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heart completely.
    “Say it.” I keep my voice cold like King Ren’s, not giving away the anger that boils behind my words.
    “Never,” Rowan says.
    A gasp ripples through the small crowd of Underlords who’ve circled around us. I can feel Rowan’s pulse hammering against my hand. Energy that has been building up inside of me courses through my free arm, and I flex my fingers as wisps of blue light lace between them like webbing.
    Rowan doesn’t flinch. Neither do I.
    “Say it,” I demand. “Say it, or you’re done.”
    Another sound of shock escapes the crowd of Underlords. They know the rules of a proper challenge. The loser must invoke
elios
—a cry for mercy—or face death at the hands of the victor. The others wonder if I mean what I threaten. Their doubt gives me more strength to accomplish the deed.
    “Lord Haden, don’t,” Dax says. I know it must be him without taking my eyes off Rowan’s face. Dax is the only one whose standing is low enough among this group to feel free to show concern. “Rowan has had enough. Let him go.” By the sound of his voice, he’s moving closer. “What would your father think?”
    I know exactly what Ren would think.
Only a coward wouldn’t finish off an opponent who doesn’t properly relent
.
    I’ve never lost a fight. I’ve never backed down. But I’ve also never been in a brawl that has escalated quite this far. I’ve never had to kill another Underlord before.
    Rowan smiles mockingly. His teeth are stained with blood, butI can read the scorn in his expression. I’m stronger than Rowan. He knows that. I clearly have the upper hand, so why would he choose this moment of all times to taunt me?
    The energy I hold in my hand swirls itself into an angry ball of white-hot lightning. It’s almost too hot to bear. I must throw it soon, or it will incinerate my fingers. “He has to say it.” I shake Rowan by the throat. “Say. It.” I keep my voice cold and steady even though I want to scream at him. I want to force the word out of his mouth. I’d reach my hand down his throat and claw it out of him if I could.
    But of course he will not make it that easy.
    “Then what would your mother have said?” Dax asks.
    His words cut as deep as a dagger to the back.
    “Don’t bring her into this,” I say.
    “Yes, little prince, what would Mother have said?” Rowan says with a sadistic gleam in his eyes.
    We must show mercy and kindness to all, my young prince. No matter their lot in this world …
    I take my sight off Rowan’s sickening smile and look up at the huddled throng that has grown larger. The Lesser boy stands a little apart from the others, holding his arm in a way that makes it look like he’s trying to push it back into its socket.
    The boy looks away from my stare. As he turns his head, I register the thin scar across his cheek. I
do
know him: Garrick.
    The boy is not just any Lesser. He is my and Rowan’s younger half brother. The bastard Lesser son of one of the many concubines our father had taken up with before my mother was even on her deathbed. Garrick used to follow Rowan and me everywhere when we were children, trying to make friends with us even though he was no better than a servant. He was the Lesser whowas there when my mother died. He was the one who witnessed what I did to earn the disdain of the Court.…
    I haven’t seen him since he was reassigned to work in the Pits eight years ago.
    Rowan groans and the crowd shifts closer, cutting Garrick off from my view as it closes in on us. All wanting to see what I’ll do next. The ball of lightning surges, blinding everyone else out of my vision. All I can see are the slits of Rowan’s fiery eyes as he glares up at me.
    Was Rowan really ready to die to prove some point?
    No. His point is that I’d let him live.…
    He wants to prove that I’m a coward so he can try to get the Court to override the Oracle’s decree.
    I flex my fingers, and the ball of lightning morphs into a