Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau

Author:Joelle Charbonneau
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-04-04T04:00:00+00:00

12

The cheers.

The excitement.

And it was for him.

Sweating and panting hard, but refusing to slow down, Andreus had crossed the finish line. He held up his arms to acknowledge the spectators when he heard the first scream. In the crowd beyond the field, he saw people pointing. Everything around him went silent and he looked back to see what the problem was.

Carys was standing just past the fiery coals obstacle. He felt a spurt of relief when he realized she hadn’t fallen into one of the traps. Although smoke was billowing up from the bottom of her dress. Was that what the people were shouting about?

Then he saw the man lying on the ground twenty lengths from the finish line. Blood oozed from the familiar silver stilettos sticking out of his back.

For a second it was as if nothing moved. Then chaos erupted.

Several guardsmen leaped over the fence separating the racing path from the spectators and hurried toward Andreus, swords drawn. Another grabbed a bucket that was being handed to him over the fence and sent the water splashing onto Carys.

Carys screamed at the man to let her by, shoved past him, and raced down the course toward Andreus.

“Are you okay?” she shouted above the din.

Andreus looked around at the crowd, at the guardsmen, at the other five runners who were standing near the fiery coals appearing as stunned as he felt.

“What did you do?” he shouted at Carys, trying to understand what was going on. One minute he was winning the footrace—and not because of anything his sister did to help him. It was his victory. His alone. The other competitors were racing for gold. But as hard as they ran, he was the one who crossed the finish first.

Growing up, he’d watched his brother victorious on this very field. He’d listened to the cheers and saw how the girls ripped fabric from their hems to offer as favors to their champion. He’d seen Imogen’s eyes glow each time Micah sent a strong competitor to the ground. Even if she hadn’t loved Micah, she’d cheered him as if he were a hero.

Today Andreus was the hero.

In crossing the finish line, he realized how much he wanted the crown. How much he wanted to see Imogen watch him with glowing eyes and to hear the people of Eden cheer for him.

Now the cheers were gone.

“He had a knife, Andreus,” Carys said. “He was trying to kill you.”

“Kill me?”

Captain Monteros climbed over the fence and the crowd quieted as the head of the castle guard slowly walked to the fallen racer. He picked up the blade lying on the ground next to the dead man and turned it over in his hand several times before sliding it into his belt. He then grabbed hold of the silver stiletto handle, put his foot on the man’s back, and yanked the knife free. He did the same with the one buried in the base of the fallen attacker’s neck.

No one made a sound as

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