“I-I’ll try to remember,” he said.
“Not good enough,” I said sternly, and he looked up at me, his eyes wide.
“In here, there are no second chances, V. I named you, so I’m responsible for you. That means until you become a Cadet, if you break the rules, I’m the one who will be punished.”
I didn’t think his eyes could go any wider, but they did.
“That’s not fair!” He exclaimed, and my laugh was ugly.
“Rule number two: You’re in the Legion, now,” I said. “Fair isn’t a word we use here.”
Chapter 4
Kat
The blow came out of nowhere, rocking me backward onto the sand, my boots skidding out from under me as I blinked at the stars dancing before my eyes.
“What the fuck, V?” I growled as I reached up to touch my mouth. I winced and pulled my hand away, my fingers covered in blood. “This is just supposed to be practice!”
Vlakas grinned at me wolfishly as I glared at him from the ground. The last two years hadn’t been exactly kind to him. Hunger, pain, and fear had worn away his softness until all that was left were hard edges and sharp planes of muscle and sinew.
Vlakas had grown several inches after he joined the Legion and had put on corresponding amounts of muscle. He looked a lot like our father. Tall, broad shouldered, and every inch a king. If he hadn’t been Mageia.
“Since when isanythingwe do ‘just’ practice, Kat?” he asked as he extended his hand to help me to my feet. “Rule Number Seventeen: They won’t go easy on you in the Machi.”
“Dick,” I said, then grinned. He wasn’t wrong. “You’d never have landed that if you hadn’t cheated, though.”
“Kat’s Rule No. 32: There are no rules in the Machi Thanatos,” he parroted.
I barked a laugh at having my own words thrown in my face.
“No surrender,” he said.
“No retreat,” I grinned as I repeated the unofficial Legion mantra.
Vlakas and I were both Hoplites now. I’d been a Hoplite for two years, but he had been one for only about six months. His magic specialty had turned out to be Earth magic. We hadn’t had our Machi Thanatos, but at twenty-three and change, my time, at least, was coming soon.
As for Vlakas, since he hadn’t been identified as Mageia until he was fifteen, he should have had longer to train, but Elusians didn’t believe in fairness when it came to us. Who knew how political machinations would affect how he was treated? Our former family certainly hadn’t done us any favors so far.
Mageia were never told exactly when or what we would be facing in a Machi. Our opponents could be soldiers, captives, slaves, beasts, or simply other Mageia. If we succeeded, we were promoted to full Mageia in the King’s armies. If we failed, we became slaves to households, craftsmen, or brothels. If we survived at all.
I wasn’t looking forward to killing anyone, especially when our captors wanted it, but if the options were kill or be killed, I wasn’t ready to die yet. I’d lost one brother already; I certainly wouldn’t let my little brother die if I had anything to say about it. That didn’t mean I couldn’t have some fun with him first.
I slapped Vlakas’ hand away jokingly and fought to my feet, spitting blood on the sand of the arena before feigning a bout of dizziness. Predictably, he reached out to steady me and I sent my magic out to swirl around his ankles. He must have sensed something coming because I saw his eyes start to narrow as I flicked my fingers, yanking tight on the magical rope I’dwrapped around his legs. His expression was almost comical as his feet flew out from under him and he landed on his ass in the dirt. Another gesture and his body jerked toward the sky until he was hanging from an invisible wire of Air, his hands just barely brushing the dirt. I chuckled as he stretched to reach the ground to summon his Earth magic, and I hefted him a little higher, effectively neutering him, magically speaking.
“Kat’s Rule No. 5: Never drop your guard,” I lectured with a grin on my face.
My laughter at the expression on his face was cut short by the inferno of a fiery dagger stabbing between my eyes and the sudden certainty that I would never be able to draw another breath.
“Goddess!” I gasped as I fell to my knees, only distantly registering the sound of V’s body hitting the ground as my magic was Suppressed. One fist clenched against my forehead as the pain dug deeper into my brain, the other clawed uselessly at my neck in a vain attempt to relieve my lack of oxygen.
“Kataramenos, I’m disappointed in you. You should know better by now,” an oily, taunting voice came from behind me. “You don’t make the rules here, we do. You’re supposed to be practicing physical attacks today, not magic.”
“That’s not my name, asshole,” I hissed.
“But it fits you so well…Cursed One,” he growled. “Remember, you have no name, Hoplite, except the one the Legion gives you,” he responded.
I swore while struggling to breathe. Itwouldhave to be Maalik on Training duty today. Most of the other Elusians wouldn’t have made a big deal about two Hoplites using magic in the training arena, as long as it was clear they were practicing. Maalik, as usual, was a bastard, through and through. He took every opportunity to punish and humiliate us and Suppressed our magic at every turn, even when legitimately training.
