While the rest of us worked on the skills we’d need to care for a jewel, Aekaz worked on his vanity muscles. Even his foretentacles ripple with unnatural bulges.
“Don’t worry your overinflated biceps about such matters, Aekaz. You’ll be long dead before you even have to worry about seeing my young.” I wave him off. There’s no use explaining to him I would never breed Lena before I was found worthy.
I had hoped that he’d have gone crazy with no one to boast to. My dreams of hearing about an exiled Aekaz are dashed.
“Me, dead? Surely, you must have me confused with every other sorry soul in this room. I was born to win, to conquer you all.” He beats his fist over his chest, his normally orange skin flashing an aggressive red.
“I’m surprised you don’t plan on defeating every other hopeful division this year too. Would you even be happy with just one mate?” I scoff at his brash posturing.
“Isn’t this about p-protecting a jewel and continuing our s-species?” Guion stutters. I’m surprised he’s even addressed Aekaz. He does his best to avoid contact with such a bully.
“Yes,my reward…but don’t think I won’t find joy in extinguishing each of your lives—the Great Mother has built me to defeat you.” He grins as he flexes.
“I’d let you kill me first just so you stop flapping your lips,” Roinsi, the funniest of us all, groans.
“You’ll die when I decide, no sooner, no later,” Aekaz barks as he drops to the ground and begins a series of pushups that I’m sure he’ll loudly count for all of us to hear.
“Save it for the arena. There’s no point in spending some of your last moments arguing,” I say, exasperated.
“Kitaico?” Guion asks.
“What?”
“If I am found to be the victor, will I be assigned to the human…since that’s who you're fighting for?”
His question is innocent, as is his hope that he could ever stay alive with the three of us as competitors. The sharp pain of my fang piercing the inside of my cheek serves as a physical reminder to suppress my instinctive need to protect my mate.
“No, she is already mated. It would be impossible.” I get out through my gritted teeth.
“Well then, shouldn’t there be two winners? There will be one more jewel than there are hopeful divisions. Why can’t they simply allow you both to be together?” He’s sad for me, I realize. Despite his impending doom, he wants me to be with my mate.
“It’s…it’s just not done that way. I’m not sure what the elders will do with the remaining jewel if I win, but we must trust in their guidance,” I say, almost as if to convince myself of it, too.
“It’s not fair,” he whispers.
“No, I suppose it’s not.”
It was as if time stood still, and for just a moment, I could vividly recall the innocent days of our youth. While our personalities are much the same, it is Guion who holds onto the belief that there exists a way out of this situation where none of us have to harm the others.
I wonder if Aekaz could have been a decent person if the circumstances were different. Could we have been friends in another life?
As if he knows what I’m thinking, he stills and stops his counting at Guion’s admission.
“But we’ll do our duty. We’ll fight for the chance to protect a jewel. And if we fail, may the Great Mother welcome us into paradise with open arms.” Without a hint of humor, Roinsi has clearly already accepted all our fates.
The room is bathed in a warm glow as the first rays of sunlight filter through the skylight, serving as a reminder that the time in the arena is approaching. The end of life as we know it looms over us, and the grim reality of death awaits all but one.
“May the best male for the jewels win,” I whisper.
24
hide and seek
The other jewelshave dressed me in what Yiskku says is “befitting my station.”
I stand there, with golden chains cascading over my shoulders and bare chest. To accessorize further, they painted my nipples with a coat of gold when I declined their offer to pierce them. It sounds fun, don’t get me wrong, but fun is the furthest thing from my mind. Pierced nipples or not, just like all the other women, my chest is exposed to the world.
“If Kitaico prevails, let me—the sensations will be worth it in the long run,” Yiskku whispers to me. Her tone, always tinged with annoyance, reminds me of what having an older sister might feel like.
