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Kallan approached from the side with a water flask in his hands. He pressed it into her palm in an unspoken demand and Claire obliged. He didn’t speak, cognisant of the eyes around them but gave her a small smile and a proud nod. One down.
38
To Claire’s surprise and pleasure, her next opponent went smoothly. He was a part of Kallan’s warrior unit from her cousins’ teaching and he fought a lot like Kallan. Claire was able to disarm him after fifteen minutes with a move Kallan had taught her. He gave her a nod of respect and left the arena.
Claire glanced over at her Triad still in the dome. Their expressions were stoic, unwilling to show the Fae how much this was affecting them but whenever Claire made eye contact, her men gave her a small smile.
When the third opponent entered the ring, Kallan and Kieran frowned and Claire was instantly on guard. She didn’t recognize any of his facial features, but the small smirk on his lips told her she wasn’t supposed to. The warrior bowed to the Elder, specifically Elder Milam and Claire’s eyes widened briefly. This wasn’t going to be good. If this warrior knew Elder Milam, Elder Milam probably switched him into the lineup to throw Claire off.
While the warrior bowed to the Elders, Claire took the time to evaluate her opponent like Malcolm had taught her. He was built leanly, like Everett, and he twirled his sword with a confidence that bordered on cockiness. Malcolm had once told her with a warrior like this, the best way to win a fight was to fluster him and make him start making mistakes.
He finally turned to acknowledge her and gave her a bow not half as deep as the one he just gave the Elder. She raised an eyebrow and he smirked and winked at her. She ignored him as she gave the customary half bow to start the match, bending in the full bow, refusing to show him the same lack of respect he had shown her.
The bell rang and they began circling each other. He stepped lightly and gracefully, indicating a quick fighting style. Moments later, she was proved right when he came at her with a flurry of blows she worked hard to block. She missed the last one and he knocked her arm away from her, leaving her side open. He lunged forward to spear her through the stomach and Claire threw herself backwards barely avoiding the blow. She regained her balance and spun as he turned back to face her.
She attacked first this time, feeling him out like she had been taught, looking for weaknesses. He was a perfectionist, she figured out when she tripped his footwork up and the snarl that crossed his face could have seared right through her.
He got a bit sloppier after that and Claire bided her time, waiting for another moment to trip him up again. This time, it came quite literally and as he lunged at her she side-stepped and left her foot out, catching his ankle and sending him stumbling to the ground. The movement left his back exposed and Claire had a brief thought to stick her daggers to his back in a dirty move to end the fight but she couldn’t. It wasn’t in her to kick him while he was down even if he was being an ass.
His actions a few seconds later had her reconsidering.
As he got up from the ground, he gripped a handful of sand in his free hand. Spinning on his knee, he threw the sand straight at Claire’s eyes. Before she had time to react, the grainy particles hit her eyes, sending her vision blurry and immediately starting a burning sensation. The crowd gasped and there were a few cries of protest, the first time they had been vocal since the start of the match.
Claire heard the rustling of clothes as the Fae got to his feet and fell back into his fighting stance. He thought he had incapacitated her but he didn’t know that she spent most of her life in the dark.
His steps faltered when she shifted comfortably into her fighting stance, eyes closed and ignoring the burning sand caught in them. Even with the magic-preventing barrier, Claire could feel whispers of anger down her bonds with her Triad meaning they werepissed. Claire ignored both the bond and the burning sensation. She could wash them out after the fight but right now she refused to let his dirty trick unsettle her.
Instead, she called on her Energy Reading to supplement her missing sight. She reached for the Energy surrounding his sword and the soft wind that was created as he moved his body. She blocked out all distraction and fed more magic into her Energy Reading until she had a clear picture with her senses of the warrior and his movements.
Taking advantage of the warrior’s shock, Claire attacked first, using her daggers as another form of Energy Reading as she made contact with his sword. Now the warrior was really flustered especially since his dirty trick didn’t work and his footwork was sloppy. He tried to rally, pushing back on her with a few Fae moves Kallan had taught her but Claire felt him coming and blocked him easily.
In a move that felt as natural as if she had been born doing it, Claire side stepped him, caught his sword in between her daggers and disarmed the warrior. His sword clattered to the ground and Claire stepped on the blade to prevent him from picking it up. She held out the Elven dagger towards his throat and gave a small smile at the confusion and anger that radiated from him.
Checkmate.
“That’s match,” Elder Vali’s voice called from the raised dais.
Claire stepped back and bowed to the warrior who paused for a half second longer than what was appropriate and bowed back. She stepped away from his sword, allowing him to pick it up as she held her daggers lightly by her side. She didn’t necessarily trust the warrior not to try something else. Everything about the Fae she had learned so far said they valued honor but his actions were anything but.
Two shadows approached her from the side and Claire felt her cousins’ familiar Energy wash over her. She relaxed slightly as they flanked her. The warrior retrieved his sword, the metal rasping against the stone slightly before he melted into the crowd.
Kieran touched her elbow lightly guiding her away from the center of the arena and close to the magic-preventing barrier. “Is that still necessary?” she gestured towards the barrier, eyes still closed and grains of sand still burning.
“It won’t come down till the last trial,” Kallan said, pressing a canteen of water in her hands. “Drink and then wash out your eyes.”
“So bossy,” Claire teased, slightly giddy that she didn’t make an absolute fool out of herself during the combat trials. “You and Malcolm would get along great.”
“When this is over, I’ll look into it,” Kallan said dryly. “Now hurry. The Elders allow a small break between the Combat trial and the Justice trial so you can rest before the magic trial but it’s not long.”
Claire took the flask and did what he said, taking a few sips of water before leaning over and tilting her head, trying not to wince too much as she let the water wash over her eyes. She blinked rapidly, allowing it to clean out all the little particles of sand. When she opened her eyes again, they felt sore and achy and she blinked against the midday sun but she could see again.
Someone had placed a chair in the center of the stone arena, ten paces from the Elders’ dais. That one must be for her. A second chair was placed sideways in front of the dais so the person sitting there could see both the Elders and Claire at the same time.
Claire caught the eye of Elder Vali who gave her a soft smile and motioned towards the chair. Head held high, Claire walked over and settled onto it like it was a throne. Another Fae emerged from the crowd. Streaks of gray at his temple belied his advanced age even for a Fae. Claire scanned the crowd briefly while the Fae settled into his seat.
Her attention returned to the Elders when Elder Milam stood again. “Moving onto the Justice trial. I would like to introduce Truth Seeker Maven. The contender will be asked a series of questions and Truth Seeker Maven will indicate to the Elders whether or not she is truthful.”
Claire glanced sideways at Kieran who’s blank face didn’t give anything away. So there were other Fae that could detect lies? Was this man also related to her if he could read Energy? There was no more time to think about it as a different Elder, one she didn’t have a name for, rose and opened a weathered paper scroll.
