I wait to find out who I’ll be facing today.
The roaring of the crowd is familiar now. I push their noise to the back of my mind and look absently around. My eyes fall on Sin, he’s talking to the man beside him. He catches me watching and winks, flexing a muscle.
I roll my eyes. I certainly don’t flatter myself by thinking I’m the only one receiving his attentions, but secretly, I find his antics hilarious. While we’ve been in Tricks’ barracks there have been no less than five females leaving his room. This wasn’t unusual in itself. The men at our own barracks had regular female company. But we’ve only been in Sector Six for three days. I wonder if he’s been through all the women on Glacium.
I don’t find the tension in the Cells threatening anymore, though I’ll never be comfortable with Hale and his men. My eyes search for the long black fur coat he always wears. The vile man faces me, talking to a man who seems familiar in some way. I can’t put my finger on it. I study the person’s greasy black hair. My heart jumps into my mouth as the man turns and recognition slams into me.
Blaine.
I’m half standing when I remember he can’t possibly recognize me. He’s only seen me with a veil on. I forgot he was exiled to the Sixth Sector for a year. What’s he doing here? I frown. Should a member of the assembly be on speaking terms with someone like Hale? Jovan can’t be aware of the relationship, though I don’t really know what Blaine’s role is in the castle. I never found out. The two men seem like they’re friends. They’re grinning. At ease with each other.
I’ve been staring for too long. Slay has noticed and his face is twisted into a snarl. I force my tense shoulders to relax and turn the other way to find Alzona coming back from the other side with Crystal. She looks up and freezes. I’ve never seen someone go white so quickly. She scurries back, dragging Crystal with her.
Confused, I whip my head around to see what terrified her. Everything seems normal to me. Then my eyes alight on Blaine. She knows him. Alzona’s afraid of him! I move around the curved wall of the pit towards where she whispers frantically to Crystal. As I approach, her gaze flicks to me and over my shoulder. Her face blanches all over again. She throws herself behind Tricks’ bench.
A sneering voice sounds behind me. “Where is this woman Alzona, then?” I turn and Blaine stops in front of me, glancing down his oily nose. Hale is no longer with him. I scan the area surrounding me. I’m surrounded by Tricks’ men.
I cock out my left hip, crossing my arms. “I’m her. Who’s asking?” Crystal fidgets next to me.
Blaine lifts his eyebrows and gives me another once over. “You’re her?” His tone is patronizing. Doubtful.
“You gotta problem with that, old man?” I snarl, moving closer.
His eyes narrow. “Do you know who you’re talking to?”
I do, that’s what makes my next comment so much fun. “A greasy bastard with a stick up his arse?” I ask. Thank you, Alzona, for swearing so graphically.
“I’ll have you know I’m one of the King’s advisors.”
I snort. Bloody liar. “Are you just? And why’s the King’s advisor in the Sixth Sector? Seems to me the King don’t want you no more.” Tricks’ men watch the exchange, glancing at Alzona, who is hiding, and then at me pretending to be her. They don’t say anything.
At the edges of my vision, I can see her feet sticking out from the end of the bench. The temptation to look is overwhelming.
“I am conducting a tour,” he says, sniffing. His features settle into hard lines.
I clap him on the shoulder, giving him a knowing wink. “Sure you are, old man, sure you are.” I move past him. “Crystal!” I snap, clicking my fingers. She scampers up behind me. We return to our bench and Blaine sweeps past after a few tense moments. I ignore his furious look aimed my way.
“Ice,” I whisper. “Follow him. Make sure he’s leaving.” He looks at me strangely, but slides off the bench to do as I’ve asked.
Alzona stumbles back to our bench, still pale. Crystal squeezes her hand. The usually bossy barrack owner looks down at me, her expression impossible to read. I don’t ask any questions, she’ll tell me if she wants to. I seriously doubt she’ll want to. It doesn’t mean I won’t be trying to figure it out myself.
Ice slips back in. “He didn’t leave. He’s sitting three levels up.” I glance up, but he’s not in sight. I wonder who’s with him.
I wait for Alzona’s decision, until I see she’s still in shock.
“Do you need to get out of here?” I ask. She nods. I quickly gather my thoughts. Alzona just organized my fight so I can’t leave. If Blaine stays to watch my fight, he’ll know I’m not Alzona.
“Shard, Avalanche, Blizzard, Flurry. Get in.” The other men have been watching during their warm up. I meet Shard’s gaze and then look up at Avalanche. “Alzona’s heading out,” I say. “Shard, I think it’s best if you take over organizing the rest of the fights.” Shard nods.
“Ice, take Alzona and Crystal back to Tricks’. Don’t let that man see them on the way out.” Ice jumps up and down, eyes gleaming. It’s the most energetic I’ve ever seen him.
“That alright?” I shoot Alzona a hasty look. She just nods again. Her meek attitude concerns me. She’s usually so strong. What has Blaine done to make her so afraid?
“The rest of us will fight and aim to appear as normal as possible. If anyone asks, Alzona was sick.” If we’re lucky, Blaine will leave before realizing the truth.
Alzona, Crystal and Ice leave and the rest of us try to settle back into our routine.
“Finally!” Blizzard says. “We can pick our own matches.”
Shard gives him a wry glance. “Wrong. I can pick them.”
I leave them to their work, starting my own warm up. Alzona’s absence doesn’t go unnoticed. There are a few speculative glances from Tricks’ bench as Shard begins to negotiate our fights.
Shard approaches after talking with Tricks. “I don’t think you’ll be happy, but I want you to know in advance that Alzona did it and this opponent is close to your level. If you’re focused, you’ll win.”
I narrow my eyes at him and wait for it.
“Sin.”
“No!” I gasp, swinging a punch at him even though it wasn’t his doing. He darts away.
“You’re on in two.”
I continue my stretches, huffing. There’s an actual twinge of worry in my gut. Sin is constantly joking, but I’ve seen him in the pit. He’s a deadly competitor. And I’m not entirely comfortable in close proximity to him. It’s one thing to laugh at his jokes and flirtations from another bench. It’s another to have our skin touching.
The next fight goes on. I run over my starting strategy, knowing I’ll likely have to adapt it during the fight. I can be sure he’ll do the same.
“It’s your face,” a soft voice blurts behind me. I turn toward Flurry, who is stretching.
“What?” I ask and watch as he blushes. It’s been worse since I kissed him on the cheek.
“Your face is your tell,” he says. “You show what you’re gonna do. It’s what Shard was talking about the other day. He uses it to guess your move. Rest of us aren’t quick enough for it to matter. But Sin is. And I bet he knows you do it.”
I go back to stretching, thinking on his words. Why didn’t I think of that? It makes complete sense. I’ve never fought with my veil off, so filtering my expression was never an issue.
My heart pounds as the warning bell tolls. As usual, I walk around the Cells to the door, passing Tricks’ bench. His men shout out at me. Not in a demeaning way - friendly. Sin stands in front of them. He bows and gestures me to enter in front of him.
“After you, Princess.”
“I can’t wait to see this!” I shake my head at Tricks, who cackles with glee.
We enter the pit side by side. The last few fights the crowd has been chanting my name, but today Sin’s name is the loudest by far.
“You’re fighting with fame here,” he drawls, dragging a finger down the middle of his chest.
“Is that the reason all the females go to your room?” I ask.
“No, that’s because I’m the most beautiful specimen you’ll ever see. And the most skilled.” He waggles his eyebrows at me. I shake my head, trying not to smile.
I grasp at focus and it comes quickly. The bell tolls. This fight is different from the others. We circle each other. His eyes move down my body. He’s trying to put me off. The crowd laughs with him.
I distance myself from my emotions. I leave them behind.
He inches closer. I smile at him and lunge forward, aiming a fake punch at his head. He moves to block. I anticipate this and my true blow flies toward his crotch. He just catches my foot before it connects.
I need to get out of this hold. I push off with my free foot and knee him in the face, then push off his chest to flip backward. He staggers, blood trickling from his nose. He drops his hand and to my surprise, he smiles. I see the first genuine emotion ripple across his face. Intrigue, anticipation. Again, I don’t flatter myself, thinking his interest is in me personally. I know because his expression mirrors my own.
We grin at each other.
He flies at me and we collide. I block his thrust and punches, taking the blows on my forearms. They’ll be black and blue later. Right now, I can’t feel them at all. One of his punches glances off my jaw. I hook a foot behind his leg, but he steps out before I finish the form. I land an uppercut instead.
We break apart and continue circling. I’m about to change direction when he does the same. Then I remember Flurry’s words. I’m letting my gaze fall where I intend to move, before I make the move. Sin is anticipating my movements.
I check to see if I’m right by flicking my eyes to the left. He moves to the right to counter my supposed movement. I keep my expression smooth, but inside I’m laughing. Got you.
I lose my focus for a split second while celebrating. It’s enough for him to rush me. I don’t have time to think. My body responds instinctively. I duck away from his long reach and swing up onto his shoulders, wrapping my legs around his neck. I throw my weight and he crashes to the ground. I roll, intending to scramble away, but he grabs my foot and in a flash, I’m pinned. He grins down at me as I try to bend my body out of the hold.
“I’ve got you right where I want you now, little Frosty,” he says.
I stop struggling. “Do you?” His hold is unbreakable for someone of my stature, but I’m not losing this fight. I give him a look I saw a whore use and raise my head to kiss him. My lips touch his. I don’t really have time to analyze it, but at some level I know it doesn’t feel the way Kedrick’s use to. It’s nice, but there’s nothing in the kiss apart from attraction.
He blinks and loosens his hold. I imagine no one has ever tried this on him in the pits before. The crowd is screaming. I thrust a palm up under his nose, hearing a satisfying crunch. As he moves to dodge towards empty space, my knee connects with the sensitive areas between his legs.
He falls to the ground and the men in the stands groan in empathy. I wait for him to stand up. He’s not grinning when he does.
I am.
I dart a look at his left leg, then I rush him, purposely glancing to the left again. Sure enough, he turns so his left side is away from me in the last second before I strike.
I kick out his right leg and he falls to the ground, legs splayed. I give him a right cross while he sits there, following the blow through with my full body weight, twisting my back leg to maximize the force of the hit.
Wrath grins at me as I saunter past. I imagine he’s happy to no longer be the only male beaten by a woman in Tricks’ barracks anymore. The others are a bit shocked, I think. In truth, I am too. The match was close. He wouldn’t fall for my deception twice. Still, I wink at the men as I go past. Let them think I’m the more skilled.
Shard claps me on the back as I throw myself down on the bench. The others cheer and whistle loudly. Avalanche brings over some clean rags and water. Apparently my face is bleeding. I don’t remember that hit.
“You just beat one of the best fighters in the comp!” Blizzard sings, bending down to grin right in my face. He literally sings it. It makes him look ridiculous. Completely ruins his image. His grin only grows when I tell him this.
Alzona will be ecstatic. We won all our matches. Blizzard went in the pit twice because he took down his first opponent in record time. He complained about the extra work, but I agree with Shard. If we aren’t exhausted from the first round, it makes sense to push on. But I worry what Alzona will do if she finds out he competed twice. I wouldn’t put it past her to start putting us in twice every week, regardless of the difficulty of the first fight.
Shard is a natural at organizing our matches, as I knew he would be. His personal experience in the pit gives him an edge Alzona can never achieve. Flurry said all the other barrack owners are ex-pit. If Alzona utilized Shard more often, our winning figures would soar.
We begin our journey back to the First with Tricks and his group. We pass many travelers heading back. It seems no one cares what the Watchmen see once the fun is over. I think it might be a way to let them know the pits still operate, despite their efforts to stop it. A quiet rebellion.
Sin has recovered from our fight and keeps touching the array of bruises marring his face, sighing. He tells everyone he’s in love. Our bout has been turned in his favor. The men think he’s great for securing a kiss in the pits. Like it was his idea. Secretly, I’m glad Sin made a joke of the whole situation. I think we could be friends once he realizes I won’t make children with him.
“There’s a sled. Look! It’s coming this way!” Ice calls from the front of the line.
I peer around Avalanche, my eyes straining. I’ve discovered wearing a veil my whole life has affected my vision. The others seem to be able to see much farther. I spot the sled, however, which is changing course toward our group. I squint and make out two figures on the sled. My heart quickens when I see their size. I don’t know many people this big. Only three really. One of them, Avalanche, is standing directly in front of me.
It can’t be. How common are dog sleds?
When I make out Rhone standing on the back of the sled a squeak leaves my mouth. Avalanche turns to me. I shake my head and glance over my shoulder.
We’re between two snow-covered rises. The rounded corner of one is only a few meters behind me. The other is massive, with no cover on its steep incline.
I slow so the men behind me pass. Everyone’s attention is on the approaching sled. I duck around the other side of a mound and push through knee deep snow, which hasn’t been packed down like the muddy snow on the path. The width of the mound is much deeper than I initially thought. I continue all the way around its massive girth, my breath puffing out as my feet slip.
I still as the sound of Jovan’s voice reaches me. The demand in his tone is unforgettable. There are mountains in the distance, but no other cover in the space between. None that I can see. If he comes around here, I’ll be caught.
“A child ran around the back of the knoll. Why?” Jovan commands. I creep around the side, sticking my head out. I can’t see them.
“He’s pissing, m’King.” I hear Alzona slur. “Should I gets Bobby f’ya? He’d make a bang up servant. Has most of his teeths, too.”
“Not necessary,” he says in his authoritive tone. “Carry on.”
Rhone shouts his command, “Hike!” and the dogs bark as they pull forward - hopefully far away from me.
I wait until the sled is on my other side before rejoining the group with my hood pulled up over my hair. I move next to Shard. He doesn’t say anything, but I see a speculative gleam in his eyes.
“Why did you run off round there, girly?” Ice blurts out. Blizzard smacks him over the head.
“No questions, dumbarse, you know Alzona’s stupid rules.” He shoots a quick look at Alzona. Everyone forces a laugh, but I can feel tentative eyes on me. I wish Tricks’ group hadn’t seen that, though they are the most trustworthy of the other barracks I’ve met.
I’m in a bit of a daze after the near miss.
But why do I consider it a near miss in the first place? Jovan would have recognized me and taken me back to the castle. He wouldn’t have given me away. His blank features could fool the best card player. Rhone may have figured it out, but I doubt anyone else would have. So why did I run? Was I afraid of his anger? Jovan would be furious, but the thought of his reaction doesn’t bother me as much as it used to. My memories of him almost seem reasonable after dealing with the Bruma in the whore’s courtyard. It takes me a few seconds to come up with a reason. But I remember now. I can’t leave until I find out more about the arrows. That’s right. I knew there had been an explanation.
The others are staring. I realize they are waiting for an answer to Ice’s illegal question.
“I don’t like dogs,” I say lamely. Avalanche snorts and thumps me on the back, pushing me face first into the snow. I sit up sputtering, snow through my hair and eyelashes. That is when I learn what a real snow fight is.
Sixteen pit competitors use complex wrestling moves to stuff snow down other’s trousers and shirts. They burst snow balls with punches and high kicks. And five men hold Avalanche down so I can push snow into his ears.
It is the most fun I’ve had in my life.
It’s only after, when my guard is down, that I can admit the truth. I didn’t hide because my business with the arrow was unfinished. I hid because this place and these people are starting to feel like home.