As commanded, Cadon and Nurge were standing nearby. They would only intervene if the man attempted to hurt her. She suspected he wouldn’t.
“You won’t,” Viper said.
“How do you know?”
“I don’t know.”
The man seemed to consider this, then said, “Why do you want to know my name?”
“Because numbers are boring. The people can’t cheer for a number. When you win the battle royale, I don’t want them screaming ‘Prisoner one-seven-nine-four-three!’”
“Two, not three.”
“See? No one can even remember that.”
“So you want them to scream ‘Gat’?”
“If that’s your name.”
“It is.”
“Was that so difficult?”
“Will the other prisoners get their names back?”
“Only if they earn them. There’s no point in learning someone’s name if they’re going to die the next day.”
Gat shook his head. “I don’t know what to make of you. I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish. You’re the Third Daughter to the empire. You could be doing anything. Why this?”
She ignored the question. “Let me ask you something, Gat. If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?”
He answered without hesitation: “Freedom.”
She nodded. “Do you think most of the prisoners in Zune would answer the same way?”
“Not most of them. All of them.”
“So why won’t you fight? According to my pitmasters, you are one of the favorites to win the battle royale. Freedom is at your fingertips and you’re throwing it all away for the chance at a swift execution? For what?”
Gat cupped his hands together and dipped them in the water. He scooped some up, sipping from his makeshift cup. “The cost of freedom is too high. I don’t want to kill anymore,” he eventually said.
“Maybe you don’t have to,” Viper said.
He raised an eyebrow in surprise.
During the day, Viper trained with Gat. He taught her to fight, not in the manner of the Calypsians like she’d learned as a child, with their whips and short knives, but like a Phanecian, after the method of phen ru, the martial art of attack. It was this unorthodox style that had allowed Gat to survive so long in the pits. Slowly, day by day, a change was wrought in the man, as if the memories of the blood he’d spilt were displaced by new memories.
At night, she watched the fights, hunting for potential new blood for her program. When she saw a fighter she liked, she had Cadon and Nurge bring them to the grand arena, where she learned their names and informed them they wouldn’t have to fight again. They started training immediately, learning to fight like Gat.
Gat seemed to embrace the role of trainer. He was like a new man.
A fortnight later, Cadon said, “May I be honest with you?”
“Always,” Viper said.
“This strategy will fail.”
Viper hid her amusement, though she was surprised the dull-headed guardsman had even realized there was a strategy. “Why?”
“You are charging more, but providing less entertainment. The best fighters are no longer fighting, and the oddsmakers are already asking questions. They are wondering when they will see them again, if ever. If you don’t reveal them soon, the people will stop coming to the pits.”
“An unexpectedly logical argument,” Viper said.
“Uh. Thank you?”
“And yet flawed. For you don’t know the entire picture. You have but a slice of a painting, a single eye, while I have seen what is hidden beneath the cloth covering. The masterpiece.”
That seemed to befuddle him sufficiently to stop talking altogether.
“I appreciate your concern,” she added. “But never fear. Everything is going as planned. The more the oddsmakers and their ilk long for the fighters I’m withholding, the more they’ll be willing to pay when I at last give them what they want.”
That seemed to placate the large man, who lumbered away, off to bully some prisoner no doubt.
The next day, Piston came to her, and Viper was surprised at how good it felt to see him. Whenever he was close by, she felt more alive. “Three of the new pits are complete,” he said. “Several others are almost finished as well.”
“You came to see me about business?”
“What else is there?”
“Have you missed me?”
He came closer, his hand hovering just shy of her face. “I have been busy carrying out your wishes.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I miss the sun when it is hidden behind dark clouds.”
“I am not Sun,” she growled, hating the analogy.
His hand touched her face, and she trembled at his touch. “No, you are not. You are the sun and the moon and the stars and the night and the day and the fire of dragons.”
She tried to keep her voice firm, low. “Do you desire the fire of dragons?”
“I desire you.”
“Perhaps someday,” she said, pulling away. “If you continue to please me.” She turned her back, waiting until she heard him leave before turning back around. She took a deep breath. I cannot get distracted. For all I know, this man could be a spy.
No, she’d keep him at arm’s length, distracting him with the renovation project until it was too late.
I must know for certain, she thought.
She revealed the new pits to the people that night. At the same time, she announced that their beloved fighter, who now had a name—Gat—would be the first to fight.
Despite Cadon’s fears, the people paid top dollar for the event, almost twice as much as the usual entry fee. Triple the usual number of bets were cast on the bout.
“If this is a trick…” Gat said, leaving the threat hanging in the air.
“What?” Viper said. “You’ll kill me? You’ll kill the spectators?”
He shook his head. His voice became low, sad, the version of him she hated. “I’ll kill myself.” She much preferred the strong, confident man who taught her and the others to fight.
She rested a hand on his bare shoulder, immediately wondering what made her do it, and at the same time wondering when she’d started feeling so comfortable with the man. He stared at her hand. “There’s no trick. This is what we’ve been training for. A new form of entertainment. Better for everyone.”
“You’re not worried the people will see right through it?”
“The people see what they want to see.”
“I hope you’re right.”
He left her, off to prepare for his first fight in months.
Gat moved around the shiny, new pit with an effortless grace, so fluid he might’ve been water rushing through a canyon.
Above where he fought, every new seat was filled, as well as all three luxury pavilions. There, the wealthy occupants dined on roast pyzon and tenderized duck liver while watching the fighters destroy each other.
Gat’s opponent, one of the fighters Viper had selected months back, was a solid man named Barr-et, a gray-skinned Dreadnoughter who’d been imprisoned for stealing jewelry. Viper had chosen him for this particular fight because she trusted him more than any of the others, save perhaps Gat. He’d bought into her plan quickly, embracing it with a vigor none of the others had, Gat included.
And now he was going to die, or at least appear to.
He was already “bleeding” from a dozen places, each from a well-placed kick or jab by the far superior warrior he was facing. Gat wasn’t uninjured either, limping slightly, his lip bloodied.
The crowd was going mad as the men circled each other slowly, playing it up like they’d practiced.
And then Gat struck with a flurry of attacks, raining first body blows and then head shots on his opponent. Barr-et pretended to try to block them, to fight back, but in reality this was the big finish, one they’d worked on for the last three days straight, the exact placement of each strike planne
d perfectly.
Barr-et went down. The crowd roared even louder. Gat dropped on top of his opponent, not stopping his blows until the man was motionless. Lifeless. Lying in a pool of blood.
Gat stood, slowly raising his hands over his head. The people cheered. They didn’t chant his name, as Viper had hoped, but it was enough. They had their champion. It was a start.
Right on cue, Cadon and Nurge rushed into the pit and carried Barr-et’s limp body into the tunnel leading away. Viper slipped from the back of the crowd and past Piston, who was guarding the entrance to the underground tunnels. Filled with energy, she took the stone steps two at time, bursting into the atrium usually used to allow winning fighters recover. Now, however, this room was used for staging and post-match debrief. First, she spotted Cadon, who came over to greet her, concern in his expression.
“What did you discover?” she asked. Earlier, she had asked him to follow Piston.
“Too much,” he said. “He sent a bird to Calypso.”
Viper frowned, her heart beating three times too fast. “A bird? No one uses birds anymore. Streaming is far quicker and more reliable.”
The guardsman nodded. “I thought it was suspicious too. So I had a skilled archer shoot it down.”
“You intercepted it?”
“Yes. Once Piston ceased watching its flight.” The man paused, licking his thick lips.
“And?” Viper said impatiently.
“It was as you had feared. It was a message to your sister, the empress. Piston told her everything we’ve been doing. About the renovations, the fighters you’ve been pulling aside, your training…he even explained how you were fixing fights and promising the prisoners freedom in exchange for their loyalty.”
Viper froze, catching herself before she could show her surprise. “Thank you for your service and loyalty,” she said. “You will be rewarded.”
“Your safety is the only reward I require,” Cadon said.
As he walked away, Viper watched him with narrowed eyes. The truth was, she felt shaken. Though she’d suspected a spy for a while now, hearing confirmation was another thing entirely. “Bastard,” she said.
Her attention was diverted when she spotted the next pair of fighters preparing for their match, another two from her secret group. Mish, a wiry girl who fought just dirty enough to win seven straight matches against bigger, stronger opponents before Viper had claimed her. And Naki, a tall, red-skinned Teran man who liked to use his teeth as his weapon. In the typical manner of Teran males, his coppery hair was long and straight, reaching almost to his waist.
“Good luck,” she said to both of them. “You’ll make us all proud.”
They nodded, both grinning, moving into the tunnel.
Gat brushed past them, entering the atrium. He spotted her. “Satisfied?”
“Good show. They’ll be talking about it for days.”
“They didn’t chant my name.”
“They will.” Unless my sister shuts us down.
He nodded. “How is Barr-et? I accidentally landed a few of those kicks at the end.”
Viper scanned the atrium, locating the Dreadnoughter, who was lying on a slab as two of the pitmasters applied a clear salve to the area just under his ribs, while another wiped the blood from his skin. The sheep’s blood. Both men had entered the pit with plenty of it on hand, hidden in their clothing, wrapped in large banana leaves. Each time they landed a blow, they squirted some on their opponent.
It was strange seeing the pitmasters serving the prisoners. And yet, the masters didn’t seem to mind, so long as they got paid. Viper had also promised them leadership positions in whatever was to come.
Have I cast my net too wide? she wondered. The more people she let into her inner circle, the greater the risk of spies. She’d already learned that the hard way. And yet, she knew she had to trust someone.
Now, Barr-et cocked his head to the side, very much alive, and laughed, the sound quickly morphing to a groan. “You hit like my third wife,” he said to Gat, who clasped his hand.
“She must’ve been a strong woman,” Viper noted.
“Not as strong as my sixth wife!”
“I’m sorry,” Gat said. “I tried to hold up the blows as best I could. The adrenaline got the better of me it seems.” The pitmaster finished with Barr-et and began cleaning the animal blood from Gat’s skin.
“Har! I’ll take a few bruised ribs in exchange for my freedom any day!” He eyed Viper warily, as if daring her to contradict him.
She didn’t. “A deal is a deal. Your freedom is yours, so long as you don’t double-cross me. You have a choice now: leave Calyp forever, or join my cause. If you leave the city but not the empire, I’ll hunt you down and rip out your heart.”
“Har!” the man laughed. “Now you sound like my fifth wife! She tried that exact same thing! Twice! Har!”
Before Barr-et was sent out the gate to the fighting pits, he was disguised, his hair shorn to the scalp, his clothing changed to that of a pitmaster.
Viper held her breath as she watched him go, as he almost ran into a passerby. The woman startled, stopping dead in her tracks.
Oh gods, she was at the fight, she’s going to recognize him, we’re going to have to grab her and—
With a sweeping bow, Barr-et, who would now introduce himself as Rur-vera, apologized to the woman and continued on his way. After a moment’s hesitation, the woman chuckled to herself and walked away.
“Your first soldier,” Piston said, standing beside her.
She refused to look at him, afraid he might be able to read her as easily as a scroll. “And hopefully not my last,” she said. “Do you think his true identity will be discovered?”
“As you said, people see what they want to see. They won’t be looking for a dead man, and certainly not one dressed like a pitmaster. I’d be more concerned with whether he’ll return.”
“He will,” Viper said, although she had the same concern, which had been rattling around her head for days. It was the one true fatal flaw in her plan. Once she offered freedom, the released prisoners would be able to do whatever they chose with it. Despite her threats, there was little she could do to stop them.
She was hoping the gratitude they felt toward her would be strong enough.
Tonight, she needed a distraction from her thoughts. “Come with me,” she said to Piston.
“Where?”
“My chambers.”
Two went in, only one came out.
At dawn, Viper waited alongside Cadon, hoping Barr-et would make an appearance.
Hours later, she gave up.
He was gone.
He’d chosen to leave the empire forever.
“He’s here!” Naki shouted, bursting from the tunnel and into the grand arena, where training was in full tilt. The Teran had “lost” the fight the night before, and thus was also “dead.” But his freedom was dependent upon the return of Barr-et. It was a strategy Viper had decided upon earlier, linking all of their freedom to each other’s loyalty. If one brick in the wall crumbled, they’d all come crashing down. She wouldn’t risk losing another future soldier.
“Who?” Viper said, not willing to believe it yet.
“Barr-et! He came back!”
Viper took a deep breath. An explanation was in order, and she would get one. Her eyes met Gat’s and he shrugged. “Keep going,” she said. “I’ll return soon.”
She strode from the arena, following Naki.
When she emerged into the atrium and saw the broad-faced Dreadnoughter, she had the urge to run to him and throw her arms around him. She also had the urge to slap him across the face.
She did neither, standing before him wearing a neutral expression. “Explain yourself.”
“No need to cut out my heart, Your Dragonliness. I admit, I went a little mad on account of all the freedom. Had too much simpre to drink, the strongest kind I could find. Don’t remember much after that except I awoke with my eighth wife and a headache t
he size of a red pyzon! Har!”
Viper shook her head, unable to hold back the smile. She was certain it was the truth, and a night full of simpre and women was the least of her worries. He came back, she thought. When offered a chance at a new life, he chose me.
Cadon stumbled into the atrium, glancing back and forth. “I heard Barr-et showed—”
“You heard right,” Viper said. “Cadon, meet the first soldier in my army.”
After things quieted down, Viper pulled Cadon aside. “This was too close a call,” she said. “I underestimated the loyalty of these prisoners, many of whom might stab their own mother in the back if the situation warranted it. My plan is too risky.”
Cadon blinked, and she could read the surprise in his expression. “I haven’t seen Piston today.”
“I took care of him.”
“Then what’s the risk? You’ve eliminated the spy.”
“There could be another.”
“Who? One of the pitmasters?”
“Possibly. Or Nurge.”
“Nurge is solid. I’ve known him my entire life.”
Of course you have. “Even one of the prisoners could cross me. My sister would reward them richly for information. They are criminals, after all.”
Cadon frowned, as if greatly troubled by the turn of events. “Then what do you propose?”
“We put everything back to how it was before. We run the fighting pits the way they were meant to be run.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow. Tonight we’ll stick to the plan. Then tomorrow we take the freedom back from those we’ve granted it to. The prisoners go back to fighting for real. To the death.”
“Even Gat?”
“Especially Gat.”
“What about your plans for the empire?”
“I will come up with something else.”
Cadon nodded slowly, unsurely. He started to turn away.
“And Cadon…”
“Yes?”
“Thank you. I wish to reward you for your service tonight, after the fights. Come to my chambers.”