Chapter 93 Ninety-Three.

Chapter 93 Ninety-Three.


OLIVIA POV.

It’s only a night before my final fight, and I can’t stop thinking of what Aunt Maggi had said about King Sven. It makes me feel confused the way she talks about him having feelings for me when the window incident had proven otherwise.

“Argh! I really don’t know anymore,” I say to myself, facepalming as I fall onto my bed.

I’ve just freshly showered and now I am dressed in one of the few clean gowns I own. Sleep tonight is an illusion, that much I know, especially when I would be facing the Ripper Ghost in the next few hours. A match I have no hopes of surviving, not even with my staff.

I think of Kyle… and knowing he is with Katniss, I hope they are doing okay and staying safe.

And it hurts that I might probably never get to see either of them ever again.

Maggi’s words invade my thoughts again. And I am left thinking about King Sven, the mate bond between us that is basically useless because he has no feelings towards me, and just Maggi’s delusions of him having feelings towards me. Impossible.

The door to my room creaks open and I attempt to stand up immediately, but the chains around my ankles almost drags me down but I don’t fall. I stand by the edge of the bed to look at who entered.

Just who I was thinking about. It’s King Sven, and I watch as he closes the door behind him and walks further into the room without saying a thing until he is right in front of me.

Tonight, he looks like a shadow of his own self. His dark green eyes look sullen and he looks like a man dressed for bed, stripped of his cloak and regal armour. He just looks like Sven, rather than King Sven, and the tension in the room feels heavy.

“Even on what is probably my last day in this world, you want me to put you to sleep,” I say good-naturedly before I can even stop myself. “Not like I mind.”

Sven remains quiet. His eyes searching for mine, and once again Maggi’s words echo in my head about Sven approving my entry into the Dance of the Dead and that he would be devastated if I die tomorrow.

He finally takes another step forward, the heavy silence between us finally breaking as his eyes drop down to my ankles. He stares at the heavy iron cuffs, the very same chains that have bound me to this palace floor since the first day I arrived here as a prisoner.

“They are still on you,” he says, his voice a low, gravelly whisper. “After all this time. Even tonight.”

“Of course they are,” I let out a dry, breathless laugh, gesturing to the chains. “Sven, look at me. I’ve been dragging these around since day one, and I’m facing the Ripper Ghost in a few hours. A pair of rusty shackles is really the least of my worries right now.”

“Don’t speak of him,” he snaps softly, his jaw clenching. “Don’t say that name.”

“Why? Because it makes it too real for you?” I step closer, making the chains clank loudly against the stone floor, the familiar sound echoing bitterly in the quiet room. “It is real. I have no hope of surviving tomorrow. Not even with my staff. I’m going to die, Sven.”

“You don’t know that for certain,” he says, but his dark green eyes swirl with a desperate panic that contradicts his words. “You are stronger than you think, Olivia. You’ve survived everything else.”

“Against the fastest vampire that literally tears out one’s heart in seconds? Let’s not lie to ourselves,” I say, shaking my head.

Tears prick the corners of my eyes, but I do not allow them to fall. I don’t want to talk about my death. Not tonight.

“Sleep,” I say, holding back tears. “Is that why you’re here? For a temporary escape from your duties?”

“No,” he breathes, his gaze dropping to my lips before snapping back to my eyes. “I didn’t come here to sleep tonight, Olivia.”

“Then why are you here?” My voice betrays me, cracking slightly. “To wish me luck? To watch me break before the crowd does it for you tomorrow morning?”

“I came because I couldn’t breathe out there,” he confesses suddenly, the words tearing out of him like a secret he can no longer hold. “I came because the palace feels like a tomb tonight. Your tomb. And I couldn’t sit on that throne for another second even though my Kingdom is falling.”