23. Sie
TWENTY-THREE
SIE
“Are there any other takers?”
A crowd had gathered around me, but no one stepped forward. My chest wheezed from exertion, and it was an effort to steady my breathing enough to talk. I’d been in the training rings for the past three hours, fighting whoever would challenge me.
The only thing I was thankful for right now was that the rings never closed. They were positioned far enough away from the communal sleeping tents that anyone could train anytime they wanted. Electric users scattered lanterns around the area, casting the rings in a dim glow. Not that it was needed tonight, the moon was so bright it felt more like dawn than dusk.
The only issue was, I was nowhere near done letting out my aggressions, but I had already made a dent on the Advenians who called this camp their home. I was running out of willing fighters.
It felt strange to spar people from both Lux and Tennebris. I still couldn’t wrap my head around how they’d been living in peace in their own made-up society without anyone ever knowing .
“I can go again,” Peter said. He’d spent the entire time by my side, even though I knew he was beyond exhausted.
“Are you sure—” I started to ask, but Peter already stepped into the ring. There was a circle drawn into the earth, partially from a ground user, partially from an air user. The two powers worked together to protect anyone who watched from the outside—which was a shit ton of people. I was surprised so many Advenians trained and used the rings.
I smiled as soon as his fist collided with my arm. This was what I was built for. This was what I was good at. What my father had trained me to do. Kicking. Punching. Fighting. Zoning the whole fucking world out. My father’s old phrase came back to me, “Once you’re the king, people will only seek you out because of your status, so get comfortable with being alone. Build a shield for yourself and never let anyone breach it. Love will leave you broken, and fragility makes you weak.”
I never fully understood the meaning of his words until now. My father had lived through what he preached to me all those years ago. I always thought he was just bitter. But now I could see it was his own way of protecting me. He’d experienced heartbreak. I always knew he didn’t love my mother, that what they shared was only a mutual agreement to breed. I just never knew he’d fallen in love with a Luxian before her, and it just had to be the fucking Fire Prince’s dead mother.
I was more pissed off at myself for not heeding his advice. That despite knowing what my father told me was true—love would only hurt me—I still wanted it. I thought I had it with her.
She completed the blood bond with Tezya.
I just barely dodged Peter’s kick, and only missed his counter punch because I teleported out of the way. My body ignited in golden spirals as I called to my abilities. I felt my reserve dwindle, knowing only rest would replenish them, but I didn’t care. I needed to clear my head, and I was nowhere near done .
He’s my brother. My fucking brother.
I grunted as Peter slammed his foot into my ribs with more power than he normally possessed. He usually stood slightly smaller than me, but he used his ability to shift and transform into me again. The first time he did it I freaked on him. “I don’t want to look at my reflection right now,” I spat. But then I realized he was challenging me to an even match, giving me what I really wanted.
I had just walked in on the two of them fucking. My worst nightmare from the prison was coming true…
Peter transformed out of the spitting image of myself and turned into a bear for a split second. His claws slashed my shoulder before he quickly shifted back into me, saving me from the brunt of the damage.
Tezya had the fucking nerve to lecture me, telling me I hurt Scotlind. It felt like a sick joke.
I screamed as I lunged toward Peter, my anger having no outlet but this. I didn’t hold back my throw as I went right for his jugular. He staggered before falling over on his ass. His hands were wrapped around his throat as he was forced back into his own body. He went into a coughing spell before spitting up blood. Everyone watching around the circle simultaneously backed up.
Shit. Shit. Shit. I thought he saw me coming. I thought he was going to dodge. “Are you okay?” I asked as I rushed to help him.
“Just peachy,” he rasped, but he looked anything but. It was his fifth time fighting me, and it showed. He stepped in whenever others hesitated, and each time he shifted into a version of me, so I could have a fair fight. But all the transformations were dwindling his reserves. Not to mention I found some sick pleasure in beating the shit out of myself and kept forgetting it was actually my friend.
He gestured to begin again .
“No.” I shook my head. “You can barely stand up straight. Fuck, Peter, I’m sorry.”
“I’m fine,” he lied. “I’ll let you know when I need to stop.” But he wasn’t shifting back into me again. He was too drained. His blonde hair was stained darker from the coating of sweat that lingered, and his hands were shaking beneath his scabbed knuckles.
“No, I’m not fighting you anymore.”
Peter opened his mouth to protest when a female voice called out, “Mind if I have a go?”
I tried to mask my shock as Savannah stepped into the ring. She’d clearly been watching the fight and saw what just happened. I was surprised she wanted to spar me after witnessing it. The more fights I had, the less Advenians that wanted to challenge me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Peter still rubbing his throat. Someone passed him a jug of water as he stepped aside, leaving only me and the human in the ring.
“This isn’t a place for a mortal. It’s ability sparring.” I gestured toward the circle drawn in the dirt, enclosing us in. The rings itself consisted of packed dirt, soft enough that when you fell, it cushioned the blow. The areas in between each of the rings had lush grass that never seemed to get muddy, even though thousands of Advenians stomped through it day after day. Most rested in between fights, but some just came to spectate. Either way, the place was packed.
“Humor me then, prince.” She smiled, and I had no idea why she wasn’t backing down. She should be scared. She started tying her lavender hair up as she took another step closer to me.
I went to protest, but she stopped me. “First off, the rings are for everyone . Advenians, humans, guys, girls, adults, children. We’re all allowed to train here. So don’t tell me I can’t. And second off, I know you aren’t fighting right now so you can show off your teleporting skills. You want a real fight. You want to let your anger out, and you see, I want to do just that too.” She finished tying her hair up. “So fight me without using your abilities.”
“What do you have to be angry about?” I asked in disbelief.
Her eyes narrowed, and I swore I saw a glimmer of lavender reflect off her gray irises. “I’m not asking you why you’re fighting.”
Humiliation filled me. Everyone in the fucking camp knew that Scottie and Tezya were now bonded. When I found Peter after Dovelyn’s outburst and told him what I saw, he wasn’t surprised. He’d told me half the camp heard them bonding. “Courtesy ah-la fabric for walls,” he tried to joke, but it only pissed me off more. And now, this damn mortal had the nerve to think she could fight me. My life was a fucking pathetic joke…
“Fine,” I growled. “But I’m not holding back just because you’re human. Don’t come crying to me when you regret it.”
She just grinned, flashing a straight, white smile that looked so sweet and innocent, I was in a stupor when she attacked first. I’d always thought humans would be slow, but she moved with agility. She landed a kick to my cheek before I even got into my fighting stance.
I rubbed my jaw. It didn’t hurt. She wasn’t particularly strong compared to our kind, but I was amazed she was able to hit me at all. I went to attack, but she was faster, doing some sort of flip in the air to avoid my oncoming move.
Laughter echoed in the ring. “In order to make me cry with regret, as you claimed, you’ll have to actually hit me, prince.”
Kallon—Tezya’s so-called fiancée—made her way to the front. I only noticed because one half of her head was a flaming red-orange, and I bristled. How in the hell could she wear the color of fire when the person she was supposed to marry just slept with someone else. But she didn’t look like her entire world just shattered. Maybe she didn’t know yet. I scoffed—I doubted that. According to Peter, the entire camp now knew, and anytime Scottie and Tezya were together, she never seemed bothered.
“She’s fast, prince,” Kallon taunted with a light smile. “It’s the only way she wins fights. No one can land a hit on her.”
My eyes flicked from Kallon to Savannah. Both of the girls were tall. Kallon still stood inches above the mortal, but I was surprised that she didn’t tower over her. I always imagined humans would be small, but she looked more Advenian than Scotlind. Whatever muscle she had on her body was zeroed out by her narrowed frame.
She held her hands up, and I caught sight of bare wrists. It was weird to not see a burn on them. She had to be around our age, and if she was an Advenian she would have been branded. Yet, humans walked this planet without anyone knowing what they were capable of until it was too late.
Scottie’s wrists flashed in my mind from when she was first branded. Her right wrist was still more raised to this day. She would forever have a reminder on her skin that she’s considered weak. Our kind would judge her before she would get the chance to say hello. Hell, sometimes I judged what she was capable of. Had years of growing up with my father unconsciously brainwashed me? Because I did look at the ranking system and believed in it. I never agreed with how my father treated zeroes, but I still always thought of them as lesser.
I ran my hands through my hair. Savannah halted in the ring, giving me a minute. I never shared the same beliefs as Scottie. She so passionately wanted to get rid of the ranking system, but did I? What did I want? I had no fucking clue what I believed in anymore. I thought about what Scottie asked me back on the lake… that if I could change things, would I? Was the ranking system truly fair? I tried to remember if I knew any ranked servants, but every damn one of them was a zero.
I didn’t want to think about it, about any of it. I could barely sort through my thoughts on my wife, let alone on how the Advenians governed—“She’s not even my damned wife anymore.”
“What?” Savannah asked, startled. She’d been moving around the ring with me, not attacking, seeming to notice that my mind was lost in my own fight.
Fuck. I just said that out loud. Instead of answering, I attacked, but this time when she leapt out of the way, flipping gracefully in the air, I used my abilities. I met her halfway, teleporting to where she was jumping and crashed into her. We both tumbled to the ground, our legs entwining with one another. Mine with golden swirls, and hers sun-speckled and bare.
Her lavender hair flared out around her, coming out of the twist she had it in.
She puffed out a breath. “Can’t breathe.”
Shit. I was crushing her. I quickly jumped off the girl, and at the last second, decided to extend my hand to her. She regarded it but didn’t take it, hopping to her feet swiftly on her own. She started dusting off her clothes, even though the dirt left no traces on her from the magic. “That wasn’t fair. We agreed on no abilities.”
“You said that, not me,” I told her as she rubbed the back of her neck. “I never once said I fought fair.” I started walking away, finally calling it for the night.
I left the girl standing in the middle of the ring and didn’t look back.