I entertain, I survive. Simple.
‘You fight Maldred and he keeps you until he’s finished with you. He knows better than to kill you, but I will not be happy with you if you do not give me a good show.’
‘Can this even be called a pit fight?’ the other fae, who’s dressed in black with the two jeweled knives, laughs. ‘Come now, Kobeth. She’s but a human female. A small one, at that. This fight will turn so quickly we might as well call it what it is. A rut.’
‘Care to wager any more on that?’ the orc responds, eyeing the scars he can see on me. ‘I’ve seen a human girl her size tear a bull apart by sheer force of will using nothing but her clawless hands and a fury unlocked by desperation alone. This one may yet surprise you.’
I’m turned in place by the orc so that I can see the gladiator. He’s pacing now, eager to begin. He stares at me through the open window, but he doesn’t approach it.
It must be warded so that he can’t pass through.
‘He has an old wound. Left knee,’ Kobeth whispers in my ear. ‘Don’t go down immediately. And don’t let me down or you better pray to your weak, drunken gods that I am in a good mood after I watch him defile you.’
I swallow hard. ‘Yes, my lord.’
You need to remember.
No. Survive.
I shake my head, dispersing the thoughts that spill across my mind like an overturned bucket. Ineedto be focused so that I can triumph over Maldred…an opponent three times my size. I will win. The masters will have to be entertained by that alone because I will not be letting this fighter stick his prick in me.
There was a time when I would have left it up to Fate. In The Barrack, I would have let someone like him hurt me first and hope that his comeuppance would be swift and harsh. But that doesn’t work in the pits. No one cares about more pain and suffering. I can hope he’ll get knocked out, but it’s not enough of a certainty to be relied upon.
I just hope that I’ve learned enough in the training pits over the days and nights that I’ve been here.
I make my turbulent head be quiet, as I have when I’ve fought with the other humans in the practice fights.
They were mostly women, though, the traitorous thing unhelpfully supplies, and this man is enormous. A seasoned fighter. All I can hope is that he will underestimate me, and that I can get a good kick in on that bad knee.
At least my new master has given me a chance.
‘Shall we begin?’
The two fae give enthusiastic whoops, and Kobeth grins nastily at me.
‘Do not fail me, slave. Send her in.’
I’m taken by the back of the neck and thrust through a very narrow door that closes tightly as soon as I’m through. I find myself in the room with the huge human male.
I see now that it’s bare and about the size of a fighting ring. There’s blood staining the walls and a crude circle is painted into the stone floor in blue. It’s weathered and faded.
The fighter in front of me grins. Some of his teeth are missing. He looks even bigger now that I’m in front of him.
He advances slowly. I hear the spectators shouting from beyond the window. I glance and see a third fae just for a moment. Behind the others. I hadn’t noticed him when I was in the main room.
Survive.
I’m pulled back into the moment as the drying sheet is pulled away from me and I realize my opponent is no more than a step away.
Focus!
He grins again, looking his fill of me. I vaguely hear the orcs and the fae shouting and laughing at my back.
Maldred casts a look at them and doesn’t go in for the kill despite my proximity. He’s playing with me, I realize. Making it a show for his masters, just as they ordered.
Anger rises in me, taking the bile’s place.
I strike at him, catching him in the face, raking my sharpened nails across his cheek and leaving deep gouges. He seems surprised as he touches his flesh below his eye and his finger comes away red.
