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The hierog paused a moment, staring at me, his head tilting to one side as if seeing something he hadn’t seen before. His expression eased a little, the tense muscles in his frown relaxing and giving way to another:
Pity, I thought.
I didn’t deserve it.
“Do it,” I said, struggling around his enormous fist choking me. “Finish me off. Now. Do it.”
The pure rage had left the creature’s face and he let me fall to the ground.
“I don’t yield!” I yelled. “I don’t yield!”
The crowd cheered at my bravery. But it wasn’t bravery that spurred me on. It was cowardice.
I didn’t want to live with myself. I couldn’t live with myself. Not with the danger I had put Harper through. She didn’t deserve it.
And I didn’t deserve to live.
The creature groaned as he whirled back on me.
“Yield,” he growled. “Or it will not end well for you.”
“I do not yield!” I said. “I will never yield.”
The creature shook his head.
“So be it,” he said.
And when he turned back to me, he swung his fist with the movement and slammed it full in my face, knocking me to the ground.
I passed out long before I came to a stop.
I was surprised when I awoke. After a colossal strike like that from the giant beast, I shouldn’t have been feeling anything at all.
I pressed a hand to my cheek and hissed through my teeth.
“Hold still,” a voice in the darkness said.
Little light permeated the blinds that screened the sharp red light from the blaring outdoor sun. There were three windows. One large, two small, and as my eyes adjusted to the dimness, I could make out more of the room’s details.
The large bed looked comfortable and the paintings on the walls were simple but tasteful. A desk sat tidy with a single short stack of papers. It had a uniform look to it.
“You’re lucky he didn’t kill you,” Tus said. “Here. It’ll take the worst of the swelling from the injuries.”
He handed me something cold and mushy.
“The order was to lose,” I said, hissing as I pressed the mushy stuff to my face.
“Lose, not die. You know Krial likes for his orders to be followed to the letter. It would make him mad if he lost you to the pit.”
“I wouldn’t have to live with it.”
“No, but I would. And so would Annas and Rarr.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “None of it matters.”
Tus crossed the darkness and tapped my leg so I would lift it up and he could take a seat beside me.
“And how come you get the best room?” I said.
