Chapter 15 #2
Cash let out a deep low chuckle. “Poor bastard couldn’t keep it in his pants.”
I must have looked just as puzzled as I felt because he explained, “Riders can’t fuck anyone until after the Vargothi.”
I was speechless, not quite putting the pieces together, but my mind was imagining—
Cash took a step closer to me. “They cut off his dick, convict.”
“Because he forced himself on someone?”
He laughed again. “Nah. Poor bastard was in love.”
“That seems rather… harsh,” I said, immediately feeling bad for the guy. I could understand if it wasn’t mutual… Honestly, I’d fantasized about grabbing one of Dahes’ knives and doing the same thing to him ever since he tried to…
“Rules are rules.” Cash shrugged. “King Elion is just. He’ll reward obedience, but fuck up, and you’ll pay the consequences.”
“Why is that a rule though? Why can’t he love someone?”
“It’s not about love. Drakins are bred to breed. Everyone knows they can’t do anything until after they survive the Vargothi. It’s why the end of the tournament turns into a fuck fest. Depending on how old the riders are, some have been waiting a century to get their dicks wet.”
“I still don’t understand why…” my voice trailed off as I kept staring at the guy, watching his face distort in pain as tears pricked his eyes.
“Whoever survives gets categorized into two groups. One for breeding and one for sterilization. Drakins can only reproduce with drakins. Usually all the females who survive the tournament go into the breeding group, unless they need to weed out any family lines. Then, you have the group that gets sterilized, not selected for breeding. They become the frontline of the Drakin Army. Most want to be in that group, because after sterilization, they can be with whoever they want. Elion doesn’t give a fuck, but it has to be after the tournament. ”
“So if he waited until after, he could have been with whoever he wanted?”
“Maybe.” Cash shrugged. “But the bastard was impatient, and now even if he survives the tournament, they won’t keep him alive.”
“They’ll kill him?”
“Yeah,” Cash nodded as he walked to grab another drink off the table, and I briefly noticed more people piling into our balcony.
“Rules broken against Elion always result in some sort of punishment or death. They’re only keeping him alive for mockery.
” He took a sip as he walked back to me.
“Stupid bastard didn’t even have to wait that long either.
He was only born twenty-eight years ago.
Some of the men down there have been waiting a century. ”
I shuddered, and Cash must have noticed, because he smirked into his glass as he took another sip. “That’s the harsh life of a rider, convict.”
“So none of them have a choice?” I asked.
“Only one person does. Whoever wins the tournament gets to decide which group they want to be a part of. It’s incentive to make it more ruthless, gets them to train harder. As for everyone else, King Elion picks.”
“And what do most people pick?”
“That depends on who they want to fuck.”
My lips parted without meaning to. I’d never spoken about this sort of thing with anyone before—never had the opportunity—and Cash talked about it like it was the most casual thing in the world.
“Who won the last tournament?” I asked, hoping to stir the conversation toward Hael, then thought more on it and added, “And what did they pick?”
Cash went to open his mouth, but Arrik cut him off.
“Last I checked, I’m her escort to the tournament, not you.” His voice was low, menacing.
Cash smirked, looking between us, before sauntering off toward one of the lounges on our balcony, leaving me alone with the rider, and any chance of my questions getting answered went with him.
I turned to look at Arrik and had to crane my neck up to see his face. It was the first time I was standing directly in front of him, and I forgot how tall he was. He had the same large sword strapped across his back, the silver metal so bright it reflected off the thick scar running down his neck.
A quick scan of his body had me noting just how many smaller weapons were tucked into his uniform, and I was sure there were even more concealed that I couldn’t see.
He looked like a brutal warrior. If he wasn’t the one who found me in the Valdern, I would have suspected him to be Hael. But I knew better. Besides already knowing his name was Arrik now, a leader wouldn’t be making a criminal drop off into Moriann.
But regardless of the fact that he wasn’t their leader, he was still intimidating as hell. It only made me anxious for what Hael would be like.
Because Arrik was the kind of man I’d run far, far away from.
I refused to drink anything off the tables, even after other Wielders and riders joined us.
Getting intoxicated seemed to be a common theme, and I was getting the vibe that the Vargothi was more of a social event than an actual tournament.
Every balcony I could see had drinks passed around, and even people in the stands below were ordering more and more off servants who walked the steep steps.
Arrik was the only other person, aside from me, who wasn’t drinking. He hadn’t moved from the railing and was standing next to me looking out across the projection.
I had tried asking him a few questions throughout the day, but by the fourth time he ignored me, I gave up.
Cash came up to us every so often. Usually only when Arrik was so invested in what was happening on the projections that he didn’t force him to leave.
I used every opportunity to ask him as many questions as I possibly could, just nothing was useful.
I was disappointed no one was introduced as Hael.
It didn’t make sense. I assumed the leader of the drakins would have been running the tournament, but he was nowhere to be found.
I tried my best to act casual, but I found myself getting more and more irritated.
So far, I’d learned nothing useful to tell Dahes.
I couldn’t even tell him which drakin we were hunting.
“I thought there were supposed to be dragons,” I mumbled, mostly to myself.
A laugh sounded next to me, so unexpectedly, that I jumped.
“The dragons won’t come today,” Arrik said, eyeing me.
“So you speak,” I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest, not able to quell the anger rising in me. He had thoroughly ignored me all day, even when I purposely tried to ask him questions, and now he wanted to talk. “I thought you lost the ability the second we walked into the throne room.”
He turned to look at me now, his pale eyes looking more golden under the suns. They reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t place it. It was another thing that kept bothering me about him.
“Dragons come on the third day,” he said, ignoring my mini outburst. “You’ll want to tell your servant that.”
I was about to open my mouth to ask what the hell Bran had to do with anything when the smell of alcohol hit me.
“So what do you think?” Cash asked as he came up to the other side of me. I lost count of how many drinks he consumed since the tournament started. His speech was starting to slur and his blonde hair was slicked back in a thin layer of sweat.
“It’s disappointing,” I blurted before I thought better of it. “Watching them compete to see who can throw a dagger the furthest seems a little anticlimactic for the riders of the Drakin Army.”
Arrik tensed beside me, but he didn’t say anything, just kept watching the projection in front of us, back to acting like I didn’t exist.
Cash smirked. “You want to see blood spilled, convict? I didn’t realize you were so ruthless.”
“No,” I paled, stuttering as my words didn’t come out right.
“I just was expecting…” I paused trying to think over how to phrase it.
“More,” I finally settled on, which was the truth.
I had no idea what I expected from the Vargothi, but it wasn’t this.
I could probably pass the tournament with flying colors if all it entailed was throwing daggers at targets.
“Careful,” Cash said, his eyes glancing up at Arrik. “Riders don’t react well to Wielders mocking them.”
My gaze trailed to Arrik without meaning to. His jaw was set and he looked ready to pummel me even though his own gaze was still on the projection.
Cash took a long sip from his glass, then nodded toward the projection.
“Today is just about skills. King Elion uses it to determine capability, pending they survive the entire thing. Tomorrow the real fighting begins.”
I watched in silence after that, mainly because Cash left again to socialize with the other Wielders and drakins on our balcony.
I started to memorize all the riders with us before I realized it was pointless. Hael wouldn’t be standing on the same balcony as me. He had to be somewhere else. I just had no idea where yet.
There were riders that came and went on Elion’s balcony, but the projection was blocking most of my view that I only got glimpses here and there.
“Can you get back to your room from here?” Arrik asked, his voice curt, causing me to jump again. The suns were starting to sink below the walls of the Dome, casting the pit into shadows.
“What?” I breathed, not entirely convinced I heard him right.
“Do you know how to get back to your room?” he repeated, his gaze flicking toward Cash by the assortment tables before finding mine again. “Can you get there by yourself?”
I nodded. When my mind was focused, I could lay out entire floor plans in my head, having it memorized after visiting somewhere only once.
I had no idea if it was something I was naturally good at or if I was just conditioned to be from all the years hunting for Dahes, but either way, it was helpful.
I hadn’t been able to map out the entire castle yet, mainly because of the sheer size of it, but I was close. I had nearly two-thirds of it scoped out already.
“As soon as this ends,” he gestured toward the projection, “go straight to your room.”
My mouth dropped before I schooled it. Irritation rang through me and it took everything in me to not roll my eyes. “What?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. “Did you give up on being my escort?”
Please say yes.
As much as I didn’t like Cash, he, at least, answered my questions.
“Don’t leave your room tonight. No matter what,” was all he responded with, completely ignoring my comment again. It was starting to piss me off. Dahes ignored me all the time. I should be used to it, but for some reason, him doing it grated my nerves.
I narrowed my eyes. “Why?”
I had free rein of the castle. I half expected Elion to place guards around me when I came, but he didn’t. I knew it was intentional. Only ‘invisible shackles’ to trick me into staying willingly.
He wanted something from me. I wasn’t stupid. I wasn’t buying Dahes’ excuse of mere curiosity that I escaped Moriann or the fact that Elion might have a thing for brunettes. It wasn’t enough to keep me here, wasn’t enough to invite me to the tournament.
Something else was going on. I just had to figure out what.
Arrik turned to look at me, those pale eyes freezing me in place. I hated that I couldn’t look away, that his gaze was mesmerizing. It wasn’t in the eerie way Elion’s or Dahes’ were. Even though the brown was just as pale, his eyes were soft, probably the only gentle feature about him.
“Just don’t.”
And then he left, turning out of our balcony and started down the hundreds of stairs toward the archway.
I tore my gaze away from the projection. The initiates were still aiming at targets, but almost a third of the riders were leaving the stands as a swarm of onyx leathers were slowly making their way toward the exit.
I realized then that they were the only ones in uniform. The Wielders had on formal wear, but the riders wore their leathers like a badge of honor.
I guess it was.
I glanced across the Dome, trying to glimpse the king through the projection, but he was leaving too.
“I won’t be training you tonight, convict,” Cash slurred as he came up beside me the moment Arrik left.
I thanked the Suns for that. He was drunk, stupidly intoxicatingly drunk, that I wasn’t sure how far he’d take his lessons if he did.
“Where is everyone going?” I asked Cash, trying to figure out what was happening.
“Elion’s dining with all the initiates tonight. They feast with the king the first night because most won’t survive past tomorrow, and even less the day after that.”
“And the drakins? Why are only some of them leaving?”
“It’s technically for the initiates, not official riders, but most high-ups within the army attend.”
I forced my face into a calm neutrality, years of being around Dahes was paying off, even as my insides were spiraling. This was it. I had the entire evening free and now I knew exactly where Hael would be.
“Where is the dinner taking place?”
Cash cocked a grin. “Jealous you aren’t invited?” he taunted. “No Wielders are, and the reason we aren’t training is because no one can be in the castle tonight.” He was still smiling. “But don’t worry, you’ll get your fair share of riders during the ball.”
“Ball?”
“Yeah.” Cash tilted his head back and downed the last of his drink before tossing the glass onto the floor.
I cringed as servants immediately came to clean it up.
“They always have one on the fourth day of the Vargothi. It’s their celebration for surviving and their commencement for entering society.
” He smirked as he eyed me. “So you better be careful, convict.”
“Why would I need to be careful?”
“Because the riders that get sterilized, they’re allowed to fuck anyone they want at the ball—even Wielders.” He started leaving, and I realized the pit was slowly clearing out. “So if I were you, I’d train on your own tonight. You’ll want to work on overcoming your fear of being touched.”
Cash winked at me, before sauntering out of the balcony and down the steps. I stayed frozen for long seconds, trying to process his words, before I composed myself enough to follow the crowd.
Today was a complete waste of a day. Besides learning about the Vargothi itself, I gleaned absolutely nothing useful.
I couldn’t go back to Dahes and recite interesting facts about how riders lived their lives. I needed information that no one knew. I needed Hael’s secrets, and that had to start with figuring out who he was.
I had to sneak into the dinner with the riders tonight.
But even as my mind was circling on a plan for sneaking out, I couldn’t stop thinking about the ball, and the fact that Cash said I needed to be careful.