Bloodguard

“Say one more thing about that gladiator, and I’ll feed numb nuts here your wings,” Maeve fires off. It’s her voice that brings me back. Who needs a cheer squad when I have Maeve’s sweet disposition and vocabulary to spring me back to life?”

“I thought I'd finally taken control of my life. I chose a cause. I chose my lover. I chose to keep going. And here I am, suffering despite all my supposed good choices.”

“and we continue because we are not everyday people in a healthy world. We are the King and Queen of Arrow.”

“I thought I lost you.” I breathe her in. “Never,” she whispers. “Not until the sun casts its last ray and the moon bids the sky farewell.”

“Maeve’s name has power over everything and everyone, including me. Even in her absence, the love behind her name holds strong.”

“Hard to be decent when I’m engaged to an overly bedazzled prick.”

“I was here for Rose, who placed her heart into each word she wrote. And for Dahlia, who told me I was a hero long before I became one. They’re not here. So now I must be. For me. And for the one I will love for eternity. Me and Maeve, we’re going to be together, build a family, and take back Arrow.”

“I place a hand over my chest. This warrior—the man I love—is here for a reason. He’s here for me.”

“I respond with a regal wave to his face and a right hook to his jaw. See? Lesson learned. I didn’t slap him once. Ugeen falls on his ass, as per usual, smacking the hands of the guards who try to help him up. He lunges at me but is cut short when the guards assigned to me swarm him with their swords out. “Uh, uh, uh,” I say. “Mustn’t attack the queen. Her royal guards don’t like it.” Ugeen no longer has anything to say.”

“I poke my head around the statue in time to see Aurora spit out Aisling’s bones. “No body, no blame,” I whisper.”

“She thinks that by ducking and shooting she’s safe. Mages are like that. They tend to believe that nothing can touch them. But I’m an elf and a warrior. Fast. Agile. Strong. I close in.”

“I shove and slap him, until he trips over the hem of his robes and lands on his ass. I turn and lift my chin, fluffing my hair and remembering whose daughter I am.”

“Maeve, though—that’s a different story. She’s going to live. I don’t know how, but until my last breath I will fight for her freedom. This, I swear.”

“It takes a moment. Just a moment. For him to swing, and for my father, my hero, to die. Someone screams. And screams. And screams. That someone is me.”

“I brace myself against the counter to remain upright, tears blurring the writing before me. Years. His family’s been dead for years.”

“Leith turns to me, his features darkening to those of the Bloodguard he’s destined to be. “I’ll ram every last flower down Soro’s decapitated throat if he so much as reaches for you.”

“His full attention is on me, and it’s as if we are the only two people in the world as everything and everyone else fade away.”

“I swallow with great difficulty. “But everyone will see,” I remind him. “Let them see,” he says.”

“When those dreadful drums begin, I clutch her hand harder than I intend. “Leith?” “Sorry,” I mumble. She pats my hand. “As queen, I’ll end these games.” She felt my tension, and again she eased it.”

“On an evening this dark, Maeve shouldn’t appear so exquisite. But like the sun’s, the moon’s rays are her friend, reflecting off the shiny strands of her loose hair.”

“I couldn’t have defeated Soro and all his guards alone, but had they threatened Maeve, I damn well would have tried.”

“She chuckles, and I feel my mood lighten even more. Funny how a day out with Maeve will do that to a person.”

“What’s on your mind this time, you wizard of words?” You, I want to tell her,”

“Leith is brutal in the arena, but he’s no brute. He’s a good man who did all this for his family, long before he did anything for himself. And killer or not, he’s capable of kindness that men with riches have never thought to give.”

“Is that why you moved?” he asks, lifting a long branch out of the way for me.”

“Just…take me someplace pretty.” “Pretty?” she repeats. “Yes,” I answer quietly. Some place that’s the equivalent of you.”

“Her laugh is as refreshing as the first rains after a season of drought.”

“But the best thing here is the sound of Maeve’s voice. “Leith?”

“A queen does not give in to fear, anger, or discomfort before her subjects. She overcomes and endures. As will the kingdom.”

“The steel is of the finest quality I’ve seen in years, the edge so sharp I barely feel more than a bump as I slice clean through his spine.”