Chapter 19
“Where is she?” Mekos asked again. “Is she safe? She took a horse. Why didn’t she take Ian? Her chip has gone dead. Where
is she?”
I wish someone would love me that much, Bree thought. She was sitting on the wagon beside Qip, wearing her trousers and shirt, the magic bag hanging cross-body
on her. Zeon said the contents would be needed so maybe now was the time. Qip was frowning so hard his forehead was deeply
wrinkled. Earlier, he’d voiced his worry. “I don’t know where Aradella is. This is not part of the plan. She shouldn’t have
left here. She . . .” He didn’t finish his sentence.
Tam suggested sending Darr to look for her, but Qip shook his head at that. “He frightens people.” And Ian was to stay with
Darr. In the play, they’d seen what the sight of him caused so they didn’t want to risk that again.
When they got to the arena, it had been cleared. The long, three-stage building was now far to the side. There was a big dirt-covered
area, and the stone seats were filled to capacity. Word was that the play had been so good that everyone on the island wanted
to see this afternoon’s match. The people were talking excitedly about what they were going to see.
“This isn’t good,” Qip mumbled. “Something is wrong.” He drove the wagon to the back of the arena.
The thick, enclosing wall was stone, with several hollowed out areas that had iron bars for doors.
Men were working in the area, preparing for the coming show.
They were all smiling. “These people are too happy. They’re up to something. ”
“Are those cages?” Tam was unloading weapons from the back: swords, knives, even Mekos’s bow. The seriousness of what they
were facing was beginning to hit the young men. “Maybe Aradella didn’t want to see this.”
Mekos snapped, “She rode a wolf and stabbed a woman. Aradella isn’t afraid of anything.”
“I never meant—” Tam didn’t continue.
Bree had been silent since they’d found that Aradella wasn’t there. She wasn’t sure but she had an idea that her cousin’s
disappearance had something to do with what had been said that morning. You put the entire island in jeopardy, Bree had shouted. She’d blamed Aradella for all of it!
A young man saw Bree and stopped. “It’s you! You’re the ugly maid.” He turned to a couple of men who were tying ropes down. “Now we have both of you.”
Bree was about to ask him what that meant when Qip said, “I don’t like the attention being on you. Here!” He grabbed a smelly
old blanket off a hay bale and tossed it to her. “Stay covered and out of sight.”
She put the blanket over her head and stepped back into one of the cages. Minutes later, Tam joined her.
“I don’t know what will happen today,” he said softly. “My father warned of a death that is wrong, so maybe . . .”
As she looked at him, so much went through her mind. From the moment they met, she’d felt close to him. It was as though she
knew him. The hours they’d spent in Qip’s garden had been divine.
For the first time in her life, she’d been free.
She could display her strength and talk about her time with Reena—things she’d had to keep secret.
Later, in Zeon’s garden, he’d laughed at her stories about preparing concoctions for lovesick girls, and of sharing joy with women who—thanks to Reena—were now expecting children.
She told Tam of the “forget everything” spell they’d used more than once on Olina’s overzealous guards.
Talking to him made Bree aware that she’d had so much bottled inside her.
Now, looking at him, she knew it would soon be over. Whether they succeeded or failed today, they’d separate. Tam would go
back to his family and Bree would go . . . Tears came to her eyes. Back to her life of secrecy, of always pretending she wasn’t
what she was.
For the first time, she slipped her arms around him and put her head on his chest. “Don’t say that. You are needed. You and
I are . . .” The tears were coming stronger.
He held her tightly. “I know. I’ve felt it too. If I live through this, you and I must talk. Maybe we can—”
“Tam!” they heard Mekos call.
Reluctantly, he released her and stepped away. “Something is wrong. I can feel it. Maybe I did inherit some foresight from
my father.”
“I will stay close by and if you need help, I’m here.”
In other circumstances, with any other woman, he would have said no, but not with Bree. “If a wall falls on me, come and save
me.”
She knew he was joking, but she didn’t laugh. “I will.”
He left the shadows to go to Mekos.
Bree heard a man with a powerful voice announcing the coming match. He said the Monster of Sheean was “undefeated.” No one
had ever beaten him. He could take on a dozen men at once. He could—
She couldn’t stand to hear more. She wanted to see the “monster,” to see what the men were about to face.
With her upper half covered, she walked along the wall, looking in each of the cages.
They were empty, but inside the cage at the end was a creature like she’d never seen.
It wasn’t very tall or even muscular, but its skin was a glistening brown metal-like substance under long, sparse fur.
Its head was long, sticking out past its back.
About its neck was an old chain with an oval medallion at the end.
As Qip had said, it didn’t look valuable.
When she looked up, the creature was staring at her.
For a moment, its eyes seemed almost human.
But in the next second, they turned a deep red and looked like flames.
Bree turned away. She instinctively knew that it would take more than just strength to conquer something like that thing.
When horns were blown, the audience began stamping their feet. Bree saw Mekos and Tam, both heavily armed, standing at the
entrance to the arena.
Behind them, four men cautiously opened the cage door. Calmly, the creature walked out. It stood on its two back feet, but
its arms were long enough to be legs. Its feet were sharp hooves and in its right claw was a heavy blade. Whatever it was,
it was enough human that it could use a weapon.
The men stepped back, as though ready to flee, as the creature got onto a wheeled platform. Obviously, it knew the drill.
As the men started to pull the platform forward, the creature abruptly turned and looked straight at Bree. Yet again, she
saw its eyes. For a flash, they were human, then they changed. He sneered at her, showing rows of sharp, jagged teeth. His
gesture was threatening.
I can’t watch this, Bree thought. I’m going to be like Aradella and run away.
There was the roar of the crowd, then came the horrible sound of steel on steel. It has begun. She leaned against the stone wall, listening to the battle, but not wanting to see it. When there was a collective shout,
she knew someone had been wounded.
She didn’t know how long it went on, but it seemed like an eternity when suddenly, everything went silent. Death! she thought. Someone has been killed.
She ran to the big doorway so she could see into the arena. Tam’s left arm had blood running down it. Mekos’s leg was bloody. Facing them, unscathed, was the monster, its eyes glowing like balls of fire.
Bree’s instinct was to run into the arena. She didn’t know what she could do, but there had to be something. What would Papá do? she wondered. He’d grab the creature from behind and break it in half. Bree knew she didn’t have that much strength.
But she could try! She took a few steps forward, then realized that the audience and the fighters were staring at the far
end of the arena. There was utter silence. Even the children were quiet.
Bree turned to look. She didn’t believe what she was seeing. Men were rolling out a big, heavy sheet of metal. It was tall
and wide and leaning against a two-wheel handcart. There were two holes in the big slab and a heavy chain had been threaded
through them.
The chain was around . . . Bree shook her head to clear it. Leaning against the sheet of steel was Aradella. She had on her
costume from the play and around her waist was a thick chain. She was being held as a prisoner, offered as a sacrifice, to
the battle. If Tam and Mekos lost, Aradella would be at the mercy of the monster.
Bree didn’t think, she just ran to Aradella. At the sight of her, the crowd erupted. There were cries of, “It’s the ugly maid.”
“With the beautiful princess.” “Together!”
Behind Bree, she heard the clash of steel. The men and the monster were back to fighting. She grabbed the chain with both
hands. With all her might, she tried to pull it apart but it didn’t budge.
Aradella stared at her in silence.
Bree went to the back. There was an old lock on the chain. “If only Ian were here!
“They’d probably rush down here to capture him,” Aradella said.
Not even Bree’s strength could break the chain. “Why did you try to do this alone?” she shouted to Aradella over the noise of the crowd.
“They think I’m beautiful so I thought they’d give me the medallion. I wanted to stop the fight.”
There was a metal stake in the ground. Bree pulled it up—to the cheers of the crowd—and used it as a wedge on the lock. “You
think that having a pretty face gets you anything you want?”
“Yes! The men on Pithan leap to do things for you.”
“That’s because of my father!” Bree yelled as she wrenched at the lock. “They hope I’ll say something good to him. They know Olina hates you so they’re
afraid. That’s why they ignore you.” She took a breath to gather all her strength and again tried to tear the lock away.
“Is your sister strong?” Aradella’s voice was wobbly as she used her questions to cover her fear.
Bree’s arms ached but the lock didn’t give way. She went to the other side to look at Aradella. “No, and if she knew I’d inherited
Papá’s strength and she didn’t, she would—” She didn’t finish.
“Kill you in your sleep?”