Sorrel shrugs again, but I'm not about to let him get away with that.
“No,” I say.“I need to hear a reason, Sorrel.I need to know you're not being forced into this somehow.That you've actually thought this through.”
“I've thought about it,” Sorrel says.“I've thought about nothing but getting an opportunity like this.Something that will erase the part where I was thrown into a dungeon, and everyone thinks I’m part of Alaric’s little rebellion.”
“But you were freed from that dungeon,” I say.“I let you out myself, and there was a full pardon.”
“You think that matters to people around the games?”Sorrel snaps back.“They assume I have something to do with it, and that means they don't trust me, not when the games are their livelihood.Something like this… I can prove to them that I'm not squeamish about the blood in the games.That I want to be here, and I deserve to be here.”
“So, this is just about making a name for yourself?”I ask him.
“A name makes a difference,” Sorrel points out.“You, of all people, must understand that.You must remember what it was like in the moment when you went from being a nobody people didn't expect to win to one of the favorites.”
I do remember.I remember the exact moment I started to get the crowd on my side.It was because one of my opponents forced me into killing them.I also remember that it didn't give me safety or wealth.
“All that happened when I became one of the popular fighters was that I attracted the attention of people who wanted to use and manipulate me,” I say.“I made it so people threw harder and harder challenges in my way, trying to kill me.I made myself a target, Sorrel.Is that what you want?”
“Things aren't the same as they were under the empire,” he replies.“If I do this, I'll get the attention of some of the nobles.I'll get better fights and better money for them.”
“And all you have to do is risk your life in a match to the death,” I say.
He looks momentarily serious.“I know the risks, but in a bout like this, I have good chances.From what I was told, Selene Ravenscroft’s powers are being dampened.”
“She still hassome,” I point out.“She could still hurt you with those.”
Sorrel shrugs.“It's a fight.But I have protection as well.This armor isn't just for show.”
Again, I see the runes worked into it, channeling power, or rather, seeming to drink it in.
“It absorbs magic,” Sorrel says.“Any that strikes one of the pieces of armor head on will be stopped.”
“That would be more reassuring if there were more armor,” I point out.As usual in the arena, the armor seems to leave more of his flesh bare than it covers.
“It does something, at least,” Sorrel says.“And I'm not the one fighting to the death.If she incapacitates me, I've been told they'll stop the bout.I'm sureyouwill.”
I will if I can, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'll be the one making the decision.It also doesn't mean I'll have full control over what happens in the bout.Just shouting for the gladiators to stop might not be enough.
“You know she could just kill you outright?”I say.
“It's a risk,” Sorrel says.“But it's a risk I'm willing to take.It's better than…”
“Better than what?”I ask him.I look over his armor again and I notice a small symbol worked into it, a very familiar symbol: a drop of blood set against the sail of a ship.“Where exactly did you get this armor?”
“It was a gift from one of the sponsors, I'm not sure which one,” Sorrel says, but he says it a little too quickly, and he glances away from me as he does so.
“I know you're not telling me the truth,” I say.“Sorrel, this symbol on your armor… I've seen it around an establishment linked to death matches.Fighters have gone missing from here.Have people approached you to fight in these death bouts?”
Sorrel hesitates, and there's an answer in that hesitation.
“They have, haven't they?”I say.
“It's not something I can talk about,” Sorrel says.
“People are dying, Sorrel,” I reply.
“We're gladiators,” he says.“It's what we do.”
I shake my head.“Not anymore.Not since we defeated the emperor.”
