Soul (Chaos #1)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

When I awoke, Grim and Realtín were in the tent, whispering together. Brendan was gone.

"Good morning," Grim said, but he looked worried.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We saw Sadler's champion," Realtín said, spinning around the room. "He's a monster. He makes Drake look like a human child."

"Drake isn't here anymore," I said sharply. "And Brendan knows what he's doing, right?"

Grim nodded. "He will make it to the next round. It's not a battle to the death."

"Unless they change the rules," Realtín squealed.

Líle entered the tent and turned to speak over her shoulder. "She's awake."

Anya came in, bearing a plate of normal fruit, although fae food hadn't been as challenging an experience the more time I spent among the fae.

"Brendan is practising with Arlen," Líle said. "He still refuses to send him out as his champion."

"What would you do?" I asked.

Líle shrugged. "As he is. Sadler is old. Why would we choose an old man as a leader, one who needs a champion?"

"A king doesn't need to be a warrior," Grim said.

"He needs to be strong." She shook her head. "I don't understand why nobody has seen Sadler yet. Is he here? Is he truly ill? It makes no sense."

"We'll see by the end, right?" I said. "Is there anything we can do to help Brendan today?" All four of them stared at me so long that I grew uncomfortable. "What?"

"If you could make Drake stronger, could you do the same for Brendan?" Anya asked.

"You want me to sleep with him?" I laughed, but nobody joined in. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

"You already did," she pointed out blithely.

"No! I didn't. That was Drake. It's not the same."

"They share a body. It's all or nothing," she added, avoiding my eyes.

"Brendan didn't see. Didn't feel. It's not like-"

"Do you truly believe that?" Líle asked. "Are they really two people in your eyes?"

"Yes!"

They all looked at each other then turned to stare at me.

"Oh, fuck off, the lot of you," I snapped. "You make me sound like a ho-bag."

"But you care about them both, don't you?" Anya asked.

Brendan cleared his throat from behind us, and I proceeded to let the ground swallow me up.

"Maybe it's time for you all to leave," he said. "I need to prepare. Cara, stay."

I didn't move, but I was pretty sure Líle sniggered as she walked past me. Maybe they were right. Maybe I had convinced myself of one thing when the complete opposite was true. I had been around the fae for so long that my sense of right and wrong had warped and cracked into something more convenient.

"I thought about what you said on your birthday," Brendan said. "About them turning on me again. They might see me as weak for this, but I still plan to make peace with Sadler, to forgive him publicly and put it all in the past."

"Is that what you want?"

He sighed. "He was once my friend. And I can't find it in myself to blame him now. I'll fight him for this throne, but I'll invite him back to court afterward. I'll make him comfortable."