Page 48 of Never Ever After

“Leave that to us,” he assures me. “All you need to do is become our champion.”

“No.”

“Give this a chance.” Jin speaks in the quiet persuasive tone I’m beginning to dread because it twists my mind, bending my resolve. “Fight for Thorn Valley and you’ll be under our protection, no longer one of Prince Zixin’s subjects.”

“Prince Zixin will be furious. What if I need to return here?” I ask.

“Turn him down and you’ll rouse his fury anyway—except this way, you won’t be alone. We’ll help you escape. Once you leave the palace, you won’t ever have to return. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”

“I need my ring.” Jin doesn’t realize my life is bound to it. Right now, it’s the only thing keeping me here… edging me into bad bargains.

“I’ll retrieve it whether you win or lose; all I ask is that you try.” He adds with cunning, “We’ll steal your ring during the tournament, when everyone is distracted. That way no blame will fall on you, and you’ll be safe.”

Or dead.

But I don’t refuse again. I think of the future he’s offering: the freedom to travel the realm, to search for the home and family the carp spoke of, to make my own decisions without fear.

“Are you doing this for the starfire?” I ask. “Why is it so precious to you?”

His eyes flick away. “A promise we are beholden to. Some things are safer to not know.”

A sliver of cold pierces me, my earlier impulse to confide in him vanishing. If he keeps his secrets, so will I. “If I do this, I’ll want something else too.”

“More than your ring and the fulfilment of your debt?” he drawls, his mouth curved like he enjoys the negotiation, getting the better of others—just as I do.

“You’re asking far more of me now. I’ll be risking my safety, my home here,” I remind him. “I want your word that you’ll help me get away from the Iron Mountains, for good. You will bring me someplace safe and give me enough money to start a new life—wherever I wish.”

“What about the creature I asked you to find?” He’s pushing for more, as I did. Except I know he’ll settle for less.

“You’ll do all this for me, as long as I become the champion of Thorn Valley—whether I find the creature or not.” I won’t relent. “It’s my life in danger, you can’t ask me for more. Find another way to retrieve your pet.”

A pang strikes me at the memory of the creature’s misery, concealed beneath my harsh words. I want to help it, to tell Jin—but not until I find out more, and who this creature really belongs to. Sharing what I learned with Thorn Valley could enrage Prince Zixin more than my refusal of his offer, an irrevocable betrayal I’m not brave enough to stake myself on.

“If you learn anything—”

“I’ll tell you.” I smile. “For the right price.”

He inclines his head. “I agree to your terms.”

When he scowls, I grin at him. This feels good, and I’m going to relish it because with Jin, I don’t always come out on top. Yet as I stare at the tower in the distance, reality hits like a punch to the gut.

“What if they don’t let me participate?” I ask, partly hoping it’s true.

“You’ll be masked, so they can’t stop you. They won’t know your identity until it’s too late.”

I imagine myself lying at the foot of the tower, my limbs twisted, blood soaking my clothes as the general looms above. My throat closes, doubt settling over me like a dank fog. “If I die, I swear I’ll haunt you,” I tell Jin fiercely, almost angrily.

“I’ll let you—if you die. But you won’t.”

He speaks so seriously, so sincerely, I almost believe him. “General Xilu is the greatest warrior here. My skills are nothing to his.”

“Yes, in fighting. But as I said, you just have to be quicker.” He adds, “If you only imagine your opponent’s strengths, it will just breed fear. Think about your strengths, their weaknesses, and how to bring them together.”

I must stay calm, to think as he does. “General Xilu expects victory. We can catch him off balance.”

“We’ll use the general’s vulnerabilities against him, even those that have nothing to do with fighting,” Jin says with deliberate emphasis, pulling out a withered flower from his robe.

“The peonies.” I recall how General Xilu reddened and sneezed, how he berated the attendant earlier. “They affect him, don’t they? Disorienting his senses?”