28
I frowned and slowly turned toward the old man. “For what reason?”
He propped his elbow against the seat’s backrest and rested his cheek on his palm. “You are a creature of superhuman strength and speed, Princess. You could face ten soldiers with minimal effort.” He tapped his index finger on his temple. “Is that correct?”
I narrowed my eyes, searching his sharp gaze. Why was he asking? Did he suspect that I was hiding something? Or was he just excited to see me fight?
“It is,” I lied.
His expression gave nothing away. “So . . .” he continued, pitching forward to take a slice of melon from the fruit tray and begin eating it.
“The Masters who participate in the games with their gladiators voiced an immediate complaint upon hearing about you. An emergency meeting with the Games’ organizers was held yesterday afternoon.
After several discussions, it was decided that you, Your Highness”—he first pointed at me with the remaining half of the melon between his fingers, then at Amlach—“will fight tied to the commander, putting you at a disadvantage”—once more that small, cryptic smirk—“compared to the humans you will face.”
Unfortunately, it won’t be my only disadvantage.
I tensed up as Amlach took a nervous breath. We glanced at each other sideways, lacking enthusiasm.
“I see,” I then said in a grave tone.
Roxior swallowed the last bit of melon, turned his gaze to his men, and beckoned them with a crook of his finger. “Go ahead, then,” he said to Amlach and me.
The soldiers set their crossbows down and drew their short swords. From their excited faces, it was clear they had been looking forward to this moment, maybe to show their Master that they were better than us.
That they could beat me.
Fools.
As we turned to face them, Amlach leaned over me and whispered, “This disadvantage will try not to be too much in your way, Elf.”
I glared at him, and that coaxed the usual irritating smirk from him. Then, we focused on the five opponents ready to draw our blood.
I had lost my strength, my speed. But that did not mean I had lost my fighting skills.
So, when the first two guards attacked us, I showed them what I was truly capable of.
I parried and dodged the lunges, adapting to the tugs that Amlach unintentionally gave me while he punched and kicked.
Where I embodied fluidity and lightness, he represented brute force. And soon, we engaged in a dance known only to the two of us. When I ducked, Amlach’s blow landed. When I blocked, he struck back. The chain that linked us transformed into a weapon to wield whenever our eyes met in the fray.
The soldiers were so uncoordinated that they stood in each other’s way. While Amlach and I . . . we were one.
One mind.
One breath.
One heart.
And when only one man remained standing, we knew what to do without even looking at each other.
Livid for his fellow soldiers on the ground, who were writhing in pain from cracked ribs and broken fingers or trying to stay conscious after a brutal blow to the head, the fifth guard lunged at us.
We dodged his slashes without counterattacking to make him tire a bit more. When the moment arrived, I acted as bait for his blows and shifted aside at the last second, enabling Amlach to strike him in the face, on the side, and at the lower back.
Furious, with the face dripping with blood, stooped, and bent on the struck side, the man flung himself onto us one last time, making a battle noise.
We attacked, too, colliding with him halfway.
I deflected the lunge with a slap, allowing Amlach to block the man’s wrist and deliver a powerful uppercut to his belly, making the guard lose his grip on the short sword.
The soldier spat blood mixed with saliva, bending double, and I seized the chance to slip behind him and kick his ankle.
He fell on one knee, and in a split second, Amlach stood next to me so I could wrap our chain around the human’s neck.
“Ah-ah, friend,” Amlach warned him cunningly when the guard started to rise. “I would stay down, if I were you.”
I drifted my solemn gaze toward Roxior. His irises resembled two blue flames brimming with excitement. The thirst for revenge cast a dark, almost terrifying shadow across his face. Even though he was staring at us, he did not see us, but rather what we would soon obtain for him.
The blood we would shed in his name.
The fall of those who had taken his loved one from him.
“ Very well,” he said, his voice trembling with a dangerous greed.
He snapped the fan shut and rose from his long armchair. He waved his hand to signal someone at the garden’s edge, and old Lotte joined us with two men, one of whom carried a basket covered with a crimson cloth.
“Would you let go of the head of my guards, Princess?” the Master asked, glancing at me with some mistrust. “So he can remove your irons?”
Amlach and I eyed each other, and he nodded at me imperceptibly.
So, I unrolled the chain from the soldier’s neck, and he got up quickly.
If his master had not been present, he would have lunged at us again.
Instead, he took gurgling breaths due to the blood, pulled the small key from under his armor, and freed us.
I told myself not to sigh with relief at the immediate sensation of lightness. My arms fell limply at my sides, and I had to grit my teeth against the pain mingling with the gradual relaxation of my muscles.
Roxior shooed the soldier away like an insect, disregarding his wounded guards, and signaled for the two servants to move forward.
One of them came up beside me with the basket, while the other stood next to Amlach.
At a nod from his Master, the man lifted the cloth to reveal the contents of the basket.
Two silver collars of different sizes, connected to the attached handcuffs by a thin chain.
My nostrils flared. My anger burbled. No, that was too much. I couldn’t go on with that farce.
I was a general. I was a princess. I was the heir to the throne.
I could not accept that humiliation.
I was about to speak and object when Amlach casually moved a bit closer and pressed his arm against mine.
Easy, he seemed to want to tell me through that gesture.
I repeated it in my mind like a mantra, reminding myself that, right now, Roxior was our only chance to return to the Lands of the East. I couldn’t risk compromising it and plunging us into an even worse fate.
I let Amlach’s looming presence envelop me, concentrating on the connection between my skin and his to keep the urge to attack under control.
“In a house like mine, copper is used to distinguish the slaves engaged in minor roles such as livestock farming, food cultivation, and so on,” the Master explained to us as the servant placed the basket on the grass.
“Bronze is for servants. Silver, instead . . .” He nodded slightly to the two men. “Silver is for gladiators.”
The servants moved behind us and closed the collars around our necks.
I took a sharp breath at the sound of the little pin being inserted into the two holes at the ends of the metal band. A feeling of repulsion washed over me, and I had the impression that a flood of scorpions had emerged from the collar, pouring over me and slithering across my skin.
The cuff tightened around my right wrist, and I felt a wave of horror as I realized the chain linking it to my collar wasn’t the only one.
There was a second chain, about five hands long.
And it connected me to Amlach’s handcuff.
“What’s the meaning of this?" I hissed at Roxior, glowering at him.
He remained unperturbed. “I want you two to live in symbiosis, Princess. To learn to move in unison. To become each other’s shadow.
I want you two to merge so that you have no equal in the Games, not even in your .
. . ”—e searched for the right word while observing the chain binding us—“condition.”
“We have just shown you our ability to fight chained together,” Amlach protested, scowling.
“And I gave you my word that I would not cause any trouble,” I added bitterly.
“And I am sure you will keep it, Your Highness. As long as you have him near you,” he clarified, giving me a wise glance.
I sought Amlach’s gaze.
I found it.
I held it longer than I should.
When I looked back at Master Roxior, a sly, crooked smile was painted on his lips, his eyes glimmering with craving.
“Welcome, my gladiators,” he announced.