With new equipment, I launch into a fresh set of training exercises. The tournament consists of one-on-one and group fighting. The first category is easy; we all have experience with this. I spend time correcting bad habits. By their recommendation, I start lifting more weights. I thought the added bulk would slow me, so I’ve never done it before. My punches and kicks only grow more powerful, more efficient.
For me, the group category is the most exciting part of our sessions. I start the men on easier drills and make them more complicated and dangerous each week. I know they’re curious as to why I am giving them these aerobatic exercises and dance-like routines. The depth of their trust keeps me awake at night, praying I don’t let them down.
This week I fight Slay. The odds are against me. Our skill levels are similar, but he has many revolutions of fighting experience. Still, I don’t plan to make it easy for him. I’ll gather information for the real fight at the tournament. And if I win - even better.
“I heard something interesting yesterday,” Shard says. I chew my meal with eyes closed. Avalanche has outdone himself. I don’t know what the meat is and I don’t want to ask, but it tastes delicious.
“What’s that?” I’m more interested in my plate than his gossip.
“I heard Frost, the fierce female warrior, visited Leila. The First Sector’s most sought after whore,” he says.
“Who’s Leila?” I ask.
He tilts his head in amusement. “The woman who dances in the top room. I’ve seen you talking to her.”
My confusion clears. “Oh, you mean—” I realize Willow’s name isn’t common knowledge. “I know who you mean.” I finish lamely. “Yes, I went into her room.” I shrug. “What of it?”
I look up to see the whole table staring at me. Flurry shifts uncomfortably on the bench.
“You spent time with Leila?” Blizzard asks, he sighs and closes his eyes. “That would have been a sight to see.”
Ice wrinkles his nose. “I dunno. That’s like watching your sister do it.”
Blizzard shudders in response. “True.”
I gasp when I understand what they’re all thinking. “She just showed me her clothes! Nothing like that happened.” I remember Willow’s comment as I left. She knew my visit would be taken this way. Alzona and Crystal share a small smile.
“Well, the whole Outer Ring is talking about it,” Shard says once the others stop laughing. He rests his elbows on the table as he leans forward. “You’ll hear about it in the Cells. I’d just go with it. You’ll have most of the fighters distracted. And it makes you seem untouchable. Don’t show the gossip bothers you and you’ll be fine.” When Shard says something like this, he’s normally right.
The warning bell tolls. I’m struggling to focus. It’s how I know I’m more nervous than I’ve ever been. Slay prowls past our bench without looking my way.
“How was she?” a man from an unknown barracks yells as I move to follow my deadly opponent.
“I’d tell you to try her, but she’s picky about who she has,” I call over my shoulder. I smile at the groans that result from my words - or Alzona’s words in a last minute coaching session.
I take the five steps down into the pit. Focus, Olina.
Slay.
The best and most evil of Hale’s fighters. The tales of him and his brother, Butcher, are sickening. The duo is knee-deep in most of the crime occurring in the Outer Ring. And with the size of Hale’s barracks, they are near unstoppable. He dances in front of me.
We both tense as the second bell sounds. It strikes me he may be a little…concerned about the outcome.
“You finally got balls, Snowdrop.” He hisses, spittle spraying towards me. He begins to circle.
“Had to see what all the fuss was about. Can’t say I’m impressed so far.” His eyes narrow at my insult, but he doesn’t take the bait. He’s too clever for that. Has probably heard something similar every week for the last ten years.
I know I’m in trouble when he flashes a punch at my face so quickly I have to give him two meters to recover. Shard wasn’t exaggerating his speed. We begin our dance.
We exchange blow after blow. I block most of his hits, but some get through. I’ve only landed the same amount of hits as he has. The simple fact that he’s bigger and stronger will give him the win if I don’t change my tactics.
The crowd is quiet from the growing tension between me and Slay. It’s the longest fight I’ve had yet. I know my endurance is flagging, but he doesn’t look so good either. We fly around the stone circle in powerful bursts of movement. I pant with the effort, aiming a kick at his cheekbone. There is a split second where I realize my eyes have given away the destination of my strike.
A crushing fist hits me in the side of the head. I stagger back.
The crowd sounds funny, muted. They’re moving in slow motion. The floor slams into me.
I force open heavy eyelids to find a circle of concerned faces hovering over me. I wince and gingerly sit up, holding my head. Crystal is wringing out a bloodied cloth. I feel around and find a large cut above my ear and a huge lump on my jaw. Not broken.
“You just lasted half an hour in the ring with Slay, girly! The whole arena is talking about it.” Ice jumps up and down. Only he could pull this off and still look tough.
I squint up at him. “I lost. Why are you happy?”
Shard and Blizzard crouch down next to me. “What happened?” Shard asks.
“Got tired. Forgot to filter my expression.”
“Thought so. There are a couple of things Blizzard and I picked up that we think you should work on, too.”
“Endurance,” I say and then groan as my jaw protests. “Talk later.” I roll back down onto my back.
Blizzard grips my shoulder. “You did well. You’ve gained a lot of respect today from the fighters and the crowd, too. Next time, his arse is yours.”
It takes me two days to regain normal vision. It makes me glad I don’t get knocked out often. Thank Solis for Alzona’s set of rules. I use the time to finalize my training plans, adding my own personal goals after a talk with Shard and Blizzard. The fight with Slay will come down to stamina. He has no pattern I can see and I know I don’t have one, barring my tell, which I’ve been practicing on.
The men are eating lunch in the mess room. I go to the office off the side of the gym to find Crystal. The door is open. Which is why Alzona and Crystal don’t know I am there.
I stare, mouth open, at the sight of them with their lips locked together. I must make a sound. Alzona whips her head around.
“Uh,” I stammer.
“Dammit,” Alzona says. Crystal turns pink. I put up both hands.
“I just had a question for Crystal, don’t worry I’ll ask later. Won’t tell anyone.” I stop babbling as I turn and almost run across the gym. I hear laughter behind me.
What the hell was that? Alzona and Crystal were together? Females actually did that? I thought it was just male fantasy. How long had it been going on? Crystal was so young.
I pause before opening the door to the mess room. It’s not hard to switch off my emotions. Slower than it used to be in my mother’s palace, but I guess I’ve let my guard down a lot. Bruma are easy to relax around. The pause is to ensure my expression is normal. It’s also why I keep my head down when the pair enter a few minutes later.
We complete our final round in the pits. After my round with Slay, it was decided none of us would compete against anyone from Hale’s group. Alzona added a new rule after some shouted threats. Things had been unstable with them since the match, even though I lost - which they never failed to remind me about. Now, none of us are to leave the barracks alone.
“What should I do about Ice?” I ask Shard. He turns to look at the wiry man, who is babbling away at Flurry by the weights. Ice is still lagging behind in his output. With some badgering from the rest of the men, his effort raised infinitesimally. But overall, the others have quadrupled their work-rate, while his has only doubled. I’ve added the final elements to our group fight, but we’re only as strong as our weakest link. I’m out of ideas to motivate him.
Shard slams another punch into the bag and shifts his weight onto his front foot to leap back from the imaginary opponent’s return swing. He turns to me.
“I truly don’t know. I’ll think on it.”
He’s interrupted by a scream.
Shard and I are at the back of the gym, farthest from the door. We break out of our shock and rush toward the sound; the footsteps of Flurry, Avalanche, Blizzard and Ice pound ahead of us. The scream came from the front of the barracks.
All of the gates are open. They clang behind us as we push through.
“Don’t look!” Flurry grabs my arm. Please, don’t let it be Crystal or Alzona. I shake his arm off and skirt around Avalanche who is also trying to block my view.
I can’t close my eyes against the horrific sight. Bile rises in my throat.
It’s a woman. She’s dead. Strung up in our alley. I assume from her garments she was a brothel worker. Crystal’s screaming. I realize the sound was there before and I was just too panicked to hear it. Alzona whispers to her, rocking her back and forth. She gives Avalanche a beseeching look and he picks up the hysterical girl, taking her away from the awful sight. The woman has been brutally beaten, her throat slit. But the mutilation and blood below her waist is the true confirmation her killer had no humanity.
“Why?” Ice’s whisper breaks our numbed silence.
“It’s a message,” Shard says. I look at him. I can’t see his face through my tears. He moves over and envelops me in a tight hug. “But I don’t know who from.”
Blizzard and Flurry usher me back inside as Ice and Shard free the woman from the rope. I don’t know what they do with her body. But I trust Blizzard to do as much as he can for her.
Training is over for the day. The message has achieved its goal. Our barracks are rattled.
We sit in the mess room, taking comfort in each other’s company. Crystal and Alzona come in a few hours later. Crystal goes straight to the alcohol stash beneath the sink and downs a large mug full.
“Well don’t hog it all,” Flurry says in a gentle voice. He grabs more mugs and fills them.
We sit around and quietly sip the brew. Crystal leaves after a while, gesturing for Alzona to stay. I know she wants privacy, but I remember what the others did for me a few weeks ago. I walk down the hallway and climb up through the trapdoor. People seem to come to this spot when they’re sad. Except me. I beat up a bag for a few hours. Crystal stiffens, but doesn’t turn around.
“Go away,” she says in a broken whisper.
“I will. I just wanted you to know we’re all here for you. If you need me, just let me know.” I turn to leave, but I’m stopped by her soft words.
“Do you know I was raped?”
I freeze. She turns to me and I see she was trying to hide her tears before.
“I gather you didn’t. I’ve seen you watch me with the men and thought you may have guessed. I can’t be completely comfortable with them. Even ones I love, like the men downstairs.” She takes a shaking breath. “Alzona knows,” she adds. A shockwave of disbelief courses through me. What monster would do that to this sweet girl?
“What happened?” I ask. She hesitates and I rush to rectify my mistake. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk. Just don’t tell Alzona I asked a question.” She lets out a weak chuckle.
I climb out of the trap door and sit beside her. It takes a few moments for her to begin. “I was fourteen. I had just…moved to the Middle Rings and I was late coming home from a friend’s house one night.”
“Last year?” I ask.
She looks at me, assessing me. She tilts her head back and looks at the sky. “No. It was eight years ago. I’m twenty-two.”
I straighten with her revelation. I never would have guessed her to be so old. “That makes me feel better about what you and Alzona were doing. I thought I was going to have to save you or something.”
A real laugh comes from her this time. “Bet you’re glad you don’t have to do that.” Her voice catches and tears drip off her chin. “There were four of them, but only one raped me. I suppose I should be thankful for that,” she says bitterly. “Afterward, they left me to die in the cold. I should’ve died. Sometimes I wish I had.”
I don’t know how I should react. Should I hug her? This goes beyond my experience. I’ve been beaten and tortured, but never violated in this way. Nothing I can think of seems enough. So I just listen.
“Alzona found me. You know how she tends to stroll over the rooftops in the early morning?” She shuffles around on the ledge. “I hate when she does that. I always worry.”
“You two have been together a while I take it? I never guessed.” And it’s true, I‘ve never once suspected they were anything more than friends.
Crystal smiles. “You’re not hard to fool with those kinds of things.”
“That’s a nicer way to put it than Leila did,” I say. My laugh echoes into silence as we look out across the sprawling houses and ruins. “Did you ever find the men who did that to you?” If they’re still alive, they are officially on borrowed time.
I look at her and nearly jerk away with how quickly her expression twists into fury, thinking it’s at my question.
“Oh, yes. I see him all the time.” She looks straight ahead again.
“It was Slay.”
The mood is subdued the next day, but our training reaches a new level of ferocity. Someone is screwing with our barracks. Blizzard splits open the punching bag. I knew the second Crystal told me about Slay, that he left the woman at our door. There was no such thing as coincidence in the Outer Rings. It was a warning to me, or a reminder to Crystal. Probably both. A cruel and terrible way to unsettle us.
The fight between us was now personal.
After a quick talk with Alzona, I jog down to Willow’s brothel. I wave to her until she sees me and then enter the building wedged between two men. They don’t give me more than a cursory glance until she glides down the stairs towards me. Then they spin to look between us so quickly, I’m surprised they don’t fall over. It seems the rumor has travelled far.
“How can I help you, lover?” she asks me. The man closest to me gulps. I move toward her and grab her arm.
“I just couldn’t stop thinking about you,” I say through gritted teeth. She titters as I drag her upstairs and shut the door.
She claps her hands. “That was fun.”
I’m not sure about fun. More like horrendously uncomfortable. I still wasn’t sure what to think about this new type of relationship. I clear my throat.
“Willow,” I say. “There was a lady left outside our barracks last night. She had brown hair to her waist and a square-ish kind of face—”
Willow cuts me off, her frivolity gone. “A little taller than me?” she asks. I nod.
“Ursa. Beth was her street name.” She sighs and sits on the bed. “We suspected something was wrong when she didn’t return last night. What happened?”
I tell her, skipping over the worst parts. I sit down and wrap an arm around her as tears well in her luminous blue eyes.
“I need to know who she was with last night,” I say softly. She immediately shakes her head.
“That’s something we don’t notice here.” She stands. My arm drops to my side.
“I understand. I have my own suspicions as to who did it.” I watch her eyes and posture. “I think it was Slay.” Her reaction is subtle. Perhaps a Bruma wouldn’t have noticed the way her eyes flashed, or how her hands tightened in her lap. To a Solati though, she’s answered my question as though she spoke out loud.
I continue. “Slay raped a friend of mine. I assume he does this regularly. I didn’t know Ursa, but no one should have to die like that. I will do my best to…deal with him in the next few weeks.” I move to the door.
“I can’t tell you anything. It’s against Mistress’ rules. But I will tell you that you have very good instincts. And I would say if you deal with him, you would gain our everlasting gratitude.” She looks directly into my eyes.
“Anything in particular you want me to tell the Cells this time?” I ask. She laughs, back to normal for all appearances, and waves me out of the door.
I’ve confirmed it was Slay. This allows me to tell the others without giving Crystal’s secret away. I leave the whorehouse, lost in my own thoughts. I bump into someone. This isn’t unusual in the Outer Ring. I move aside, but jerk back at the flash of red in the corner of my eye. I look up into familiar blue eyes and jerk a second time. The eyes belong to Sanjay, one of the peace delegates
“You lost?” I squeak. I clear my throat. I’ve never made that sound in my life. He glances down at me and I note his pale, green-tinged face. The assembly doesn’t come to the Outer Rings. What is he doing here?
“Yes. Lost. I, uh. Shit!” He shakes his head. “Where am I?”
“Outa Rings,” I mumble, while I soak up the sight of my friend. Though concern mars my happiness. This place is dangerous for him. He stands out like a candle in a deep cave.
“I…I don’t remember.” He looks down at me with wide eyes. There’s none of the amused bravado I’ve grown used to. “What way to the Middle Rings?” he croaks. I point back the way I came.
He presses a coin into my hand and stumbles toward the path. My heart gallops in my chest. What’s happened to him? Has someone attacked him? He certainly isn’t himself. Is he looking for me? Is King Jovan still fleecing Glacium for me, after all this time? I thought the attempts to find me would have halted by now. And why would Jovan send a delegate? Watchmen were usually given these jobs. At least that’s who Jovan sent to find the thugs who beat me an inch from death while I was staying in the castle. Maybe he was changing tactics after coming up empty. The delegates were among those on Glacium who knew me best. They’d technically kidnapped me from Osolis after Kedrick’s death, mistakenly thinking I was the assassin. Somehow they’d become good friends in the process.
I follow Sanjay to the edge of the Middle Rings, making sure he escapes safely. I watch until his shoulders disappear around a corner before circling back to the barracks with a sigh.
Everyone is eating lunch when I return. I shake off the episode with Sanjay. I’m about to do something that requires my full attention.
“I went down to the brothel and spoke with Leila,” I say. It is an odd enough comment that it draws everyone’s immediate attention. “The woman’s name was Beth, real name Ursa. She left with Slay last night. A fact which doesn’t leave this room.” I look each of them in the eye. I don’t want this coming back on Willow.
Blizzard pounds his fists onto the table. “Hale’s men are playing games with us because we’re not going to the pits.”
I flick a glance at Crystal. “Yes, I believe it is a challenge to me. But we aren’t going to rise to the bait. Now is not the time to strike. However, I don’t trust them not to attempt something else. One of us needs to watch their barracks.”
“I’ll do it,” Ice says. He stands up and looks between Alzona and myself. I look at Alzona. His eagerness to follow Blaine in the arena has stuck in my mind.
“I don’t think he should be allowed to,” I say.
“Why?” Ice sputters. He’s genuinely baffled. He won’t be for long.
“You know why. Or at least you should. You’re the weakest link of the six of us. If Alzona gives you permission to do this, you’ll miss out on more and become a bigger liability.”
“Are you saying I can’t fight?” he asks, eyes sparking.
“I’m saying you have the ability to be a great fighter, but your work ethic is poor. I’m not rating you on your potential. I’m rating you on what I’ve seen. Can you honestly tell me you don’t know this?”
I can see him searching for an excuse. I continue, not giving him a chance to respond. “This is only one of my concerns, Ice. My other is that your lazy mentality will carry over into spying on Hale’s group and put you in danger.”
“It will not,” he says hotly.
I arch my brow. “I could take your word. But so far your word hasn’t meant much—as far as training goes. Do you remember when we sat here and the five of you vowed to give your best at training so we could win?” I look around at the others. They’re avoiding Ice’s gaze.
Ice looks at his feet. I catch an amused glance from Shard and give him a wink - he’s guessed what I’m up to. I let Ice simmer until his cheeks begin to color.
“Tell you what. If Alzona agrees, I’ll put you on trial.” Ice raises his head. “If you work hard enough the first half of the day, you can have the rest of the day off to spy.” I play my part and wait for Alzona’s response, but we have already discussed this. She purses her lips for show and agrees.
“Yes! I’ll do it,” Ice assures me.
I continue. “It’s a decision which will be made daily. If you do not perform, you do not spy. Is this fair?” I ask the table. Everyone shows their agreement. I look back at Ice and his face is the most determined I’ve ever seen it.
“I’ll do it. I’ll pull my weight better,” he vows.
“Glad to hear it. As for the spying, I’ll leave that up to you.”
Ice mutters to himself. “I think it’s best if I watch the barracks for part of the night. I assume they’ll also be training during the day. Maybe I should keep tabs on the brothel, too.”
I allow myself a smile as he jabbers on about his strategy.