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I wouldn’t waste this chance. I had nothing to lose.
I pressed on, turning one corner after another, ignoring the howls of defeat from the crazy inmates.
Or maybe it had been Cayggod? He had been the last one to touch my door. Had he left it unlocked somehow?
But he would be sacrificing himself too and would turn the Supervisor, Druin, and all the guards against him. Although he had helped me in the past, it had, ultimately, been of benefit to him too.
Maybe something had changed in him, maybe serving Druin had pushed him over the edge?
His motivations didn’t quite fit… but yet, who else was there?
I steadily rose through the hallways of the prison. As I did, I heard the roaring rush of excitement of the crowd that always came before the pit fighting championship took place.
The pits were my only chance now. Although I doubted they would allow me to claim my Prize if I won, I would at least get to see Lily one last time… and that made it all worthwhile.
The upper prison hallways were empty too, save for alien inmates rushing to get to the competition in time.
I followed behind and found the sign-up desks were still active. I slapped my hand on the first desk.
“Name?” the inmate sat at the desk asked without looking up.
“Ohara.”
The inmate began to scribble my name when he paused and looked up at me. With the rumor circulating in the prison, there was no way he couldn’t have heard the gossip about me.
He saw my ugly iron mask, blinked, and leaned over to whisper in another volunteer’s ear. “Just a moment.”
I slammed my fist on the desk. “No. No moments. No hesitations. I’m here to sign up and I will be put on the roster.”
“I have to check with my superior first. This stuff is… unusual.”
“You know the rules,” I said before reciting the exact paragraph and subsection from the protocol guidebook. “That means I can enter the competition and no one can stop me. As long as a spot is available, you can’t deny me.”
There was a commotion as the crowd parted, revealing not the Supervisor as I’d expected but Druin. He looked my bedraggled appearance over and appeared stunned. At least that ruled him out as being the one involved with setting me free, I thought.
He eyed the inmates surrounding us warily before his fat flabby face split into a grin. “Let him enter. Those are the rules, after all. If he wants to get himself killed, so be it.”
He turned and headed back into the champions’ antechamber.
“I sure hope you know what you’re doing,” the inmate behind the desk said, tearing my name from a piece of paper and attaching it to the board.
So do I, I thought. So do I.
37
LILY
The Prizes gasped as I was carried back into the Pool. They whispered among themselves, eyes wide and fixed on me. No doubt they thought no one could ever get the better of their madam.
And yet, here I was, living the life of their greatest fears. And that was why this was done, of course. To show them what would happen if they attempted to escape too.
The guards lashed me to my cot, the handcuffs about my wrists and ankles locking to the top and bottom railings of my bed. They pulled my arms and legs out to their full length and there was little possible movement.
The guards left me in deafening silence. I tried to fight back the tears that threatened to stream down my face. We had tried, had done our best, waiting five years for our opportunity…
And had failed.
We had failed completely. Not only would we end up not together, we would never see each other again either.
