Book 16: The Bride Price

Lexa

Kaleb’s hand rests on my lower back as the guards move from the gate to the Glade. The small door cut within the metal of the ancient gate that towers so high I have to crane my neck to look up at the top of the wall gives way, and instead of constant shuffle, thunder of hammers and whining of saws, the Glade is… silent.

I’m used to people looking at me now–stopping what they’re doing to turn in my direction, to follow me with their eyes.

I’m not prepared for the bows. The bobbing of heads. The quiet, suffocating awe.

Kaleb’s fingers curl into a fist at the base of my spine, but I move with him like this is just another day, another day we’ll spend in the sparring ring together when things were easy between us. When none of this had happened yet.

People gather in doorways or peek through open windows. Children stop their games to watch us pass. I look everyone in the eyes, questioning the curious glances–the uncertainty. But they k