by R. J. Batla
“Quite right,” Notseh said, his smile returning. “And you’re doing a fine job, from what my sources tell me.”
She blushed. “Sources?” He grinned again and her heart fluttered. The Reka and Tempus had always been close, though separate, not like the Helion to the north. Still, it amazed her that Prince Notseh would even know what was going on to the south, let alone care.
She heard Ames’ footsteps coming back. No! She didn’t want this conversation to an end. It was so brief and already Prince Notseh was pulling back into his formal mode. “Wait,” Aurora said, pulling out a small telestone, and placing it in his hand. Something only royalty carried on their person. Maybe spies as well.
“What is this?” he asked.
“It’s how you can contact me. If, you know, you would like to. Anytime. It only contacts me.”
He bowed deeply. “It would be my honor, your highness,” he said, as Ames rounded the corner.
“The painting was sufficiently marvelous, as expected. My queen, are you ready?”
Aurora curtsied to Prince Notseh, “Thank you for your kindness, Prince Notseh Keene.”
He knelt and took her hand in his, brushing his lips across it. “It was my pleasure, my lady.” Aurora got goosebumps on her goosebumps.
When he let go, she turned and grabbed Ames’ hand to Shimmer back to Harlingon. She almost lost her concentration at the stupid grin on Ames’ face as they faded out of sight.
Chapter 36 – Jayton Baird
PECOS STIRRED SLIGHTLY, then groaned and tried to sit up. “Hi,” I said. “Welcome back to reality. Sorry about the headache.”
He whipped his head around, casting about for threats, but he crashed back down on the bed as his the world spun around him. “Wh...what you doing here? Where am I?”
“You’re in my room.”
“Ow. Why am I —” he asked, freezing when he realized who had answered. He reached up and felt his neck where the large collar still sat, and his face contorted. “You son of a bitch,” he said, shaking his head, his fist balled up, and staring daggers at me. “I believed you. You said you would free me if you won. And now...”
“I did.”
“BULLSHIT!” Pecos screamed, energy crackling down his arms. He pointed at the collar. “You wanted a slave for yourself. You wanted the money I could win, you lying piece of sh —”
“How long have you been a slave?” I asked, yelling so he could hear me, and using telekinesis to push him back down on the bed. He struggled against me, but eventually settled.
Still puffing hard, through clenched teeth he said, “All my life.” Energy arced between his hands and the metal bedrail.
“And you’ve had that collar on the whole time?”
“What’s that got to do with —”
“I assumed,” I said, talking over him, “that you’d like the honor of removing it yourself.” I held up the key to him. His eyes burned into mine, but he didn’t take it. So I threw it onto the covers in his lap. And waited.
And yeah, I’d already taken it off in the arena, but I really did feel it was important that he removed it himself, so I’d put it back on him.
He looked down at the key, then back up at me almost instantly, like I was a snake coiled to strike. His face softened ever so slightly, and I could hear the longing in his voice. “You...you’re serious?”
“Dead serious. Remove your mark of slavery. Be a free man. I told you, didn’t I?”
Pecos’s head jerked back up. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why me? There are thousands of slaves, millions maybe on the West Side. What makes me special?” He still didn’t take the key.
“Unlike the others, you I could do something about,” I said, “in a very public way, that lets everyone know where I stand on the issue, and that I’m not afraid to face the Lords of the West. Or anyone else for that matter.”
Now he looked at the key and slowly reached out to it. He picked it up like it was made of thin glass. “How...” He took a stabilizing breath. “How did you get this? Lord...I mean, Escobares wouldn’t have given this up easily. Or voluntarily.”
I laughed. “Oh, he didn’t want to, but when I called in my bet in the middle of the arena right after the fight, you’d better believe he was gonna pay up. He wouldn’t want to lose face.”
“Bet? What bet?”
I told him the story.
He started to get a drink of water from a side table, but spat it on the wall. “You bet what?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I bet him ten thousand gold pieces, and me as a slave. Fair trade.”
He shook his head. “You’re crazy! No one would have made that bet. Escobares, he’s...he’s a cruel man. You would have hated it.” He noticed my grin. “You didn’t have the money, did you?”
“Ha! Most of my tournament winnings are being saved for something else, so no, I only had about a tenth of it. But it was worth the risk. If I could embarrass him and at the same time fill the hearts of anyone listening, be they slave or not, that there’s hope still left in the world, then it was worth it.”
Pecos looked at me and nodded, taking another drink. He slowly sat down the glass.
Like handling a newborn, he reached up and gingerly inserted the key in the lock. His hand trembled ever so slightly as the key turned. The lock gave with a click and the collar opened and fell onto his lap.
He breathed in. He breathed out. The first breath of a free man. “Wow. I’ve always wondered what that would feel like.” He looked me dead in the eyes, more serious than I have ever seen anyone before. “Thank you, Jayton Baird. Thank you. How can I ever repay you?”
“No thanks are necessary, but you’re welcome. I only wish I could do more.”
“Actually, there’s something you can do,” he said. “You can tell me how you beat me.”
I told him.
He shook his head. “There’s no way you could have done all that. I would have –” I flashed the Ignis, very briefly, and his mouth dropped open. “Oh good Lord...is that... but... but... wow. Just wow.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes, me not wanting to break the silence, and him, I’m assuming, processing a lot of information. Finally, he seemed to come to himself. “So what now?”
I shrugged. “You’re a free man. You can do whatever you want, whenever you want.”
“Where will I go? What will I do? Jayton Baird, I don’t have the slightest clue on what a free man does.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “A free man gets to decide what he does. You get to decide what you make of yourself. Here,” I said, handing him a bag full of coins. “Use this to get started on whatever endeavor you so choose.”
He just sat there, a bag full of money in his hand.
“I would start with getting up, taking a shower, and eating breakfast. I’ll even cook it for you. After that, if I might make a suggestion?” He nodded. “We can always use a fighter like you in the Ranger Corps. If you so choose. And if you do choose to join us, I think I can get you assigned to my team.”
He thought a minute. “Do I have to decide right now?”
“Nope,” I said, “consider it an open invitation. Here.” I wrote a note, addressing it to Ames, Royn, and anyone else who it may concern. “If you do decide to join us, give this to anyone in the Rangers or Senturian Corps. Whatever you decide to do, I’ll do my best to support you. Now, I’m going to cook. Join me when you’re ready. Stay as long as you like. You’re welcome with me, free man.”
For the first time he broke into a huge smile. “I’ll never tire of hearing that.”
Chapter 37 – Katy Lavernia
KATY AND ANTON WERE on a walk around the Dew Drop, taking in the... sights... Since there weren’t many sights in the Bowl, their real intention was for some private time away from the rest of the squad.
“Ant, I’m worried about Jayton,” Katy said. “I mean, he’s a great fighter, but the next few opponents are some of the toughest
fighters here.”
“I know what you mean, but we’re kinda stuck down this road now. And you know it’s for the good of everyone on the East Side,” Anton said, reaching out and turning her down another street. Despite the surroundings, Anton was glad to not be in the Dew Drop, or the stadium, or Jayton’s room. Glad to be outside — especially with Katy. Her energy was infectious, and the Dew Drop seemed to be closing in on him every day. Her hand found his, and he smiled.
“Well, he needs to hurry up and get this thing won so he can figure himself out. Leona is worried sick. She can’t eat, sleep, drink, nothing...”
“What? Why?” Anton asked.
Katy rolled her eyes, turned to the mountain of a man beside her, and pulled him down into a kiss. “Come on, Ant, you can’t tell me you don’t see it. She’s been smitten with him forever. Even before we were assigned as a squad.”
He pulled her closer. “Jayton too. They’re both too stubborn, or too worried, or too concerned with what might happen that they can’t live in the moment and be glad for what they have. I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I had to...” he said, as he leaned down and kissed her again.
She pulled away smiling. “Took you long enough. I thought I was going to have to –” Katy froze. She felt Anton gather earth energy to him – lots of it.
“What?” he asked, not moving but his eyes searching.
“A lacerta,” Katy said, staring behind him.
“The speed lizard?” Anton asked, still not moving. “Are they dangerous?”
“I don’t think so. I saw this one when me and the girls went on our walk, remember?”
“Honestly, no.”
Katy gave him an annoyed look. “You should try a little harder to actually listen when I talk.”
“But you talk so fast, and a lot, sometimes –”
“Anton, focus here. The lacerta – last time she got spooked by Sonora and Celeste and ran off. But this time, she looks relaxed, and I can, I don’t know, feel her, like she’s anticipating something. Now she’s standing on her hind legs, two feet behind your left shoulder, and she’s looking right at me. What do I do?”
“How should I know?” Anton said. “Jay was the one who remembered all the crap we learned when Royn was teaching us about creatures we might face. Does it look mad? Like it’s going to attack?”
“No,” she said. “I don’t think we have to worry. Like I said, I can feel it.” The lizard flicked out its tongue a full two feet to touch the hand that was on Anton’s back. The tongue was smooth, not wet, and something like a small electric shock lightly came through the touch. The tongue immediately retracted, and the lizard looked at Katy’s hand, then up at the top of its own head. When Katy didn’t move, it did the same motion again. “I think it wants me to pet it.”
“No way. That can’t be safe,” Anton said, starting to turn around. The lacerta shifted for the first time, moving slightly away.
Katy grabbed Anton’s shoulders. “Don’t move! You might spook it.”
“Well, it’s spooking me.”
“Oh, grow up. If it wanted to hurt us, it would have already. It clearly had the drop on us,” Katy said. Slowly, Katy eased around Anton, stretched her hand out as far as she could, and placed her hand on top of the lizard’s head.
A bright white light shown from the place of contact, illuminating the whole alleyway. A soft heat radiated from the lizard to her hand, along with...thoughts.
“It’s...bonding with me,” Katy said, her eyes darting in all directions and heart racing. “Her name is Hart. I was right before! She wants to help. Actually it’s more like needs to help. Her and her mate?”
Katy looked to her left, and Anton followed her look, his back still to Katy. There, a male lacerta stood on its hind legs, motioning with its head to Anton’s hand as Katy’s lacerta – Hart – had done. Where the female was smooth scales and straight lines of green and white, the male was all spikey scales and blotches of different browns, like an old camo pattern. “He wants you to pet him too, to bond with him.”
“Katy, I don’t know, it’s –”
“Anton, shut up and do it. I did and I’m a tiny girl.”
Anton sighed and reached his hand out. “Well, here goes nothing!”
Another white light illuminated and a thrumming noise echoed off the walls. The bonding lasted a full minute and, afterwards, the lizards dropped back to all fours and stood beside their new friends.
“His name is Hico,” Anton told Katy. “They know of the war. They know that if we lose, their way of life will end. So they found us, chose us to help. They’re scared for their families and want to do something about it.”
Katy smiled and kissed him again. “Royn’ll be stoked we have more allies!”
“No lie there. But they can't walk around with us,” Anton said. “They’d stick out too much in the Bowl.”
The lizards both looked at each other and spoke through a mind link. Katy laughed — it was like someone tickling her brain, if that was possible. “You hear the same thing?”
“That they’ll be able to find us wherever we go now that we’re bonded?”
“Yup.”
“Yup.”
“And be able to communicate over distances?”
Anton grinned. “I’m liking this already. Come on, let’s go tell Royn and the others.”
Chapter 38 – Jayton Baird
ROYN’S HAND FLEW TO his ear, and everyone’s eyes shot to him. We were in my quarters – where the hell else would I be – preparing for round six. We waited while he got the report and put his hand down. “The sixth defensive ring has fallen at the Wall. We’re down to five left before they’re at the Wall proper.”
Anton said, “But the Wall will hold, right? The rings were just preparation to delay the enemy?”
Troup said, “The Wall will hold. Unless something crazy happens, or Malstrak has a power he’s never shown before, the Wall will hold.”
Katy sighed. “Well that’s some good news.”
We all nodded, and I closed my eyes. The waiting was torture. I was nervous, just like always. Frankly, I would have been scared if I weren’t nervous. Everyone was here – minus Gilmer of course, who was constantly in and out – making small talk, talking strategy, or just trying not to look nervous themselves.
“Ten minutes, Dragon of the East,” one of the guards said, sticking his head around the corner. I guess the team took that as a cue to start leaving. We’d talked this through as much as we possibly could; strategically, there was nothing left to say.
There was only execution of the plans we’d made.
One by one they filed out, giving me a handshake or a pat on the back and a good luck, off to take their place in the stands. My support. Thank God for each and every one of them. No way I would have made it this far without them, especially being cooped up in this blasted stadium.
Lost in my own thoughts, I looked up and realized that Leona was the only one left. That’s the third time in a row. As a matter a fact, I’d hoped it would happen again, and had come to expect it. Damn she was pretty, standing there with her hands clasped in front of her, staring right at me.
“Five minutes,” the guards outside said, startling both of us.
My hands shook — five more minutes. It was these last few moments that just killed me. Always more tense than the whole rest of the day.
“Jay?” Leona said, taking a step toward me.
“Yes, ma’am?”
She rolled her eyes. “Ma’am? Really?” She giggled, then her face grew serious again. “Are you ready? How’re you feeling?”
“Good. Nervous. A little too late to really worry about it now, though, right?” I chuckled nervously. “You?”
What a dumb thing to say.
She wouldn’t look me in the eyes, looking anywhere else and moving slowly toward me. Her shoulders and hands shook slightly. “No. I’m not good. I’m scared. I – I don’t want you to have to fight again. I don’t want you to g
et hurt and I don’t know how you...,” she said, pausing about an arm’s length away.
I sighed. “I don’t want to get hurt either. I’m tired of being stuck in this place. And the only way to get out of here is to win this damn thing. Plus, people are dying. If I don’t fight, more people will die. It’s the hand I’ve been dealt and I have to play the cards,” I said and tried to smile. She moved closer still.
“I know, but that’s not all. I...I don’t want to lose you,” she almost whispered. Her breathing sped up – she must really be scared of this opponent.
“Oh, don’t worry. I can beat this guy, and even if he wins, he won’t kill me...probably...” I said with a dismissive wave of my hand.
She shook her head. “That’s not what I mean.” She was very close now – the scent of flowers filled my nostrils, like always. Her green eyes, though they wouldn’t meet mine, were slightly misty, but nonetheless beautiful. “I mean, it’s what I mean, I don’t want to lose you like that, but it’s more than that. I... want you to... to be there... for me.”
I cocked my head to the side. “I don’t understand. I’m not going anywhere. We’re a team, all of us – I’ll always be there for you.”
She shook her head again. “That’s great, but that’s still not...I don’t want to drive you away,” she said, “or scare you...”
“What? Leona, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She looked up and our eyes met. And she was right in front of me, with no room to spare. “I know you want to protect me and my feelings, but what would you do if I...” She leaned in and kissed me full on the mouth.
My brain melted. She threw her arms around my neck, and I put mine around her waist. I don’t know how long it lasted – it seemed like an hour and a second all at once. All sense of anything else left me. She was all that existed, all that mattered. I could feel her heartbeat, and it was going as fast as mine.
At some point we heard, “One minute,” from outside our little universe, and the intensity slowed and we pulled apart.