KODA'S POV
The crowd dispersed slowly, their excited chatter echoing off the courtyard walls long after Ayasha had been escorted away by the guards. Not back to the dungeons this time, but to the competitors' quarters where she belonged. Where I'd fought to keep her.
I watched her disappear through the archway, noting the straightness of her spine despite everything she'd endured. Even now, even after spending the night chained in the depths of our dungeons with a noose around her neck, she carried herself like a queen. It was one of the things that had drawn me to her from the beginning.
Father remained on his platform, his purple robes billowing in the morning breeze. The crown caught the sunlight and threw golden reflections across his face, but his expression was darker than storm clouds. I knew that look. Had seen it countless times over the years. It meant someone was about to face his displeasure, and today that someone was me.
