I laughed. Well, this would be easy. “I care nothing about that.”

“I see…” He hesitated. “This is your choice: You may choose to take the prince’s inheritance for yourself, as well as your freedom. I must explain that, if you were to marry the prince, though you would live in luxury, your inheritance would not be your own, and you would only inherit an inconsequential sum should the prince meet an unfortunate end. With the prince’s inheritance, you could build your own castle and inherent a significant portion of Dwellen while the King of Dwellen still lives.”

My skin prickled, not at the inheritance, but at the chance to get my life back. Still, it seemed too good to be true. Why would the king offer me Prince Evander’s inheritance without price? “What’s the catch?”

He continued on as if I hadn’t spoken. “If you so choose to sever the bargain and claim the prince’s inheritance, the prince will die.”

I stifled a shocked chortle. “What? No. Who falls for this? There’s no way you’re going to kill the prince. If I were to choose that option, it would just mean I’d failed the test and you would execute me for treason.”

“On the contrary, my lady. The committee who originally constructed this trial held the highest standards for an heir to the throne. It was their opinion that an heir to the throne who was stupid and lovesick enough to pick a bride who would betray him for money and power did not deserve the throne. They believed such a fool deserved to die for his lack of discernment, when the people of Dwellen were at the hands of his decisions.”

“What about an heir who is stupid enough to enter into a marriage bargain with the wrong woman?” I scoffed, but it sounded more like a labored exhale than an expression of derision. He couldn’t be serious. Regardless of the backwards notions the committee of old had held regarding the value of their potential heirs’ lives, Evander was still the only heir. The king and queen had no other children. There was no one else for the crown to pass on to. They wouldn’t have put their only living son through this trial, if…

Wait. That wasn’t right.

Evander had a sister.

Princess Olwen.

My heart stopped. Surely not. As much disdain as King Marken held for Evander, the king despised his daughter. The ancient fae would rip his own heart out before giving the title of heir to his daughter who had shamed him publicly by refusing her father’s plans to form a political alliance through her marriage.

But, then again, how much control did the king have over the results of the Trials? When he’d first told me of the Trials, I’d thought he meant to punish me. Except what motivation had he really had? For all I knew, the king took an oath when he was coronated that he would uphold the outdated tradition.

Did he have the power to save his son from death, even if he wanted to?

My stomach twisted.

“I have yet to finish.”

I crossed my arms. “By all means, go on.” The darkness in the room seemed to thicken.

“If you were to choose the money and power, the prince would die. But the prince has also been given a choice. A choice between what the committee decided would be the greatest temptation to the prince, and your life. If he severs the bargain while you choose to maintain it, then you will die.”

My heart faltered, started back up, and raced in my chest. Surely he wouldn’t. Surely not.

“If you choose to kill the prince, and he chooses to kill you, then both your lives will be spared, and you shall both have that which your heart most desires. If the prince chooses to kill you, and you choose to spare him, then—”

“Then I die,” I breathed. “I know how this works.”

“Correct. If you choose to kill the prince, and the prince chooses to spare you, then he dies. If you both choose to spare one another, then you each forfeit that which is most precious to you. Your bargain will remain, and you shall be married in a week’s time.”

“And what exactly do you think is most precious to me?” I asked, hardly daring to breathe.

“I’m afraid I cannot tell you that.”

“Of course you can’t.” My mind whirred.

“I did not make the regulations.”

I shuffled through the possibilities. What was most precious to me? My stomach seemed to shrink when I thought of my parents. I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t want Evander to die, not even if I hated him… But my parents… I couldn’t…

As if reading my mind, the voice said, “In addition, the rules of the Trials state that no one will be put to death due to the decisions made by the prince and his betrothed.”

Relief washed over me, but it was short-lived. My parents wouldn’t die if I made the decision to spare Evander, but would I even live to see them again?

Evander thought I hated him. I did hate him. Would he assume I’d want him dead? Given my anger at him last night, he might assume I’d murder him anyway, regardless of the reward. Then he’d surely choose to kill me, thinking he could spare himself.

If that was the case, I could agree to kill him and we’d both be spared.

But, then again, what if he chose to spare me?

I hated him. I hated him for loving a thief and murderer above me. I hated him for choosing a single night of euphoria over the friendship I’d thought we’d built. I hated him for letting her go free, even if that meant risking my life. And I hated him for using me, for playing my affections, so that I could rule not with him, but for him, in the future.

I hated him, sure.

But enough to kill him?

My heart lurched.

“If I choose to kill the prince, that guarantees that my life will be spared, correct?”

“Indeed.”

I numbered the alternative situations in my mind, as if somehow that would make the choice lest daunting. Less permanent. 1) I sever the bargain, but Evander spares me. That would leave me free and Evander dead. 2) I spare Evander, but he severs the bargain. Then Evander would be free, and I’d be dead. 3) We both spare each other, choosing to lose what is most dear to us and go through with the marriage. 4) We both sever the bargain, and we both get to live, while keeping what is most dear to us.

My heart raced. I didn’t want to die. Perhaps I’d felt numb this morning, but mostly because I knew I’d have to live in fear of waking up with that horrid pale face grinning at me above my bed, a dagger in hand. Perhaps already lodged in my chest. I didn’t want to die, not yet. Could I bring myself to kill him if it guaranteed sparing myself? He’d already proven that my life wasn’t the most important thing to him. If he’d really cared about my wellbeing, he never would have let her go. Never would have risked it.

He was going to choose to kill me, I realized.

Because there was something out there more important to him than my life and safety. Something the committee had surely caught onto.

Her.

He could kill me and have her.

My pulsed raced, the walls of the box crowding in on me.

Be reasonable, Ellie. Evander could have killed me at any point since our betrothal, I reminded myself.

But this was different. His life was on the line this time. And he knew I hated him. Why would he risk his own life, when surely he was convinced I would choose to kill him?

“Have you made your decision?” the voice asked.

“I…um…”

“Take your time.”

But I didn’t want to take my time. Because the longer I spent in the darkness, alone, hidden from the outside world, protected from the judgment of my parents’ knowing eyes… I knew where the darkness would take me. It was all part of the trial.