Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Several weeks later…
Samyra had never been so nervous in her life, not even before her first bout in the arena many years ago.
She waited in the spacious foyer of her House, her gladiators drawn up behind her, Jaxur at her side, profoundly bored as only a cat can be, licking one massive paw.
Jamirr was at the end of the line of fighters—she was always conscious of where he stood in a room nowadays, even if she kept herself from looking at him.
Darryl waited slightly behind her right shoulder and in front of the line of gladiators.
The human butler answered the summons from the door and a moment later returned, announcing in suitably stentorian tones, “Kyden the Death Dealer, Master of the House of Badari.”
The famous gladiator strode into the room and her first impression was shock at how big he and his two companions were.
True he and his team were at the top of the standings in the Five Systems but if they were in any way representative of what she and her men would face in the arenas there, her House was in trouble.
Her second startled thought was how much Jamirr resembled both Kyden and the second fighter now standing behind him.
They could be close cousins. The third man appeared human although there was something about him she couldn’t put her finger on in the few seconds she had.
Kyden was bowing to her politely. “Kind of you to welcome us to your home, Lady Samyra. May I present my second in command Benet Arencollo and my top ranked fighter Rennyr.”
She took Kyden’s hand and shook. She was conscious of the power of his grip, not that he made it crushing but it was firm and steady. “It’s our honor to receive all of you. We’re intrigued by the possibility you may want us to join you for your unusual offseason events.”
She introduced them to her team, beginning with Darryl and saving Jamirr for last. “He’s my zookeeper,” she added.
“And a gladiator?” Kyden said, one eyebrow raised.
“When the occasion calls for it,” Jamirr answered in a neutral tone. “When the Mistress wishes.”
“The two of you must be from the same planet originally,” Samyra said as there was a bit of an awkward silence and the obvious likeness between her man and two of the visitors was a tantorean-sized topic in the room.
“Yes, we could well be,” Kyden replied as if it was of no consequence. “May we see your training facility?”
“Of course. We’ve prepared a demonstration of skills for you,” she said.
Turning to Darryl, she issued a quick order for him to take the gladiators and prepare to run through the exercises for the visitors.
As her men left the room, Samyra gave her attention to Kyden, who was staring thoughtfully after the gladiators.
“I have refreshments in the dining room while we have a few minutes before the demonstration.”
Kyden offered her his arm and she led them deeper into the house.
There were a few minutes of awkward small talk over feelgoods and hors d’oeuvres and then Samyra escorted her visitors outside to the training facility.
She was at ease for the next two hours as she described her approach to developing gladiators and her team showed off their best skills.
She herself didn’t participate. Today was a bad day for the tremor and she’d revised the schedule at the last minute, not wanting to jeopardize her chances by displaying weakness.
She’d let Kyden assume she knew her own worth and value as a headliner in the arena and had no need to prove anything to him. He’d come to her after all.
When the mock fights were concluded, Kyden said, “A very satisfactory display. Clearly you and your trainers know your business.”
“Does the zookeeper not participate?” Rennyr asked.
“He fights intermittently,” she replied. “Caring for the animals is his main occupation, as I mentioned previously.”
“We’d like to see him in action as well,” Benet chimed in. “Perhaps a short bout with one of us, since your other men have already worked out today.”
Feeling trapped and uneasily suspecting there was a hidden agenda here, Samyra looked to Kyden, who remained silent but raised his eyebrows. “Of course, Jamirr can be made available.” She ordered Darryl to have Jamirr summoned and garbed appropriately.
While they waited, the visitors discussed what they’d seen today already, asking her about finer points of training and for more details of each man.
Samyra was impressed at what close attention the Five Systems men had paid to the demonstrations and the vast depth of their knowledge.
“Are you making a visit to all the finalists?”
Kyden shook his head and smiled. “No, I haven’t the time to evaluate each personally.
I have scouts and agents I trust. Benet and Rennyr have done a few solo trips.
But you’d be the first female gladiator presented by the House of Badari, which would be quite a landmark moment and so of course I felt it necessary to meet you myself at this stage of the evaluation. ”
She was left feeling flattered and more than a little wary. “I’m honored,” was all she said out loud.
Jamirr arrived, dressed in the gladiatorial uniform, the badge of her house on his breastplate and stood in front of the dais, waiting.
Rennyr rose from his chair and took off his jacket and shirt, revealing a powerful physique.
“I’ll spar with your man.” He accepted a sword from a dazzled trainer and stepped onto the sand.
Jamirr gave Samyra a reproachful look and followed the other to the center of the small arena.
The two gladiators circled each other and then Rennyr took the offensive with a flurry of blows.
Jamirr parried effectively and landed a strike of two of his own before he was suddenly disarmed through a maneuver Kyden was sure he’d never seen before.
Then Rennyr turned it into hand-to-hand combat and the two men grappled, the advantage going back and forth between them.
Samyra gripped the arms of her chair tightly and suppressed a gasp of surprise but didn’t object.
Kyden was satisfied with what he saw the longer the match went on.
Jamirr was responding to Rennyr’s moves with the countermoves they’d all had drilled into them during their days in the Khagrish labs.
Enough, he said to Rennyr telepathically. I’m satisfied.
Rennyr made no acknowledgment of the order outwardly but he brought the struggle to a quick end, pinning Jamirr to the ground for the space of five seconds and then stepping away. He held out his hand as the onlookers applauded. “Good match. You made me work for it.”
Eyeing him skeptically, Jamirr shook hands, bowed to Samyra and exited the training area.
“Is there anything else you wished to see?” Samyra asked her guests as her gladiators saluted and marched away to the barracks in single file.
“No, you’ve been most generous with your time. I think we’ve seen what we needed to in order to reach a decision.”
“Dinner will be served in half an hour,” she said as servants arrived bearing trays of light hors d’oeuvres and glasses of colorful liquids. “I could give you a quick tour of my zoo while we wait if you’d care to see the animals.”
Badari didn’t drink beverages containing alcohol but fortunately there were also fruit drinks on the trays. Kyden snagged one as his hostess took a glass of white wine and said, “Of course. I had heard rumors you kept a menagerie.”
“It’s my expensive hobby,” she said. “I have to do something besides fight and train and run a team of gladiators.”
Samyra walked them through the landscaped enclosures and Kyden thought she seemed more at ease there than she’d been during the earlier part of their visit.
The animals came to the fences to greet her and he caught a glimpse of Jamirr doing the evening feeding for a group of quadrupeds whose species he didn’t recognize.
The herd had distinctive striped coats and curved horns and crowded around Jamirr as he doled out chunks of fruit and greenery. His brother looked at peace and happy.
The last thing Kyden wanted to do was spend the evening at a dinner hosted by a woman who was holding one of his brothers in a cell but he’d been forced to do much more taxing things when he was a prisoner in the labs and to maintain his calm outer persona throughout.
Samyra wasn’t what he’d expected. He could see she was a hardened gladiator and a tough businesswoman but the element of casual cruelty was absent and when she’d been showing them her zoo she’d been a much more open, vulnerable person.
The fact her exotic pets were uniformly so fond of her spoke well for who she was outside the arena.
When the meal was over and he and Rennyr and Benet took their leave, he was conflicted.
“You’ll be hearing from us soon,” he assured Samyra as she stood on her front steps to see them off. “I can’t make any promises right now of course but it was an extremely illuminating visit.”
As the groundcar driven by one of his father-in-law’s servants left Samyra’s compound, Kyden sat in the back seat and relaxed, muscle by muscle. He’d made it through the day and dinner without once showing his claws or killing his hostess and grabbing Jamirr, to take the brother to freedom.
“Well?” Benet asked.
They’d agreed beforehand only Kyden would speak to Jamirr telepathically so now he reported.
“Our brother is in a confused state of mind. He barely remembers his native language. When I spoke to him I could tell he was startled and had no memory of his life at the labs or of how he came to be here.”
“Bad cryo reaction,” Rennyr said, nodding. “A known defect in the DNA of some of us.”
“Probably why he was sold,” Kyden agreed. ”No use to the scientists if he couldn’t be transported to combat zones under cryosleep. I finally demanded to know what Generation he is and that brought an automatic response so not all the memories are inaccessible.”