My gaze fixated on a woman wrestling with the air, her sword a blur in the dim light that painted the arena. Her mouth kept moving, but I was too far to hear. I moved with a feather-light tread, and no one looked up when I halted for a fleeting secondbefore the woman, nor did anyone deign to notice me as I crept a tiny bit nearer.
“What do you mean?” she whispered to no one.
I took in her long, raven hair. Her strands reached her shoulders, swaying from side to side as she dodged an imaginary attack. She was breathtaking, and so were her eyes—the kind that made thieves wonder why they bothered to steal pieces of art when such beauty existed. I wondered what stories they’d whisper if they could speak.
“I am fighting back!” she pressed through gritted teeth. “I know. I don’t need you to lecture me.”
With the number of things I’d learned to be real in the last couple of hours, I had no doubt that someone was indeed standing before her.
My legs carried me swiftly to the table. I needed something light. Easy to carry around. Easy to hide. Easy to defend myself with.
I let my eyes roam over the glinting steel of an axe, the worn handle of a hammer, the sharp edge of a sword, and the spiked head of a flail. Itskedin my mind. No, those wouldn’t work. But then, a small dagger, glinting in the light, beckoned me from beneath the hammer.
I grabbed it, felt its weight and tucked it between my stomach and pants, then pulled my shirt over it, the material brushing against my skin.
After glancing around, the tension in my shoulders eased. No one saw me.
The fighting noises suddenly stopped. I froze in my shoes, not daring to take another look behind.
Did they notice I stole the dagger?
No. No. They couldn’t have seen me.
“Where are you hurrying to?” A hand gripped my shoulder, turning me around.
The question could be interpreted as curiosity, but not with the tone of his voice. Not with the threat lingering under it. With a swallow, I found myself staring directly at the man with the cleanly shaved head.
My eyes dropped to where he touched me. I met his eyes with a scowl. He lifted a brow, taking his hand away.
“Are you not going to give us the pleasure of training with you? Or are you justtoo goodto train?” His eyes seized me, the question clearly a joke. It’s as if he could smell I had never fought a day in my life.
A drop of sweat rolled down my spine. “No, but I do consider it pointless. It’s just a mockery of the gods.”
What they failed to grasp was that their unwavering obedience wasn’t a testament to their belief that training could change their faith, but the result of being compelled. Not only that, but Zeus’s decision to grant only two days of training was a blatant insult. It was akin to giving a novice skier with zero experience just two introductory lessons before throwing them into an international competition against seasoned professionals.
He tilted his head to the side, crossing his muscular arms over his chest. I dared to take a look at the others, each and one of them gawked at me in anticipation. They were waiting for a fight to stir?
“Oh, is that so? I’m not sure you understand where we are. Or is it hard to see with that eye of yours?” A few laughs. A victorious smile from the man.
I was not the kind to get involved in fights, and during the unintentional isolation at my house, I didn’t learn how to…act around this many people.
But I always had a snappy temper.
“I see perfectly fine.” There was a sharp edge in my voice. “What Idon’tsee is why you take so much interest in me whenyou have many people to train with. Maybe it’s my eye that entices you.”
“Oh,” someone mumbled.
His jaw ticked, his eyes passing over the small crowd. Then it hit me. He was testing everyone. He wanted to learn their weak points to see who’s got potential to beat him and who he shouldn’t worry about.
“I’m not a threat to you, so get out of my way.”
When he didn’t move aside, I stepped to the left. He followed. I stepped to the right. He followed once again.
“Train,” he pushed.
I stopped for a second. Was this only about testing me, or was there more to it?
The people drew in a breath, waiting like a creeping beast in the shadows. My hands balled into fists at my sides, a silent show of defiance as I met his gaze.
