The Rings Fighter

by JC Andrijeski

  Studying those angular lines, she swallowed a little, in spite of herself.

  His skin looked like deep-blue silk, gliding perfectly over muscle and bone.

  She was still staring when he glanced up, his dark eyes meeting hers before she could look away.

  “Hello.”

  He studied her face, swishing his muscular tail as he patted the deer with a three-fingered and one-thumbed hand. He continued stroking its fur as he used his other hand to indicate towards the side of the table opposite him.

  “Sit,” he said politely. “Someone will bring you food.” He glanced at the girl servant, who grinned at him openly. “Can you let the kitchen know she’s here, Mira?”

  “Sure thing, boss,” the girl said.

  Nudging Chloe’s arm, Mira gave her a wink Chloe wasn’t sure how to interpret.

  Then the girl wandered away across the patio, presumably towards the kitchen.

  Chloe watched her go, bewildered all over again.

  It occurred to her that she was still standing. Flushing, she walked over to the bench opposite of Trazen and sat down, smoothing the long skirt under her. When she glanced up, he was watching her with those dark, gold-flecked eyes.

  “Are you all right?” he said, his voice low.

  She blinked at him, thrown completely by the concern she could see there.

  “Y-Yes.”

  Tension touched his mouth. She distinctly got the sense he didn’t believe her.

  Remembering he’d been there when Agnon cut Kiji’s throat, she fought with the pain that rose in her chest, enough that she couldn’t hold his gaze.

  She thought about saying more, but just... didn’t.

  After another pause, he cleared his throat.

  “I need to ask you a favor, Chloe,” he said.

  Again, she stared at him, trying to decide if she was dreaming... or hallucinating maybe.

  “A... a favor?” she said. “You want me to do you a favor?”

  “Yes,” he said. He released the deer’s neck, leaning back over the table and picking up a spear-like utensil and a sharper knife. Sawing into the piece of meat that stood on his plate, blackened and smelling of some spices she didn’t know, he frowned again as he cut off a bite-sized chunk. He used the spear to put it in his mouth and chewed.

  Making a displeased, bleating sound, perhaps because he’d stopped petting it or perhaps because it didn’t like the smell of the meat, the deer wandered off.

  Trazen spared the animal a faint smile before looking back at Chloe.

  “I have been informed that Agnon is quite displeased with me,” he said, his voice mild.

  Chloe let out a surprised snort.

  When he looked at her, the skin over one dark eye lifting like a quirked eyebrow, she forced her expression smooth. He smiled one of those subtle Nirreth smiles though, and conceded her point with an inclined head.

  “Yes... you probably gathered that last night,” he conceded. “But it turns out this may be a problem for me. For us.” Plunking his elbows down on the table, he gave her a level look over his plate. “His infatuation with you... if it can be called that... is more intense than I anticipated. His feelings on the matter were sufficient that he’s calling in favors from several quarters to see me punished.”

  His frown grew a touch harder, holding more disgust before he looked down, sawing into the next piece of meat on his plate.

  “...I guess killing a human pup not old enough to reach my chest wasn’t enough to sooth his ego in this matter,” he grunted.

  Chloe felt her chest clench more, but only nodded.

  She heard no scorn in his voice about Kiji. If anything, his anger eased that pain slightly.

  Her voice came out stronger.

  “What’s the favor?” she said. Meeting his gaze when he looked up, she made sure to hold it. “Of course, it almost doesn’t matter,” she added. “You must know I’d do anything you asked of me right now, Ringmaster Trazen.”

  He frowned slightly at that, but in a different way that time.

  She almost got the impression he might argue with what she’d said, then he exhaled in a rolling purr, as if thinking better of it.

  “Well then... the favor is this. We need to be seen in public.” His voice held a tinge of apology. “I’m thinking after the Rings match today. I’ll need to take you to the public functions following, so that we are seen together. It cannot wait.”

  Chloe smiled. “You’re taking me out for dinner?” she said, unable to help herself. “That’s the big favor, Ringmaster Trazen... ?”

  “Well, yes...”

  His voice trailed, his eyes shifting to someone approaching her from behind.

  She glanced up as the new person reached her side, setting down a plate in front of her on the stone table. Looking down, she realized it was food––more of a platter than a plate, and heaped with more good-smelling things to eat than anyone had ever put in front of her in her life.

  ... Eggs, toast, berries, mushrooms, bread, what looked like yogurt, a greenish paste she knew to be Nirreth curry next to another dollop of jam, butter, sausage...

  The human who’d given this feast to her, a male human roughly in his thirties and with shaggy auburn hair and wearing a blue T-shirt with some kind of writing on it and a stained apron, grinned at her when she looked up at him in bewilderment. She smiled back, and he responded with a chuckle before looking at Trazen.

  “Anything else for you or your guest, sir?” he said.

  Guest? she couldn’t help thinking.

  Trazen looked at her. Realizing the silence was a question, Chloe glanced up from where she’d been staring at the insane amounts of food on her plate and shook her head.

  Trazen looked back at the human.

  “No, I don’t think so, Greg. Thank you.”

  The human––Greg, presumably––grinned, winking at her when she glanced up at him a second time. She watched as he walked back towards the main house, wiping his hands on the stained apron and whistling.

  Chloe bit back another wave of incredulity, then looked back at the food, still in awe at the sheer amount of it, much less the amazing smells coming off her plate.

  “You might not like how I’ll need you to come with me,” Trazen said, going on with what he’d been saying once Greg was out of earshot. “...To the dinner I mean. That’s more the favor part,” he added. “More than dinner itself.”

  She picked up her own spear-like utensil and poked at a mushroom. Her stomach let out a growl that Trazen must have heard.

  She hadn’t seen this much food all in one place in...

  Well, ever.

  In Kabasi, food was relatively scarce. Not starving-scarce, but nothing like this.

  Plopping a mushroom in her mouth, she had to fight not to groan in pleasure as she chewed. Realizing Trazen was still watching her, expecting some kind of reaction to his words, she glanced up, flushing, and nodded. She swallowed the mushroom, nodding again.

  “How do you need me to come?” she said, clearing her throat.

  He watched her, a faint thread of amusement in his eyes as she huddled over the plate of food. She saw a darker shade of seriousness in his expression, too.

  “You’ll be dressed less comfortably, I’m afraid,” he said, coiling his tail behind him and sighing. Motioning towards her, he added with another small frown, “We’ll be playing a part, you and I.” He added more apologetically, “And I’ll need to sting you. More than once. Enough to make us believable.”

  She nodded, chewing and then swallowing the second mushroom she’d stuck surreptitiously in her mouth.

  “Okay,” she said. “I can do that.”

  “You won’t like me very much during this dinner, Chloe,” he warned her, softer.

  Puzzlement wafted over her, but she felt herself tense slightly, too. Remembering some of the things Agnon had done to her in quasi-public settings didn’t help.

  “Do I need to know what that means?” she said.r />
  Trazen sighed another of those purring Nirreth sighs from deep in his chest.

  “Yes,” he said. “Well... not in detail. Like I said, I’ll be playing a role.”

  “What role is that?” she said, her voice still wary.

  “Of a slave-whoring bastard,” he said simply, tossing his napkin to his plate. He leaned back, balancing lightly on his tail as he watched her react to his words.

  Chloe thought about what he probably meant, then nodded slowly.

  Resignation crept over her, but she only nodded again.

  “I see,” she said. “I understand.”

  He gave her a sideways Nirreth smile.

  “No,” he said, softer, his smile edging towards sadness. “You don’t. But I think you’re sufficiently unhappy in reality to sell your end of things... no matter how I behave.”

  That time, something in his words made her flinch.

  She didn’t answer him, though.

  THE GIRL FIGHTER

  CHLOE SAT ON a bench seat of one of the city trolleys, feeling her nerves rise as she fidgeted, watching the back entrance to a large, mushroom-shaped building.

  She’d never been here before.

  She recognized the structure of course, having seen it in the Nirreth news and on billboards all over Green Zone Hezeret. The Rings stadium was probably the most iconic structure in the city. At least twenty stories tall, it shone a shimmering white-silver in color, almost a metallic blue when the sun beneath the Green Zone dome hit it just right.

  The crowd had grown outside the back end of the stadium.

  The giant double doors that stood there remained closed, surrounded by lawns on either side and white stone walkways, but Chloe could feel the excitement building to a kind of frenzy as the seconds ticked past. She’s noticed more and more media and cameras clustering, too.

  Being the first Rings match with a female human contestant, the whole city was talking about it... and probably betting obscene amounts of money on the outcome.

  Trazen himself had to work, of course.

  As lead designer of the run, he had to be there early to ensure his operators––or “pullers,” as they called them––manifested his design accurately. He also had to be there personally to guide the runner and make adjustments as needed.

  He’d left the house not long after they spoke over breakfast.

  Rather than deal with the other servants, or even a Rings match she couldn’t bear to watch after letting herself harbor hopes that Kiji might be able to follow that path some day, Chloe sat alone by the pool and watched Trazen’s birds.

  True to Mira’s promise, the indoor pool was a beautiful, tranquil spot, surrounded by potted trees, some of which grew up through the open sunroofs into the domed sky. Crystal blue water snaked around rock formations and sculpted waterfalls while birds played and flitted among branches overhead. Fish nibbled at her bare feet stuck in the water and sunlight created dappled patterns on the stone walls and floors.

  She heard the occasional shout and laughter from the media room down the corridor, but otherwise, the house was quiet.

  Eventually, someone found her, and told her she needed to get dressed.

  True to Trazen’s warning, the clothes weren’t... .ideal.

  She’d worn less before, of course.

  Living under Agnon’s roof, she’d worn nothing at all a lot of the time, even in quasi-public settings. But that didn’t make her feel much better as she fingered and stared at the water-thin, pale blue material that left gaping holes around her waist and hips as well as up the sides of her legs almost to her rear end.

  It took her a few good minutes from when she first examined the dress before she actually put it on. It took her a few more to stop frowning at herself as she stared into his bathroom mirror, looking at her own pale skin, some of it still bruised from Agnon’s hands and tail.

  Another group of servants showed up at the bedroom door not long after she shimmied into the dress. Chloe found herself seated in front of more mirrors while she was primped and fussed over for another hour. By the end, she barely recognized herself in the mirror at all.

  Even the color of her hair looked different, the blond strands highlighted with a green-gold powder that made it look even more fake and doll-like.

  She’d always hated her blond hair.

  She’d been picked on for it as a kid, called “lab rat” and worse. It made her a target and fascinated the Nirreth. Her mother dyed it for her when she was young, but the dye was no good and always rubbed off in her hands.

  Part of her blamed her blond hair for Agnon taking her.

  Chloe had always envied Kiji’s normal, dark-colored hair.

  She fought Kiji out of her mind again as she sat in the trolley outside the Rings stadium, hands clasped in her lap, twining her fingers together as she fought nerves and waited for Trazen. She’d almost managed to distract herself, watching the crowd and listening to the excited jabbering in Nargili, when the crowd outside exploded into excited yells.

  Chloe turned to see reporters swarming around a tall figure who emerged from the double doors of the stadium’s exit.

  It was Trazen.

  She watched him make his way through that crush of Nirreth and humans. He talked to reporters as he walked, laughing at something one of them said, his dark eyes flashing in the artificial sunlight, his tail snaking languorously out behind him. Looking away when she realized she was staring, Chloe focused out the opposite window, watching banners snap in the wind over the stadium grounds.

  It made sense he would come out first. Whatever the outcome, the girl fighter would be injured from her run, at least in small ways.

  Even so, Chloe was disappointed.

  She’d hoped to catch a glimpse of her.

  When the trolley door opened with a loud click to her left, she jumped. She hadn’t realized how quiet it was or how soundproof the vehicle until sound erupted through the open door, mainly voices yammering in Nargili.

  The sheer volume caused her to flinch back.

  She met the gaze of a tired but happy-looking Trazen. He looked freshly showered, changed, relaxed, but something about him looked borderline flushed too, like he’s just come off the run himself.

  “Hello,” he said, his voice openly friendly.

  Shutting the door behind him in the face of reporters who still shouted his name, he cut off the sound, leaving them in that fishbowl silence. Before she could recover from the onslaught, he sat himself next to her on the bench and wrapped a muscular arm around her, pulling her up against him.

  Jumping a little in shock, Chloe looked up, even more startled when he kissed her briefly on the cheek, caressing her bare side with long fingers. The kiss came across as affection more than anything, and she broke into a surprised smile.

  “Good run?” she said, quirking an eyebrow at him.

  He laughed, a rumbling Nirreth laugh, from deep in his chest.

  “Yes!” he said, sliding his hand up and gripping her shoulder briefly in long fingers. “A very good run!”

  Looking away, he announced a location to the trolley’s navigation mechanism after uttering his access code.

  The sailboat-like car began moving silently down the street.

  Chloe continued to watch his face, thrown by the happiness she saw there.

  She nudged his side with an elbow. “So? Tell me. I take it the Board didn’t decide to knock her out on her first trial run?” she said.

  “Knock her out?” Trazen’s smile widened, growing almost human-like as he looked at her again. “They pushed her into full status... she’s to be picking her permanent team in the next few weeks.”

  The news made Chloe blink.

  She’d never heard of anything like that before on an initial run.

  The Board generally required at least three trial runs prior to the contestant being ranked at full status. Potential candidates weren’t usually considered full competitors until their skill sets had been assessed
from those three trials.

  Most had hoped only for blood in this particular match.

  Sex and blood... pure entertainment.

  No one expected a human girl to actually win.

  She wondered why the outcome made Trazen so happy.

  “Does that not mean... ?” She let her words trail when he looked over at her with his gold-flecked eyes. “Just,” she amended, her voice more diplomatic. “No one thinks the run was too easy? The run you designed for her, I mean?”

  Trazen laughed, shaking his head.

  “No, Chloe,” he said. “They do not think the run I designed was ‘too easy.’”

  She smiled, not really getting the joke but watching his face in a kind of amused surprise.

  “You are really happy about this,” she mused. “Why is that, I wonder?”

  “She was magnificent!” he said, his voice holding an overt admiration. He squeezed her shoulder again, grinning down at her face. “Did you not watch the run, Chloe? She was magnificent! Like a predatory cat! I will have to be much more creative from now on... much more creative! They pushed me to make the run aggressive, so I thought someone might have paid to flush her out. But she blew everyone away! Simply magnificent!”

  Chloe laughed in spite of herself, shaking her head.

  “No. I did not watch it,” she admitted. “Was it really so extraordinary?”

  “You did not watch it?” He looked down at her with a frown, although that happiness still shone in his dark eyes. “You will watch it!” he proclaimed, kissing her cheek a second time. “I insist! We will watch the whole thing together tonight... twice, if necessary...”

  Chloe laughed again, shaking her head in wonder.

  “But... she beat you, right?” Chloe said, her voice teasing now. “Didn’t she beat you, O Mighty Ringmaster? I would think your masculinity would be adversely affected, that a mere human female did so well on your run?”

  He laughed, looking at her in some surprise. “You are educated?”

  She flushed, realizing she’d spoken in Nargili. “Marginally.”