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“We nearly lost today.”
“Nearly doesn’t count. There are no ties on Ja’La. You either win or you lose. We won. That’s what matters.”
Johnrock backed away a little at Richard’s tone. “If you say so, Ruben. But if you don’t mind my asking, what happened?”
“I made a mistake.”
Richard picked at a small stone half buried in the hard, dry ground. Johnrock chewed while he thought it over.
“I never saw you make a mistake like that before.”
“It happens.” Richard was angry at himself for making such a mistake—for letting his focus slip like that. He should have known better. He should have done better. “Hopefully, I won’t make a mistake tomorrow. Tomorrow is the important day, the day that counts. I hope not to make a mistake tomorrow.”
“I hope so, too. We’ve come a long way.” Johnrock shook the stubby piece of ham at Richard to add emphasis to his point. “We’re not just winning games but winning fans at the games. A lot of men root for us now. One more win and we will be champions. Then the whole crowd will cheer for us.”
Richard glanced over at his wing man. “Did you see the size of those men on Jagang’s team?”
“You don’t need to be afraid.” Johnrock flashed a crooked smile. “I’m big, too. I will protect you, Ruben.”
Richard couldn’t help smiling with his big wing man. “Thanks, Johnrock. I know you will. You always do.”
“Bruce will, too.”
Richard suspected he very well might. The man was an Imperial Order soldier, but he was also a member of a powerful team with a reputation—Ruben’s team, as most of his men called it. They didn’t call it that in front of Commander Karg, though. The spectators called them the red team, and Commander Karg called it his team, but among themselves the players called it “Ruben’s team.” He was their point man. They had come to trust him. Bruce, like some of the other soldiers on the team, had at first been reluctant to wear the symbols in red paint, but now he wore them proudly. Other soldiers cheered him when he came out onto the field.
“Tomorrow’s game is going to be…dangerous, Johnrock.”
Johnrock nodded knowingly. “I intend to make it so.”
Richard smiled again. “You watch yourself, will you?”
“My job is to watch you.”
Richard rolled the small stone he’d pried up from the ground around in his loose fist as he chose his words carefully.
“A time comes when a man has to watch out for himself. There are times when—”
“Snake-face is coming.”
Richard cut off his words at the low warning. He looked up and saw Commander Karg marching through the line of guards. The man did not look happy.
Richard tossed the stone away and leaned back on his hands as Commander Karg came to a halt right above him. Dust rose around the man’s boots. He glared down at Richard as he planted his fists on his hips.
“What was that all about today, Ruben?”
Richard peered up at the tattoos of snake scales that were just still visible in the fading light. “You didn’t appreciate that we won?”
Instead of answering, the commander turned the glare on Johnrock. Johnrock got the message and scooted away, back past the opposite end of the wagon, until he reached the end of his chain tether and could go no farther. The commander squatted down in front of Richard. The tattoos of scales moved in a way that looked to Richard like real snake skin.
“You know what I mean. What was that foolishness all about?”
“I got clobbered. It’s what the other team is always trying to do. It’s bound to happen occasionally.”
“I’ve seen you try your best and come up just a little short and not be able to make a score, or make every effort to evade a charge of blockers and not quite make it clear, but I’ve never seen you make a foolish mistake.”
“Sorry,” Richard said. He couldn’t see the point in arguing about it.
“I want to know why.”
Richard shrugged. “Like you said, it was a foolish mistake.” Richard was more angry with himself than the commander could ever understand. He couldn’t afford a mistake like that tomorrow. “We won, though, so that means we will play the emperor’s team. That’s what I promised you—that I would get your team to a match with the emperor’s team.”
The commander’s eyes turned up, gazing at the first stars of the night for a moment, before speaking. “You do remember being captured, don’t you?”
“I remember.”
His eyes turned back down to fix a stare on Richard. “Then you remember that by all rights you should have been killed that day. I let you live on the condition that you do your best to win my team this championship. Today, that was not your best. You nearly threw away my team’s chance to win with a stupid move.”
Richard didn’t shy away from the man’s gaze. “Don’t worry, Commander. Tomorrow I will do my best. I promise.”
“Good.” Snake-face finally smiled, though it was a cold curve of his mouth. “Good. You win tomorrow, Ruben, and you get your woman.”
“I know.”
The smile turned sly. “You win tomorrow and I get my woman.”
Richard wasn’t really interested. “Is that right?”
Commander Karg nodded. “If we win, that shapely blonde with Emperor Jagang will be mine.”
Richard looked up with a dark frown of his own. “What are you talking about? Jagang isn’t going to let you have someone like that, a woman marked as his.”
“It’s a little wager with the emperor. He’s so confident that his team will win that I got him to bet his most prized woman on the outcome. Her name is Nicci. He calls her his slave queen. Jagang doesn’t want to lose her to me, she’s rather…an obsession of his. But I think you can win her for me.” His eyes focused into his own distant, lustful thoughts. “I would like that very much—as much as Jagang wouldn’t like it, I expect.” He returned to the matter at hand and shook a finger at Richard’s face. “You had better win for your own sake as well.”
“So that I can have my choice of a woman?”
“So that you can live. You lose tomorrow and you will have the death you should have had after you killed all of those men of mine.” Commander Karg’s sly smile returned. “But if you win, you will have your choice of a woman, as promised.”
Richard met the man’s gaze with a glare. “I already promised that I would do my best tomorrow. I always keep my promises.”
The commander nodded. “Good. You win tomorrow, Ruben, and we’ll all be happy.” He chuckled. “Well, Jagang won’t be happy—not one bit. Come to think of it, I don’t think Nicci will be any too happy, either, but then that’s not really my concern.”
“And the emperor? Don’t you think he will care?”
“Oh he will care, a
ll right.” Karg chuckled. “Jagang will go crazy when he has to let me have Nicci for my bed. I have a few scores to settle with that woman. I intend to enjoy it.”
Richard managed to remain silent and look composed, despite the fact that he wanted to whip the chain around the man’s neck and strangle him.
Commander Karg rose up. “You win that game, Ruben.”
Richard glared at the man’s back as he watched him striding away.
After he was sure that the commander was gone, Johnrock held a length of chain slack to keep it from pulling on the collar around his neck, and scooted back close to Richard.
“What did he say, Ruben?”
“He wants us to win.”
Johnrock snorted a laugh. “I bet he does. As the owner of a champion team he can have what ever he wants.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“What?”
“Get some rest, Johnrock. Tomorrow is going to be an eventful day.”
CHAPTER 30
Richard woke abruptly from a light sleep. Even in the dead of night the camp was alive with sound and activity. Everywhere, it seemed, there were men yelling, laughing, and swearing. Metal clanged, horses whinnied, and mules brayed. In the distance Richard could see the ramp, along with lines of men and wagons, lit by torches. Even in the middle of the night the construction continued without pause.
But none of that was what had awakened him. Something closer in had caught his attention.
He saw shadows slipping through the ring of guards and the circle of low supply wagons that marked out his prison. He counted four of the dark figures stealing silently through the darkness. A quick check to the sides revealed another off to the right. He wondered if they had really snuck through unseen or if the guards had allowed them to pass.
By their size, Richard knew who they were. After what Commander Karg had told him about his bet with Jagang, Richard had been expecting visitors. It was the last thing he needed, but it wasn’t like he had any choice in the matter.
What really worried him was that, chained to the wagon, his options were limited. He could hardly hide. He certainly couldn’t run. Fighting five men, maybe more, was not something he wanted to have to do before the game the next day. He couldn’t afford to be injured—least of all now.
