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“It will be fine.” I set my bag down. “Thanks.”
Giving me a curt nod, he headed for the door. He paused with his back to me and his hand gripping the door handle tightly.
“Lock this door when you are in here alone. Dinner will be served within the hour.”
Then he was gone. Taking his advice, I locked the door. I removed my cloak and walked over to the window. My view overlooked the castle’s private gardens. Fountains and statues lined the stone pathways. It was absolutely beautiful.
I turned and surveyed the room again. The bed called to me. I laid on it and a smile crept on my face that hadn’t been there in a long time. It was odd to look at the ceiling and not see cracking mud and moss like in Exile, nothing in this room was falling apart. The thought made me feel filthy, and I headed for the bathroom. The shower relaxed me, but I cut it short when my stomach wouldn’t stop growling.
I needed a good meal and a good night's sleep to do well tomorrow. I’m sure they had already targeted me as weak because I was the only woman. Tomorrow needed to be a day I established myself as someone not to fuck with.
A knock on my door startled me.
“Dinner is served.”
After braiding my hair, I headed to the dining hall, where most of the men had already taken seats. Ignoring their gawking stares, I filled my plate with a ridiculous amount of food. It all smelled wonderful. I was so used to bread and water, with the occasional vegetable if I could find any to steal. The smell of the meat and vegetables made my stomach clench tight with hunger. It had always been easier to not acknowledge the hunger because acknowledging it only made it worse.
I chose to sit at an empty table. The guards lined the outskirts of the room, including the man in all black. I wondered if they would stand guard the entire time. Slowly I ate my food, savoring the flavor and knowing that eating too quickly would make me sick. The men were loud, but I didn’t mind. I was so used to pure silence or boisterous fighting in Exile that civilized chatter here was nice. I kept my face down and minded my own business, but that didn’t save me for too long.
The burly man that tried intimidating me earlier was walking around to each table and talking with them. I noticed men adding coins into a bag. What was that about? The man caught me looking and stared at me momentarily before laughing, which of course drew everyone’s attention.
“Little Dove, would you care to join the betting?”
It was easy to ignore him as I continued to eat my food. Do not allow yourself to be bothered by this guy, I told myself. He wanted to get under my skin. Some of the other men started laughing which caught my attention more. There was obviously something funny at my expense. The guard in black was watching the exchange with a hard-pressed face. He was not amused but didn’t interfere.
“Yeah, I didn’t think you would. Besides, you'll lose the bet anyway.”
I rolled my eyes at his tactic to rile me up. He was like a big ugly child. He sauntered up to my table when I didn’t engage yet again.
“Listen here, you stupid bitch. I don’t take kindly to being ignored, but I’m feeling generous today. I’ll let you join the betting without having to pay in. If you win, you can have the whole pot.”
I raised my eyebrow at him but gave him little else to go on.
“We have a little bet going. Who will be ranked the lowest after the first task?”
I knew I was likely the only person that was voted for considering I was the only woman. His smug smile felt unpleasant and made my skin crawl. His whole demeanor radiated bad energy and I just wanted him to quit pestering me. Still, I continued to eat without giving away my annoyance.
“You are the unanimous vote,” he sneered as if I would become upset at this information. Still, I said nothing. My eyes drifted to the tall guardsman in all black. He wasn’t even watching us anymore. He talked to another man as if he were bored being here. The burly man turned to the room full of men.
“Seems here the bitch doesn’t want to participate. Yeah, I wouldn’t either if I knew I would be at the bottom of the ranking.” This had the men in an uproar of laughter. The guard’s golden eyes moved from the burly man to me as I continued eating, his lip curling in disgust at the exchange. Just as the big ugly man went to sit back down, I spoke up just to prove a point. I knew I should just let this go, but I couldn’t.
“You know, a boy from back home always told me it was easy to spot the weakest fighter in a crowd.” I shot the man a look of boredom. “It’s always the one who is the loudest in the crowd. The one who tries to intimidate and bully fear into others.”
The man's face turned bright red with anger, and the laughter of the other men died out.
“I guess that would make you the weakest since clearly, you are compensating for your lack of confidence by trying to make me look weak.” I took a bite as all the men stared at me like I was an idiot. Maybe I was. “I won’t join your childish game, but just know that I will be ranked higher than you.” I held up my cup to the room in a toast and smiled.
Their eyes darted stunned that I stood up for myself. The guard in black held an amused smirk on his face as he watched all the horrified men glaring at me. The audacity I must have to speak up against this bully of a man.
“Watch your back, stupid whore,” the man bellowed before he turned his back to me and headed to his table.
Once I was comfortably full, I stood up and headed to my room. I was thankful that I didn’t have to share a room with the men now. I’m sure the big ugly ogre of a man would try to smother me as I slept. Just as I turned the handle to my door, someone rushed up behind me. I pulled my dagger out of its sheath and held it to the throat of the guard in black. An amused smile spread across his face as he grabbed my wrist and slammed me back into the wall.
“Glad to see you have good instincts considering you just insulted the man who is expected to rank first in the entire tournament.”
Processing his words was difficult when he was so close to me. I had not thought much about what he looked like in my dreams until recently, but everything about him drew me in. Maybe it was due to him being around me for so long that I felt comfortable with him, or maybe it was something else entirely. Something about his presence made me less tense, despite the powerless position I found myself in.
His body molded to mine as he held me against the wall. His other hand squeezed my throat softly. His eyes swirled with gold and black, his fingers gripping me tighter as his gaze found mine. This man was nothing like my dreams, but I still found myself drawn to him. He wasn’t gentle or playful; he was cold, indifferent, and powerful.
