‘You,’ Command said, pointing to Alawani. ‘My arena is not your playground. You’re paying for this damage.’
‘Yes, Command,’ Alawani said standing to attention.
Command glared at him, then said, ‘If you have to pull the earth apart to win a fight with street thugs then you’re not worthy of being in this space.’
Alawani gave a firm nod, his eyes fixed on the ground.
‘Have I taught you both nothing?’
As L’?r? moved to speak, Command raised her hand, silencing her. ‘Go home, L’?r?. Tomorrow I intend to see the warrior I’ve trained, not this silly dance you did today.’ And with that, Command slid into the shadows.
L’?r? slumped to the ground and buried her face in her hands. She wasn’t ready. Alawani sat beside her on the warm sandy ground and placed his arm over her shoulders, drawing her close.
‘She loves you, you know?’ he said softly, tilting his head in the direction Command had disappeared in.
L’?r? nodded slowly. ‘I know. I just – I just want to be better. Stronger. She’s right, I should’ve won that fight without you.’
‘Tell me what happened.’
‘You saw what happened.’
‘No, tell me from the beginning, Tèmi.’
That name was like a trigger, making her heart skip a beat and filling her with a mixture of emotions. Only he called her that. Tèmi – my own. Her gaze roamed the arena, avoiding his eyes. ‘One of them said it.’
‘Said what?’
She allowed her eyes to rest on him until he understood.
‘You’re the bravest person I know.’ The words left a smile on his face, and she wanted to believe him. But he only said so because he didn’t know her secret. Shewasa coward. She just didn’t like hearing it.
She shoved his shoulder. ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard. Thanks for helping anyway.’
Alawani laughed so loud his voice echoed through the arena.
‘Why are you laughing?’ L’?r? said, frowning.
‘This is exactly how we met.’
L’?r? looked around the empty arena and the dwindling torches and smiled. ‘I think you’re right.’
‘I am,’ Alawani said, still laughing. ‘You’d just finished training with Command. I was on my way home and heard someone screaming, and you were in here with two boys twice your size fighting like a tiny little soldier.’
‘And winning too,’ L’?r? said, the corner of her lips lifted in a smile.
‘Is that what you call winning? You’re lucky I was here.’
‘I guess,’ L’?r? said. ‘Why did you help though? I mean, it’s not every day the Prince of Oru gets into street fights.’
‘Isn’t it?’ Alawani said, his brows raised.
L’?r? smiled. ‘You know what I mean.’
Alawani shrugged. ‘It wasn’t a fair fight.’ He rose off the ground and stretched his hand to her, ‘And no one deserves to carry the weight of their parent’s crimes.’
‘I guess,’ she said again, taking his hand. They were both branded by the actions of their parents, and while Alawani would never talk about his father’s reign, he knew exactly how she felt. The only difference was that his name protected him from being randomly attacked on the streets while she spent every day trying to survive the hostile place she called home.
‘You didn’t have to move all the way from the sixth ring just for me though,’ L’?r? added.
