Traitor's Crown (Stones of Terrene Book 3) Page 15

  “Final bets are closing!” Holden, the pit boss from level three, shouted. Red hair bounced in his ponytail as he paced the edge of the pit. “Who’s ready for the first ever female contest in the ring?”

  The already boisterous crowd cheered again, their noise level nearly deafening as it reverberated in the domed pit. Raine stood loose, ready, facing the gated door that would reveal her opponent. It opened and a two-legged dragon sprinted into the ring. A blinksy. The dragon that moved fast enough that it mimicked teleportation to the untrained eye. One blink, and you were dead. This one stood eye level with her, and it chirruped, ruffling its bright green and blue feathers, scratching at the air with its curved claws.

  She stilled and narrowed her eyes at the blinksy, noting the trail of plumage floating to the ground behind it. Poor creature was far from home and, judging by the molt and dull-colored beak, looked to be suffering for it.

  Not that it meant the dragon was any less dangerous.

  Its long tail swept against the ground as it chirruped and clawed at the ground, leaving deep furrows in its wake. She held her breath, knowing it was only a matter of seconds before she moved just enough for it to see her. It may be weakened to some degree, but it clearly wasn’t weakened enough that she could afford any mistakes. A rock flew past her and into the pit. It fell with a thud and a small billow of dirt. Whales!

  The blinksy’s chirruping ended with a trilling roar, and she flung herself to the side, narrowly avoiding a swipe of the clawed fingers. She rolled and came up with the shield ready for the next strike. Claws raked down the wood and curled splinters flew. She twisted and stabbed with the point of her blade, dancing back. It bellowed and snapped at her face.

  The crowd cheering for her blood threatened to knock her off her feet, but she ignored the voices. Instead, she let the energy in the room buoy her spirit and hone her determination. She was going to defeat this dragon. And the next. And whenever she had to fight a man, him too.

  She was going to get out of here. One way or another.

  For her grandfather.

  For Ben.

  The blinksy appeared at her side and she pulled back, but not before the deadly sharp bone tore through the hem of her shirt, shredding it. She ignored the sensation of her freshly changed bandage loosening as she spun toward the creature. It snapped at her, and she swung her sword up, catching it in the outstretched neck. It shuddered back, spilling black blood over the ground. She followed, holding the shield between her and it, relentlessly keeping pace. It shook its neck, and she dashed forward, slashing again at the exposed weak spot. Her blade bit into its neck, deep. It collapsed in a heap of pathetic plumage.

  She panted as the stunned crowd hesitated before their deafening cheers roiled through the cavern. A quick glance around showed Simon’s relief and Lynx’s slow nod of approval, and two pit bosses waving their hands and pointing at her, clearly arguing.

  Holden started his announcer spiel again, and she leaned over the blinksy, searching. She plucked a blue feather from it and tucked it in her pocket. A trophy for her first pit fight. She then knelt in the sand, cleaning her blade while keeping an eye on the gate. Would they have her fight again? Or would that be it for now?

  The gate opened and a new fighter walked into the pit, similarly armed with a sword and shield. Matted hair and a ratty shirt gave him the impression of not being very dangerous, though his controlled gait and narrowed eyes belayed that first notion. He pointed the weapon’s tip at her, then rapped the flat of his blade against the shield in a clear challenge, though it lacked enthusiasm.

  She stood and rocked back on her heels, distributing her weight on the balls of her feet. Adrenaline zinged through her, keeping her wide-eyed and alert. Her second battle was to be against a man? Already? Fine. If that’s how they wanted to play it, then that’s what she’d deal with.

  Her opponent paced forward to the center of the pit with an easy grace, as if she weren’t a threat to him at all. He stopped ten paces away and scowled at her. “There’s no glory in taking down a single woman. Stand down before I hurt you.”

  Her muscles tightened, and she willed them to loosen as determination settled on her like a set of armor. If he wanted to underestimate her, that was fine. She’d show him his mistake.

  Raine settled into a ready stance, lifting her sword against him. “Never.”

  “You’ve been warned.”

  He hunkered down then sprinted, whipping his sword around at the last moment. She met his steel with her own, the clash jarring her arm. She twisted aside, slipping just out of reach. His growl was barely audible over the yell of the crowd. She kept the dead blinksy to her left as she worked her way backward, never looking away from her opponent.

  “What, that’s it? Are you all talk and no action, little girl?” He taunted.

  Her grip tightened on her blade, and she forced a slow breath out from clenched lungs.

  His eyes flared wide and he lunged forward. She pushed herself to meet him, shield raised to his blade. Her already-damaged shield cracked under the impact. He jerked against the sword, and she used that moment of distraction for her benefit, not hesitating to slide her blade into his gut, aiming for his kidneys.

  A stunned expression crossed his face before he crumpled to the ground, mouth open in a silent scream.

  This time the arena hushed for an eternal heartbeat before everyone went wild. Men hooted and hollered, and she could pick out a few individual raised voices praising her name and others cursing it. Simon stood still against a writhing crowd, surprise evident. She gave him a hollow smile as she cut a strip of shirt from her wounded foe and tied it around her wrist.

  Time to make enemies and allies.

  * * *

  Simon walked into Raine’s cell and stood over where she sat on her bed, his arms crossed, a muscle above his eye ticking. “Dylan’s interested in you now too.”

  Weary pleasure warmed Raine. “Good.” She tossed a blanket at him. “I earned a second blanket, so you can have this one.”

  He caught it and hugged it to himself, holding her gaze. “Do you realize what you’ve done?” Simon started to move like he was going to sit on her bed, and she cleared her throat. He reversed direction and sat against the wall with a sigh.

  She’d made it clear. She didn’t share her bed with anyone. In any way. She needed clear, hard boundaries here. And that included the one who constantly worked to stay close to her side.

  Whales, she missed Ben.

  Raine curled in on herself, nearly whimpering aloud. She’d held him at arms distance, when all he’d done was be a friend and constant support. He’d shown a kindness and compassion that few got close enough to her to express, and she’d dared to think of the future when it came to him. But it was too little, too late. She missed that airship and it was long gone, past the horizon. Along with him.

  “Raine?” Simon’s hand caressed her knee while his soulful brown eyes looked up at her. She scooted back, pulling her knee out of his touch. Simon frowned, but stayed where he was. “Are you hurt from that last fight?”

  She shook her head and cleared her throat. “I’m fine. Just … memories.”

  “Oh.” Simon sat back on his rear, watching with an unreadable emotion in his eyes. “What was your life like out there?”

  Her grandfather’s laugh echoed in her memory, and she smiled softly. “Happy. My grandfather and I were inseparable.” She closed her eyes and saw her grandfather fall from the blow to his head in Antius. She swallowed hard. “I worry about how he’s faring now.”

  Simon scooted closer, leaning his back against her bed as he brought his knees up to his chest, casually resting his elbows over his legs. “Anyone special for you?”

  Raine looked down and flexed her hand, remembering the feel of Ben’s fingers through hers. “There was a chance, but it was lost,” she said softly.

  This topic was too close to her heart. Too vulnerable. She straightened and moved forward on the bed so sh
e’d be in Simon’s line of sight. “Any specific challenges for tomorrow? You mentioned Dylan wants me in his gang?”

  Simon turned his face away from her but not before she saw the jealous scowl. He hadn’t said as much, but she was pretty sure he didn’t want her to keep risking herself, let alone taking the opportunity to change levels. Yet he’d put himself in the position of being her secretary of sorts, being the buffer between her and pit bosses that wanted to relay challenges or threats. What he hoped to gain from that, she couldn’t guess.

  Simon muttered something intelligible and she leaned forward, braiding her hair back. “Say again?”

  “Holden challenges you to beat his best fighter. You win, you place on the board of top three fighters that General Titus will see when he returns in the next day or so. You lose, you join his gang.” Simon whirled around on both knees, his eyes wide and pleading. “He wants you to fight Lynx. You can’t. Lynx is too strong. He’ll kill you.”

  Raine hummed to herself, thinking. Being on the board of the top three fighters meant she had a chance of being recognized for General Titus’s rumored mercenary group. Failing meant she’d have to change levels, and she didn’t know if she’d be able to guarantee her own cell there. But it was still the highest level of prisoners, known for both its ruthless inhabitants and the skill level of the fighters. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if she was placed there.

  “Lynx doesn’t kill wantonly,” Raine replied, her mind still churning on the possibilities. “He tends to disable more than kill.”

  “Exactly!” Simon exclaimed. “He’s scarred how many? Permanently handicapped others?” Simon’s hands twitched as if he wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. “I can’t let you do something so dangerous!”

  Scalding fire flared bright and hot in Raine’s gut, and she narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t have a say over anything I do. It’s for me to decide my best course of action in gaining my freedom. Not you.”

  Simon flinched under her wrath, but his eyes sparked, hard with their own heat. “Fine. I’ll tell him you accept.”

  “No,” Raine shook her head and stood. “I should start talking to everyone myself. I can’t let them think I’m hiding behind you.”

  “But when I talk to them, it keeps the mystery of who you are as the lone female.” Simon scrambled to his feet, barring the door from her. He bowed, nearly groveling. “Until your fight with Lynx, let me help you. Please.”

  The near-panic in his eyes stopped her in her tracks. What was with his constant need to be so helpful to her? Was this because Artemis asked him to, or was this something of his own? She frowned but nodded. “Alright. Fine. Until tomorrow night.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Ben

  The Aerugan palace gleamed in the innermost part of the city, a silvery gem against a backdrop of whitewashed linen. It made sense, the lack of color on the outside—being a partially desert region and all—but that didn’t make it any more appealing to stare at. Ben shook his head and heaved another box onto the ledge of the military airship cargo hold. He purposefully didn’t look up to see if the purple-haired woman who watched them had cringed this time—she twitched anytime the crates banged against something, and this time he’d tried to be a bit more gentle. Easier said than done.

  Ben and Geist had gotten their summons this morning just after Jade, Zak, and Brandon had left for the Leaders’ Summit, and now Ben and Geist were at the airship yards, loading boxes of Weston’s rifles into the steamy along with the others who would be returning to the Hollows. Ben was pleased to see that Timothy had beaten them there and was ready to help him and Geist blend in as Weston’s military men. Why the ex-bodyguard was still willing to risk his life for a changed mission at the Hollows, guarding, and possibly rescuing Raine instead of Andre, was beyond Ben. But he was grateful for the help, even if it did give him the sinking suspicion that the man had nothing else to live for.

  Timothy passed by Ben, hauling a crate behind him. He grunted. “Help me with this one?”

  Ben grabbed the opposite handle and pulled it up, lifting the wooden box with ease. He walked it into the airship, taking careful steps, and they settled the crate on a low shelf. Geist latched it down with well-practiced skill.

  Geist rolled his long sleeves up to his elbows and swiped a hand over his brow. “How many more?”

  “I think just one more of canteens.” Timothy glanced around the narrow cargo bay. “Where’s the shipwright? I’ll double check.” He loped away, maneuvering around the steel girders and rigging with no difficulty.

  Ben tested the airship’s smooth metal belly with his hand and shot Geist a grimace. “I miss the Phoenix already.”

  Geist snorted and hoisted himself up to perch on the edge of one of the rifle crates. “No kidding. And if you think this is going to bad, just wait till we’re in the air.” He nodded toward the outside. “All those clouds promise rain, and that’s a different beast in a steamy. You’ll have a whole new appreciation for the air travel you’ve experienced thus far out here.”

  “Oh, joy.” Ben walked back to the open bay door, peering out to the palace beyond the royal airship gates. He hadn’t gotten a chance to thank Jade for her help and her belief in him. He’d written her a letter, but hadn’t found someone to give it to. And he hadn’t been able to find Finn, either.

  Agitation crawled up his back. What would they find in the Hollows? How hard would it be to find Raine? Was she still alive? They didn’t know if their plan to quietly watch over and protect her would work. Let alone whether or not they’d need to smuggle her out. They were going into one of the most dangerous places, and they barely had a plan. He knuckled his forehead. This had to be the craziest thing he’d done yet, and he’d already created quite the list of crazy things.

  “You haven’t left yet. Good!” Finn’s voice pulled Ben’s head up quick enough that his neck panged. He rubbed it and watched Finn jog across the yard, avoiding a group of soldiers standing around and talking. Finn halted at the foot of the ramp for the airship and settled his hands against his knees while he panted. “I’d gone out for a few things, then came back to find you’d already left. Thought I’d missed you.”

  Ben set a hand against the chilly airship deck and skipped the ramp as he jumped to the ground. He joined Finn and clapped him on the shoulder, giving a grin he didn’t quite feel. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

  “Good. I’d hate to have to hunt you down.” Finn pulled a pouch from his pocket and handed it over to Ben. “For when you find Raine. Tea for her. I always make her some after we’ve gone through some sort of stressful situation, and I figure being in the Hollows, alone, qualifies for that.”

  Ben blinked at the small, unassuming pouch and slipped it into a cargo pocket on his pants. “Will do.”

  Finn yanked on Ben’s shoulder, pulling him into a tight hug and Ben’s breath huffed out of him. Finn released him before he had a chance to return the unexpected token of affection. Finn’s eyes glistened. “Give that to Raine too, will you?”

  “Of course.” Ben gave Finn the bravest smile he could muster in the face of the older man’s emotion. “And I’ll bring her home to you. Promise.”

  “Thank you, son.” Finn slipped his hands in his pockets, looking almost lost amidst the airship yards and the soldiers that started filing into the airship past them.

  Ben hesitated. “I––I’m beginning to wonder if there’s no way for me to return home.”

  Finn’s eyes flared in surprise at Ben’s admission and he blew out a breath, studying the ground. He shook his head slowly. “I honestly don’t know, son. Like I’ve said, I’ve never heard of anyone coming and going, so I would have to assume not.” Finn gave Ben a crooked smile. “But magic and science are things we learn something new about every day.”

  The tiny flame of hope that Ben had been sheltering from the rain of doubts died, and he sucked in a deep breath. He wouldn’t give up. Not completely. But, fo
r now, he would focus on life here, then. And maybe they’d find a way to get him home. After the war.

  If he survived.

  Finn clapped his hand on Ben’s shoulder in sympathy. “I’m sorry, son. I’ll keep an eye out for anything helpful.” He nodded to Ben. “I guess I’ll see you when you get back.” He turned away.

  “Finn!” Ben lurched forward and pulled the letter for Jade from his pocket. “Give this to Jade for me? We didn’t get to tell her thanks, so I wrote her a note.”

  “And I read it and added to it,” Geist’s voice sounded from the airship behind Ben. “So I can guarantee that it’s perfectly innocent and not at all inappropriate.” He nodded at Ben with a smirk. “Considering the likeliness of him wooing Raine, and all that.”

  Ben swatted back at Geist’s leg, feeling the tell-tale heat of a blush on his cheeks. Ben gestured at the unsealed envelope and struggled to not act as flustered as he felt. “You can read it, if you want.”

  Finn loosed a hearty laugh and shook his head at Geist, tears of genuine merriment glistening in his eyes. “The thought hadn’t even come to mind.” He tucked the paper away and patted at it. “I’ll get this to her soon.” He waved and started walking back to the palace, hands in his pockets.

  Ben glared up at Geist where he perched on the edge of the airship deck. Geist shot him a devious grin. “Your face looks like the Doldran crest, all crimson and whatnot.”

  “I hate you,” Ben muttered without any conviction.

  Geist laughed aloud and stood, leaning against the metal frame as Ben walked up the gangplank. “No, you don’t.” He started backing up into the ship as Ben drew closer. “But now that you mention it, I haven’t told you all my ideas on how you could greet your long-lost other half.”

  Something akin to ice water flooded through Ben’s veins at the same time as a rush of warmth. He shook his head, trying to tune out Geist. “Nope. Not hearing it.”