Live the life of Ash
Iwas greeted with immense warmth when I stepped outside, the feeling almost shocking to the body. It felt as if I had opened an oven's hatch yet I sighed in relief to be away from the cold temperature and the bitter stench, my shoulders released some of the tension they held as I relaxed my fists. Ezra let out a relieved sigh when he noticed I had left the tent and walked towards me with Rhey coiled up around his neck, but the snake's head was turned hissing at the guards, almost as if he was trying to curse them. The bickering continued more as the guard pointed towards the snake. "That feral beast can't get away with biting my arse!" he exclaimed, buckling his pants in the process. Elijah gave a friendly smile and raised his hands up, seeminglytrying to deescalate the situation and began to reason with the guard, all while Dezimus glowered at the man.
"So what's butt cheek wonder going on about?" I asked, nodding towards the guard while reaching for Rhey, the snake subtly shrunk in size to accommodate my smaller frame, coiling around my arm and moving further to my neck.
"Apparently, Rhey wanted to enter the tent, they noticed him, shooed him away, but he wouldn't take no for an answer obviously," Ezra said, giving Rhey a hard stare to which he responded by rubbing his head against my cheek, ignoring Ezra.
"So?" I asked, not entirely impressed by that explanation as I rubbed Rhey's head with a finger.
"So? He slithered up the man's pants and bit his ass. Then proceeded into thefrontarea until he fell off with the man's pants who tried to get him out," Ezra exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. I froze in shock and inwardly cringed, turning to face Rhey. Who just looked into my eyes with a sense of pride, rubbing his head against my cheek again amiably.
"Rhey... get off," I whispered in disgust, trying not to think of where his face had just been. Ezra smirked as Rhey rubbed himself a few more times against me affectionately and then proceeded to travel to Ezra's arm that had been raised for him.
"Wipe that look off your face," I muttered in annoyance as I rubbed my cheek furiously, trying to remove the gross feeling away.
Ezra shook his head. "It lightened up my mood." He laughed which earned him a jab to the stomach.
"I guess since you have seen your cliftolights, you’ve reconsidered on taking one instead of three?" Elijah called out hopefully, with Dezimus in tow.
He called themmycliftolights.
I simply shook my head, which earned a frustrated groan from Ezra and a cold stare from Dezimus. They didn't accept it, but they respected my final decision which they couldn't go against no matter how much they tried. It was my choice to make.
Mine only.
"We're going on that run," Ezra said without a second glance at the group as he walked on. It was my turn to groan in frustration as I squinted against the sun's rays.
"Even though your specific way of getting those creatures here wasn't exactly heroic—" This earned a scoff from Dezimus. "I still appreciate you getting them here," I said, hoping my thanks got through.
Elijah gave me a warm smile, while Dezimus looked down with an expressionless face, but I had noticed how his eyebrows were knitted together. He was worried about me.
"I expect you at the pit tomorrow. It won't be our usual combat training, this one will take the whole day. I won't take no for an answer." I simply smiled, the only way he could lessen his worry was if he trained me more. Elijah and I looked at each other knowingly, having the same thoughts, as Dezimus took Elijah's hand in his and left, not waiting for an answer from me.
"Are you coming or would I need to force you by rubbing Rhey onto you?" Ezra called a few paces away. My eyes widened. I caught up to him almost immediately and shrugged off my cloak, the heat now becoming too much to handle. I held it in my arm about to hang it onto a branch in the clearing. A sudden loud caw echoed from above, signalling us.
Fala
"I guess we're going to have to rain check the run for another time, it's not like exercising isn't good for an arena warrior," Ezra grumbled.
I watched Fala circle back towards the main camp.
"Come on, it must be important news. Hopefully about the so-called "important" guests we will be receiving soon," I suggested. I bit my lip in anticipation, trying to imagine different scenarios and possibilities of who it may be. People who are of importance, not only to Fala but also to Lord Dritan. To have put on this many decorations and this much planning, the status of our certain visitors must be high. It could be the Lord of Abdera, but he had already seen our performance not so long ago. I softly bit my cheek in agitation as I wondered if it could be The Witch Constitution. Though rarely seen out of their territory, they were regarded as high nobility but did not take too kindly to mortalsor to Falafor that matter which makes me doubt them as a possible factor.
I glance at Ezra, wondering how he feels about all this sudden attention to the arena. With sunshine hair that was tied back, a few wisps curled near his forehead, softly caressed by a light breeze. Ezra's eyebrows were scrunched together. His mouth set in a firm line. I could tell something was plaguing his thoughts, but he hadn't said anything.
Was he keeping something from me? I wouldn't blame him for keeping secrets, I’d be a hypocrite if I demanded answers when there were so many I withheld during our years of growing up together. But it did not mean I was restricted from asking questions. A comfortable silence had settled over us as we set our sights on the busy camp. I broke the silence with a question.
"Does it not bother you? Not knowing who to expect for the upcoming performance? Are you not curious?" Anxiousness curled inside me, awaiting an answer to calm my ever-loud conscience. Hoping that my feelings were also mirrored with his own. His brilliant blue eyes looked over my face once before he came to a casual stop.
Growing up together, we were one of the most troublesome duos anyone had ever seen. With our fair share of adventuresand dangers which had only become more fun once we found Rhey. Still, the fact remained that we were at a mature age now. Ezra was different then, so was I. Yet he was still the same Ezra, just different in a way that made his voice silkier, his eyes more daring and his interests in women shown as he had his handful of romances and meaningless two-day consorts.
I had to know if he still felt the urge to discover and to uncover what is to come. It could be the fear of our past that keeps us this way, the oil clinging fear of the unknowing.
He reached for my hand just then, and I stopped breathing as he looked into my eyes with understanding.
His rough hands held my own. When touching my hands, I'm sure he felt that my hands were equally rough, having gone through training and duty as much as he had. Leisure was not something given to us often. We had a purpose. We served it. Rhey sleepily coiled around his neck in a slight tightening hold.
"It does bother me, not knowing but like you, I trust Fala. She wouldn’t invite those who’d start trouble," he said softly as he contemplated his next words while squeezing my hand reassuringly. "I am curious, very curious, just as you are. I am not sure if it is true..." he trails off, turning his gaze to the camp clearing, "but I have overheard a few guards last night. They said that the guests would be arriving from the eastern borders of the camp."
