And Reddin held up a hand, motioning for me to stop speaking. “I am not a cruel man at heart, my Rachel. I will at least allow you two to enjoy your final night in private. If you need anything from me, all you have to do is scream.”
Reddin lightly chuckled before he casually walked out of the room, a silver door sliding shut right behind him.
“Wexxon…Wexxon…” I was weeping before I even knew it, my hands going toward the fabric that bound his wrists. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…”
“What are you apologizing for, my little warrior?” Wexxon smiled down at me. “You did nothing wrong.”
“I shouldn’t have made you leave the bedroom,” I said, my fingers feebly pulling at the bindings. “If you would’ve been there, he never could’ve pulled me out of the bed. You never would’ve let him take me—”
“None of that is your fault,” Wexxon replied. “And if you hold onto that as your guilt, you will only poison yourself for years to come.”
“And if I have to watch you die, I won’t have any years to come.” A sob tore through my frame as I spoke. “Wexxon…I don’t…I don’t know if I can live without you.”
“What are you saying, Rachel?” Wexxon’s voice fell to a whisper.
“I’m saying that I love you,” I whispered right back, my hands going up toward either side of Wexxon’s face. “I’m in love with you, Wexxon. And I’m such an idiot for not realizing it before. I was just…I was just scared of moving on, of letting go of how I thought my life was going to turn out. But all that did for me was hold me back from being happy, from enjoying every minute I had with you—”
“We will have so much more time in the future, my Rachel.” Wexxon smiled over at me again. “We’ll have so many days and nights of me devoted to you, of me proving how much I love you—”
“How can you say that and be so sure?” I moved my hands away from his wrists before I lifted myself into his lap, soon settling against his frame. “Wexxon, you have to know that he’s going to use every trick in the book. He’s not…he doesn’t want to play fair. He just wants to hurt you. He just wants to hurt me.”
“I know.” Wexxon somberly nodded. “But that’s the thing about my brother. When he’s desperate to win, that is when he’s mostly likely to lose. He still hasn’t taken the time to analyze his own weaknesses after all these years. All he’s done is focus on mine.”
“Wexxon…” I stared down at his face, my fingers trailing down his neck, as I quietly confessed, “Grindeem is dead. Your brother killed him…because he refused to marry me to him. I…I held him in my arms as the life left his body.”
“Grindeem is dead,” Wexxon repeated the information, his expression filling with a hardness I’d never seen before. “So, Reddin has killed an innocent. Grindeem was never even a warrior. He never stood a chance in battle with anyone.”
“There was a knife in his back,” I continued, unsure of why the information was spilling out of me, the details still so vivid in my mind. “I didn’t…I just wanted to make sure that he felt warm, at the end. That he knew that…someone cared.”
“I am sure he was grateful for your attention, my love,” Wexxon replied. “I am sure your warmth carried him over to the next life.”
For some reason, Wexxon’s response filled me with a complete loss for words. And instead of saying anything else in the moment, I suddenly buried my head into the crook of Wexxon’s neck, my tears warm as they pressed into his skin, as I held onto him as tight as I possibly could.
As I held onto him as if it was going to be the very last time.
Chapter Fifteen
Wexxon
I woke up in the middle of the arena, familiar sand underneath my back, a familiar sky situated above.
Although as soon as I moved against the grains, I quickly realized that there was something wrong with the sand, its quality feeling strangely unrefined, its color a much brighter green than ever before. There was something wrong with the sky, too, its appearance seeming hollow as I stared up at it for a second time.
Reddin’s arena.
Of course, it was a peculiar, twisted imitation of the real thing, the same way everything else seemed to be in the world he’d created for himself. I then lightly groaned, feeling something heavy in my hand, something that almost felt like it was attached to my fingers themselves.
And when I looked down to see the sword that’d been forced into my grip, stitches reaching from my hand onto its hilt, I winced away the pain.
“There’s our challenger!” Reddin shouted, and I looked over to find the sound of his voice. Reddin was on the other side of the arena, a wild look in his eyes, a sword held down at his side. He then signaled toward the waiting crowd, their roars erupting all around the arena, soon cheering his name in a thunderous wave.
“Reddin the Greatest! Reddin the Greatest! Reddin the Greatest!”
Another twisted imitation.
I spared another look over at my brother as an ache formed behind my chest. Despite everything that he’d done to me so far, his threats against my Rachel, his cruel slaying of Grindeem, I still inwardly lurched at the idea of murdering Reddin, the last person to have any memory of our parents, the only other person on Xelxar who remembered our mother’s smile.
But as the crowd continued to cheer his name, as the sword forced into my hand pulled at my skin, I rose away from the sands, the ache behind my chest turning into stone.
“Finally, brother!” Reddin grinned as he shot his arms up toward the sky. “You will face me like you were supposed to so many years ago! I applaud you for finding your bravery! I commend you for your commitment to justice!”
“You have no idea what bravery is, Reddin,” I replied, just as loud as his shouting. “You don’t understand that I would’ve died for you. You’ve never understood what it took for me to choose the lash over taking your life. And now, you’re daring me to take your life in front of the only family you have left. The family you cobbled together after running away from me, after running away from Palqeet—”
My words were cut short by something slicing across my neck. I then reached a hand up toward my skin, my fingers nimbly searching for the injury.
And when I pulled my palm away from my neck, I saw little spots of my own blood. I then looked down by my feet, now noticing several tiny blades, unsure of how they were able to come toward me without being seen.
“You talk too much, brother.” Reddin sighed. “It’s not your fault. I’m sure you’re used to everyone on Xelxar being interested in what you have to say.”
Reddin then positioned himself against the sand, arranging his feet into a warrior’s stance. “But not here, Wexxon. Here is where your words mean nothing, and your final gasps for air will only be remembered by the woman who weeps for you in the stands.”
Rachel.
I knew she was nearby, but I couldn’t look for her in the arena. I didn’t want to see the look on her face, the tears she was crying as she watched my brother threaten my life.