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“And with that much Quet-Dreai pumped into his system, there’s not going to be anyone who can stand against him,” Cayggod said. “Well, almost no one…”
He wasn’t looking at me but I could feel the press of his eyes anyway.
“Last night was a fluke,” I said.
“Last night was anything but a fluke. You know that, and so do I. And the best part of it all is…” He checked over his shoulders and lowered his voice so no one could hear us. “The best part is, you haven’t even used your unique ability yet…”
I looked at him uncertainly. “I don’t have a unique ability.”
He met my eyes and they twinkled with some inner, unseen light. “Really?” he said. “Hm. Then I must be mistaken. I must be thinking of… another Nor.”
But I could tell from the playful cadence of his voice that he knew the truth. I just looked at him, shocked, that he knew my great secret.
“But how…?” I said. “I’ve never told anyone about it. I’ve definitely never used it where anyone can see.”
“Sometimes it’s the things we can’t see that tell us all we need to know,” Cayggod said. “And besides, I’m a voracious reader. I doubt many inmates at Ikmal have the same breadth of interests that I do. Fear not, your secret remains with me. But I look forward to seeing it in action… If indeed the Nor who has such a skill comes forward…”
I continued staring at him incredulously. He could have used the knowledge, manipulated me into doing his bidding… and instead, he just kept it to himself all this time? If there was ever proof of Cayggod’s innate goodness, this was it.
“You’re going to have to hurry if you want to take part in the day’s events,” Cayggod said.
The line was shorter now and only two spaces remained on the roster. Another fighter began to edge toward the sign-up desk — he was smaller than the others and constantly scratched at his flaky scales.
Some were driven to the pits for the basic guaranteed payment — not a lot to get beaten to a pulp but when you needed money fast, there were few other options at Ikmal.
I glanced toward the Prize Pool and pictured Lily standing there, looking down and watching me…
And I knew I only really had one option.
With how deeply I cared for her — despite hardly knowing her — it had been enough to expose myself to the other inmates of Ikmal prison, so was there really any chance I could choose not to fight?
Especially since it was by my choices, my actions, that she would soon be exposed to one of the worst prisoners Ikmal had ever housed.
I wasn’t sure, tough as she was, that even she could survive what Druin had in store for her.
I took a deep breath and turned to approach the sign-up booth when I noticed Cayggod leave first and approach another group of inmates in the opposite direction.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“To place my bet, of course,” Cayggod said. “You’re the longest shot in the history of the fighting pits and I’m not about to pass on the opportunity.”
I watched as he approached the bookmaker and began haggling over the odds.
Hm, I thought. Maybe not so altruistic after all…
17
LILY
After I’d shared my story with the other girls, everything drifted back to normal. They cleaned and primped themselves as they always did for when the Champions came to Claim them later in the day.
There was one small difference, and that was in how upbeat everyone seemed to be. Maybe they were hoping for their own Prince Charming to come pummel the crap out of any Champions who treated them badly… but I wasn’t naive enough to think that would happen again for me.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime event for a Prize, which was why they were all so thrilled about it. It just didn’t happen, and when it did, it quickly faded and everyone forgot about it.
Everyone but me.
I would never forget how kind he was, how he didn’t even touch me for fear of how I might respond.
