Page 35 of The Only Way Out Is Up

“And the prize is… Well, I don’t know exactly, but it’s a lot. Tens of thousands of stripes.”

My mouth snaps closed with a click, mid-sentence. Tens of thousands of stripes. Tens of thousands of stripes.

One stripe would be the difference between my family starving and living in comfort for years. With tens of thousands we could— I don’t even know what we could do. For a moment I contemplate building a palace next to the market, opening our own pig farm and eating bacon every day, before I realize the obvious:

We could leave. Move to Malkuth. Move to fucking Yesod; I’m sure for enough money you can buy a pass. Live like… well, like people on Yesod, where there’s always enough to eat and monsters don’t creep over the walls at night and your house isn’t made of scrap metal and shards of glass.

It’s ridiculous. A fantasy. But for an instant, behind my eyes, I can see it.

“And you’d let me have it?” I say, with more sarcasm than I intended.

“I don’t need the money,” Ky says. “Or I won’t, if we win. If I can take my place on the Council I’ll have access to all the resources of my family. If the prize isn’t enough, you can have more. Whatever you want.”

“Hold on.” I set down the remaining half of my wrap. “There are so many problems with this I don’t know where to start.”

“Like what?”

“Like that hundred-stripe entry fee. Have you got a hundred stripes in your pack?” If she says yes, I’m seriously considering grabbing the bag and making a run for it.

She shakes her head. “I gave most of my cash to that Arbiter.”

“That knocks the whole thing on the head, then, because I sure as fuck don’t have a hundred stripes.”

“I’ve got that worked out. We’ll make it doing runic fights on Malkuth. And more, since we’re going to need parts to build a bigger version of Star. No offense intended to your work.”

“Fights on Malkuth?” I shake my head. “What makes you think Star has a chance here, much less in this tournament?”

[Betrayal: you have so little faith in me?]

Have you been listening to all this?

[Confirmation: difficult to avoid. I am under the bed.]

I’d almost forgotten he was there; I’m so used to Star being away anytime I’m around people. It’s not you I don’t have faith in, it’s her.

[Agreement: she is desperate.]

No kidding.

[Unease: I was concerned your desire to mate with her was distorting your reason.]

I’m not— I mean—whatever. If I can’t be honest with Star in my own head, where can I be? Fine. But that’s apparently off the table.

[Chastisement: as long as you remember.]

“—many runics, have you?” Ky is saying.

“Sorry.” I shake my head. “Mind wandering for a second there. What did you say?”

Ky looks exasperated. “I said, you haven’t been around many runics, have you?”

“I’ve seen enough,” I say. “We have runic fights in the Heap, too.”

“I’ve been around them all my life,” Ky says. “On Hod, runics do all the heavy work, and there are tournaments practically every week. I’m not a sigwork expert or anything, but I can tell you that Star is different.”

This is veering into territory that makes me both intensely curious and instantly uncomfortable. That Star is unique even among runics from Hod is a fascinating discovery, but I’m certainly not about to trust Ky with his secret.

“Different how?” I venture, cautiously.