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My heart ached, memories of Orya crowding my mind. She’d been a Sirin Remnant, and too soft for Adraedor, just like the woman beside me. I wanted to protect Aella, as I hadn’t been able to protect my best friend.
“Why are they choosing so many?” She whispered, her eyes darting around at our growing group.
I shrugged, a shiver of worry snaking through me. There were at least thirty slaves selected, almost quadruple the amount of the last games. Atar’s balls. What was going on? I didn’t even have time to wonder how monumentally I’d fucked up before the lead woman spoke again, directing us to follow her. A few of the unselected women looked disappointed, but most sagged with relief to have not been chosen.
Aella whimpered as we followed Carita into the hallway, her movements shaky. We were somewhere deep in the colosseum; the sounds of the gathering crowd were muffled but still recognizable. I couldn’t smell any blood or animal waste, so we weren’t near the gladiator barracks. The walls were made of the same red stone as the exterior, without the fancy adornments in the arena itself. It was still grander than anything I’d ever known.
Carita opened a door, and a blast of humid air hit me, so foreign that I didn’t understand the sensation of moisture coating my skin initially. Aella cried out, seeing what I couldn’t.
“Stop.” The elf’s voice rang out, cracking like the whips we were all familiar with. “Over here first.”
Aella’s shoulders fell as she moved with the rest of the group, and I could see what had captivated her. Massive pools of water spread throughout the room, the floor tiled in the colors of the royal house, with stairs leading into the baths. I hadn’t seen this much water since before the Niothe sent me to the desert. Not even the Water Forums in the wealthy parts of Adraedor boasted this much clean water.
I tore my eyes away from clear pools and looked around, noting the exits and potential weapons as they directed us to a table laden with cups and bowls, filled to the brim with drinks and food. Honeyed locusts were piled next to skewers of spiced fruits and tureens of tortoise soup. There wasn’t a sign of seffa anywhere and I swallowed against a dry throat, my stomach growling.
“Drink and eat. Slowly.” Carita warned, eyeing us with undisguised scorn. “I don’t want any of you drinking the bathwater and getting too sick to service whichever lord selects you.”
Shit. Something big had changed. I’d assumed the games would be the same as usual, no one daring to beat the Beast in the arena, with him claiming all the trophies for himself. This was bad.
The others stayed back, no doubt expecting a trick. Water wasn’t given freely in Adraedor. Every drop had to be earned. To see so much just waiting to be soiled by our bodies while so many in the city died of dehydration made me sick, but I strode forward anyway and selected a goblet. I drank deeply, letting the cool, clear water wash away the grit that always seemed to coat my tongue. The liquid hit my empty stomach with a pang, but I didn’t stop until I’d drained the entire cup, reaching for the jug to fill it once more. Aella joined me, no longer hesitant, as she clutched her cup close to her chest.
“What if it’s poisoned?” Aella whispered, eyes wide with worry.
“It smells fine,” I said. The water was cold and refreshing, and the food looked incredible—better than anything I’d ever seen before. “Besides, if they wanted to get rid of us, they could have done that already.”
I picked up a skewer of spiced fruits and took a bite, savoring the sweet and tangy flavors that burst on my tongue. It was so good that I forgot my fear for a moment, until Aella prodded me in the ribs, reminding me of our situation as she glanced pointedly at the Elves.
Carita and the others mocked us in Elvish, either unknowing or uncaring that I understood them.
“It’s fine,” I whispered. “They’re just laughing at how we’re eating.” She looked at me dubiously before eating as well.
I picked up a bowl of soup, humming in pleasure with the first sip of the silky broth. Living in hideouts had its drawbacks, and one of those was living on seffa and dried meat.
“How do you know what they’re saying?” Aella asked.
“I learned Elvish when I lived in Haechall—”
“Now into the baths.” Carita interrupted me to direct us into the pool, her voice laced with a hint of cruel amusement as she watched those born in the desert approach with trepidation. I went in, eager to be clean for the first time in years. Aella hesitated at the edge, face pale and eyes wide as she looked around her. I reached out a hand, beckoning her closer.
“It’s alright, it’s not too deep.” I called, and she stumbled forward until she was standing next to me waist-deep in the water. She blinked rapidly, tears spilling down her cheeks as she gazed around us in wonder.
“I’ve never—” She stopped a sob in her throat that tore through me. Sirins had ruled the sea; water was their home. For one to have never felt the sensation of cool water lapping around her… Unsure how to comfort her, I patted her shoulder and slipped under the water to avoid saying the wrong thing.
The others followed suit, some still fearful but none daring to refuse Carita’s orders. I floated languidly, memories of my early childhood drifting back to me. Of the days I’d spent swimming in streams with my father, the sun on my skin warm and comforting, not the fearsome orb it was here. I couldn’t remember much of him anymore, half of my memories of my father blending with Haemir, but I remembered his smile as he taught me to swim, splashing in the city fountain together as water cascaded from the fey statues. Caurium had been beautiful before it burned.
“Clean yourselves.” Carita’s voice snapped me out of my reverie, directing us to scrub ourselves with the bars of soap provided. The sand washed from my body coated the bottom of the pool and I wiggled my toes to dislodge it from my feet. It had been almost fourteen years since I didn’t have grit on some part of me and I hated that I was grateful to the Elves for giving me this moment.
This was their way of controlling us. They would take and take, breaking us down until simply being clean felt like a blessing, blinding us to the other offenses they committed against us.
I stepped out of the pool, water streaming down my too thin body, and Aella followed me reluctantly.
“I didn’t know.” She touched her hair, marveling at the drops of water on her fingers. Anger licked through me like flames. The Elves had stolen so much from her. From all of us. I snatched my towel out of the attendant’s hands and stomped over to the adjoining room, where more slaves waited with supplies to prep our bodies.
“You. Come here.” One motioned for me and I stalked over to her, flopping onto the leather bench before she asked me to.
“What?”
She raised a delicate brow but didn’t respond to my attitude.
