“Now,” he said, backing away. “Get up.”
Master Yuma knocked me to the ground countless more times, and I never once made it to my feet after the better part of an hour disappeared.
Sweating more than I ever had in my life and sore all over, I jumped when a loud clapping echoed around the room. I spun toward the doorway. The empress glided through the training room entrance, followed by her entourage of guards and golems. She stopped beside Ari and Cassie, while Ryker remained seated at the base of a pillar a few paces away.
“It looks like things here are going as well as I expected they would,” she purred, smiling at me.
Panting, I wiped the sweat from my brow. Master Yuma offered me his hand, and I glanced from it to his emotionless face. Wary it was a trap, yet exhausted to my core, I grasped his hand, and he hauled me to my feet.
“Well done, Your Majesty.” He bowed again, releasing my hand.
“I failed though—”
“You didn’t. You never gave up, andthatis the lesson I wanted you to learn today. Not only did you show me that you have the heart of a warrior, but now you know it as well—even if you do only have the skills of a pampered princess.”
My shoulders slumped, and Master Yuma chuckled. “That is a good thing, child. Skills can be taught, but a strong heart? That is not something that can be learned.”
I smiled at the compliment and bowed in respect. “Thank you, Master.”
“No need to thank me, Princess. Today was just a test; tomorrow the real work begins. I’ll show you what you did wrong and give you the tools you need to never be knocked down again. As you just experienced, once down, it’s much harder to regain that lost ground.” Master Yuma padded toward the door, and I headed for my family, wincing with every step.
Cassie rushed forward, wrapping her arm around my shoulders in support. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Nothing a warm bath won’t fix.”
“You look awful, daughter,” the empress crooned as I approached. “Did you enjoy that beating?”A coy smile played on her lips, and I winced.
“It was a good warm up.”
“Oh, please, can’t you see how futile this is?” She sighed, rubbing her temples. “You are a princess, not a warrior, and look at what you’re doing to yourself!” She snatched my hand, pulling it up to display the ugly welts all up and down my arm.
Her eyes narrowed, and I wrenched my hand back, holding it to my chest. “Don’t worry, Mother, it’s nothing you can’t fix later—”
“I shouldn’t have to keep fixing you! You should be more careful, or do you not want to give your goddess the very best?”
I bit my lip and looked down. Of course she only cared what my actions were doing to her precious body—even if it wasn’t hers yet. Jerking away, I noticed Ryker watching intently from his seat a few paces away, his brows furrowed.
The empress touched my shoulder. “Give this up—”
“No.” I lifted my chin. “I don’t care if you or anyone else in the palace wants me dead. I won’t stop fighting to live until I take my last breath!”
The empress' eyes widened, but I didn’t wait for her response and stormed out the door.
Iwasdead.Dead!There was no way in sin I could ever hope to defend myself from Ryker when he came to finish me off. A fact my mother had so graciously ground my face in.
Exhaustion and pain leached at my body, yet I couldn’t calm down or sit still. Hands clenched, I paced around my bedroom, wanting nothing more—well, besides Ryker’s departure—then to scream my frustrations. But getting into trouble again and freaking out the residents of the palace wasn’t at the top of my to-do list, so I kept my mouth shut. Barely.
Continuing my jagged journey back and forth, my eyes snagged on a reflective object on the vanity next to my small golem, Calculus. The light bounced off it, and squinting, a growl escaped my throat. Ryker’s knife.
I stalked over and snatched up the thin black blade, glaring at it. “This is allyourfault. If Ryker hadn’t thrown you at me, my life never would have been in danger and the Ascension wouldn’t have been moved up. I wouldn't have to try and prove myself and earn back the last year of my life that I rightfully deserve.”
Still fuming, I crossed the room to my bed, falling backwards onto it. “I hate him,” I muttered, holding the knife up as if it could somehow talk back. Turning the weapon in my fingers, the light glinted off the clean blade. How could something so small be so deadly?
I ran my thumb along my cheek where the cut mark had been. One cut had nearly killed me. If only I could discover and recreate the poison he’d previously coated the knife in, maybe I’d have a slight chance at survival. . . Wait. Couldn't I?
An old memory resurfaced in my mind from the far simpler days of my youth.
Beneath a stone columned pavilion, surrounded by waterfalls, I knelt in a circle of my sisters, all of us dressed in white frocks. Cassie wriggled beside me, unable to contain her excitement while white-robed priestesses stood behind us, kindly directing the children to calm down. A hush fell as the monastery's high priestess, Eurell, entered the circle, carrying with her a simple wooden bowl. She knelt on the stone floor, and we all crowded around, whispering and jostling one another.