by T. J. Quinn
He was convinced he could beat the Eflorian. He had never been in a fight against an Eflorian, so he had no idea of how they fought or how skilled they were, but he was confident he could win the battle. He had to be since he couldn’t even conceive the idea of not having Sharian in his arms again.
He hated to wait and knowing he would have to wait a whole day was driving him insane.
A couple of women brought him food and drinks, and after he ate a bit, he decided to use the time practicing his moves. It had been a while since he had fought in an arena and the last thing he needed was a nasty surprise.
He grabbed a stick he found in the closet and using it as a sword, he started practicing.
He was so focused on what he was doing he didn’t notice when the door opened, and the Ruler entered the room.
“Do you fear you are out of practice?” the man asked, taking a seat in one of the chairs.
Kenyon stopped and looked at him a bit surprised by the visit. “I can’t afford to lose,” he explained, throwing the stick to the bed.
“What makes her so special?” the Ruler asked, with a slight frown. “So far, I’ve been mated three times, and one thing is for sure, I wouldn’t be willing to risk my life to keep them with me,” he added, with a self-deprecating grin.
Kenyon scowled. “Then, you haven’t found the one,” he replied in a matter of fact tone.
“Again, I ask you, what makes her so special? I have to admit she is precious, but regarding beauty, your boss’ mate is far more beautiful,” the Ruler insisted.
“Beauty has nothing to do with it. I would still want her if she were as ugly as you can imagine because what’s important is her essence, who she is and how she makes me feel. Sometimes, you’re unable to see it right away, as it happened to me, but when you do, you realize life without her has no meaning whatsoever,” Kenyon explained, with a self-deprecating scowl.
‘Where the hell was all that knowledge a few days ago, or even a few hours ago, when he hurt her by not choosing to stay with her in the same room? He had to lose her to finally understand just how much she meant to him. If he ended up losing her, it would be his own fault and no one else’s.’
“If what you say is right, then I have never felt anything similar in my whole life,” the Ruler admitted.
“And you say you have three mates?” Kenyon asked with a teasing grin, picking up the stick again.
He needed to practice more.
“I said I had. Our contracts were temporary, and when they reached their deadlines, we were both more than happy to say goodbye,” the other man explained.
“So, you don’t have offspring?” Kenyon asked a bit surprised.
“Of course, I do, eight to be exact.”
“And their mothers are still part of their lives?”
“No, they all left at the end of the contract.”
“I know I’m not an expert, but next time, don’t accept a female willing to abandon her children. If she can’t love her own flesh and blood, she can’t love anyone,” Kenyon assured him.
“You might be right about that.” The Ruler jumped to his feet. “I can tell you want to continue with your practice, but this isn’t the best place for it.”
“I can handle it,” he assured him.
“I’m sure you can, but I have a better place for you and an opponent to put you to the test.”
“Why are you doing all this?”
The man shrugged and left the room followed by Kenyon. After a few minutes walking down the hallways, he finally entered a room that surprised Kenyon. It had all you could wish for to keep yourself in shape.
The Ruler took off the tunic he was wearing, as well as his fancy shoes, just keeping his pants on. He walked to a cabinet, pulled two training swords, and threw one at Kenyon.
“By the way, my name is Kurbaz, use it,” he ordered as he took a position on the floor.
Kenyon caught the sword and looked at Kurbaz, astounded. “Do you want to practice with me?” he asked.
“Yes. My men are pathetic opponents, they are too afraid to hurt me to give me the exercise I need. I’m guessing you won’t have that kind of misguided consideration.”
Kenyon chuckled and nodded. He liked the man, it was a pity they hadn’t met under the right circumstances.
So, they started to fight. Kurbaz was good, probably a bit rusty for the lack of proper training, but he really was good. He even managed to damage his armor a few times, as they fought around the room, jumping and dodging each other’s blows until they were all sweaty and tired.
“I believe you have had enough for tonight. Get some rest and prepare yourself for tomorrow night’s fight. Ethor will do all in his power to defeat you and not only because of the female. This became a battle of honor for him, and he will defend it with all his might.”
“Thank you. I’ll do my best.”
“Your female is already here. I’ll take good care of her,” Kurbaz told him, as he guided him back to his chambers. “Good luck for tomorrow, I really enjoyed knowing you. Don’t get yourself killed in that arena,” he said, as he watched Kenyon enter the room before the guards locked the door.
Kenyon shook his head a bit confused by the man’s attitude but grateful for the opportunity to practice. Thanks to Kurbaz, he didn’t feel so out of shape.
The time until the battle lasted an eternity. When the guards finally informed him it was time to go, he was about to lose his temper and destroy the whole palace until he found her.
He was escorted to the arena, somewhere outside the palace, but still inside its premises. To his surprise, the place was crowded. It seemed as if every man in town was there to see the fight.
Ethan and Conrad were allowed to come to talk to him and to accompany him through all the arrangements before the battle. A judge of some sort listed both contenders’ possessions and soon it was time for the battle to begin.
Ethor’s armor was like nothing he had seen before, probably part of the Eflorian’s private arsenal, but Kenyon was sure he would be able to break it and defeat the other man.
His whole body covered itself with his own armor, his claws grew to become lethal daggers, and his horns moved forward and stretched out to become even more dangerous than his claws.
The judge handed the contenders their swords, and they were ordered to take their positions.
A gong sounded somewhere in the arena, and Ethor immediately jumped to the attack.
Ethor’s sword clashed with his and the battle began. Kenyon allowed Ethor to initiate all the attacks, trying to tire him and frustrate him. He could tell the other man was impatient to finish the battle and impatience led to mistakes.
The roars of the crowd muffled the clashing sound of the swords but, Kenyon ignored them all. His attention was on Ethor and on how to defeat the other man.
After a while of letting him determine the battle’s rhythm, Kenyon finally jumped into action. Throwing away the sword, he attacked Ethor with just his claws and his horns, the only weapons he needed in a situation like that one.
Ethor was caught by surprise, and Kenyon was able to bash Ethor right in his chest, cracking his armor and sending him to the ground.
Ethor roared his rage and jumped right back up onto his feet, disposing of his sword as well, and trusting his own blades to do the job. He rushed to attack Kenyon and soon they were both dodging each other’s blows and doing their best to strike the killing blow against their opponent.
Ethor’s armor suffered the most, and after a few minutes, most of it was cracked or completely destroyed, while Kenyon’s was still in place and barely scratched. It regenerated at an incredible speed, something most opponents learned the hard way.
Despite that, Ethor had been able to hurt Kenyon, but certainly, not as bad as Kenyon had hurt him.
At some point, Kenyon retracted his claws to half the size they first had been and attacked Ethor up close, taking pleasure in punching his awful face for all the pain he was sure he h
ad put Sharian through.
Ethor fought back, as hard as he could, doing his best to penetrate Kenyon’s armor and doing as much harm as he could. After a while, they were both covered in blood, and the roar of the crowd had become even louder.
Urged to put an end to the battle, Kenyon summoned all his power and strength and bashed Ethor’s chest with his horns, penetrating his flesh until the man fell to the ground unconscious.
The battle was over.
He turned around to look at where Kurbaz and his friends were with a smile on his face when his instinct made him turn around just to see how Ethor got up, with one of the swords in his hand and attacked him.
Enraged at the cowardly attack, Kenyon stopped the sword by grabbing it in midair, ignoring how it slashed his flesh, and bent the blade, making its tip face Ethor.
His beast came out and with a loud roar, while he closed the distance between them and buried his claws, fully displayed in Ethor’s throat. Enraged, he slashed it open, almost severing his head in the process and he would have continued, cutting Ethor’s guts out, satisfying his beast’s thirst for blood, but Sharian’s image anchored him to his reality and his true needs, and all he wanted was to go back to her.
With another roar, he made sure there wasn’t a single breath of life left in Ethor, before he threw his dead body to the ground, claiming his victory.
The crowd roared and jumped to their feet to celebrate the end of the fight. Apparently, they didn’t care he had defeated one of their own, all they cared about was that the fight had been fair.
Kurbaz and his friends jumped to the arena to meet him, and Kenyon finally allowed his armor to retract completely. He was covered in blood, and he knew he was hurt, but he only wanted one thing, to find his woman and take her in his arms.
“That was one hell of a fight,” Ethan said when he finally reached him.
Kenyon cracked a hint of a smile. “I’m glad you enjoyed the show,” he said, teasing is boss. He turned to look at Kurbaz. “Where is she? I want to see her,” he demanded.
“Perhaps, you should clean up first. You’ll scare her to death if you show up like that,” Conrad suggested, with a frown.
“She can take it,” he replied, “but I can’t wait for another second to see her.”
Kurbaz nodded. “I’ll take you to her myself.”
Kenyon followed the Ruler out of the arena still hearing the roars of the crowd. “I must say your people surprised me. I was sure they would take Ethor’s side.”
Kurbaz shook his head. “We prize justice and honor over all things. The battle was fair, and so they cheered the winner, that’s all,” he assured him, as he guided him through the labyrinth of hallways of the palace.
“Did you tell her anything about the fight?” he asked, not sure he wanted her to know what had happened.
“No, I didn’t. I thought it was your job to let her know,” the other man replied, with a slick grin. “Besides, there was no point in having her worry over something she couldn’t change, was there?” he added, opening a door and inviting him to go in. “Make yourself at home,” he concluded, with a devious grin as he closed the door.
Chapter Fourteen
Sharian was about to lose her mind. She had barely slept, and she was tense and nervous. No one seemed able to tell her what she was doing at the palace and not knowing was driving her insane.
After the midafternoon meal, she was ready to jump at the first person to cross the door’s throat in search for answers.
But the man that entered only made her want to jump out the balcony.
“Are you enjoying your stay at the palace?” he asked in a scornful tone.
“I have to say it is a lot better than your place,” she replied in a cold tone, hurting him by striking at his vanity, a big thing for him, judging by his reaction.
“Well, you’ll have to get used to it, because when this day is over, I will come back for you, and this time no one will take you away from me,” he assured her, barely containing his rage.
“Why am I here in the first place?” she asked, deciding to ignore his words.
“Your friend decided he wanted you back, so now, I’ll have to fight him to the death to get what is mine,” he replied his fury evident in each word.
“Kenyon came after me?” she asked, as her heart missed a beat. Could it be possible?
Ethor understood he had made a mistake by telling her that. Furious, he closed the distance between them and captured her chin between his fingers in a tight grip.
“I’ll make you pay for wasting my time, be sure of that. Your stupid friend doesn’t stand a chance against me, and he’ll learn that the hard way,” he threatened, squeezing her chin even harder.
“You can’t kill him,” she cried out, struggling to free herself.
“Of course, I can, and I will, and when I do I’ll come back here covered in his blood and take what is mine,” he assured her, leaning over to force a rough kiss on her lips.
Someone knocked on the door, and a man warned him. “Ethor, someone is coming, you better get out of there, now.”
Ethor roared his frustration but released her, throwing her to the bed. “I’ll be back,” he said before he disappeared.
Sharian stayed there with her eyes closed, doing her best to hold back her tears. She didn’t know what to think. Why had Kenyon come after her? Could it be because of his high sense of responsibility? He had sworn to protect her. But he should know she would never ask him to risk his life to save her.
She jumped out of bed and paced the room, eager to get the answers to all her questions, wishing she wasn’t locked up in that room, unable to do anything.
A few minutes later, Althia came by with a cold drink. “I thought you might enjoy this,” she said, with a kind smile.
“What I really need is information, Althia,” she replied, taking the woman’s hands with a pleading look on her face. “What’s going on? Is it true there’s going to be a fight?”
“How do you know about that?” the woman asked, surprised.
“Ethor paid me a visit a few minutes before you came.”
“He wasn’t supposed to come anywhere near you,” Althia protested.
“He strikes me as the kind of man that rarely follows orders,” Sharian said scornfully.
“Yes, I’m afraid you’re right.”
“Please, tell me all you know. I’m going insane here,” she begged.
“Ethor wasn’t the only male claiming you and our rules say they have to fight to the death to win you.”
“But Kenyon is an Asloran,” Sharian pointed out.
“Yes, so I’ve heard, but Ethor is one of our best warriors. He has only been defeated by Kurbaz, our Ruler, on their fight for the right to rule our people. He has won many fights before, and he’s a very strong man. Asloran or no Asloran, the other man will have trouble defeating him.” She paused as if not certain if she should continue.
“What?”
“Some say he plays dirty. He often disregards the rules and takes down his enemy using dirty tricks.”
“When will this fight be?”
“At sundown.”
“Thank you for telling me,” she said, stepping away, wriggling her hands nervously.
“I know it didn’t make things easier for you, but sometimes, it’s better to know,” the woman said before she left.
Yes, it was better to know. But it also made her worry a lot more. Kenyon was a man of honor, he wouldn’t be expecting foul play.
When the sun finally came down on the horizon, she heard the distant roar of people cheering, and she knew the fight was about to start. Ethor’s words still echoed in her ears, and she did her best to remain calm.
She knew the Aslorans were hard to kill, but now she knew Ethor was as lethal as Kenyon and since she knew nothing about their fighting skills, any result was possible and that was killing her.
She couldn’t live with the idea Kenyon might die over her. It wasn’t
fair, and it was the last thing she wanted. She would go with Ethor willingly if that meant Kenyon got to live.
The roar was louder now, and she went to the balcony to see if she could find out where it came from, but she wasn’t able to determine the origin of the sound.
Suddenly, after what felt like an eternity, there was an even louder roar and what seemed to be cheers, before it all went silent. Sharian’s heart went silent for a moment before it started again with a frantic rhythm. Was the fight over? Did those cheers mean Ethor had won?
The door to her room opened, but she didn’t dare to move from where she was, afraid to know the truth.
“Sharian?” Kenyon’s voice came from the bedroom, and without even thinking, she ran towards the room and threw herself into his arms.
“You’re alive, you’re alive,” she kept saying like some sort of mantra, hugging him tight, oblivious of the blood that covered him.
“Did you have any doubts?” he asked, hugging her back. “I promised you I would always be there for you,” he added, kissing the top of her head.
His words felt like a punch to her heart, and she stepped back, making a huge effort not to let him know how disappointed she was.
“I know you did,” she managed to paste a fake smile on her face before she looked at him. “Oh, you’re hurt, you’re bleeding,” she shouted when she finally acknowledged the way he looked.
“It’s not only my blood,” he assured her.
“You need to get those wounds cleaned up,” she ordered, forgetting her feelings and putting his wellbeing first. “You need a shower.”
“Will you shower with me?” he asked, with a naughty grin.
She looked at herself, saw the bloodstains all over her, and chuckled. “I guess I need one too, so why not?” She guided him to the bathing room and helped him get off his ruined pants. “What happened?”
“I defeated Ethor, so he won’t be a problem anymore,” he explained, entering the shower stall and allowing the warm water to wash away the blood that covered his body.