“Yes, time for a change definitely. You ought to have updated yourself every season, staying with your basic theme of course, but giving the audience something new to see and talk about.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my arena attire.” She crossed her arms and let the anger show on her face.
Falayla waved one hand and a holo of Samyra in her normal arena garb sprang up, followed by eight holos of her in variations of the same, with different material for the kilt under the leather straps and the tunic, different designs for her breastplate and shield, even new sandals. She noticed each variation had the House of Badari badge and a sweeping red cloak. “We could go more daring,” Falayla added, causing three more holos to materialize. These costumes were scanty, scantier and nearly nonexistent respectively, done in metallic fabrics and chains mostly. “But the Five Systems isn’t the market for blatant tits and ass in the arena.” And the last three were gone again. “Kyden insists on the red cloak by the way. It’s one symbol of his House. Naturally you take it off after the parade and before you fight.” She watched Samyra stare at the remaining holos for a minute. “We can combine the features you like the most from each of these as long as the end result is pleasing and sells the sizzle.”
Samyra sat in the closest chair and tried to control her breathing.
“I’m sure it says in your contract somewhere he’ll be providing your uniform so you can spare me the drama,” Falayla said. “And you’re damn lucky to get one from me, if I do say so. I’m booked till the next century and I wouldn’t normally let my designs be seen in a place like Porter Three, but I owe Kyden a lot so I made time for him. And you. Hey, at the very least it’ll be a new outfit for the Samyra dolls, right, assuming the company meets my terms for licensing. Think of all the kids begging their parents to buy them the new uniform.”
Listening to the woman Samyra knew with a sinking feeling this was yet another battle with Kyden she wasn’t going to win.
“Last chance,” Falayla said in a warning tone. “I’ll do this without your input if I have to and you can tell Kyden yourself why you’re going into the arena naked rather than wear what I designed.”
Taking a deep breath, Samyra pushed herself from the chair. “This breastplate isn’t bad,” she said, walking to the first holo, which had a golden set of armor and two large felines rampant. “But I like the blue tiger striped fabric better than what you’ve paired it with here.”
“Noted.” Falayla was busy with her handheld, revising the holo models as Samyra spoke.
After twenty minutes Samyra was gazing at her new uniform and had to admit it was going to be striking and definitely an upgrade from her standard.
“Now then, about your appearances while you’re here,” the consultant said firmly. “Are you planning to be Samyra the nice lady with the pets who has them do tricks and talks to the show hosts about how thrilled you are to be part of Kyden’s special season? Or are you going to be the Beast Lady with her slavering canines and fearsome great cat, trash talking the other gladiators and promising to make the arena sands run red?”
“I do both kinds of interviews, depending on the audience,” Samyra said. Obviously Falayla had done her homework.
But the other woman was shaking her head. “Mistake. Confuses the brand identity, sends the wrong message. Here for the next eight weeks you need to be the Beast Lady through and through. Let them come to see if you can make good on your boasts. Which I’m sure you will, given your ranking at home. Too late to undo the dissonance you’ve created on Porter Three but we need you to have a clear consistent message here.”
“I can handle that,” she said confidently, choosing not to take offense.
“The documentary crew will be filming off and on during this training period and of course during the season. They’ll expect to have at least one candid interview with you—you can be yourself there, not the image since the trideo will come out after the season is over. They’ll be doing after-fight quick sound bites so be prepared for that as well. Kelly Geffenmer is the lead interviewer and she’s an ally of Kyden’s so there shouldn’t be any big drama. No secrets to hide, I hope. She used to be an investigative reporter for a major network and her instincts come to the fore if she gets a whiff of any scandal or secret.”
Samyra spread her arms wide. “What you see is what you get. Bring it on.” No secrets at all, barring her Lajaran’s Syndrome condition and a few other things about her House’s business safely hidden at home.
Falayla’s eyes were narrowed and Samyra knew the consultant wasn’t buying her innocent act but she didn’t follow up on the issues. “I’m out of here then. You can get in touch with me if any issues arise. I’ll be back with my assistants for the fitting in a week.”
* * *
As the training days wore on, Jamirr found himself eagerly anticipating the chance to spend time with the other Badari. His grasp of the language was becoming more and more fluent and he’d even ventured a few attempts at telepathic communication. His dreams were full of places and people he knew were important to him and during the days memories came back in bits and pieces.
He hadn’t seen much of Samyra, which left him a bit melancholy, but she was on her own training track. Benet had worked her into the exhibition routine Kyden and the others were going to perform to open the first arena program and since she wasn’t Badari she had to practice intensely to manage the split-second timing. Jamirr worried about her Lajaran’s, which flared up under pressure and stress but when he did catch glimpses of her she seemed animated and going full out. He’d heard ugly remarks in the barracks from some of the other gladiators about how she was getting special treatment and an unfair advantage. He’d come close to fighting one man who’d acted especially bitter but the others had intervened, reminding Jamirr and his target this opportunity was too important to screw up in a barracks brawl. Kyden wouldn’t stand for such a lapse in discipline.
Every morning he checked on the three animals they’d brought from Porter Three and spent time with them. Finally one day he found Samyra there as well, cuddling with Tazur. The cat was purring, eyes slitted, as Samyra scratched her chin.
“The two of you look so perfect together I wish I had a holo camera to record the moment,” he said.
“I dodged the damn documentary team,” she said, giving the cat a final pat and rising. Dusting off her pants, she added, “I deserve some time to myself in this place and I miss my girl and my boys.”
“I spend time with them every day,” he told her. “Kyden’s servants are doing a fine job but I know the animals miss home and their routines.”
“So do I,” Samyra said with fervor and a smile. “But this is only for eight weeks—we can endure, right?” She joined him outside the enclosure and looked him up and down. “Are you doing all right? No one is pressuring you or trying to force you to fight?”
Instinctively he guarded the secret of how much time he was spending with the other Badari and gave a reasonable answer that shaded the truth. “I’m scheduled for a lot of training time but no, no one has said I’m to fight. I want to be prepared in case you…need me.” He raised one eyebrow, hoping for an update on her illness.
Samyra rubbed her bad arm, which was a tell maybe things weren’t going as well as she’d hoped but he didn’t see a tremor. “I’m managing fine so far. Of course the arena will be the true test, won’t it?”
“The staff here measured me for a new uniform,” he said, unsure if she knew about it or not. “With Kyden’s badge. But also our badge in a smaller dimension, below it.”
She sighed. “Yes, I’m getting a new outfit as well and I did know about the badges. That damn fine print!”
They walked out of the kennel area and Jamirr said, “Have you seen Dmitri’s horses yet? They’re beautiful animals.”
