“I understand. But once you feel its draw, you could not imagine it any other way.”
“You speak from experience?”
“I am unbonded. But my sister…”
“Your sister what?”
“My sister was very happily bonded to a man from another city. They were perfect together.”
“And do they still live here?”
His mood darkened considerably, a grim shadow flashing across his face. “They are still here,” he said softly. “They are buried up on the hillside.”
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. What happened?”
“The games. Let’s just say they were a bittoogood a team. I doubt their demise was the intention, but that didn’t change the results. The incident led to more oversight in certain areas to ensure the cheating remainedreasonable, but my sister and her mate are gone.”
Ziana sat quietly a long moment, taking it all in.No wonder he’s like this. It’s not just a game for him. It’s personal.
She refrained from any more questions that might veer toward that very touchy subject for the remainder of their meal, opting instead to inquire about tactical suggestions as well as the sort of madness in store for them. As it turned out, while tactics were pretty predictable, the exact events were not. There were some core factors, as was the case every year, but many of the events would be revealed to the competitors at the same time as the spectators. It didn’t allow for a lot of prep in some regards, but no one could argue it wouldn’t make for an exciting spectacle.
“I’m going to see how Maria’s doing,” Ziana said when her friend walked in.
A sharp yank on her wrist reminded her of her situation. Dorrin looked up at her with an annoyed glare.
“I am still eating.”
“Sorry. When you’re done, would you mind?”
“They are competitors.”
“She’s also my friend.”
“Whatever you were outside this place, there are no friends during the games.”
“The games haven’t started yet.”
“You do not think so? Look around. Do you see socialization among the rivals? No.” He put down his utensils and rose to his feet, looming over her like an angry bear. “You may speak to this woman, but you will not share any strategic or tactical details of our preparations, is that clear?”
“Sure. I don’t see what’s so tactical about?—”
“Anythingcan be used against us. A casual comment might be overheard and lead to our defeat. And I willnotallow that to happen. You may speak to her now, but once we commence that ends, and there will be no further discussion about it. Do we have an understanding?”
She didn’t like the sound of that, and men telling her what to do really rubbed her the wrong way. But given their situation she bit her tongue and let it slide, just this once. She was the newcomer here, and he was the experienced competitor. Like it or not, her survival rested on his broad shoulders, and that meant she’d do what she had to in order to make the situation work.
“Okay, we have a deal,” she said, waving to Maria. “Now, can we go talk to them?”
“I will not be speaking to her partner. Nor will you. Constrain yourself to conversing only with your friend, and be brief. It has been a long day and we both need to clean up and get plenty of sleep.”
She shrugged. “Fine. I just want to see how she’s doing, is all. Beyond that, I’ll keep my mouth shut, okay?”
He nodded once, fixing his cool gaze on her hard enough to make her squirm. “You’d better.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Though she had initially wanted to go into details with Maria, when the two women actually had the opportunity to catch up their conversation had organically veered in the direction of their amazing and somewhat impossible survival tale. To have gone from Raxxian captivity, to what were essentially slave traders, to the opportunity to potentially win their freedom and even a fortune in the process? It was a whirlwind of the unexpected.
They chatted and compared notes on how their bodies were reacting to the new runes tattooed into their skin. Both seemed to be experiencing some discomfort, and neither had noticed any improvements in their speed or strength, though the Skrizzit had told them that was a common result. But these two felt more or less the same as before, albeit better fed and with clean clothes.
