Page 9 of I Dream of Dragons

Watch me.

Complicate your life more, why don’t you.

The deck sways under my feet as Jai follows me into the barge, the rest of the contestants trooping after him, joining us onboard. One by one, they step onto the black barge, the death barge, their faces bleak, their eyes hard, and for the first time in a long while I’m proud. Proud to have been one of them, once upon a time. To have been human.

We’re a tough sort. Not so hard to kill, but harder to erase and keep in the ground.

The guards prod the last two people still on the terrace, and we’re finally all rounded up and accounted for.

Ready for the slaughter.

A wind blows over the sea, rocking me on my feet. The barge sways harder, sending me stumbling to the side and churning my stomach. In the distance, in the water, I make out the frilled crest of a sea dragon and hear his call.

Without my magic and dagger I feel naked, even in this white dress I was given to wear. It’s shorter than the spidersilk dress I favored during my stay at the palace, and sturdier. The shoes will have to go, though, the moment I hit the water. They bother me already.

The telchin steps on the barge, followed by four of the guards. More guards are already onboard, ready to stop anyone from jumping off.

Who in their right mind would jump off and into the spright-filled sea, rushing to meet their fate? Though you never know. Panic can cause people to do strange things.

The sailors untie the ropes and push the barge off the dock, away from the low terrace, and the oars dip into the water. The banners snap in the wind. The people around me crouch down as we slowly depart from the dock and sail under the bridge and past the small Temple Island. We set route to circle the arena which is marked by islets and walls built between them.

For each death game, the contestants are thrown into the arena, a sea pool manipulated by the fae, either manually or through magic, to a controlled effect. It’s just as lethal as the open sea, filled with seafolk and sea monsters.

I heard that each trial should be more difficult than the previous, and I fail to see why that is necessary. From the twenty-four sacrificial victims, only ten of us are left, and who wants to bet that not all of us will make it to the third trial? Don’t you need at least a couple of humans for the third trial? It stands to reason, right?

Unless you kill the king.

Unless you kill love.

Might as well stab myself through the heart and be done with it.

How do you kill the one boy, the one man you ever gave your heart to? The one who held your hands and understood your worries and fears, who showed you wonders you had never noticed before, who kissed you and then you knew, youknewhe was the one to share your soul?

Who told you that you’re beautiful, inside and out.

Who told you he would never love another, neverwantto look for another.

The one who was gone before you knew it, taking your heart with him to the grave?

What if he’s a cruel king of the fae? What if he was a fae all along? He’s still that boy.

In your heart, he’s still the one you love. Right?

Dangerous questions. Dangerous doubts.

The oarsmen on their benches bow over the oars. They row and row, sending the barge slicing the waves, sailing around the temple island with its central tower.

As we start circling the arena, I know this is the worst time for this sort of distraction, this sort of wavering.

I’m keenly aware of Jai stepping closer to me as I stare out, standing on the prow, the other people’s whispers and grunting replies forming a fuzzy background noise.

“Searching for something?” he asks, and that burr in his voice, that resonant quality, lets me know I’m not dealing with him in person, but that Phaethon has taken over again. “Your last scraps of hope, perhaps?”

That’s concerning, aside from all other doubts. This wrestling match between his two souls is happening too often, and Phaethon seems to have the upper hand.

“Hello, Phaethon.” I don’t turn to look at him on purpose. “Are you always this nasty in the morning or did you sleep badly last night?”

“Last night,” he growls, “I slept with the dead. Areyouready to die, Little Human?”