Power.Status.Freedom.And a life fully lived.
Alright.I squared my shoulders and took stock of myself.When I pulled on the clothes Nilli had laid out for me, I felt more like myself than I had in weeks.Like I was finally standing on stable ground.
The thing about being lied to is that, once the mask comes off, at least you know exactly where you stand.I didn't have to wonder or guess; I didn't have to cry about whether Araxisreally liked me.
I knew.I knew what he wanted; I knew what Creche Thiel wanted; I knew what I wanted.
Maybe all those years with Alet Trident had rubbed off on me after all.We had the beginning of a negotiation there.
"I'm ready," I said after giving my hair a final tousle.I unclasped the loaned wristband and set it on the end of the bed, strapping my swords across my back and following Nilli out of the dignitary's suite and back toward the shuttle.Through the bright halls and past the verdant foliage of the atrium, and I saw all of it with new eyes.
I could have something like this.Icould insist we buy a ship with a forest in the middle.I paused to take it in, and I thought of Talvi showing me their dingy hiding spots all around the second deck of their tiny creche ship.I drummed my fingers on the railing of the concourse for a moment, then exhaled a deep breath and left it all behind to go watch my sinnenthi win.
Chapter 30 –HisCrown of Bones
True to her word, Nilli took us into orbit off of Thenat-6 in the little shuttle.This time, I settled myself into the chair next to the pilot's seat, feeling a strange ghost of familiarity as we sat next to each other and pulled up the entertainment feed: I'd spent hours like this with Araxis, sneaking glances at him and trying not to scare him off.
Now I knew I could never have scared him off.I could have done anything, and he would have considered it a victory.I was the prize, and he'd played long and hard to win me.
"Did you enjoy speaking with your friends?"Nilli asked as the coverage got started, music blaring and interviews with the three remaining contestants – Araxis, the brin Zey'flen, and the ketaari Tree Lily – spooled out, spliced with footage from the previous days of combat.
"I did, thank you," I said, stare flicking over the map laid out on the screen.They were adjusting the drop locations so that the participants were closer together – the day before must have been bad for ratings – and they cut in footage of the participants completing a new random selection.Araxis drew a location near the middle of the map on a wedge of higher ground.Good.
"You must have very many friends," Nilli tried, turning down the volume a bit as commentators began analyzing sequences of combat from training in the village and the preceding days of combat before the platforms rose from the pods below the arena.She always liked to turn it down when they showed that same clip of Araxis beheading Andiri; there was also always an extended sequence of Andiri as she throttled me.
I looked away.I didn't particularly like it either."You know," I said lightly, "I really don't.I have one friend, Khrelen Tintissi, who I worked with.He's written a few times since I left.Mostly he wanted to tell me about his latest auditions for theatre productions."He'd also written a lengthy diatribe about what an idiot I was when he realized I hadn't justleft for work, but was, in fact, taking part in agalactic bloodbath; I'd learned about six new ways to swear in Standard from that letter, but that wasn't the kind of thing I wanted to share with Nilli."Other than that, no one wrote back."
Nilli tilted her head as she looked at me, her dark eyes perceptive."Hm."
"Work was always busy," I explained.The platforms rose from the sand, the teal energy shields buzzing.Nilli turned the volume down a little more, which was fine by me.I found it hard to breathe when the chimes sounded and the crowd roared, some strange sense memory making me shiver reflexively."I think I'm good at getting along with almost everyone.But… that's not really the same thing, is it?"
She was quiet, which I guessed meant she didn't know what to say, even though that was her entire job.Itwaspretty pathetic, so I rushed to add, "I got along well with Zirric.I bet we could be friends if we ever got to spend time together."
"Yes," Nilli said emphatically."Sometimes, it is about finding the right people; it is about finding the place where you belong.I believe you will have many friends, Sashen of Creche Thiel."She reached out and squeezed my hand, and then the shields on the screen blinked out of existence and we stopped talking.
I turned the volume back up, just a little, and leaned forward in my seat.My hands curled into hard fists resting on my thighs, nails digging into the flesh of my palms.Araxis stood on the promontory, his dark eyes glittering as he did a slow rotation, taking in the landscape.Hisgleamingswords were in his hands, his eyes narrowed.
Another camera showed Tree Lily's purple form.The moment the shield dropped, she leapt to the ground and hunched over, pressing the side of her head to the dirt.Her yellow eyes clicked shut.After a breath or two, Tree Lily lifted her head, angling her face in the direction of Araxis's drop spot.She scrambled a few feet in that direction, pressing her head down to the ground again.
"Competitor Tree Lily appears to be locating the other active drop locations by listening for the sound of gravel being displaced by thedescending platforms," said one of the commentators."Bright Cloud, we haven't seen this tactic used in anumberof years."
"Yes, it only works in some conditions," intoned the other commentator, "but Tree Lily clearly knows her Tournament history.And given that she's from –" they said a word in taar that I couldn't imagine pronouncing, "shewouldbe familiar with the properties of this sand and gravel composite."
Tree Lily leapt up as the platforms finished their descent, hurtling along a series of boulders as she bolted away from her drop spot and toward the ridge where she would find Araxis.
"It doesn't matter if she knows where he is," I said aloud, glancing at Nilli."He knows she's coming."
Nilli was silent next to me, although she sent me a quick, flickering smile.
I stiffened as I watched.The day on the moon was overcast, so Tree Lily didn't have shadows to hide in andshe woreher black armour.He'd see her.
Araxis stood, looking south, and I saw a frown catch his mouth, his head tilting just slightly.
One of the cameras showed Tree Lily's approach from above.She moved in a precise and careful line toward Araxis's back.In one hand was a dagger, sharp and sleek.She was good with her daggers; she had good aim.When she'd tricked Atosha into that bottleneck, she'd dropped him in two deadly strikes from a distance.
"Come on," I muttered, staring at Araxis on the screen."Turn around.She's right there."
Tree Lily inched forward, slow; it looked like she wasn't breathing, her yellow eyes narrow.That golden stare flicked for one scant moment to a cluster of bushes to the side before settling, steady, on Araxis.A view from a camera behind her shoulder showed Araxis's upright back on the top of the ridge: a target, out in the open.
