The Reckless Reign (Book 3, The Culled Crown Series)

Chapter 10

The Arena.
Deca Market, Gazda.
The morning of the Welcome Dinner.

It was surreal being back here.

But what was even more unnerving, was walking side by side into the arena with Nadia. After patting us both down in search of weapons they knew we didn't have, our guards had remained by the gate while we walked inside. It had felt too similar to my trial with Tessa. And being in this massive open field with the thousands of empty stadium seats high above our heads, it was difficult not to feel that same terror.

And I didn't want to imagine ever being back here in a trial, especially not with Nadia.

As we walked towards the center of the arena where a small collection of practice dummies had been left, I thought of what it had been like to walk this alongside Tessa. If this were a trial, we would stop at the center and we would separate by thirty paces.

Ten steps for the goddess-touched girls, ten for Erydia, and ten for the queen.

Nadia was silent, her hand rubbing absentmindedly at her wrists as we paused directly in the middle of the field. Her eyes darted up to the abandoned royal box. The height of the walls had always been imposing, but a crowd made the walls seem to cave in. With the arena empty, it was like we were under a magnifying glass. As if there were only the two of us and the goddess.

Nadia's throat bobbed and she glanced over at me. "Good goddess, he's—he's actually insane, isn't he?"

I nodded. "Seems like it, yeah."

She blew out a deep breath and looked to the far wall of the arena. I followed her gaze. The glass of the goddess-touched viewing room window was one-way, so we couldn't see into the room where Caine and Ruthie sat. The thought of her alone with him made my palms sweat.

Nadia's voice broke through my anxiety, her words quiet as she turned in a small circle and examined the massive patch of dry earth around us. "Can you feel it yet? —Your ability, I mean?"

"I can almost always feel when I'm not on tacet, and I haven't had any today. But...But even when I can feel it, I can't use it. It's like there's a wall keeping me from accessing it." I rotated my wrist and tried to call flame to flesh. Sparks appeared, but they were weak.

The guards must still be too close to us. I looked to the empty mouth of the tunnel. They'd shut the gates so we were now trapped here until someone came to get us.

I was pretty sure Caine had no idea how far away the guards would need to be in order for our abilities to start working again. I think, in a way, this was as much about us getting to train as it was him testing how he'd handle an actual trial. He'd need someone on tacet to get the marked girls into the arena, but once it was time to fight, those people would have to get far enough away that our abilities could actually be used.

Nadia sighed heavily before she sat unceremoniously in the dirt at our feet. "It's funny," she said quietly, "he didn't put you in handcuffs." There was no humor in her voice as she said it. "And at breakfast the other day...at breakfast you were all dressed up and clean." She looked up at me, her brown eyes full of questions. When I met her stare, she turned away and started drawing absentmindedly in the dirt. "Bed. Food. Soap and water. It—It's just a far cry from what the month has been like for the rest of us, you know?"

I crouched down next to her. "I know and I'm sorry, Nadia."

She met my gaze. "Do you still love him?"

I swallowed, suddenly unable to look at her anymore.

Nadia reached forward and took my hand in hers. That same healing warmth that I'd grown so familiar with rushed through me. A small breath escaped her and for a moment, our discussion was lost and she was only focused on that—on reclaiming her ability. I watched as the blisters on my hands and arms faded. Some of the scars disappeared too, but others remained. There were marks on me that Nadia couldn't possibly heal.