by Abby James
“Maya, honey, I would never put you in trouble.”
She surprised me by smiling at him, then quick as it appeared, her smile dropped and she scolded. “Miss Tule allowed me to take Malachi out and show her the sights as long as we kept out of prying eyes. So please keep this to yourself.”
Picard steepled his fingers, pressing them against his lips as he eyed me. I’d never been eyed like that before, like the world melted away leaving the two of us. The intensity this created had me itching to fidget, but as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t look away.
“Nothing will leave these lips,” he said without lessening his gaze.
“That’s great. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got a date.”
“At the Arena?”
Maya huffed.
“I was heading there myself.”
“Not with us, you weren’t. Being with you will draw too many eyes.”
“Not if I get you in the back way.”
“Picard.” Maya slapped her thigh in frustration.
Picard dived in between the two of us and slung an arm around Maya. He looked down at me, gave a wink—which, embarrassingly, made my pulse quicken—and scooped me close with his other arm around my waist. “Women shouldn’t be at the Arena unescorted.”
“What a load of shit.”
“I thought Miss Tule beat that foul mouth out of you.”
“Once I tell her about this, she’s going to beat you.”
“Honey, she’ll be glad I met you. And thank me for shielding the two of you.”
Maya huffed again but failed to hide her smile. Picard ducked his head and gave her a hard, noisy kiss on the head, but all the while he looked at me.
I flicked my gaze ahead, determined not to be unsettled by him. Determined not to let him see how much he intrigued me.
Chapter 12
Situated in the older quarters of the city, the Arena spanned blocks wide. Rising up like a monolith of a bygone era, the Arena dominated its surroundings. Although the rest of the old quarter was gradually crumbling, the Arena looked revived. New stone blocks were fashioned around the old in an attempt to maintain the grandeur of the ancients.
Picard turned out to be the perfect tour guide. Having lived his life in Fortescue, he was an encyclopedia of Fortescue stories and traditions, stitching the long walk to the Arena into one short hop by filling me in on the Arena’s history. I listened intently because what he said fascinated me, even though some of it I knew, but mostly because I liked his voice, and I liked watching him, and most of all I liked him.
Once it was obvious we weren’t losing him quickly, Maya relaxed and the two of them shared some sparky banter. It was obvious she liked him a lot, although maybe not the way I liked him. She treated him like an annoying brother. I don’t think I could ever think of him as a brother; I wouldn’t want to think of him as a brother. Once we made it back to Miss Tule’s, I was going to pin Maya for information about him. Anything and everything would do.
The crowds flooded into the Arena via three huge arches that seemed to suck everyone in like giant chutes.
Picard stalled us on the edge of the crowd. “Best we not enter that way.”
“You’re going to get us into trouble. I just know it.”
“Relax, Maya, a day is not a good day without a little hell-raising.”
Picard grabbed my hand and diverted me away from the crowd. I noticed he didn’t grab Maya’s hand as well and tingled with delight. Not because I felt jealous of Maya, but because in only grabbing my hand, he demonstrated, ever so subtly, his interest in me. I grabbed Maya’s hand as I went past and yanked her along with us, as Picard picked up his speed.
We headed away from the crowds, circling the wide girth of the Arena. There were three arches at the front, and halfway around, I could see there were also entrances at the rear, likely another three arches. But they appeared the only entrances people could enter—if you weren’t Picard.
“It’s a bit of a climb.” He looked at me.
“How much of a climb?”
“Follow the chips in the brickwork to the first parapet.”
“That’s quite a way up.”
“You go first. That way I can catch you if you fall.”
“Are you mad?”
Maya joined us. “Yes, he is.” She craned her head up, surveying the route. “But you’ll get used to him. It doesn’t look too difficult. The chips offer good holds. You’ll even get your feet in there, I would say.”
“Perhaps you should go first and give Malachi a hand at the top, which can be a little tricky.”
“Aren’t we too in the open?” I said.
“No one cares too much. If most could do the climb, they’d be dodging the crowds and doing the same.”
“Stand back.” Maya pushed her way to the wall. “Watch where I put my hands and feet.” And then she was off, climbing like a lizard, not a capability I expected to see in her.
“You’re not afraid of heights, are you?” Picard said.
“It’s a bit late to ask me that.”
“I just want to make sure you don’t pass out halfway up and lose your pretty head.”
“I come from Ladec, where the only high buildings were the mayor’s home and the town hall. Both were only two stories high, and I never felt a need to climb either of them.”
“I guess you’re about to find out whether you are or not.”
“I can hardly wait.”
For a moment I was suspended in his green eyes. He intensified the spell by leaning down close to my face. “You know what?”
I think I shook my head.
“I like you. I know I’m going to like you a lot. So I hope you do well with Miss Tule, because I very much look forward to challenging you.”
What the hell? “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, good, Maya’s up. Your turn.”
Picard ushered me closer to the wall, not about to let any secrets slip.
“This is a good hold. When you get higher, it will be a good foothold as well. Look out for the cracks and pockets of missing brick. There’s plenty of them, so you shouldn’t need to stretch. You did see the trail Maya took?”
“No, you were distracting me.”
“I was? How so?”
“You were scaring me with all that talk about losing my head.”
“Is that the only way I was distracting you?”
I opened my mouth then closed it, while a dozen thoughts flew through my head. He was flirting with me.
“If I kissed you, would you slap me?” he said.
“Yes.”
“Right, I’ll save that for later. Besides, now’s not a good time.” He slung an arm around my waist and hauled me to the side of the brick wall. “Remember what I said. And I’m going to shadow you, so if you feel dizzy or scared, give us a hoy, and I’ll get you to the top. I’ve decided I don’t want to lose you.”
Maya leaned over the parapet and waved me up. From down here, it looked a long way, but if Maya could scamper up the side of the Arena, then I could do it.
I discovered soon into the climb that Picard had been right. Enough bricks had chipped away to create good handholds and footholds. Despite this, my fingers ached from gripping tight. Halfway up and my arms were aching too. If I didn’t increase my pace, I would fall off the wall because I had no strength left to keep hold.
I looked down between my feet to find Picard close behind. He gazed up at me and smiled, winked and said, “Great view.”
I stared ahead at the brickwork while I tried not to chuckle.
“You’re almost there. Keep going,” Maya yelled down from above. “You’re doing great.”
I steadied my focus and concentrated on finding more decent handholds. It seemed my love of going underground into danger every day transferred to climbing walls. The adrenaline drenching my veins felt like an old friend. I became soaked in the thrill of the moment. The risk of falling was nothing more than a challenge to defeat. I found myself
climbing faster, quickly gaining confidence in my ability. Soon I felt Maya’s hand settle on my wrist in a gentle hold, more for encouragement than support.
Once I was over, Maya swept me into a hug. “That was great for a first timer.”
Picard was over the wall soon afterward. He quirked an eyebrow as he eyed me, and for a second, I struggled to read what his expression meant—admiration, perhaps, mixed with a big question.
“Looks like you have a few skills of your own,” was all he said.
Maya, who seemed to grow uncomfortable with the length of time Picard looked at me, said, “Which way?”
“Now we go down. And I mean down.”
I waited for Picard to elaborate. Down as in to the ground floor? But I felt sure that wasn’t what he meant.
I glanced at Maya. Her eyes sparkled full of mischief. “You mean the dungeons.” She clapped her hands.
I stared dumbfounded at both of them, hoping someone would enlighten me before we set off.
“Hon, the dungeons. That’s where all the men gather before a fight. We can sneak around and ogle them all preparing to enter the stage for fighting.”
“You’re forgetting the women,” Picard said.
“Who cares about them?” Maya scoffed, then she became action, yanking Picard as she passed. “Lead the way.”
We headed toward the back of the Arena. A quick look over, and I could see the crowd banked deep, impatient to move under the arches and find their seats. Halfway around, Picard stopped at a thin metal door with a rusted lock that appeared to have been damaged. He removed the lock with a simple shrug of his shoulders as he did so, which told me he was likely the one to have broken it. The lock disappeared into his pocket before he disappeared inside. Maya waved me in next and shut the door after her. The dank, cool air rose up to meet me in the darkness.
Something moved in front of me, pressed along my body. I smelt the faint but alluring aroma of rich spice and heard the sound of a flint lighter and a flare pierced the dark. Picard, uncomfortably, excitedly, close to me, leaned down and spoke in an almost whisper. “You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?”
“The dark is my second home.”
“Shame.”
With flame held aloft, he turned and led us farther along a narrow corridor. Maya came up behind me and whispered. “I knew we shouldn’t have brought him.”
“I think this is fun.”
“Yeah, that’s the problem. He’s getting too familiar and you’re enjoying it. That spells trouble.”
“It’s harmless.”
“I’m going to tell you a story when this is all over and then you’ll understand why it’s not harmless.”
She left it there and dropped back a pace so she was no longer treading on my heels. What she said wound around in my head. Was Picard dangerous? He couldn’t be, not with the way she was acting around him earlier. But what was the point of the warning if he was harmless? Wrestling with these thoughts, I wasn’t concentrating on where I trod and ran into Picard’s back. He was a big guy, so the impact didn’t unsettle him too much. What it did do, however, was give him another excuse to wrap his arms around me.
“You all right?” he said.
“I ran into you. Shouldn’t I be saying that?”
“That’s enough.” Maya came up behind and slapped Picard’s hands away from me. “You’re a little too touchy-feely for my liking.”
“Well, that’s all right because we’re here.” He stood aside to reveal stone steps disappearing down into the dark. “History says the Arena was a fort of sorts. This was before the territories were made and Fortescue was warring with its closest neighbors. The real forts, of course, line the ridges behind the city, but the Arena doubled as a secure post if the enemy broke through. This leads down into the dungeons, where a battalion of soldiers waited.”
“He’s a walking historian.” Maya’s voice came close to my ear.
“You’d know as much if you bothered to listen hard enough to Miss Tule’s lessons.”
“We learn history?” I said. “How’s that going to help a servant?”
Picard snorted a laugh.
“Shut up, you,” Maya said.
“I wasn’t going to say anything.” Picard tried for the innocent look by raising his hands in surrender.
“You didn’t have to. Your attitude speaks louder than your words.”
“Will either of you tell me what this is about?” I said.
Maya barked, “No.” She pointed at Picard. “You, lead the way.”
Picard handed Maya the flame. “You’re so fond of danger, how ’bout you lead the way.”
Maya snatched the lighter from his hand and began to descend the stairs. I was about to follow her when Picard snaked his fingers around my arm. “Stay close. You really don’t want to get caught down here.”
“Is this you getting touchy-feely again?”
“No, this is me being serious. The dungeons are out of bounds to everyone except the military. If you’re caught down here, you’ll be treated like a traitor, dragged before the council, trialed without a defense and thrown in the dungeons, the other dungeons, and those you really don’t want to enter.”
“Why did you bring us here?”
“Because life is no fun without a little danger.”
Chapter 13
To say I loved danger was an understatement. It made me feel alive like nothing ever could, except those few times I’d had sex, but only after the initial time. And of course, the times I’d spent with Marion and Seb—but Seb when he was younger; as he’d grown, he’d become a barb you couldn’t touch. Picard’s warning did nothing but spark that part of me that came alive when I balanced on a razor wire.
Maya’s cautious descent was like a long, drawn-out note on a violin. Eternity ticked and all I could see through the small flame was yet more stone steps. To steady my balance, I ran my palm along the wall, feeling the rough edges and cold brick, which matched the air rising up to meet us. Stale and dank I could do without, but the cool was inviting. The tunnels of the mine were the only cool places in Ladec.
Soon the bricks turned to stone as we descended into the earth.
“The Arena’s been around for thousands of years. Our past was filled with violence. It has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. The current model was complete before the territories were split.”
“So I guess these dungeons were here in the beginning?”
“They were the most important part. Many were housed down here during this land’s turbulent history.”
“So who was responsible for all of this?”
“A powerful race of people. Undefeatable or so the tales go. They ruled over all the lands.”
“Obviously they weren’t entirely undefeatable.”
“They were responsible for their own demise.”
“Bummer for them.”
“Power creates a divide between those who have and those who don’t. This in turn spreads greed and paranoia. I’m sure you can work the rest out for yourself. Of course, there was a war between the north and south, which devastated the land and divided the territories. It is said the source of their power mysteriously died out with the great leaders.”
“Don’t listen to him, Malachi. Picard is fond of bedtime stories. He reads them all the time.”
“If you say, Maya, my lovely. But one day…”
“You’ll find your head swinging from the gallows.”
“They hang people here?” I said.
“Nah, but they used to. And more, or so Picard tells me, constantly.”
There was probably no likelihood of being heard, but as we descended, the dark silence of the stairwell lowered my voice. “How many times have you come in here?” I whispered.
“Enough,” Picard said.
“Why do you come?”
“I like to see where I belong.”
“You want to be a soldier?”
“That is one of many things I would like to be.�
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“They took my brother the same time they took me. I think he was chosen to be in the military.”
“Really? That’s interesting. I don’t know of any who came on the harvest trucks that go straight to the Arena.”
I stopped. “He has to fight in the Arena?”
“It’s the only way into the military. You have to be the best.”
“But he’s only seventeen. They shouldn’t have even taken him.”
Picard stayed silent. I couldn’t see his face, but through his silence, I could imagine his mind wrestling with the question marks.
“You’re a puzzle I’m going to unravel.” Suddenly his breath was brushing my lips. “And I’m going to have fun doing it.”
A spark of something delicious burned a hole through my reserve. Picard hovered for precious moments, which could’ve been the beginning of something seductive, but he didn’t press further. In the dark, my senses flared. My skin prickled with the need for the slightest touch, which never came.
“You’re a pain in the ass, Picard. Miss Tule is going to flog me for this,” Maya said.
“You know me, Maya. Am I not discreet?”
“When it suits you. You’re also way too cunning for my good.”
“You know I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“As I said, as long as it suits you.”
I interrupted the argument. “Fine. Do what you want. I hope you’re not disappointed in what you find.”
A loud noise came from below us, cutting off any more conversation. Light appeared as a thin line running along the floor as we neared the bottom. Maya picked up her pace now that she had a beacon to aim for. Soon, muffled voices and the sounds of clashing metal slowed her pace again, such that I bumped into her. Picard moved past me and whispered to Maya, “I’ll go first.”
This close to the bottom, he didn’t bother with the lighter, instead skipped down the steps with the agility and silence of a cat. Picard was born to move without being seen. Strange thought, but it was the first thing that popped into my head as I watched the dark shadow of his body disappear to the bottom step. Maya stayed close behind, moving with as much grace and silence as Picard.