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The muscles on both men tensed with sheer effort—their thighs grouping, the veins on their arms slithering. There was no visible movement, but Aurelius could feel the exertion. Soon, the arms of both men started to shake, their heels digging into the sand for grip. Neither was giving an inch. Their eyes were locked with the same intensity. Their faces were screaming silent curses at each other.
As the battle raged on, minute after agonizing minute, the crowd amplified, yelling their encouragement, cheering the sheer determination of both men.
After long minutes, Kleio let out a guttural roar, looked up to the sky, as if invoking the goddess of the sun herself, and pushed forward with every ounce of his remaining strength.
Despite all his resistance, despite all his strength, the prince could no longer hold the brute back.
Calix fell to a knee.
The crowd rose as one, half screaming in joy, half wailing in despair. Kleio stomped around, feeding off both reactions. And in the middle of the circle, silent and alone, Prince Calix remained on one knee, staring darkly at the ground.
Suddenly the blade tip was pulled, and the princess ran through the crowd, all the way down to the ring, picking Calix up and leading him away.
Despite the trickle of blood down his back, despite her threat still warm in his ear, Aurelius was struck by a strange little thought. It was stupid. And yet, at this moment, when Calix looked so utterly defeated, being dragged through the crowd of fighters he had just failed, Aurelius couldn’t think of anything more perfect.
Because unlike Teigra, he did know the meaning of the coins.
Aurelius took the dark wooden stater from his coin purse, aimed it as carefully as his limited skills for physical dexterity allowed, and flung it over the crowd’s heads. He’d intended for it to land in the prince’s path, but it pinged instead off the armor of a different fighter, a splinter of the wood flying off in some direction, before bouncing right onto Calix’s sweaty chest.
The dark wood stuck to his sheen.
The prince stopped and drew it from his flesh. His face moved from despondency to confusion. His golden gaze scanned the crowd.
Finally, he turned in Aurelius’s direction, somehow spotting him amongst the masses. Like he knew exactly where to look.
Aurelius gave Calix a little wave.
And in that single moment, just briefly, the anguish on the prince’s face seemed to lessen.
36
TEIGRA
Teigra turned quickly, but the image was already burned into her eyes. The reason for the cucumbers and open flowers along the walls was now painfully obvious.
All around the Garden of Plenty, two dozen men and women were standing on stone plinths in dramatic poses.
And every single one of them was completely naked.
They were all the epitome of womanly beauty and masculine strength. The women had full breasts and perfectly sized nipples, their waists curving in before flowing into round hips and high bottoms. The men were bulls—their muscles bulging and tightly set, made even more fearsome by the poses they struck. And around their fronts, without any shame, were their fully exposed sex, on display for the hundreds of visitors.
The women were plucked of body hair, showing their... passages of virtue in full detail. And the men all had their... their... things out, large and thick, hanging like sleeping serpents, ready to leap up and strike.
The blush ran prickly from the top of her head.
It was awful! She felt embarrassed for the people on the plinths. For the fully dressed spectators gawping and pointing and having debates about them, as they might do in front of a statue.
But most of all, she felt embarrassed for herself.
She was no stranger to fertility. She knew when a mare was in heat and had seen the incredible virility of the stallions—such that it put every man in the Garden to shame. She had paired steeds to mate. She had delivered countless foals. And she’d been completely overwhelmed with joy at the creation of new life.
But she had never seen such unabashed displays of nudity in people before.
And they knew, didn’t they? Aurelius? Jaspar? Ms. Securia? They all knew I would react this way. Aurelius would be skipping in here like an excited child. Jaspar would be interested in the cultural customs. Even Ms. Securia would probably come in here with a scholarly outlook.
But not me.
