Chapter 34 #5
“How so?” she asked, disinterested in me now and I pushed my tongue into my cheek, determined to regain her attention now that she was withholding it.
I wasn’t a man used to being ignored, even the emperor and his wife were watching me closely.
But not her. She was examining her damn nails like they had the secrets of the universe written into them.
No doubt she was aiming to put me off, but instead she was presenting me with a challenge which was only ever going to encourage me on.
I leaned in closer until she was forced to look at me again and I sensed the guards shifting around me as I overstepped her boundaries.
Austyn held up a hand to keep them at bay, curiosity bursting in her amber eyes as I played chicken with her.
I could feel the crowd holding their breath, wondering if I really might be so bold as to lay my mouth on the princess.
The game of it was all too fucking enjoyable and Austyn’s eyes sparked like she liked playing it too.
I felt the rebel in her rising and for a second, we were just two people who wanted to say fuck you to the whole kingdom and I almost laughed at finding such a wild soul housed in this prim and proper creature before me.
I wanted the kiss as much as I wanted to stick my middle finger up to the crown for all the meals it had robbed me of, and I wondered what Princess Austyn wanted to smite it for in kind.
“You’re still wearing a veil,” I whispered just for her. “This one’s made of rules and expectations. Would you like me to tear it off for you, Princess?”
Her upper lip curled and she lifted her chin, her mouth so daringly close to mine, I wasn’t sure which of us was challenging the other now.
“What you see is what you get if you win the pageant, Count Nazari. If there is more to be seen, you will never lay your eyes on it,” she whispered in return and I drew back, standing at last while the crowd let out a collective exhale and broke into gossiping chatter.
“I’m damn good at peeling off layers, Your Highness,” I said loudly and Magdor tutted as several women in the crowd giggled.
“Metaphorically speaking of course.” I gave the princess a filthy look that said the exact opposite of my words and she almost cracked a smile at Magdor’s outraged expression.
Perhaps that was the way to win her here – through enraging her stepmother at every turn.
Couldn’t say I had many objections to the idea of that.
I turned and took a running jump from the stage, soaring over the heads of the guards and rolling as I landed in the ring. I regained my feet quickly and held my arms wide like I was a performer on a stage – causing the crowd to applaud me as expected.
I drank in the attention and the murmured words of appreciation as they started to pay far more attention to me.
Lord Kalaviv stared at me in surprise from the opposite side of the ring as the crowd all broke into applause and I flashed my dimples at them. It looked like they’d changed their minds about who to cheer for already, and I wasn’t going to complain about that.
My gaze hooked on a table set up beneath a low awning right at the edge of the ring where four men sat in fancy britches and shirts with sashes that marked them as the judges.
They even wore little navy caps with the emblem of the royal family stitched onto them in gold, and their poncy faces said they were taking their roles very seriously.
They didn’t look nearly as impressed with me as the crowd were, in fact they were watching me with a scrutiny that said I was in trouble if I didn’t find a way to make them favour me.
Dammit, Cassius had been right about this shit. But I wasn’t deterred, because I was officially making it my mission to have the four of them eating out of my palm when they saw me destroy my opponents time and again.
A guard stepped into the centre of the ring, beckoning Kalaviv and I closer, and I forced myself to walk towards him in the stick-up-my-arse way that Cassius had shown me instead of using my normal swagger.
It felt unnatural and wholly too restrained, but I was willing to play by his rules for now.
Once I’d won the pageant and my bride, we would have to see how long I kept up the act.
My eyes slipped over the captain who had arrested me outside the countess’s house and my heart leapt, but my smile didn’t waver.
His gaze slid down me then away before snapping back again as recognition hit him.
But he couldn’t work out why, couldn’t figure out where he knew me from, I could see it in his eyes.
It was almost too tempting to remind him, the thought of the shock he would get if he knew I was nothing but a street thief come to steal his kingdom right out from under him making a laugh bubble in my throat before I stamped it down again forcefully.
I turned my gaze to my opponent instead of the captain of the guard, dismissing him as if he was irrelevant and not a possible threat to my cover.
Drake the thief was nowhere near as polished and well dressed as Drake the count and I’d never given my name when I was arrested, so I was confident that I could front him out.
The mere suggestion of us being one and the same was too ludicrous anyway, so I felt assured in my own disguise.
“Count Nazari, Lord Kalaviv, are you ready to begin?” Captain Marik asked formally, seeming to dismiss the idea that he knew me and I could release the tension coiling in my gut.
I fought back the cocky response which sprang to my lips and nodded firmly instead.
“Then please bow to your opponent.”
I held Kalaviv’s eye as the two of us fell into a formal bow and the guard retreated, leaving us alone in the ring.
I stood upright again, waiting for the command to begin as my heart pounded with anticipation and excitement writhed in my blood.
I was at home here. Fighting in the ring had been a daily occurrence in The Den, and I knew this peacock didn’t stand a chance against me, no matter how many war accolades he’d claimed.
Men like him didn’t fight in the trenches nor on the front line.
He was nothing but a trained dog, competent at party tricks but untested against a real wolf.
Kalaviv’s bright eyes glimmered with confidence but that was okay. No one liked an easy opponent, and I was hoping he would help me put on a real show here.
“Commence!” Captain Marik shouted and Kalaviv leapt at me.
I ducked aside, avoiding the strike and resisting the urge to trip him as I aimed a punch for his face. He took the blow, following it with one of his own which collided with my shoulder as the crowd cried out in excitement.
We fell into a dance of violence, matching blow for blow as I fought against my instincts time and again, trying to play this part and missing more and more opportunities to land the kind of dirty hit it would take for me to get the upper hand.
It was infuriating to say the least, forcing myself to allow those chances to pass me by while playing this pretty part.
I had to keep reminding myself about the goal here to keep my instincts in check.
It would be worth it for the throne.
Kalaviv lunged at me, his knuckles colliding with my jaw as he managed to trick me with a feint to his other side and I snarled angrily, grabbing his arm and twisting it sharply behind his back.
Cassius caught my eye from within the crowd, the set of his jaw and slight shake of his head warning me to stick to his damn rules.
I cursed as I twisted my grip on Kalaviv’s arm, planting a foot against his back and launching him away from me instead of trying to break it.
Fighting honourably was no fucking fun at all.
Kalaviv shook his arm out as he maintained his distance from me, spitting a wad of blood to the sand which coated the floor of the ring and the crowd hummed with anticipation as we slowly began circling each other.
I wished I had a rock I could launch at his smarmy face to distract him long enough to place a knife in his gut. But as we weren’t allowed to fight with weapons in this round, I guessed none of that counted as honourable either.
But this pretty bullshit was growing tiresome fast and I found myself unwilling to keep dancing to this beat.
I abruptly stopped circling, refusing to keep up this pretty game and forcing him to play by my rules instead.
Kalaviv eyed me as I remained entirely still for just long enough to unsettle him and the moment he shifted his weight away from me, my lip pulled back and I ran at him.
It was far from subtle, but it would get the fucking job done and the way his eyes flashed in alarm was a pretty satisfying pay off to my plan as well.
He lurched aside before I could collide with him, his foot somehow catching mine and sending me tumbling to the sandy floor of the ring. Before I could right myself, the lord was upon me, throwing fists as I fought to buck him off and we grappled in the sand.
I threw my weight sideways before Captain Marik could start counting, and Kalaviv rolled away from me before I could follow him with my own attack, springing to his feet with a smug look which told me he seriously thought he would win this.
I closed the distance between us without bothering to assess his next move, swinging for his head with a furious combination of punches so that he was forced to retreat.
My attacks grew wilder and I knew I was beginning to slip across the line Cassius had drawn for me, but this bastard was really starting to get on my nerves and I wanted to wipe the smile from his face.
He kept retreating, forced to block instead of attack, his forearms creating a cage around his face and allowing me to strike at his sides instead as I kept advancing, the crowd egging me on with their excited cheers.
Finally, I slammed a fist into Kalaviv’s sternum hard enough to wind him and he stumbled back, losing his footing and allowing me to trip him.
He crashed to the ground and I dove on top of him, throwing my fist into his face. He was pinned beneath me as I hit him again, my lips peeling back in a brutal snarl as I kept pummelling him, not letting up in the slightest.
Captain Marik started counting and my heart sung with my oncoming victory. “One! Two! Three-”
Kalaviv swore like a common street thug, his teeth stained red with his own blood and he threw a punch straight at my throat, managing to slip past my guard and land it, causing me to rear away from the pain of it.
That’s more like it.
I grinned at the dirty tactic as I lurched backwards, forced to put some distance between us once more but he grabbed the material of my tunic, yanking me back towards him with a violent jerk, allowing him to roll me beneath him.
My back hit the sand and he slammed a fist into my jaw, making my head ring as I tasted blood and I cursed at the injury to my face as the captain started counting again. This time drawing towards my end instead of my opponent’s.
Kalaviv didn’t release his grip on my tunic, twisting the fabric in his fist until the damn thing was choking me, my own attempts at escape causing the sound of tearing to fill the air alongside the roars of the crowd.
I snarled in anger as the ridiculous garment was used against me so dishonourably. I hoped the judges were striking out his points, marking him down for that shit.
“-three! Four-”
I was ruined if I stayed here. Losing the first round was too damaging to my trajectory in this tournament, so if I had to play dirty and lose points that way then so be it. But I’d be damned if I was going to lose this fight.
I threw my weight forward, slamming my forehead into the bridge of Kalaviv’s nose, rewarded by the satisfying snap of breaking bone as blood flew, splattering my cheeks alongside his face and he was knocked off of me, crying out in pain.
The crowd gasped, some booed, others cheered, but all were fucking shocked.
I leapt to my feet, ripping my ruined tunic off and tossing the material aside as Kalaviv clutched his face, his eyes simmering with rage for the damage to his nose. But I’d gained my advantage back, and I offered up a winning smile as I prepared to finish this once and for all.
Some of the nobles in the crowd cried out in a mixture of excitement and shock at the indecent display of my tattooed flesh and I spared a look for Cassius where he still stood at the edge of the ring, wanting to see his scandalised expression for myself so that I could laugh over it later.
But instead of finding him gasping like a virgin bride and clutching imaginary pearls like I’d been hoping, the moment my gaze connected with his he bellowed a command at me which only served to get the adrenaline pumping through my body even faster than before.
“End him!”
My heart pounded to a heady, beautiful rhythm as I turned my eyes back to my prey, intending to do just that.
My opponent’s blood coated my skin. My flesh was buzzing with the power of my Affinities.
I felt focused, powerful and in touch with the gifts of the old gods which sang through my skin more powerfully than I could ever remember them doing before, like I had been born to do this and I was fulfilling my fate by standing upon the bloodstained sand preparing to secure myself an entire empire with nothing but the actions of my own flesh and blood.
I was in my fucking element, and I was going to make this hurt.
Kalaviv wasn’t making this easy for me, but I refused to back down and I absolutely refused to lose.
Everything I’d come here for depended on me winning this fight and I wasn’t going to leave this ring as anything less than victorious.
But to do that, I was pretty certain I’d need to bend a few of Cassius’s directions regarding my fighting techniques.
And after Kalaviv’s dirty trick with my tunic, I refused to play nice anymore.
We were both clearly willing to lose points in this match going forward, because whoever stole this victory was going to come out on top regardless.
And if it was alright for the nobility to fight dirty, then it was definitely okay for me to do it. Unluckily for Kalaviv, down in the dirt was where I flourished.
It’s time to show this princess exactly what her husband-to-be can really do.