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Cleora looked back the way she had come with open fright. “I have to go. He won’t accept my absence for long. You are certain on this path for yourself? You could still back out. I would help you in any way that I can.”
“I have found that no one in this world can do much to help any other,” Kerrigan admitted sadly. “I have to do this.”
“I see you are set in your ways.” Cleora sighed. “Well, if you win, will you be at the celebratory party? We must speak more.”
Kerrigan looked to Constantine, and he nodded. “I’ll be there.”
Cleora squeezed her hand. “Don’t die.”
“I don’t intend to.”
Then, Cleora was dashing back to Vulsan’s side. Something that made sense after every other interaction they had ever had. Cleora had seemed scared and bullied far too much for Kerrigan’s liking but had never revealed the reason behind it. Now, Kerrigan understood.
“I don’t know how you know a professor who works for the Doma,” Constantine said with a querying side-eye. “You are full of surprises.”
“It’s another long story.”
How to explain the spirit plane, crossing dimensions upon it, and Kerrigan’s desperate need for a spirit teacher, allowing her to meet Cleora just when she’d needed her?
“They all are with you.” Constantine gestured to the stairs. “Let’s win this and give you another story.”
“With pleasure.”
26
The First Fight
Kerrigan was first.
Constantine grinned like a kid opening presents on Geivhrea. “Good.”
“How is this good?”
She stood at the threshold of the arena. She was warm. A sword was in her hand, perfectly balanced to her build. She was ready to get this over with, but she couldn’t see how going first was a tactical advantage.
“In the past, they have lined up the fights based on who they believe will give the audience the best show. The later fights are the highest attended.”
“So, they think I’m going to lose easy.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “And they’re going to be wrong.”
“Which means I need to put on a show.”
“That would be in your favor.”
She swung her sword lazily in her hand, just keeping her body ready. “I’ll see what I can do.”
They would underestimate her for all the reasons she had always been underestimated. But she only had one shot at this. After today, they would know she wasn’t to be trifled with.
A voice in the arena had been speaking for several minutes, and he boomed, “The moment you have all been waiting for!” The crowd cheered in response. “Our first competitor for your enjoyment is a Fae-touched princess from lands unknown.”
Kerrigan whipped her head at Constantine.
He shrugged. “I didn’t tell them anything. It’s all part of the spectacle.”
“This beauty is a newcomer to the tournament circuit. A rare gem in a sea of men. And … a Doma no less.”
The crowd gasped. She couldn’t see out to the stands, but it sounded like thousands of people had gotten to their feet and were stomping against the ground.
“You’ll find out for yourself today!” the man roared exaggeratedly over the sound. “Your first competitor, Red!”
The grate pulled upward on a pulley, giving her an unfettered view of the arena center.
“Good luck,” Constantine said.
She saw the fear in his eyes. She smirked. “I’m not going to lose. I had a good teacher.”
“You’d better not. I was just starting to like you.”
She laughed and swung her sword one more time. “The feeling’s mutual.”
Kerrigan stepped into the sand to a roar of applause. A chant began. Not her name. She was used to hearing Red on repeat in the Dragon Ring. It was one of the reasons that she had picked it.
Instead, the stands were yelling, “Doma!” over and over again.
Could be worse. Vulsan wasn’t pleased by her using the term, but he’d dismissed her as not a Doma within seconds. The announcer might be in trouble, but right now, Kerrigan had other problems to deal with.
The arena felt immensely bigger than it had when she looked on it from above. And she would have the entire thing to herself with her competitor. Whoever he was. The announcer was waiting for the cheers to die down before moving on to the man who would face her from the other side of the arena.
Her heart raced as she took in the thousands of people looking down at her. She could pick out the boxes that she’d been to earlier in the day, but that was about it. All the faces blurred together. She wouldn’t have been able to pick out Evander even if she’d tried. She turned her attention away from them and focused on what she had. The pit was empty. The dividers that had kept the lower fights separate had been removed. She had been permitted one sword, but no shield, which was probably for the better. The only shield she had ever trained with was a magical one. She never would have managed it within the week. It would have just dragged her down.
