Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
EVIE
T he crowd spread far and wide around the Arena, and yet its massive shadow still reached the bottom of the hill it dominated, towering over all of us.
The huge oval structure was like a mighty rocky giant, flanked by tall, menacing trees that speared the blue sky. No bunches of fragrant flowers dripped from branches. Only spindly, sharp leaves, on the brink of turning into thorns, dared to grow here. The Arena walls were tall and reddish, created out of the same stubborn dirt that covered my own garden.
The arches rose tall, bordered by statues of fantastical creatures, each more fearsome than the last. Fangs, claws, and tusks big enough to impale Orion “The Mountain” Brawd himself. Thick metal chains hung from their paws, their sinister clinks resounding in the breeze.
The perfect location for the Blood Brotherhood training grounds where the famed Clan warriors turned formidable and deadly.
“The Blood Brotherhood, in all its fearsome might,” I muttered. “No wonder this Clan is insane.”
Adara huffed a laugh. “You’re one to talk. I’ve been to Aquila. You Protectorate lot have too many castles.”
“You have royal grounds spanning miles.”
“You have sentinels .”
“You have blood magic.”
“You really want to talk about magic? You crisp people.”
“That’s not Protectorate…that’s just me. I think.”
“You think ?”
“It’s not like I had my entire life to learn,” I said, with no lack of bitterness.
“Fair enough,” Adara said, though she looked like she would’ve wanted to add more. We were barely in the tentative truce stage of attempting to rebuild the trust between us. “Are you distracted enough or should I start reciting the Blood Brotherhood oath?”
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” I flexed my fingers underneath the long, silky sleeves. The robe hung loose on me. Too loose. I hadn’t realized I’d lost so much weight. I hadn’t been this gaunt even when I first came to the Capital.
If I’d had any joy left in me, I probably would’ve laughed at the irony of it all. Just two weeks ago, I thought Phoenix Peak had freed me from the constraints of my upbringing.
How wrong I’d been.
How painfully, soul-wrenching, horrifically wrong.
The sound of metal clashing against metal wrestled me away from my dark thoughts. The Arena groaned with an ominous rumble.
“The warriors are gathering. Hurry.” Adara guided me up the hill, past the oldest onlookers, who’d canned their way right at the edge of the steep path. Everyone in the crowd held a candle in their hand. Some had their chins tucked in their chests, lips moving too fast for me to catch the whispered prayers.
An anxious tremor coursed through the mass of people.
Worrying.
Watching.
Waiting.
The families came next, the smallest children held up on their fathers’ shoulders to get a better look. Up ahead, the rich members of the Clan held their chins higher, necks adorned with red and golden jewels. Further along were the teenagers, straining on their toes to see better between the arches.
Everyone in the citadel was here.
I’d never been to this side of Phoenix Peak, nestled close enough to the palace for easy access in case of an emergency, but far enough away that war cries wouldn’t disturb the royal peace.
Near the edge, I spotted the tops of the Sages’ tall hats, imposing as they’d been on that night when The Oracle had toyed with my mind. Tried to, at least.
Their noses were stuck so high up in the air, it was a wonder they didn’t get dizzy–and they chanted louder than everyone, making sure they were heard.
Two platforms awaited on either side of the entrance, twin spiral stairs leading to the top of each. On one, the priests prayed and rang bells, a sickly sweet smoke whirling around them.
On the other platform, Banu and Valuta were sticking their crummy noses in the air and openly glared. They tried to play it off as solemn, but I saw–and I rejoiced.
They were powerful, but not powerful enough to enter the Arena, were they? They had won no battles. At least not officially.
Neither had Kaya.
I sucked in a breath as my eyes snagged on her. How could they not, when she truly was the Jewel of the Blood Brotherhood, standing next to her parents in a blood-red ceremonial robe that swallowed her whole.
Resentment ran through my veins, drowning me in absolute, abject loathing. Even then, I could admit Kaya was beautiful. But strong, vibrant colors only paled her. She’d lost weight too, and hung her head so low, the pearl crown was one shaky breath away from slipping.
She looked utterly miserable–and my heart, this traitorous, pathetic little lump of muscle thumping in my chest, felt a pang of pity for the cloud of gloom clinging to her.
That scrap of sympathy quickly faded once I realized I’d have to walk right underneath those platforms to enter the Arena. While Banu, Valuta, and Kaya stared at me from their high platform from the tip of their noses.
The metal roars in the Arena grew, but my legs wouldn’t cooperate.
“Come on,” Adara whispered and tugged on my elbow. “You need to make an entrance.”
I gulped. “That sounds an awful lot like something Leesa would say.”
“Yes. I’ve been spending too much time among you people.” She tugged again. I still didn’t move. “I swore to protect you, remember? I’m not leading you to your death. Maiming, maybe, but not death.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, but some of the tension eased from my shoulders. “Do I look like I’m in a laughing mood?”
“No, you look like you’re scared shitless,” she whispered. “Only way to snap out of it is to actually do the scary thing.”
I still hesitated.
“Fine.” Adara let her arm fall. “Go back. Ignore all this, all of your responsibilities, and hide in your house again.”
I began moving before she finished speaking. Vegheara First Family didn’t raise cowards.
“I know what you did,” I muttered as we neared the platforms. That didn’t mean her words hadn’t smarted my ego.
“I wasn’t being subtle. It would’ve been embarrassing if you hadn’t caught on.”
Back straight and gaze fixed on the dark entrance, I became painfully aware of the whispers that followed me. Yes, yes, the Protectorate brat was joining the ceremony.
“What a surprise, Your Grace .” Valuta’s sickly sweet voice was as grating and loud as ever. “Coming here, in all your golden glory. No Protectorate blue and armor today?”
It was truly astounding how many barbs that woman could fit into a few words. My skin crawled as I looked up at her and her wretched husband, staring at me like a cockroach they hadn’t yet managed to squash.
“Doesn’t matter when you have that repulsive crown on your head.” Her mean grin widened. I would have loved to throw the crown and knock it off her face. “We would invite you up, but there’s no more room up here. Maybe you can sit behind the Sages?”
“Mother, please,” Kaya mumbled, a bit of color tainting her cheeks.
“A blessing to be permitted here, on this blessed day.” Banu raised his hands to the sky, as if he was in the middle of a sermon. “Even if she can’t stand up high with us.”
“I don’t need to.” I grinned to hide my sneer. “I’m going inside the Arena.”
Valuta’s smile trembled. “You?”
“She actually won a battle and protected the Blood Brotherhood,” Adara announced loudly. “Unlike the ones who can’t enter and have to watch from outside.”
The murmurs grew louder.
“I would have thought you’d want to partake in this blessed day among our people, but enjoy your platform,” I said, reveling in the twin grimaces Banu and Valuta threw my way. “While you can.”
I didn’t wait for their replies as I began walking again, my stride more powerful.
“Careful,” Adara whispered. “Threatening the advisors is dangerous.”
“Says the woman who implied they’re cowards.”
“I can afford it, I don’t have any family left to kill.” Adara gave me an ominous look. “The advisors strike where it hurts more. You don’t need to challenge them publicly to destroy them, until you’re sure where to strike. Are you sure?”
“Not yet,” I grumbled.
“Then follow The Dragon’s example and be patient–”
“I don’t want to talk about him,” I cut in.
Adara remained silent as we neared the entrance. The walls were thick enough to cast total darkness. I couldn’t see a damn thing.
I closed my eyes and let my other senses bloom in the shadows.
The fingers of my left hand glided along the uneven wall. I felt the smooth bumps of chiseled weapons. Interspersed between them were sculpted flowers and vines; always with the damn vines.
My silk-covered feet met no resistance on the ground; no pebbles, but there were small, regular grooves.
“Why do you have a dark tunnel that is sculpted and paved?” I whispered.
“Because we could,” Adara said.
Despite the jitters, I huffed a laugh. Such a plain, honest, very Blood Brotherhood answer. Because they could.
Let the might spread like water.
“How can you see that?” Adara asked.
“I can feel that,” I said. “I’m swaddled in soft, fine silks. Someone sneezes halfway across the continent and I feel it. All these layers are sure to impress those fearsome Blood Brotherhood warriors.”
“A true warrior knows clothes are meaningless. Some of the best assassins I’ve met were former courtesans. They could kill more targets with a sash than most can with a legendary sword. You learn to adapt and use whatever you’re given.”
Adapt. Now that I could do.
That I had to do.
The low ceiling thumped with the sound of steps. Hundreds. Thousands. Restless and powerful, waiting and eager.
I raised my nose, following the fresh, metallic-tinged air.
Close.
Closer.
When my eyelids burned with the sudden rays of light, I opened my eyes, only to find myself at the start of a long stage made out of massive rocks, thousands of warriors rushing around it.
Adara took a deep breath, a slow smile spreading on her face. “Blood, sweat, and metal. I missed this smell.”
I hummed, the words stuck in my throat.
You can do this.
My feet were leaden, begging for me to turn back around and race down the hill.
It will be over soon and then he’s off to war.
Fuck this and fuck him. Crazy Blood Brotherhood rules that made no sense.
You won’t have to talk to him after this.
That thought filled me with equal amounts of dread and glee.
I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.
“Breathe,” Adara muttered.
“I am.”
“Calmly, not like you’re about to pass out.”
The stares reminded me so much of the wedding, when I’d stopped in the threshold, underneath the mighty dragons, and saw him and Kaya at the end of the aisle.
I thought I’d gotten over this. Conquered one of my fears.
But now attention reeked of betrayal.
The famed Blood Brotherhood warriors were still gathering for the ritual, displaying their ferocity.
They marched in perfect synchronization, battalions of them raising their feet and hands at the exact same time. They even breathed in perfect coordination. Swung their large, lean swords at the same time, battle roars reverberating against the ancient walls of the arena.
Some of them noticed us, beating their closed fists above their hearts in greeting for their former general.
Adara’s grin grew, eyes sparkling with pride. She stepped forward, back as straight as the fighters’ spears. “I leave for a few years, and this is what I come back to?”
The warriors underneath the right side of the stage snapped to attention.
Adara hummed low in her throat and narrowed her eyes at the biggest and baddest-looking of them all. He had a scar spidering up half his scalp, halfway across his left eyebrow and down his bulging arm muscles. Gods knew who’d had the guts to face the mountainous man. Xamor himself maybe–and Adara, apparently.
“Kylian, mind telling me why you’re swinging your sword around like a wingless chicken?” She raised her brows, giving this Kylian a withering look. “I know for a fact I taught you proper stance since right after you left the cradle.”
“That you did.” The warrior grinned. “I’ve missed you, General.”
“Then don’t embarrass me on the battlefield or training grounds.” Adara’s gaze flew to another warrior.
This one was a spindly thing who had seen too many summers to have such an unwell paleness to him. His bones stuck out against his skin at weird angles, as if someone had taken him apart and put him back wrong–and added a few spikes down his bent spine, just to be sure. A darkness clung to him, permanently seeped into his gaze. The kind that was forged in the deepest of despairs.
Adara jutted her chin at him. “Myron, when’s the last time you sharpened your blades?”
Even the man’s smile was crooked. He whipped out two curved daggers that glinted dangerously. Blood swirled in their hilts. “This morning.”
“We’ll see about that.” Adara hummed, unconvinced.
My breathing evened out as the crowd’s attention slowly drifted to her.
“You there. The one standing on his toes.” Adara nodded at a man with a shaved head. “I didn’t train you. Who are you?”
He cleared his throat. He sounded young. Unsure. “I’m Geryll, The Commander’s squire. He sent me here to train with the warriors for a few weeks and–”
“Marvelous.” Adara unsheathed two of her mighty daggers with a fierce grin. “After the ritual, we’ll get acquainted.”
Poor Geryll gulped. I didn’t envy him. I knew first-hand what losing to Adara did to someone’s muscles, elbows, and backside.
Adara turned back to me, raising her brows.
“Thank you,” I mouthed. That small distraction had helped–so much in fact, that I hadn’t noticed two tall figures approaching us.
“Are you ready?” Adara whispered.
“I have to be.” I rolled my shoulders back as the king and queen–my new in-laws–drew closer.