The Rings Fighter

by JC Andrijeski

  Trazen’s mind grew utterly silent.

  The male Nirreth at the table still seemed to be reacting to Trazen’s offer, when the middle aged human sitting with them, the one with the gold streak in his hair, laughed.

  “You’re kidding... right, Trazen?” he scoffed. “Aren’t the brain scans enough? Do you really need more intel on our girl?”

  “I had thought she belonged to the Royal father,” Trazen growled, swiveling his gaze to glare at the handsome human. An audible thread of irritation touched his voice, one that felt real to Chloe that time. “...Not to trader scum like you. And I was not asking you, mammal. I ask her lawful companion.”

  The male Nirreth’s arm tightened possessively around the Rings fighter, right before he switched to Nargili.

  “No,” he said, letting out a slow hiss as he focused up at Trazen, a thinly veiled hostility in his eyes. “...We do not share. I am sorry, for I honor your position. And your consort is quite tempting...” the other Nirreth added politely to Chloe herself, motioning towards her with his jointed fingers. “Is she a recent acquisition?” he said, his voice still light. “I don’t recall seeing her at any of the Royal functions before... ?”

  “She is new,” Trazen said, his voice openly dismissive. He’d gone back to staring at the girl fighter, that harder, more predatory look back in his eyes. “...We had thought perhaps to sell her for the Rings, too, now that the Boards have opened it to female mammals for sport. She is aesthetically pleasing enough for such a placement. But sadly...” His lips twitched in a small smile. “...She is not a fighter.”

  Chloe stiffened slightly at that, too, but decided it was more of Trazen’s b.s.

  Why would he tell them such an outrageous lie?

  She felt nothing whatsoever off Trazen to explain it.

  The other male Nirreth glanced at her, looking her over in her barely-there clothing and coiling his tail more tightly around the lean fighting girl at his side. His voice, when he addressed Trazen, sounded more genuinely polite, if wary.

  “...I am sorry about that,” he said to Trazen. “I am sure you will find another suitable candidate, however.”

  Trazen’s eyes grew colder as they flicked over Chloe herself. She could see him in that look, but wondered if she would have, if he wasn’t touching her skin.

  “Don’t be sorry,” he said, his voice as cold as his obsidian eyes. “She has other... talents. And as you say, we will find another female for that purpose.” Giving the girl Rings fighter another heavy-handed stare, he added, “A pity you are guarding this one so jealously. Not that I blame you. Still, if you change your mind, let me know. I may be able to ensure her safety in other ways. If you were feeling so generous...”

  Chloe bit her lip, again fighting the urge to smack him for being such an ass.

  As for the girl Rings fighter herself, she’d gone back to staring at Chloe.

  That sympathy in the girl’s eyes was on the surface now, mixed with an obvious frustration at her own powerlessness as to Chloe’s situation. When the girl went back to staring at Trazen a few seconds later, Chloe saw the open disgust she aimed at Trazen himself.

  Chloe wondered if the girl had any idea what a risk she would be taking by doing that, if Trazen truly was what he pretended to be.

  Somehow, the thought brought her mind and heart back to Kiji, intensely enough that she closed her eyes, fighting to shut out the pain, the image of her sister’s cut throat.

  Next to her, she felt Trazen flinch.

  Then a flood of reassurance and warmth reached her through the venom, along with an enveloping kind of support that felt almost physical.

  You should let her see who you really are, Chloe admonished him, fighting another urge to smack him. Her thoughts sharpened, borderline angry. Whatever your reasons, you are being stupid, Trazen... really stupid. She’s got a good heart... can’t you see that?

  All that answered her was silence.

  THE RENEGOTIATION

  THEY REMAINED AT that restaurant for a long time.

  Too long, from her perspective.

  By the end of several hours of aimless-feeling wandering, watching Trazen talk to vacuous Nirreth who leered at her and flattered him and told stupid jokes, Chloe was having trouble feigning interest. It didn’t help that Trazen’s venom had more or less worn off. Its absence left her tired and having to fight harder not to think about Kiji and wishing Trazen would just take her home so she could sit by the pool and watch the birds again.

  Trazen seemed to feel this on her in some way from the pulses of sympathy she got off his skin, but he also seemed to be waiting for something.

  By then, the girl Rings fighter and her Nirreth companion were long gone.

  Still, Trazen lingered.

  She caught him glancing surreptitiously at the door and felt that waiting on him even more strongly as his eyes scanned the room. She felt impatience on him as well, as if he would rather not be there, either. She didn’t pick up specifics about what he waited for however, apart from what he’d already told her.

  It occurred to her somewhere in that, that Trazen may have actually broken Nirreth law, taking her from Agnon the way he did. Technically there were rules about human companions and ownership. She didn’t know those rules in detail, but she knew the Nirreth respected them enough to sue one another on occasion to see them enforced. It was the same reason Trazen couldn’t take the Rings fighter home without her Nirreth’s permission, even if her companion was of lower status.

  Not that Trazen would do that.

  Well... Chloe hoped he wouldn’t.

  Realizing that the venom really had worn off when doubt crept over her mind in relation to that point, as well as the reminder that she hadn’t known Trazen for twenty-four hours yet, Chloe fought to reestablish a healthy skepticism around the Ringmaster and his motives. She knew the venom would make her want to trust him.

  She was still thinking about that, watching Trazen where he sat casually on a curved bench, his muscular arm draped lightly over her shoulders as he listened to something another Nirreth said, when a commotion by the door got her to turn.

  She hadn’t swiveled all the way around when a familiar voice rang overhead.

  “Ringmaster Trazen!” it said in Nargili. “I would like a word with you... friend.”

  She froze.

  Around her, the dozen or so Nirreth at their table fell silent, too. One cut himself off abruptly, mid-laugh at some joke a Nirreth bureaucrat had been telling them. That same Nirreth had been flirting openly with Chloe for the past half-hour, but seemed to fear Trazen enough that he wasn’t very aggressive about it, so she’d barely noticed.

  That voice, however, smashed her calm into a million jagged pieces.

  Her whole body stiffened, jerking immediately into fight or flight.

  As if he felt it, Trazen wrapped his arm and tail strongly around her, pulling her against his muscular side. His presence enveloped her at once, dimmer from the diminished venom, but still strong enough to force her muscles to unclench.

  Relax, he murmured in her mind. He won’t touch you, Chloe. I promise.

  She nodded, but no longer believed him.

  I promise, he repeated, softer. I promise, Chloe. Everything is all right. I would not have brought you here if I could not handle this...

  She nodded again, but didn’t meet his gaze.

  She could feel him contemplating stinging her again, fearing she might say something, expose him in some way. Even if she simply came across as too attached to him, to quick to jump to his defense––

  I won’t, she told him, forcing her fear back, shutting herself down. I won’t. You don’t have to worry about me. I won’t do anything stupid.

  Trazen’s arm coiled around her tighter.

  She felt a flush of affection from him, worry.

  Only then did she turn her head.

  Barely giving Trazen a glance, she looked past him instead, focusing on the Nirreth with the crooked tail
who stood there, his eyes glassed with drink and venom.

  Agnon flicked his kinked tail in a whip-like arc when she turned, gripping the arms of two mostly-naked human females, one in each hand.

  “I see you brought my property with you,” Agnon hissed. “Very considerate of you... I’d like it back. I have even brought these two in trade... to soften any sentiment you might harbor.” Agnon thrust the two humans forward, one of whom almost fell, teetering on high heels. Agnon didn’t spare her a glance, but stared at Chloe, his deep black eyes cold. “I believe we only agreed on a loan, venerable Ringmaster? I am calling that loan in... if you don’t mind.”

  Chloe heard the threat there.

  She heard it, even as her eyes took in the crowd of armed Nirreth Agnon had brought with him. More walked through the front door of the building as he spoke, muscled and moving like fighters, wearing dark clothes.

  It struck her suddenly, why Agnon would want to do this publicly.

  Nirreth prided themselves on their ability to hold their own––whether via their own fighting prowess or their wealth and hired muscle. Agnon hoped to force Trazen into an unequal fight. He intended to beat him down publicly, thus diminishing Trazen’s status, in addition to taking Chloe from him by force.

  Even if Trazen tried to use political connections to get her back later, he would lose face.

  Moreover, Chloe suspected she wouldn’t survive long enough for Trazen to stage anything similar in response. Trazen may have the last laugh with Agnon eventually, but she wouldn’t be alive to see it.

  All of that flickered through her mind even as Trazen rose from the bench.

  Chloe had to fight not to clutch at him as he left her, watching him face down the half-circle of Nirreth guards who now boxed them in around the table.

  A rustle of movement caused her to look behind her. She frowned, watching as the Nirreth who had just been laughing and joking with her and Trazen stood up and began to back off, to remove themselves from the ring of armed guards. Some part of her wanted to call them cowards, but she knew there would be no point. They weren’t fighters, any of them.

  They were like Agnon. They hired other Nirreth to do their dirty work.

  Trazen didn’t give those retreating Nirreth so much as a glance.

  Chloe watched the dark-clothed guards rearrange their formation around the low table, too. They fanned around behind Agnon in a deceptively casual arc, watching the proceedings with dark, wary eyes, their tails flicking aggressively. She saw one of them motion the human females out of the way, too, and they walked in the same direction as the retreating Nirreth, their eyes glassed and confused by venom as they stole glances back at Trazen and Chloe.

  When Trazen didn’t speak, Agnon prompted him again.

  “We can agree on this?” he said. “That this loan will now be returned?”

  “No,” Trazen said, his voice equally cold. “We cannot.”

  “She is not yours.”

  “And yet she is. I acquired her in full. For a fair price...”

  “A price that was not paid.”

  “...A very fair price,” Trazen continued, his eyes locked on Agnon’s. “Particularly given how badly you treat your toys, friend Agnon. Moreover, you are incorrect. That price was paid by me in full earlier this morning. A gift to the Royals in your name... gratefully received.”

  Agnon looked past him at Chloe. Looking her over briefly, including the dress, he glanced back at Trazen, his dark lips lifting in a smile.

  “You like her so much, Trazen?” he said.

  “She is paid for. This discussion is over.”

  “It is not over,” Agnon snapped, his tail coiling in another hard arc. “And she is not paid for.” When Trazen began to speak, Agnon cut him off, once more lashing the kinked tail. “I was able to intercept the gift you attempted on my behalf. I paid the Royals their tithe from my own treasury, and they accepted. Moreover, I returned the credits you had put up in my name to your accounts. I simply cannot part with her, I’m afraid...”

  “The transaction occurred,” Trazen said, immovable. “That you returned the money to me is a detail. Seller’s remorse. I will give that money back to you, if you require it, Agnon––”

  “I do not require it,” Agnon said, growling openly. “I require my property returned.”

  “––Then I will view it as a gift to me,” Trazen continued smoothly. “But the sale is finished.”

  “I disagree,” Agnon said. “Further, I have witnesses to our exchange who disagree that this transaction occurred in good faith...”

  “Meaning what?” Trazen said, his voice growing dangerously soft. “Are you accusing me of dishonesty, friend Agnon?”

  Chloe felt something in the tenor of the exchange shift.

  Whatever it was, it raised the hair on her arms and the back of her neck.

  She also saw the muscles on Trazen’s arms and legs flex. He seemed to grow bigger, even as his lean, muscular body went utterly still, even his tail.

  “I am saying that,” Agnon said, his voice unmistakably cold.

  The row of Nirreth behind him tensed, their eyes now uniformly locked on Trazen.

  Agnon added, “I don’t know why you would deny that you had stolen her from me blatantly, Trazen. I had surveillance in that room. I lodged a complaint. I will have her back... or your blood in compensation...”

  “Are you quite sure you want to do that?” Trazen said.

  The silence grew even more loaded.

  Chloe had to fight again not to grasp at Trazen’s arms, to pull him back. She had a sudden vision of Agnon’s goons pulling out sandblasters and killing him right there... or maybe a pulre blast to the chest that would likely kill her too, at this range.

  Somehow, the thought of dying with him, after everything, was almost a relief.

  Trazen let the silence tick by a few beats more, then let out a breath in a low hiss.

  “You might want to think on this, friend Agnon,” he said, his voice silky quiet. “Give yourself pause here, try to hear your own instincts in your mind, even through the copious amounts of wine and venom clearly seething through your blood and skin.” He lowered his head, his stare more predatory. “Trust me when I tell you that you don’t want to do this dance with me. Not with me, Agnon.”

  Agnon let out a harsh laugh. “You are delusional, Ringmaster...”

  Trazen didn’t flinch. His voice notched lower.

  “I say this in generosity to you, friend,” he said softly, his eyes as black as coal. “...As a favor. Go find yourself another human.” A low growl came from his chest, even as his tail gave a hard, flickering curl through the air. “...I do not care how many of your lackeys you threaten me with. If you cross that line with me, some of them might wish they hadn’t listened to you, as well... whatever you are paying them.”

  Chloe felt her heart stutter in her chest.

  Trazen’s words had come out different that time, stripped of politeness, any pretense at civility. The threat was palpable, transparent... even to her, and she wasn’t Nirreth.

  Moreover, for the first time, it occurred to her that Trazen was right. Whatever happened here today, Agnon would replace her. Some other poor girl would end up exactly where Chloe had been, perhaps even with another Kiji in the pens as collateral.

  The thought sickened her.

  Moreover, it almost made her want to tell Trazen not to bother.

  It struck her suddenly how quiet the room had gotten.

  Glancing around the high-ceilinged restaurant, she realized that the other Nirreth and humans hadn’t left after they retreated from her and Trazen’s side. In fact, many new Nirreth and humans had crept closer to watch from other parts of the room.

  That had to be the point of this though––maybe for Agnon and Trazen both.

  After all, Trazen had waited for this.

  The thought should have reassured her, but it didn’t.

  Chloe caught a few curious looks aimed in her directio
n as well. Most of those watching seemed to have caught that this fight was essentially about her.

  Glancing up at Trazen, she saw every visible muscle once more coiling and flexing under his silky skin. He looked like how he’d described that female Rings fighter to her, like some kind of predatory cat, ready to leap. It hit her again why he might feel so close to that dark-haired ex-skag, even if she was human.

  She felt the shift... that time before her eyes tracked any of it.

  One of Agnon’s people reached for a sidearm... likely a pulre from how and where he wore it, but Chloe never got a chance to see that either.

  Before she could take a breath, Trazen leapt.

  He moved so quickly Chloe could only gasp, banging her back when she flinched sharply into the table. Watching him tackle the Nirreth to the ground, she barely had time to comprehend the danger before he was on his feet again, holding a long, blood-covered knife he’d yanked out of a sheath the same Nirreth guard wore.

  He’d sliced open the Nirreth’s throat before she saw more than a glint.

  He moved on Agnon next.

  The scuffle was short that time.

  Before Chloe could make sense of it, it was over.

  Trazen stood there, his breath slightly quickened. He gripped the shorter Nirreth in his hands, the knife’s blade pressed to Agnon’s thick throat. Trazen faced the circle of Nirreth guards, still holding Agnon’s throat in his hand too, the blade balanced on top of his fingers. The sharp edge already dented Agnon’s skin.

  Agnon let out a frightened squealing sound and Trazen’s long tail lashed behind him as he growled, deep down in his chest, staring down the other fighters.

  “He can’t pay you if he’s dead,” Trazen said.

  Chloe watched the guards look at one another.

  More than one had their hands on holsters at their sides, but everything happened so quickly, none of them yet had time to draw. Some looked openly startled, as if unsure what just occurred. All of them watched Trazen warily, but Chloe saw a faint admiration in more than one of those stares, especially in the older Nirreth.

  She also saw no real animosity there.