I had to put aside their safety and think about what was best for Bellona.
Sullivan, Paloma, Serilda, and Xenia fell quiet, thinking about it.
“I’ll do it,” Cho said.
We all looked at him in surprise, especially Serilda.
“I’m the ringmaster, so I’ll be on the arena floor anyway,” he continued. “If Maximus wins, then I’ll go over to lift his hand in victory like I would for anyone else.”
“And then?” Serilda asked in a low, strained voice.
Cho shrugged. “And then I’ll palm a dagger and cut his throat. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll morph and tear him to pieces with my teeth and talons. Either way, Maximus won’t be expecting me to attack, and he won’t leave the arena alive, not even if it costs me my own life. I promise you that, Evie.”
Cho was talking to me, but his black eyes were fixed on Serilda, as were those of the dragon on his neck. Serilda stared at him a moment, then turned away, but not before I saw the glassy sheen of tears in her eyes.
“He’s right,” Xenia said in a sympathetic voice. “It’s the best plan.”
Serilda didn’t say anything, but she gave a single sharp nod. When she looked at Cho again, her tears were gone, and she was once again a warrior ready to sacrifice anything for her kingdom, even the man she loved.
“And when Evie wins?” Paloma asked, refusing to accept anything less than my victory.
Her confidence made me smile, but I forced myself to focus. “Then we’ll probably have to kill Mercer, Nox, and Maeven. No doubt Maximus will order them to try to kill me again, on the off chance that he loses.”
My friends started throwing out ideas on how best to kill the Morricone royals, but I stayed quiet, thinking about Maeven. I wouldn’t just be fighting Maximus tomorrow. I would be battling her too.
For the last few months, I had been playing my long game with Maeven, and tomorrow would probably determine whether I won or lost that battle, along with my life, in the arena. But I’d made my moves and played the long game as best I could. Now all I could do was wait and see what tomorrow brought—for everyone.
An hour later, we finished our plotting, and everyone left my tent to go to bed, except for Sullivan. I was still standing by the table full of maps, and he walked up beside me.
“A crown for your thoughts, highness?” he murmured.
“Just thinking about tomorrow, and all the things that could go wrong.” I let out a low, bitter laugh. “Sometimes I feel like all I do, every single day, is think about all the things that could go wrong.”