Page 31 of Thief of Hearts

“That Epirians cannot read maps to see where boundaries are and cheat when they fight.” That was actually two things, but they went together.

“How can you cheat? In a fight anything goes.”

It shouldn’t have surprised me that he felt that way, but it did. “You should fight with honor.”

“Men who fight with honor usually end up dead.”

This should have made me dislike him, but unfortunately it didn’t change anything.

He went on, “My job is to survive the fight. By any means necessary.”

That also didn’t dampen my attraction and I felt as if that meant something was wrong with me.

I went back to my original hypothesis—I was sleep deprived. Once I had a full night’s rest, I would be annoyed by what he was saying and my desire for him would go away.

The Epirian stood next to a statue that I didn’t recognize. The statue’s feet were hobbled together, and it had a blindfold and wings. “Is that the Sagari god?”

He nodded. “Plouton. The god of wealth. He was blinded by the king of the gods so that he would give wealth freely to everyone and not favor a particular people. His feet were bound so that he would be slow to arrive and his wings are so that he can leave faster than he came. The Sagari seem to forget the last part.”

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and realized the Epirian was marching toward us. I hadn’t brought a weapon with me, as I had been foolish enough to imagine it wouldn’t be necessary. I quickly grabbed one of Zain’s knives and put it behind my back.

“Why are you staring at me?” the Epirian demanded.

“We were actually admiring the statue of Plouton,” Zain said in a tone that seemed to calm the Epirian down. “My name is Theogenes. And you are?”

Theogenes? Why had Zain given that as his name?

I quickly realized that it was most likely the name on the invitation that he had stolen and suppressed a sigh.

The Epirian glared at both of us before answering. “Levern. Aren’t you the one sharing a room with that Thracian? I can take her off your hands and she can room with me.”

I’d never been this close to an Epirian before without killing him. But given that I still didn’t know the rules regarding killing fellow competitors, I thought it best to hold off.

Zain shifted slightly to his left, as if moving to protect me. “I wouldn’t advise that,” he said. “You’re liable to wake up with your throat slit open.”

“I’m not worried about a little girl,” Levern shot back.

I was neither little nor a girl, but I decided to let it go and take my revenge in another way. “I am going to beat you. And then you’ll live the rest of your life knowing that a ‘little girl’ bested you.”

He narrowed his eyes on me. “Would you like to bet on that?”

“Yes. Five hundred staters that I will beat you in every event at the tournament.”

Zain made a choking noise. That was a lot of money.

“Fine,” Levern said. “Five hundred staters. I will expect payment after you lose the first event tomorrow.”

“And I will expect payment after they crown me the winner of the tournament.”

He spit at my feet to disrespect me and I had to grab Zain by the arm as he lurched forward, presumably to fight Levern. It wasn’t needed. I would take care of him by myself.

The Epirian left and Zain asked, “Do you have five hundred staters?”

“No.”

His eyes widened. “I thought Thracians didn’t gamble.”

“It’s not a gamble if I know I’ll win. And even if I don’t win the entire tournament, the wager was that I would beat the Epirian. Which I will. I’m always happy to relieve a thief of his stolen money.”