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“Healing magic won’t help you escape this, will it?” He laughed as vines squeezed my legs so tightly, I thought they might break. The more I moved the harder they clamped down on me. I attempted to grab for my daggers, but he caught my hands in his vines without lifting a finger. Laughter escaped him as he walked towards me and stopped in front of my face.
“I feel kind of bad at how easy this was, Thea. How embarrassing will it be for you to die in front of the whole Kingdom within minutes of the fight beginning? On the other hand, it will only make the others fear me like they fear you.” He slapped me with a backhand that was so hard that my head snapped to the side at the force. “I’ll have to find someone else to torment. Perhaps Haden or Nev?” I struggled against the vines, but it only caused them to curl around every part of me but my head. Leer had turned to the crowd and pumped his arms into the air like he had won.
Idiot. No one from the crowd cheered in his favor.
“If you let me go now, you live,” I muttered. This made him and some of the others laugh. “Is that a, no?”
“That’s a fuck no,” he said with a laugh.
“Alright but remember that when you're on your knees and I’m about to kill you.”
My fire had been waiting for me to give it control. To let it consume me and save me. It was an instinct it had. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath to control the urge more. I didn’t need to let loose. It would be reckless and put everyone in danger. When I opened my eyes, Leer's smile disappeared.
The fire spread from my fingertips and down my legs, burning the vines as they went. Leer stepped back only for a moment before trying to strike with his magic again. This time it was the roots of the trees coming for me. Dodging them was easy with a flick of my flame towards them. Fear overtook Leer’s eyes as he realized he made the wrong choice of challenging me.
He backed away, but I was too angry to stop. The way he had treated me when I got here and the way he was so willing to kill me fueled my anger. Lifting my hands in front of me I summoned a ball of fire. It was time to end this. Just as I was about to vaporize him, he fell to his knees in front of me and the sight of it made me smile.
“I forfeit,” he spoke quickly. “Forgive me, Captain. This wasn’t personal.”
The phrase caught me off guard. “What do you mean?” I asked as the ball of fire disappeared from my hands. My darkness evaporated immediately.
“Please forgive me.” He bowed his head and refused to look at me. Why was he asking for my forgiveness?
Desperate for an answer, I practically begged, “Do you know who I am?”
“Leer has forfeited!” the King proclaimed.
The crowd roared with cheer at the news, but I was still focused on what Leer had said.
“Leer, who am I?” He was taken away without saying another word to me. Peering around at the other contestants, I noted that they all stood in shock. So much for keeping my magic hidden. The King was smiling at me as he raised his hand to silence the crowd.
“What a lovely display, Thea. The top ten contestants will be joining me and my family for dinner tonight in the great room. The rest of you will have a special dinner in the dining hall.”
I glanced at the leaderboard to see my name was in the top ten with Nev, Haden, and Tagon. I didn’t recognize any other names.
With that, he turned away from us. The colosseum crumbled around us as the ground shook, depositing us back in the hallway of the castle.
The contestants stared at me as I made my way to my room. Fear gripped me, and I barricaded my bedroom door. Exhaustion plagued me as I sat on my bed. Using my magic always weighed on me, but I was worried about why the King needed us to go to dinner.
Was I going to be killed because they figured out that I held elite magic? Was fire magic elite or was the darkness in my chest that made me elite? Either way, Cassius knew my secret and that sealed my fate.
Chapter 12
The loud bang of my door barricade crashing to the floor woke me up. My dagger was in my hand and against the throat of my intruder within a moment.
“Easy, Little Viper, or I might think you’re flirting with me.” Cassius’s eyes twinkled with amusement. I lowered my dagger with a heavy sigh.
“The barricade is there for a reason.” I sat on my bed. He stood still like he might spook me if he moved.
“This is for tonight.” He tossed a heap of fabric at me and watched me unravel it to reveal it was a silky emerald green dress. While it was undeniably beautiful, dresses weren't my thing.
“No, thanks,” I said, tossing it on the bed next to me.
“You need to dress the part, Thea. You can’t show up in your boots and bloodied clothing. The King expects effort to be made.” He peered at the dress and then me. “Besides I thought if I got your favorite color, you might not fight it as much.”
“How did you know this is my favorite color?”
“Lucky guess.” He sighed heavily like I was getting on his last nerve. “It matches the cloak you wear so I figured you’d like it.”
