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The lizard looked Alice over. “Are you sure you want her as part of your team? She looks like she would do far better in the pleasure houses.”
“Pleasure houses?” Alice said, disgusted.
“Thank you for the compliment,” I said. It was never a good idea to irritate the workers. They had a lot of input over how well—or how badly—you performed in the pit. “That’s how I met her.”
“Stamp here,” the lizard said, holding the contract out for me.
I planted my palm on a large square ink pad and pressed it to the paper.
“By signing this document, you assign all rights to the illustrious owners of the fighting pit,” the lizard said in a bored voice.
“What?” Alice said.
I took her hand and stamped it first on the ink pad and then to the contract page. “We agree.”
“Congratulations,” the lizard said, snatching the contract away and tucking it in a thick folder. “May your death be slow and entertaining. Food, beverages, beds, and showers are available inside. Use them at your leisure. Next!”
I took Alice’s hand and dragged her inside. She was so shocked, her legs were hardly working.
The interior was different from the last time I was there. It was cleaner, with fewer blood stains and singe marks on the ceiling. The layout was identical.
I led Alice through the largely empty hallways to the dining hall. The other gladiators were busy conversing with one another. They looked me over with interest and snorted and shook their heads when they saw my partner. Alice turned her nose up at them.
I loved her spirit.
Few of the fighters had their own armor and weapons. Fewer still had the battle-hardened physique of former military personnel.
They looked more competent than I’d like.
We loaded up our plates with food and sat down at a quiet table in the corner. Alice looked pale.
“Eat up,” I said. “You’re going to need your strength.”
She glanced at the other tables. “I’m not sure I can do this.”
“Of course you can,” I said. “You just need to keep your wits about you. I know you’re not a fighter. That’s why I’m going to protect you.
“I can’t kill people,” Alice said. “I have trouble killing a fly.”
“Kill people?” I said. “We’re not here to fight the other gladiators.”
She perked up. “We’re not?”
“No. We’re here to kill the monsters.”
She looked surprised by that. And pleased. A little.
“We have to face three challenges,” I said. “One at a time. Beat them, and we move onto the next stage.”
Alice relaxed. “That’s a relief. What sort of things will we be fighting?”
“Monsters from lots of different worlds. We won’t know until we get out there.”
“Are they big and scary?”
I couldn’t lie to her. “Yes. But don’t worry. I’ve seen these monsters before. I know how to defeat them. I’ll do the fighting. I just need you to hand me the weapons when I ask.”
“I know. I’m the weapon stand,” she said, tucking into her food. “Sort of like the girl who works in the cloakroom at a club. Except instead of hats and coats, it’ll be swords and shields.”
