“If you were a head, you would understand. This isn’t spending time. I have work to get done, and I need both the competitor, Devin, and his retainer, Gabriel, to assist me. Unlike you, I’m not here for a game. I still have four clans to run. So either you follow my rules, or you leave.” Nik glared at her until Andrew growled from behind. Arianna reached back and placed a hand on Andrew’s chest. He stopped growling, but not glaring, at the young man. He could easily rip the young Katsulas heir into pieces. Arianna flared her power and everyone quieted down.
“The most important rule throughout the competition is that you may not do harm to any other competitor or any of the staff here in the mansion. You’ll be immediately disqualified, and depending on the harm, you will face judgment in the dearg-dul courts as we are on dearg-dul land and must adhere to all dearg-dul rules.” Not a man defied her as they stared at her. They all nodded in understanding.
“There will be three competitions.” Arianna continued on. “Before each, you will be given a rank from one to fourteen. The number has already been slipped under your bedroom door. The people that rank number one thorough six at the end of the second competition go on to the fighting matches. Whoever wins the most matches, wins the competition. It’s that simple.” It was an unassuming enough contest that Arianna hoped everyone would be lulled into a sense of security, and not see the tricks they had planned. Arianna reached back to take the paper Thomas handed her. “Now to go to your room and find your rank, you must sign this amendment to the clan of thirteen rules.”
“There has been no talk of amendments at any of the recent year’s meetings,” the older man complained again. Arianna had been warned that some like Loan’s grandfather, Harris, would be a pain for her to deal with and he already was proving difficult.
“No, but I refuse to allow this to go any further unless there is change. This amendment states that there will be no age limitation on when a night human must marry. I feel this is too much of a one-sided issue as you only call these meetings when a leading female clan member is unwed by seventeen. I mean, look around this room. Everyone here is over seventeen and unwed; yet where were the competitions for each of you? Yep. Exactly. You only do this when fighting over a female. I want my competition to be the end of this. So I refuse to proceed any further until you all sign.”
Arianna looked from man to man. Most wouldn’t even look back at her. She was speaking the truth, but they all also favored the traditional way. The rule made it possible for these men to try to marry someone powerful outside of their clan. Without the rule, they would actually have to impress a female, rather than just win one physically.
“I already have the signatures of my clans, so Devin, Turner, and Ken, you can proceed back to your rooms to wait for tomorrow’s games to begin. For the first competition, the rules will be explained before breakfast.” Patrick nodded to Gabriel, who moved over and stood behind Arianna as Patrick escorted Devin, Turner, and Ken out of the room. Arianna nodded to Gabriel as she needed his support if things went badly.
“I suppose I’m already out,” Nate said, coming up to the paper to sign.
“While you have been eliminated from the numbers, you may still participate; hoping to impress us so much that you can earn a number,” Arianna replied. They needed to keep all the heads around if they wanted to use them as ransom, which was one of their alternative plans if things got too bad.
“Really?” Nate asked. Arianna nodded.
“You just can’t keep your retainer once you are out of the numbers,” she explained. They wanted only the heads and not the men working for them.
“Then, by all means.” Nate took the pen and signed in his spot on the sheet before leaving the room.
“That makes five clans and four competitors. This isn’t an open offer,” Arianna explained as none of the other men made a move to sign. Arianna watched as Rhys pulled away from his retainer. He bent down and signed the paper, too.
“For my younger sister,” Rhys said to Arianna and his retainer that followed closely behind. They both left the room. Six out of thirteen made her close to half. She needed all of the signatures to amend the rules, but really it would be a winning situation either way. If the clans all signed, then no one would ever have to go through this again. If all the clans didn’t sign, then at least some would be eliminated right now.
Loan followed Rhys as his grandfather trailed in protest, making it seven signatures from the thirteen clans. Arianna made it past the halfway mark and that motivated the rest to follow and reluctantly sign also. After each man signed, he was allowed to leave the room and become an official participant. All thirteen had arrived, with only one eliminated for being late. It was going to be a long competition. Arianna watched them leave until she was left with Thomas, Andrew, and Gabriel.
“Did any notice?” Thomas asked Gabriel. One of the problems that would change their plans was the clans finding out that Andrew was already Arianna’s mate.
“Just Nik, but I’m sure his brother already told him,” Gabriel replied.
“He was staring daggers at me the whole time,” Andrew replied, slipping his arm around Arianna. “Ready for some alone time?” he asked.
“Be safe,” Arianna reached up and kissed her uncle on the cheek. It was his job to make sure Devin, Turner, and Ken all remained safe for the competition. Judging from the sour-looking men she had just met, he had his work cut out for him.
Chapter 6
Arianna walked into the dining room the next afternoon to find all the competitors lounging around. They sat around the room with their retainers at various tables. Only her own men were together; the rest were separated into twos, a competitor and their retainer. The world of night humans was even divided when they were all in one room together, except her people. She had changed that. They were all one group now. Arianna wondered at this world she didn’t grow up in. It was so strange to her to find that certain night humans cared about what other types of night humans they associated with. They all drank blood. Wasn’t that enough to have in common to at least get along?
All eyes were glued to her as she entered, and all conversations came to an abrupt stop. Arianna hated to be the center of attention. She had a year to get used to it since she had joined her families at her sixteenth birthday. Although she had a year to get used to it, it was still nerve-racking to have all conversations stop around her whenever she entered a room. She couldn’t help but wonder what each man was thinking about her. She actually had to try to block their thoughts to keep from being embarrassed even further. She really just wanted to go home and melt into the life she once had. That wasn’t possible now, but she wanted it anyway.
‘Good afternoon,’ Devin said in her head, breaking through her nervous pause. As always, he knew when she needed some encouragement. Even a month away did not change that instinct in him.
‘Good afternoon,’ she replied, relaxing a bit. She had missed Devin’s voice and, even if it was just his thoughts, it was better than nothing. Andrew appeared behind her and placed a hand on her back. She drew strength from both of them as she addressed the room full of men for a second time in less than a day.
“We will start today on our first competition: agility, ability, and endurance; after we all get a chance to eat,” Arianna announced as maids began to move into the room and fill the tables lining the wall with food.
“The competition begins now. How long can you go without blood? For the next week, you cannot take any blood. I want to see what sort of night human control you have, and how powerful you are without blood. If you take blood in any form, you’ll be eliminated. Each day we will do different tests, and you’ll get scores. You can use your night human form as much as you want, just make sure you don’t run out of blood.” Arianna walked over to the buffet. That was all she needed to say, and it was better turn her back to the men in order to avoid their stares and eventual questions.
“That’s not fair,” Nik complained from his spot ac
ross the room. “That favors the day human.”
“No one said I have to be fair,” Arianna responded, turning back around to answer him. He was actually pouting. What self-respecting nineteen-year-old pouted? “Remember—head of the family here making decisions.” Arianna pointed at herself. She couldn’t help talking to him like he was in grade school, particularly if he was going to act like it. Arianna turned back to the food to keep from laughing in his face. No one said she had to make any of the competition fair.
“What numbers make it through this part of the competition?” Jan asked, standing close by as he was already going through the buffet as well. His night human strength came from blood as much as calories. The draugur night human form depended on blood to do things such as walk through walls, but the increase in size and strength come from calories.
“To be number ten or under,” Arianna replied, moving down the line right after Andrew.
Jan was soft spoken, despite being such a large man. He was already in competition mode. Being the oldest of the group, Arianna expected him to be the most focused, but it just made everything more real. Arianna snuck a few glances at the large, blond-haired man next to her. Jan was older than her by over a decade, but he didn’t look his age. In fact, he didn’t look much older than even the younger competitors. He didn’t openly gawk at her like most of the men, but was focused on filling his plate with food. When they reached for a spoon at the same time, Jan motioned for her to take it and avoided what other men would have used as a good opportunity to touch her accidentally. Surprisingly, Jan wasn’t as detestable as she first assumed due to his age; not that she wanted to be with anyone but Andrew, of course.
Arianna walked over to an empty table to sit down to eat. Rhys’ retainer immediately stood and pulled her chair out for her since her hands were full. The retainer bowed his head and waited for her to be seated before moving away. Arianna was a bit surprised by such gentlemanly ways for a night human, even if she had heard that the sidhe night humans valued honor above all else. Andrew sat beside her, and warily watched as Rhys and his retainer joined the line of people getting food.
‘I don’t trust him,’ Andrew complained. In reality Andrew didn’t trust anyone in the room beyond her team.
‘We don’t need to trust them,’ Arianna replied, biting into the heap of pancakes before her. ‘We just need to follow the plan.’
‘I know,’ Andrew replied. The plan included letting things proceed until they got rid of all the retainers. ‘I just hate sitting around here while everyone gawks over you. You are mine and always will be. I will never hand you over to one of these gawking idiots, especially not the vrykolakas brat. He needs to learn a few lessons.’
Arianna smiled up at him as she grabbed a strawberry off his plate. ‘Three weeks is all you have to put up with it,’ Arianna replied. Andrew offered her another one rather than having her go back up to the line and stand near the vultures waiting to get close to her. ‘Thomas has everything worked out to three weeks. Can you do that?’
‘Without stabbing someone?’ Andrew was serious, but Arianna laughed. Several of the men turned to watch her. She was even more captivating when she was around Andrew. A bit of anger slipped through Devin’s mask.
‘What?’ Arianna asked, without looking across the room but focusing on her food. Devin didn’t reply. Arianna already knew what was making him mad. The men who were all at odds were drifting closer to her at the center of the room. She was like a flame to a moth, beautiful, but deadly. Andrew growled as someone set their plate at her table.
“I was hoping to join you,” Rhys said. Arianna placed a hand on Andrew’s leg under the table to calm him down. “Is this seat taken?”
“No,” Arianna replied before glancing down so that she would not smile at any of them accidentally. Her happy thought had nothing to do with the men, but rather the situation.
The men were all vying for the empty spots around her now. All Arianna thought of was the childhood game of musical chairs. Everyone walked around chairs, and when the music stopped, you’d have to sit down. Arianna was trying not to giggle, as it was about to turn into a game of who could snag the last three chairs. Arianna had to hold back from humming to herself, sensing the men around her. Andrew wasn’t as amused, even though he got the gist of what she was thinking.
‘Do you know how hard it is for me to not jump up and rip the throat out of each and every man here?’ Andrew complained as he stabbed at his own pancakes. Having company at their table wasn’t helping his already bitter mood.
‘Three weeks,’ Arianna pleaded, drinking her orange juice to help ease the giggle that was going to come out if the men kept eyeing the empty chairs at the table.
‘Three weeks of hell,’ Andrew muttered and finally began eating instead of just killing his pancakes. ‘And I’m not the only one thinking that.’ Andrew nodded across the room where Devin watched Arianna’s every move and the men circling around her. Devin was almost as close as Andrew to losing it.
“Any hints of what’s to come?” Rhys asked, trying to start a conversation with Arianna and break her away from her silent conversation with Andrew. Andrew wasn’t in a position of power within the baku clan, so very little was known about him by the other men. The most they deduced was that he was her personal guard.
“Any chance you guys could all just go back to where you came from?” Arianna replied, a bit resentfully. Small talk with any of the competitors was going to be hard to handle, even if they were coming off as friendly.
“Ouch,” Rhys pretended to be offended, though he was not. “That’s a bit harsh.”
“Being treated like an object, and not a human, isn’t?” Arianna didn’t really want to get into debating the issue of the competition with anyone. She had already resolved herself to her fate when she agreed to.
“Touché.” Rhys’ retainer leaned over and said something to him, trying to stop his attempts to talk to her.
“Can’t blame a man for trying. By the way, princess,” Rhys added, toning down his words to a whisper just for her. “I’m not here to win you over, just to make a show for my people that I tried. I have no intentions of making a woman marry me when she doesn’t want me.” Rhys was interrupted as his retainer dragged him off to the corner of the room.
Arianna couldn’t help but smile. Rhys wasn’t as bad as she thought. In fact, most of the competitors around the room seemed to be more curious than anything. Arianna sensed it from all of them. Only a few held other emotions than curiosity. It didn’t stop Andrew from fuming over the issue. Arianna knew, along with Andrew, the truth behind the stares was also a deep desire to control her power. The men believed that competing would lead one of them to be the victor to win her, but that wasn’t how it was going to turn out if Arianna had any say in it.
Chapter 7
After breakfast, Arianna led the men to the training room without their retainers. She stood waiting as the competitors shuffled in behind her. Andrew stood off to the side with the rest of her security detail, though he wasn’t happy to do so. No one felt safe allowing any type of weapon around Arianna, but now there was a table full of them. Arianna didn’t feel the same increase in unease by having the weapons present, as she knew by looking at each man that they held enough power that they wouldn’t need weapons if they wanted to fight. Weapons were a moot point. Each was the head of their family, or would be soon. They were all powerful night humans.
The men lined the wall as Arianna sat carefully on the table of weapons, between an axe and a pair of daggers. The men were close behind her but taking their time entering. As the last person entered, she stood to face them.
“For the first competition, I need to see how accurate you are with a weapon.” Arianna gestured to the table that was filled with mainly knives but also axes, bow and arrows, and a few weapons she couldn’t name. “The competition was planned to test each of you, looking for the best possible match for me.” Arianna paused. Nothing they tested w
ould even come close to making that one man the best match. Arianna kept her focus on the men, but wanted to look at Andrew. He was her match and always would be.
‘Keep going,’ Thomas urged from one of the walls. He was behind the one way mirror, observing the retainers that were all there watching the training room. They needed more information on the retainers, and Thomas was the best choice to collect it.
‘Ugh,’ Arianna grumbled to Thomas. ‘We need to rewrite some of this. I can’t keep pretending like everyone has a chance when I’d rather die than marry them.’ Arianna closed her eyes and tried her best not to look at Andrew.
‘Look above them while you talk. That way you don’t have to look at them,’ Thomas suggested. He was watching the retainers like a hawk.
‘And what do I do about all the feelings thrown at me every time I mention choosing one of them. It’s an emotional roller coaster. I can’t believe how many of them actually think they are perfect and will win this. They are all a bunch of-,’ Arianna wanted to rant more but Devin coughed, bringing her back to the staring men. She gazed above them and continued her prepared speech. It didn’t help much.
“My clan’s biggest need is to know that whoever is chosen is the best warrior. All competitions will test your strength as a warrior.” Several of the men puffed out their chests with pride. They all viewed themselves as the best warrior. Arianna tried not to laugh. Most of them couldn’t even stand in the same room as Andrew on strength alone. “This first test is to gauge your accuracy.”