by E. M. Moore
Soren just shrugged. It could be a hundred different things.
I looked back at the fight. Olin spit again, a stream of blood rainbowed through the air until it splat on the ground. I wished Samuel would just finish this. It was difficult to watch. Too inhuman. They were like barbarians going to war except that one hadn’t gotten the memo and recognized he was in a fight yet.
Samuel wrapped Olin in a guillotine choke and finally Olin woke up. He dug his nails into Samuel’s skin until Samuel grimaced and released him. They circled one another in the middle. This time, Samuel pulled out a stake and Olin did the same. They lunged at one another at the same time, trading blow for blows, blocking and dodging the stake hand that came down time and time again until they were a whirl of limbs and I could barely see what was going on anymore. Then, the spectators on all sides gasped, and I had to wait until they slowed down to see what had happened.
Samuel had disarmed Olin. His opponent’s stake had flown a few feet from them and toppled to the ground end after end. He trapped Olin’s hand and ended with the point of his stake just over his heart. His mouth moved, but I was too far away to hear what he said.
Exasperated, I looked at Soren.
“Give up,” he whispered without glancing at me. “Samuel asked him to give up, but there’s no chance in hell he’ll be doing that. Dumont will just kill him anyway. Samuel didn’t listen to a word I said. I told him if he got his opening to just take it. This isn’t training, this is a fight.” He cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled, “Do it!”
Olin peeked over to his side where I knew Dumont stood. He lost. There was no way he could win. Samuel only needed a fraction of a second to send the tip of the stake into his heart and he was a dead vampire. The fight was over as far as I was concerned. There was no reason for Olin to die, even though I was sure Soren was right and Dumont didn’t feel the same way.
I closed my eyes, glad I wasn’t in the same position. Could I really sink that stake into an opponent who wasn’t even armed? The guy was defenseless.
Soren yelled out again next to me. Samuel’s lips moved again and this time I could make out the words ‘Give up’ like Soren said before. The vampire shook his head. Samuel pressed forward and Olin took a step back, just allowing himself enough space so that the stake didn’t penetrate his skin. Samuel followed right after him until they marched clear across the open air arena. When Samuel had him pressed against the fence, Olin still shook his head. At that, Samuel guided the stake forward inch by inch. I cringed watching it. Still, Olin wouldn’t surrender. At the last second, right before the tip would’ve penetrated his heart, Olin moved and Samuel’s last blow missed his heart. Olin fell to the ground anyway. No matter if he was actually dead, the fight was over. Olin was too injured to fight. He would live, if Dumont would let him, but it was clear who the better fighter was.
Samuel leaned over his opponent and then straightened when our side rose up in cheers. He turned and walked back to the center, his face still a mask keeping away everything he was feeling inside. When he got to the center, he inclined his head toward Gregor and then started to raise his hands.
He stopped. His mouth fell open and his already pale face blanched. Looking down, I saw at the same time he did the tip of a red-tinged stake jutting out from his chest. He staggered back a few steps and then fell, his behind hitting the ground first. He sat there, his hands outstretched as if he could pull the stake out, but it didn’t matter, the damage was already done.
Samuel. No…
I saw the moment life left his eyes. They went empty, dead. His body slumped over. His arms, and hands, and legs, they were no longer under his control.
Behind him, Olin stood. A crossbow stake launcher fell from his grip as Dumont’s men swarmed him. They broke off the stake that had just barely missed his heart, and carried him off.
From behind me, and in front of me, basically every single one of the Ravana Clan vampires growled. The sound permeated the air. It silenced the sudden outburst of the Dumont camp. They looked back and forth from Dumont to our side like bobbleheads. It wasn’t truly their fault. They had no control either.
Just like Samuel now.
“I told him…” Soren said, still shaking his head. His hands were trembling as they gripped the fencing in front of us. “I told him no mercy.” He turned, taking in everyone around us. He looked from Gregor to the princes to Lex and Zeke. “That is why we need to win!” he shouted. He pointed behind him at Samuel’s lifeless body, crumpled in a heap. I felt weightless, shocked as I listened to Soren. “There will be no truce. Nothing will be fair until he is taken down. When we fight, we fight until death.” He cast a look behind him, his eyes growing tremendously sad as he turned back around. “Samuel’s fault wasn’t that he was outmatched, it was that he forgot who we were fighting. They aren’t honorable soldiers. They will not hesitate to stab you in the back after what Dumont did to his first warrior.” He walked to Lex and Zeke. “When it’s your turn, you damn well better finish them.”
A high-pitched whistle pierced the air. I had only a second to recognize the sound before springing into action. I kicked out, thankfully kicking the stake that was aimed right for Soren’s back out of the air and onto the ground. I came to a rest on all fours only to see Soren lunging for the center of the arena where Dumont stood, his cocky grin not wiped off his face yet. I tried to reach out, but Soren was too quick. His pants slipped right through my fingers. “Get him!” I yelled.
It was Christian and Nicolai who sprang into action. Christian was the fastest so he got to him first, and wrestled with him until Nicolai wrapped his arms around him and they both brought him back to our side.
Dumont dropped the weapon to the ground and shrugged. “Gregor, please do tell your soldiers that the fight is to the death. If death hasn’t happened, it’s not over. Hopefully we can avoid these types of faux pas in the future. I do believe that’s one to one.” He inclined his head. “’Til tomorrow then.”
Dumont disappeared and his lackeys were close on his heels, a blur of green leaves and white streaks as they ran through the path in the forest to get to the house they claimed as theirs.
“Heartless,” Gregor said. He shook his head, staring out into the outcropping.
No one moved for Samuel’s body. Shock still twisted in my mind. It wasn’t until a cry as human as I ever heard fell against the dark skies that spurred people to move. Samuel’s mother pushed through the crowd.
Gregor intersected her and took her hand. “Let us clean him up. Then you may see him. I am so, so sorry for your loss. Samuel was the best of men.”
I blinked, not moving until strong hands gripped my hips and led me away. Stephan stood in the open walkway that led to the makeshift arena as if he’d come out of his triage tent to do something, but there was no one to save this time. No injuries to heal. The area reeked of death. Not in the physical sense, but in the ghastly nightmare of the aftermath when all you wanted to do was wake up, but you never would. Words were spoken behind me and I saw Stephan swallow and then focus on me. He came forward and took my hands, leading me further and further away from the crowd, from the pain of reality.
When I blinked, I saw the car crash in my mind’s eye. I saw the emptiness, the silence, and the blood. That was exactly what Samuel’s family was feeling right now. That altered state where you knew nothing would ever be the same again. Sure, you would get over it in time, but you would never forget. How could you? It was like a raw scab on your life.
Stephan led me into the training rooms until he forced me to sit with my back against the wall. Christian and Nicolai brought Soren in next, placing him next to me. He was much calmer this time, but he was tight like a drawn bow.
When they left, he turned toward me. “Thank you, Young One.”
It took me a second to remember what he was even thanking me for. Then I saw it all in my head again. Samuel being run through with the stake. His dead eyes. Falling to the ground. Then, Soren’s rallying spee
ch, and that one bleached stake soaring in the air aimed right for Soren’s back. “Like you said, you can’t trust them.”
He put his hand on my knee and squeezed. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” I was about to shrug when Soren spoke again. “I think you should know that they wanted you to fight, Ariana. Samuel told me yesterday. He said they chose you, but you were needed elsewhere so they changed their mind. He wanted you to fight.”
My mouth dropped, a silent, longing ‘o’. The last words I spoke to him were in anger. I thought he didn’t believe in me. I’d thought he was treating me as Zeke did, as someone who didn’t belong here. I shook my head. “No. They didn’t choose me. They chose Zeke.”
“They did. I don’t know what happened, but I do know they originally chose you, Young One. Since he’s not here to tell you anymore, I thought you should know.”
Others walked in so Soren and I fell silent, my mind fumbling with what I’d just learned. I was cruel to Samuel. We fought. And all this time, he really had believed in me.
My throat constricted. I swallowed, but nothing helped. Stephan stooped down to my eye level. “Do you feel okay? You look a little pale.”
“Fine,” I said.
He looked up, catching someone’s attention. “Can we get some water over here?”
Stephan caught two bottles, handed one off to Soren and then unscrewed the cap from mine and offered it to me. I took it and drank it gratefully. A howl sounded, and my body locked up. It was Samuel’s mother again, her wails echoing down the estate stone-lined walls like a bad memory.
How did this happen? Not that I didn’t understand that something like this could happen, but in this world, the good men lived and the bad ones died. In the real world, good people died all the time, but not in this one. Not in the one I fought for. What was this world coming to when things like this happened?
Stephan said something else to me, but I only saw his lips move. I couldn’t concentrate enough to actually hear what he said. It was too tough to latch onto the present, mainly because I didn’t want to.
Samuel was dead. And we now had two more fights—at the very least.
A shroud of reality pressed down on the shields I didn’t even know existed. It cracked my armor. It shook my core.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” I said.
Soren blinked at me. “No, it wasn’t.”
Chapter Fourteen
Flashbacks.
Even though I was young, I still remember my mother’s funeral. The somber church music, an organ’s loud notes of impending doom. The way the church looked like a vast, empty wasteland, too big for my little self.
A representative of the state brought me. There were exactly five people in the church. Me, my escort, the priest, and two people who sat in the back who I’d never seen before. Even at that age, I kind of just thought they’d wandered in by accident and stayed because they felt bad someone had died and no one cared enough to show up.
The truth was, there was no one to care. No father. No other family. No best friends. And so I wept silently, hot tears tracking down my pink cheeks while the woman from the state with the black stockings sat like a rigid dummy next to me. She wasn’t unpleasant, but she wasn’t the warm and cozy type either. She was there to do her job, which she did, and straight to the letter.
That was nothing like what was happening now.
Samuel Rajyvik, respected head of the Ravana Clan’s guard training facility, was mourned by many. I didn’t know many of these people, but at least there were people to commiserate with. The ones they couldn’t fit inside the Council room stood outside, hands joined as if the whole clan was in unity tonight. Not even the fights had brought us together as much as this sad event had. In our sadness, we connected. In our shared grief, we came together as one unit.
Even though I stood staring at the Rajyvik coat of arms draped over Samuel’s casket, the events of the last few hours still didn’t seem real. Samuel had won. He’d beat his opponent. The Dumont Clan cheated. They took more than just a win away from us, they took a good soul. They took a man with a family, a man who had an integral position within the clan, and the way this world ran. A man who was respected and looked up to by many—especially me.
I swallowed the sudden onslaught of feelings as they threatened to take me away. I’d been so selfish lately. Pissed off at not just Zeke, but those who’d made the decision to not let me fight. It wasn’t just the last words I’d said to Samuel that bothered me, it was my last thoughts, too. They proved just how selfish I was. Me, me, me. Why Zeke over me? Why wouldn’t they send me in? I recognized I wanted all those things for good reason, but Samuel was absolutely right when he said the decision had been made and I should’ve made the best of it. I should’ve taken on the duties of helping the others without another damn thought about myself. But I didn’t.
My gut twisted. And to think that was Samuel’s last impression of me. Not the strong warrior he’d intended to nurture, but a selfish, spoiled brat who, amongst everything else going on, including her instructor’s own training for his upcoming fight, demanded to know why she hadn’t been sent in. But no, not only that. I’d also had the gall to tell him he was wrong. Because that’s what everyone wanted to hear right before they were about to fight for their lives.
Connor put his arm around me and pulled me close until we were hip to hip. He was like my shadow these past few hours. I swear he had a sixth sense about the emotions my body had. Every time my thoughts started to swirl, he’d give me a gentle touch, a warm smile, something to pull me back in. He was like a beacon of light. One I didn’t deserve.
How was I going to make this up to everyone?
Even Zeke. He was right to call me out yesterday. I should’ve jumped at the chance to help him. Other thoughts aside, he was the one who was putting his life on the line. In a couple days, even as early as tomorrow, I could be standing in this exact same spot at his funeral. They were giving the ultimate sacrifice, not me. I needed to wrangle my pride in, stuff it in a box, and only reopen it when this awful mess was over. I’d have to make an attempt tomorrow to help him. No matter what. Even if he called me a blood whore again, I’d have to grin and bear it. Just because he didn’t like me didn’t mean he deserved to die.
My throat started to close and my eyes watered. Not because I was going to cry. Oddly enough, I couldn’t. My eyes were just dry and tired from not blinking as I stared at the Rajyvik coat of arms, that fierce dragon. That was Samuel. He’d fought that way too. He’d been amazing. He’d done everything right, and he certainly didn’t deserve to just be gone. He’d won.
A figure stepped into my line of sight, taking away the view of the dragon. I worked my way up to the face and swallowed when I saw Samuel’s sister standing there. She held her hands clasped in front of her and before she could even ask for quiet, the room silenced anyway. “Thank you,” she said.
Connor reached for my hand and entwined our fingers. I squeezed him back.
Up at the front of the room, Natalie stood stoically. She rose just a little above us all on the raised dais in the Council room. They’d been able to rearrange the room for the viewing until Samuel’s family could take him home again. She glanced back at the casket which was flanked on either side by flickering candles. “I just wanted to say that Samuel loved what he did. He was honored to have been chosen to fight for this clan, and if he had to cease this life, he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. He enjoyed training the new guards, but more than that, he enjoyed the fight. He wasn’t done with this life, but he would be proud that he left it as a winner, and with honor.”
Her voice started to crack as she struggled for words. Alex, her newly-turned husband, reached for her hand. She took it and he helped her down the step to return to her family.
I didn’t know why I’d found it so odd Samuel was chosen to fight to begin with. He obviously knew what he was doing. He’d been training the new guards for years and stayed in good shape throug
hout. He wasn’t just good at teaching guardianship, he was good at it as well. Maybe he was like Nicolai. Destined to stay on the sidelines with the current rules when all he really wanted to do was get out there and do it himself. If that was the case, I felt sorry for him.
Connor tightened his grip around my hand. “Samuel was a boxer, you know.”
I blinked. “A boxer?”
He nodded, a smile growing on his face. “His parents—human parents—started him when he was young. He grew up in a rough neighborhood and they thought it would be good for him to learn how to protect himself. It turns out they were right. His parents were murdered and that’s when the Rajyvik’s found him. He was an orphan so they took him in. When you think about it, it was kind of meant to be. Rajyvik needed someone to take over the training facility and here was this kid who needed a home who already had the drive to fight and the skills to back it up.”
I took a deep breath and tried to process everything. Samuel had been an orphan—like me. To Connor, I said, “That’s why he was using his fists a lot during the fight. It felt like a brawl out there.” I looked up at him and half-smiled. “Now I know why.”
Squeezing my shoulder, Connor said, “He was a good guy.”
Nodding, I looked ahead again. Through the gaggle of people, I saw Christian lean down and give Samuel’s sister a hug before spotting Connor and I. He moved toward us afterward, his face somber. When he reached us, he brushed a thumb down my cheek. “How are you holding up?”
I shrugged. It didn’t matter how I felt. “How’s Natalie?”
“As good as can be expected, I think.”
Naturally. Funerals were awkward. There were no right things to say. “Will she take over guard training now that…?” I didn’t want to even finish the question considering what it meant. Beyond that, it hardly seemed likely because she’d given up her class to Christian just this year.
Christian looked back over his shoulder. “She’ll have to. The duty falls on her now.”