Tamzin.
The sun was still high when the arena quieted once more, its wooden bones humming with the weight of what had just transpired. Blood had been spilled, honour earned, and three warriors remained standing at the end of it all.
Alastair. Eli. Me.
I was still catching my breath, the last tang of Mirabelle's iron-scented blood thick in my throat when Queen Elsbeth stood again. She looked radiant under the light, her presence commanding without needing to lift her voice, though she did.
"We are down to our final three," she announced, and the crowd erupted. "You have seen them fight. You have seen them bleed. And now, you will see them rise."
The cheers vibrated through the arena floor beneath my feet.
