AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The boy stumbled hesitantly into the middle, his face a blank mask. Harlow pointed to a blond boy who reminded me of a cat. He had beady eyes the color of unpolished emeralds and a sly smile that contorted his already severe features.
Harlow whirled to them both, excitement lining his cunning eyes. “I’m sure most of you are familiar with the rumors. The legends of the Mist. Of what lies beyond it,insideof it. One thing the Knights pride themselves on is their honor.”
Honor. I almost laughed. If only they knew the man who presided over the Knights. The king was far from honorable.
Harlow focused back on the two recruits. “We pride ourselves on chivalry, honor, the old code. But”—he trailed off, meeting the stares of many a fearful boy—“we also know that to overcome what lies beyond, we must be relentless.”
Kiara shifted in place, but her stare turned cold. Deadly.
I smiled, unexpected pride filling me.
“That being said”—Harlow jerked his head at both the smirking lad and his muscled opponent—“sometimes you will not be evenly paired. And there are no rules in the realm beyond our kingdom. You dowhatevermust be done.”
No one spoke. Not even the asshole Kiara had beaten to a pulp back in her village. He’d been tossed on a wagon and brought here with the others.
Inside, I seethed. I would’ve sent him straight for the Guard, hells, probably even to the lower ranks of the Patrol, but the lieutenant had argued that we needed as many able-bodied recruits as possible.
Harlow motioned to the two in the center. “Face off. Dowhateveryou must do. There are no rules here in the ring.” He gave them his back, retreating to the far side of the room, where he leaned against the stone like a king observing his subjects.
Judging by the way his attention darted back and forth, calculating where best to strike, I was sure that the boy with the feline smirk would make the initial move. But it was the muscled giant whose fist connected first.
It wasn’t a hard hit, more like a testing one, and the aggressor appeared almost regretful. His eyes were gentle, the type that looked out of place among such rippling brawn and power. His opponent, whose name—Alec—was shouted above the crowd, didn’t stay down for long.
Alec was quick to rise, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he lifted his arms to shield his face. Making no move to attack, he waited until his opponent lunged, a roar ripping from his throat.
There were chants of “Sam”—the larger boy’s name—as well as whoops of encouragement from the recruits watching, the arena pulsating with a bloodthirsty energy.
Sam, clearly so sure he would take Alec down, never saw the smaller boy’s feet. With a near-graceful sweep of his lean legs, Alec skillfully made Sam fall to the floor with a resounding thud.
I grimaced. His tailbone would be sore for the rest of the day.
Alec didn’t slow as he jumped on Sam’s torso, straddling him and delivering a rapid set of punches to his handsome face. The boy at Kiara’s side averted his eyes, glancing down at his boots, and she sidled closer, almost as if in comfort.
Only when Sam called out in surrender did Alec cease his assault. Quick as the feline I’d likened him to, he jumped to his feet, twisting to face an unsmiling Harlow.
The foreboding lieutenant merely jerked his head and ordered the pair to remove themselves from the ring, compelling a friend of Sam’s to rush in and help him stumble back into place. Alec leaned against the wall, a victorious smirk struggling to make an appearance, though he seemed to purposely avoid staring at the boy he’d decorated with bruises.
Once the ring cleared, Harlow resumed his unnerving saunter about the room, looking for his next pair of victims. Kiara’s eyes lit up when he slowed near her, and her gloved hands formed into fists as a smile curved her mouth.
She wanted to fight. Not that it should’ve surprised me.
But then Harlow’s focus landed on her companion, and all of her excitement dissipated.
“You.”
Her mouth fell open in protest, but the boy shoved his way forward, taking his spot with a kind of bravery that I knew he didn’t feel.
Harlow’s astute gaze missed nothing. Certainly not the subtle concern causing Kiara’s brow to wrinkle.
“And you.” He raised his lean finger inches from her heart. “Join your fellow recruit in the center.”
I cursed silently. This wasn’t what I’d hoped for when wishing to see Kiara fight again. She was obviously more skilled than her opponent. It didn’t take a trained eye to see the disparity.
Genuine panic clouded the freckled boy’s eyes, and his hands twitched nervously at his sides as he curled them into loose fists.
“Any day now, recruit,” Harlow snapped.
Kiara took a step forward, directing a venomous gaze to him. I found myself taking a step as well, an inexplicable fear worming its way into my chest and weighing down my breaths.
