Prince of the Arena (Beasts of the Briar, #1.5)

by Elizabeth Helen

Daytonales is a hideous toad. Back then, he was wild, crazy, careless. A tornado with tangled blond hair that smelled of the sea. He had no patience, no decorum, and no care for fine literature. I can only imagine what kind of brute the years have turned him into.

Period Farron

I have to admit, no matter how many times I’ve walked through those halls, I’ve never seen it quite like I did with him.

😭

“Was that impulsive enough for you?” I grin. A storm swirls in his eyes, and for a moment, I wonder if I’ve made a terrible mistake. What if he hated that? “I’m sorry, I⁠—” “Fuck it,” he growls. Then he’s on top of me, throwing us to the sand. His hand grips tight to my hair as he crashes his lips against mine.

Kicking my feet rn

I forget everything except salt and sunshine and him.

Farron kisses me, lips of salt and sea. An Autumn boy tasting of Summer.

Goodbye

I’ve never felt this before—this intense, sickening yearning. Before, I thought this kind of desire was saved for fairy tales. Or maybe it only existed for people with mate bonds, that rare, inescapable love that’s descended from the stars.

“Have I ever told you how happy I am you tried to escape out that window?” he asks, absently trailing a hand across my body. “Hey, I didn’t try to escape. I did, despite being hindered by a thief.” Dayton laughs and rolls his eyes exaggeratedly. “I didn’t steal anything.” Oh, but you did. You stole my sense, my reason, the very breath from my lungs. You stole the peace from my soul and every thought that dared not be of you.

Farron the poet

I stroke his wavy hair and stare up at the stars. Which one did he come from? Which one did I? Why does it feel like we came from the same one?

In the starlight way 😭

The man looks up from his work as I approach, and I breathe a sigh of relief. A silver helm. Not black. It’s the eldest brother. Prince Ezryn.

EZRYN MY BABY !!!

I didn’t mean to avoid him for an entire year. It was just that I didn’t know what to do when I saw him again. Fuck, I still don’t know what to do. How am I supposed to act after everything that happened last year?

“No,” I breathe and turn back to the fight, watching Dayton dance around the other gladiator, so light on his feet. “It’s who Day is. He’s not thinking or pretending. He lives only in the present moment. There is nothing for him except the sword and the crowd. When Dayton is doing something, he’s there completely. He’s living.”

If anyone ever lays a hand on him, I’ll rid them of life and fuck him in their blood.

Ever the protector.

He’s clutching my face, and when he pulls away, he whispers, “I’m so glad you won.” Of course I did. Because I know something now. I won for him. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for him.

“I’m so happy you’re here, Fare,” he says. Then he places his hands on the sides of my face and kisses me. Kisses me in front of everyone, for all to see. I melt into his embrace. I matter to him. Matter more than undermining Damocles. Matter enough to show his family what we are to one another. I kiss my boy back and he tastes like starlight.

THEYRE PUBLIC

wave crashes over us then, so loud it drowns out everything else. When it falls away, his lips are over mine and the words lost with it. But I imagine he said, I love you. And I kiss him back like he did. Move my body with his like he told me those words.

It’s because of summer’s heat, we get autumn. It burns, and it burns, and it burns, until it withers everything into ashes. That’s what I did to you. But now, as the carriages drift away, there is no flame beside my heart. I don’t feel anything at all.

He smiles, and it’s so bright I nearly die.

The fae reaches up a shaking hand before it falls from Kel’s silver circlet down to his jaw, leaving a bloody trail. “My name is Caspian,” he says. “I escaped the Below. I need your help.”

Caspian whatcha doing here!