Alien Prince's Bride: Scifi Alien Romantic Triangle Romance Novel by Vi Voxley

wouldn’t be. Then he sighed and forced himself to forget the real strength and skill in his body. Damn, it was a chore to appear so mediocre.
    Areon the Raider Prince smiled.
 

CHAPTER NINE
     
    Irmela came to explain things to them.
    It was probably better, Violet thought. She was too mad at the Overlord to talk to him. She was only slightly less mad at her mother.
    The others were mostly just confused – with the possible exception of Maige, who was just relieved out of her mind. Ronay hadn’t dropped, which made him a considerable champion, but it had been close. If it had been a real fall, he would have died. No one was going to hear any complaints from Maige. She was just too grateful to give any consideration to the fact that it had all been fake.
    Irmela rejected that accusation right away.
    “Nothing but the chasm was fake,” she said. “It was a real trial. It showed a lot and proved a lot. Once the audience was told, even they understood. Quite a few have told the Overlord it was a very clever way to start it all off.”
    “It was cruel,” Violet said.
    “Perhaps,” Irmela allowed. “Not crueler than watching them hack each other to pieces, don’t you think?”
    “Cruel enough,” said Violet. “Do you have any idea how afraid we were? I wasn’t certain that the drop wasn’t real until the very end. For a moment I thought I was going to die!”
    “Yes,” Irmela said and Violet couldn’t remember her mother giving her such a kind smile. “I was so proud of you.”
    “Proud?” she repeated.
    “Of course,” her mother said. “You did exactly what we were hoping you would. All of you, really.”
    “You planned this,” Violet said, stunned. “You and father planned for us to do that.”
    “Not exactly that, but yes,” Irmela admitted.
    “ Why !?”
    Irmela gave them all a very stern look that silenced them completely. Even those who weren’t her daughters waited to hear what she had to say.
    “It was your trial,” Irmela said. “Your tournament. And I believe praise is in order. I applaud all of you.”
    They sat, speechless. It was unheard of. The calayas weren’t the ones on trial, they were the ones the warriors fought for. They said as much, but Irmela’s stare was still hard and unrelenting.
    “Correct,” she said. “But don’t you think it’s unfair? It’s like the Overlord said – they bleed and fight and suffer and you just sit there, looking pretty. Time for you to do something too. Besides, you were never in any real danger.”
    “ We didn’t know that,” Violet protested.
    “My point exactly,” said Irmela. “Do you still not get it?”
    Violet did, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t mad. The others looked puzzled, though.
    “Now the warriors get to truly fight for something,” Irmela said. “They saw you fight for them . It means you don’t think of them merely as your amusement or bodies to be discarded. Of course they were stunned to seeyou all, but imagine what they feel now.”
    They considered it. With that realm of ideas came another possibility.
    “What if we had done nothing?” Pearl asked.
    “Neither me nor the Overlord thought that was going to happen,” Irmela said.
    “Yes, but what if ?” Lavie pressed on.
    Irmela shrugged. “Then they would have seen that too. That you were willing to just sit there and watch them all die, not trying to stop it.”
    “Do you think they would still have fought after that?” Marelle asked quietly.
    “Sure,” Irmela said. “Maybe not all of them, but most for sure. It’s just how valuable you are. Even if you’d failed the test we prepared for you, they would have taken the answer you gave.”
    “Some question!” Violet said, upset.
    “The only way to get real answers is to ask tough questions,” said Irmela.
    Violet thought about it a little more. “So the Overlord isn’t out to kill them all?” she asked.
    “No,” Irmela said. “Don’t get me wrong. This is a calaya tournament and