Fit for the Throne 2: The Royal Games by S. McPherson

Author:S. McPherson [McPherson, S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-26T16:00:00+00:00

28

VARIALLA:

QUICK SINKING

MY GUT WAS in knots as I balanced on the precipice of the quicksand pit. My palms were clammy. My throat was bone dry. The sand was about half the size of a football field and we were going to attempt to cross it with nothing but five fragile pieces of wood.

Kylin shouted, “I’ll take the lead.”

Before any of us could say anything, she placed her wood about an arm’s length away on the sand and we were off.

Jia jumped on after Kylin and placed her wood further in front. As she and Kylin leapt onto it, the rest of us followed with Calder’s larger frame at the rear.

Sweat peppered my brow. My breaths sawed out of me. My legs shook as I rushed forward and bent to lay my own slab of wood down.

“I’m going to push it even further ahead.” I shouted. “We’ll have to really jump.”

It was a risk. The sand was almost as unsteady as water but as thick as tar. If I pushed it too hard, the wood would drift away. But if I didn’t shove it hard enough, it would stay too close. We needed to cover more ground if we hoped to make it across. Fear had my heart its clutch.

Jump or drown. Those were our options.

I swallowed the dread that climbed up my throat, nudged the wood a few feet away then leapt. My gut tightened. My body was suspended above a pit of death. Then my toes hit the wood. I wobbled precariously on the edge. Maximus gasped and jumped after me.

He caught my arm before I toppled over.

“Don’t you dare,” he murmured. “Of all of us, you must survive.”

Apparently, they didn’t believe the Outliers would follow anyone else. It had to be me on the throne; someone who belonged to both sides.

My smile was shaky. I reached out and took the wood he held beneath his arm. As the others rushed to join us, I turned to set it down. My pulse pounded in my ears. My fingers were ice cold. We were about halfway across the field but were already down to our last two pieces of wood.

Sand seeped over the edge of the slab we were on. It brushed the tips of my toes.

“Shit,” Kylin rocked back, trying to get out of range.

The wood bobbed fiercely beneath us and sank faster. Ignoring the cries of the other players as someone didn’t make it, I knelt and placed the new slab in front of this one and shoved it forwards.

I didn’t wait before I leapt. The others were quick to follow. Calder passed his own piece of wood forwards.

This was it. Our last sheet of wood. We were more than halfway now but the distance was still too far to jump. We wouldn’t make it. Not unless we took somebody else’s wood and left them to die in our place. The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth. They wouldn’t hesitate if the roles were reversed but it didn’t feel right.

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