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And the chimera they were fighting in the ring.
The battle was ferocious—absent the tactics and soldierly discipline he’d expected. Instead, the three women’s strikes were brutal and opportunistic. The little one distracted the spitting lion head to the front, while the big one wielded her double-headed axe behind. The hideous creature dodged a spear throw from the princess and rolled to a snarling stop, its drakon tail whipping in warning. Brimstone popped by its fangs, promising the full fury of flame. Despite the three-to-one advantage, the contest was surprisingly even, with neither side yet landing a blow.
Aurelius pushed through the steamy crowd, just as he had for the last twenty minutes. His destination was a balcony overlooking the stage. And the mass distraction was as much of an advantage as he could possibly hope for.
Because for all of the last two weeks, he had only managed to see Calix twice.
Once was at the Ardoralia.
And once, was here.
And he hadn’t come here to watch some battle between a beast and a “Sisterhood,” as they called their little female troops—although the thought of Zosime being gravely injured held a delicious appeal.
No, he’d come for one purpose alone.
It wasn’t ideal. It was the fucking opposite of getting him alone. But he had to risk it.
Besides, what can she do from the middle of the arena?
When Aurelius finally reached his destination, he composed himself, mounting the platform and thanking the fact that royals in Ardora weren’t under constant guard. He leaned against the railing, his arm brushing against the most lavishly dressed man in the whole stadium.
“I wouldn’t have thought a chimera would be found in these lands, Your Highness?” he said in a high voice. “They exclusively roam the frozen valleys of Rinath, do they not?”
The prince’s expression didn’t shift, as if he wasn’t surprised at Aurelius’s arrival. His face peered out from a plumed helmet, the same design he had seen on Zosime back in the grove.
Calix stared long at him, as the crowd roared all around, before finally turning back to the fight. Despite his reaction, the prince did not move his arm away from the skin-to-skin contact.
“A great many things were lost in Sama, Your Excellency. But a great many things were gained as well. This beast was one of them. A pet of one of their legates.”
One of the thousands of soldiers that you slaughtered, he thought with a slight shudder, remembering exactly who he was talking to. Out loud, he said,“You have kept it caged for over five years?”
“It has served as a useful sparring tool for initiates.”
“Your sister is hardly an initiate.”
“No,” he said, his eyes affixed to the battle.
“Then—”
“Then today the beast dies.”
Below, the creature swiped at Zosime, who backflipped out of its claws by inches.
“In my homeland, they would think that cruel,” said Aurelius. “Keeping a beast, no matter its ferocity, in a cage for years and years, only letting it out to fight and eventually die.”
Calix stared at the snapping creature. Despite the bright sun, his face remained dark beneath the helmet. “Some beasts deserved to be caged.”
“And to die?”
“If they will not be tamed.”
The creature pounced right towards the small one, causing a heave from the masses, only for the big one to tackle it out of the air at the last moment, rolling through and raining down strikes on its goat-haired body, like it was some bar fight, not a battle to the death.
“But surely caging it will only make its anger worse?” said Aurelius, taking in the prince’s shadow-streaked face. “How can a beast be tamed if it is not shown some alternative?”
Calix was silent for a good while. “Some might consider it less cruel to cage a creature than to let it taste the freedom it will never be allowed.”
Even at rest, Aurelius could sense the balled-up restraint of Calix’s stance, the knotting of his words, and the strain in his knuckles against the wood.
