19. Ash
Chapter 19
Ash
After dinner, drinks circulated in the room, brought on platters by servers. The drink tasted nothing like Rod’s shine. It was sweeter and didn’t burn a hole in my throat when it slid down. I sat on the dais next to Diesel and watched as girls entered the room from thin air, dressed in different colored dresses. They accompanied the men in dances that I didn’t recognize.
Kane stood at the back of the room, sipping his drink and observing me, his penetrating gaze making me uncomfortable. Diesel sat by my side with a pensive look and hadn’t said another word since finding out about Kane’s presence at the hunters’ house. The King soon announced that he and Diesel were to make rounds about the room, while I stayed perched on a chair, staring into nothing, my mind still on Will. Diesel shot me a longing look before following the King, and Regina vanished with them. They left me alone to my own devices, and all I could think about was Will’s kind face as he helped me escape.
Jerek joined me a while later when the hateful stares were becoming too much. “The King would like to talk to you,” he instructed, pulling me from my seat. He held my arm as he steered me down the steps and out of the room. My eyes swept over the crowd; was I so deft that I hadn’t noticed the King’s departure? I didn’t catch sight of Diesel or Kane either as I searched.
We strode down different corridors, darker and less pristine, and then down into the tunnels. My sandals scuffed against the dank dirt floor.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
My answer came in the form of Kane striding toward us, seemingly out of nowhere. We stopped in front of an iron door right as Kane reached us. My fists balled at my sides, and I couldn’t help the anger and hatred that rose to the surface at his mere presence.
Kane ducked his head low and spoke quickly, stepping into my personal space. I couldn’t help but notice his fresh scent that mingled with the smell of the moist dirt under our feet.
“It’s starved and hungry, which makes it more dangerous, but it also makes it weak. You are stronger and faster and must remember that it is just an animal. They are afraid of humans. Use that. Intimidate it. It has an injured back right leg from capture; it moves slowly to the right. It can’t leap at you from more than ten feet. Stay outside that radius. Get to the bow; it’s hidden along the wall on the east side of the room. Get the bow and end it as quickly as possible, and do not use whatever you did to kill the last one.“ Kane’s words were quick and sharp, but what was he talking about ?
He flicked a knife out of his pants, and I blanched and stepped backward. What was he talking about? Had he turned into a crazed lunatic? I looked toward Jerek, and his eyes were wide, but he didn’t interfere. Kane came toward me with the knife, and before I could move or say a word, he grabbed my dress and stuck the knife through the fabric at my knees.
“This damn thing will only get you killed faster,” he mumbled.
Kane ran the knife around the length of my dress until fabric fell to my feet. My dress now only hit me at the knees. Then, his knife vanished once more, and he peered at me with blazing intensity.
“Do not die. Keep your fear in check. You must survive without special help . If you succeed in killing it but fail in that, you’ll die anyway. Do you understand?”
I still had no clue what he was talking about. I shook my head. “Understand what?” I clapped back.
Kane stepped to me, way too close for my liking. Our rushed breaths mingled together, and Kane opened his mouth to say something, but the iron door creaked. I turned toward it, and when I looked back, Kane was gone.
“Jerek, what’s going on?” I asked, my adrenaline spiking. I had a very bad feeling.
“Nothing good, Princess.”
Then the iron door swung open wide, revealing the two guards that opened it. We stepped into the room side by side, and then the door slammed behind us. A dimly lit haze enveloped the room and it took my eyes a moment to adjust. A dirt floor with high walls all around and a skylight at the very top—some sort of arena? That was when my eyes turned up. Above the high wall sat the King and twelve other men. His advisors, including the bald one that stormed out earlier. They all sat and held drinks, chatting cheerfully. I didn’t like how it made me feel, like a spectacle for all of them to watch. To the King’s right sat Diesel. Our eyes collided. The vein throbbing on his forehead was about ready to burst. He turned and began speaking furtively to the King.
Kane’s words replayed in my head when I saw him walk in and take a seat next to the advisors. He had a calm and collected look on his face, but his eyes were wild. The guards that opened the door began ascending stairs to my right that led up to the seating area.
“Jerek,” I whispered, my gut sinking to the dirt floor.
His jaw clenched, and a low growl reverberated through the space. My eyes snapped to the bars across the room, where I could see wide, amber eyes glowing behind them. Tell me that’s not what I think it is .
Suddenly, I flashed back to a dark cave on a rainy night, and I couldn’t catch my breath. A warm hand slid around my upper arm, and Jerek’s blue eyes settled onto mine. “Do not go wherever you just went. This is here and now. If you go there, you are going to get yourself killed. The cougar is young and weak; you can take it easily. Do not act like prey. Remember what Kane told you. You have to prove to them you are safe. Breathe, and show them the girl that endured the fifteen-foot snow drifts during the winter and the girl that already killed one cougar.”
Then Jerek moved up the stairs after the guards and locked a barred gate, leaving me trapped below with my worst nightmare. It was all suddenly so clear. I had to prove to them that I didn’t have abilities, to prove myself trustworthy, to prove that blondes might be safe. Maximus was trying to prove a point to his advisors as to why I was there, but I knew it was all a lie. He was only trying to force me to show my hand, to prove to Diesel that blondes couldn’t be trusted. Was he trying to force Diesel to lose? Did he not want him to be King? Was Maximus only trying to find a loophole in the promise made by his ancestor that he tried to offer the crown to an Etan, but Diesel failed? If Diesel failed, who would take his place? And most importantly, why was Diesel allowing this? And why did Kane try to help me? Why did he tell me to keep my powers hidden from them? Isn’t that what he wanted? If you succeed in killing it but fail in that, you’ll die anyway.
My eyes met Diesel’s again. His face was red from his words with Maximus, but he still sat and did nothing as the King stood.
“Welcome, friends and advisors. We have a special treat tonight. Because we find ourselves in the extraordinary circumstance of having a blonde as our future Queen, we must ensure that she is worthy of the title. If we wish to bring peace to Novum, then this can be our way forward, but only if she can prove that she is who she says she is. As you know, the blondes were once power-hungry and violent, and they still possess superhuman abilities that only reinforce their behavior. It has been some time since the raid on my estate, but there is unrest and rebellion at hand. I wish to bring peace to the country once more, and we can do that through my granddaughter, if she is as normal as Gabriel suggests. She must prove herself tonight before all of you, so we know that she can be trusted. This is the way forward.”
My heart beat erratically in my chest as I stood there in the dank underground. My knees practically knocked together, and the cold snaked up from the earth and wrapped around my bare calves. The wound on my leg throbbed slightly, like it could remember the beast that caused the pain. I could feel the cougar’s eyes on me, as well as the eyes of all the men above. Kane and Diesel both looked as if they were angry that I was down here, but neither moved from their chairs .
“Asha has killed a great cat before. Let’s see if she can do it again.” Maximus’s evil eyes turned to me, and the corner of his lip pulled up in a wicked smirk. He knew exactly what he was doing, but how did he know I’d killed one before? Word probably spread after my outing to the medical building in the middle of the night, but he couldn’t have acquired a large cat that quickly.
Show my ability and die, or don’t use it and probably die. Those were my two options.
Why did Kane help me? Why did he tell me to keep my ability hidden from them? Did he actually know about my ability? It was impossible. He couldn’t know; I hadn’t told a single soul about it. His words all clicked into place. Don’t use my ability, kill it quickly, and don’t die. That’s what he was trying to tell me. I was on my own. Even Diesel couldn’t protect me from this. My hours and hours of isolation and hunting flashed through my mind. I slipped the mask of my old self over my face. The girl who wasn’t afraid. The ruthless hunter that hadn’t been damaged by the cunning of people. The girl who only wanted to survive. I was her again, and she was me. Undamaged, un-scorned, and unafraid.
“If you’re up there, Pop, please help me,” I whispered silently. I kicked the sandals off my feet and stood with my toes in the dirt, feeling the grounding effect of the earth between my toes. My gaze darted over the arena—because that was surely what this was. Obstacles dotted the floor: large rocks, logs dug into the ground to resemble trees, and an assortment of wooden-built obstacles. This wasn’t the first time this arena had been used for such activities.
I searched the east wall for the bow which Kane said was hidden there. The dim light trickled down into the shadows, creating a mosaic of light and dark among the protruding rocks along the wall. The bow was hard to pick out, even for me, but finally, I saw it. A stiff wooden rod bent into the shape of a bow, with arrows next to it, barely visible. Right as I spotted it, the bars slid up, pulled by a rope from above. The cougar stepped out tentatively into the light, and I locked eyes with it. I was bigger, and I was unafraid.
It crept along the outer wall, low to the ground, with its eyes on me. I noticed the limp on its hind right leg, its protruding ribs, and its sunken-in midsection as it moved, then stopped directly in front of the bow on the wall. I calculated all the other weapons that hung on the walls. To my left, an axe. To the right, a knife, not big enough to do any good. The only weapon that wouldn’t require me to get close was the bow, which was directly behind the tan creature that crouched low to the ground, twitching its long tail in agitation.
I didn’t look away for an instant. No fear, no backing down. It started happening again. I could see the cougar’s movements before they really happened. A twitch of an ear, the movement of a paw. If I used it to my advantage, I’d surely die. If I came out of this completely unscathed, then they’d know. If I got too close to the cougar and moved perfectly out of the way, they would know. I had to be careful. The bow. I needed the bow.
I calculated and plotted for what felt like several minutes, but in reality, it was only a moment, and then the cougar was on the move, prowling closer.
I circled to the left toward the axe, a better weapon than the knife. Only silence radiated from the men above, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off the cougar for a single moment to look at them. Kill it or be killed. My two options. Maybe if I killed it but let it wound me just enough, I could get by, exposing no abilities but showcasing my years of hunting experience instead. Kane seemed to think I could, not that his opinion mattered at all .
The only problem was I didn’t know how to turn my ability off. It seemed there was too much fear and stress surging through my veins to make it go away. Okay. New plan. I had to use it, use it to let the cougar wound me just enough to make it believable, but not enough to kill me. Easier said than done.
I did know a thing or two about cougars from my last encounter, though. I stood up tall and squared my chest. Its paws settled on the dirt floor, halting its movement. Then I did something that I thought I would never in my life do. I walked right toward the beast, toward the bow. I was unafraid; I was the bigger predator in this arena.
The cougar hissed and moved slightly to the side, and when it did, the noise jolted straight to my heart. My sure steps faltered, the fear getting the better of me. Okay, I was afraid.
That one faltering step was all it took for the cougar to sense my weakness. The cougar surged in my direction. Stay strong. Don’t run. Don’t run. Don’t run. It didn’t stop. It detected the fear that I tried to hide. I knew I shouldn’t run, but my heart hammered too hard in my chest, and spikes of adrenaline and terror raced under my skin, shooting up from my stomach.
Okay. Run.
I turned and sprinted toward a wooden structure to put space between us once more. The cougar was on my heels, and I turned and skidded around the corner of the structure closest to the wall but regained my footing quickly and threw myself out of the way. The cougar was much less successful with the turn and slammed into the rock wall as I rushed away.
Get to the bow. Don’t show them anything a normal human couldn’t do .
My eyes shot upward as I ran, and they collided with Kane’s. His brows were furrowed and his mouth set in a hard line. He gripped the edge of the wall the observers stood behind, as if he might dive over it at any moment. They were all standing now, looking down into the pit with rapt attention. This was nothing more than a show to them. I couldn’t decipher the look on Kane’s face or his helpful actions. He wanted me to live. That much was clear, but why?
The cougar was after me again, and my attention whipped back to the bow, which was now within arm’s reach. I grabbed hold and reached for an arrow. Just as I did, the lion leaped from behind me. I saw it coming and calculated the right way to let it take me down but still live. If they wanted a show, I’d give it to them.
Pain. It was terrible enough as it was, but the pain that you knew was coming and didn’t stop or try to protect yourself from was worse.
The cougar landed on top of me, slamming my back onto the dirt floor. I shoved the bow up under its chin, so its teeth couldn’t get to me, though its claws dug into my shoulders. I clenched my teeth together in pain, biting my tongue instead of crying out. I may be afraid and have weaknesses, but they would never see.
I heard someone shouting from above, but I was a little too busy to pay attention to who it was. The cougar’s saliva dripped onto my face as I held the bow strong, his teeth gnashing close to my face.
I looked up at those yellowed teeth, and it was as if time stalled. The decorative carving on the wooden bow stole the breath out of my lungs. I’d seen the carvings so many times before, but the last time I saw them was when the bow was snapped in half and lying on the ground in front of Luke. It couldn’t be the same bow? Could it? Diesel said he hadn’t found it, but it was here, with the exact same markings, down to the notches I had carved into it every time I felt afraid while I was out hunting alone. I figured at the time if I had to notch my bow every time I went out alone after Pop died, maybe I’d stop being afraid. It worked. Over time, there were fewer marks, but I knew exactly how many there were.
Teeth snapped far too close to my face, drawing me back to the present. My arms strained against the weight and strength of the cougar. It must be weak, or he would have overpowered me by now.
I had a choice to make: either fight back and show them my ability or hope Diesel wouldn’t let me die like this. From the shouting above, I was betting my odds were good that Diesel wouldn’t let me die like this, and he would save me before I showed anything. But it turned out that neither of those choices needed to be made.
The cougar suddenly stopped, its head jerking up and ears prickling to attention. Something else had caught its interest, and I slammed my foot into its wounded leg. It screeched in pain and dove away from me, but its interest remained on something against the wall close to where Kane stood.
I rose to my feet, blood dripping down my shoulders through my ripped dress. Raising the bow, I pulled an arrow back, grunting at the pain burning through my shoulders. The cougar looked between me and whatever else it saw, then it ran away from me. Toward…what was that? Something lay on the ground next to the wall in the shadows, was that…a piece of meat? The cougar pounced and grabbed the meat, swallowing it whole, before it turned its attention back to me. From above in the darkness of the arena, it may have only looked like the cougar retreated for a moment before turning back to me. I wondered if any of the men above even saw the meat. My eyes quickly wandered up to Kane, who stood above me. Shoot it. He mouthed urgently barely moving his lips. I didn’t take a second to think about whether he was the one who dropped the meat or planted the weapons in the arena. I simply released the arrow, sending it ripping through the cougar’s heart.
It fell into a heap on the floor, and I walked silently over to it. I stabbed another arrow into its mouth just below the gum line, prying out my prize. When the large canine tooth popped out into my hand, I held it up for the King, with my blood mixed with the cougar’s dripping down my forearm.
“Another one for my collection.” I smiled sickly and looked straight into those cold blue eyes and the face that looked angry that I hadn’t died nor shown any powers he could use against me.
Diesel was suddenly there in front of me, like he had already been on his way down before I killed the cougar.
“You did it,” he sighed, pulling me into his arms. “You did it,” he murmured again. I didn’t hug him back. I looked beyond him and up to Kane, whose gray eyes were still on mine.