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They shove me forward through the long passageways and halls and up through the palace to a large outdoor arena.
The entire area is nearly the same size as the throne room, with small spaced-out seats most likely suited to the guard’s needs for training and not for any public audiences.
The seating around nearly all of the square-shaped arena is mostly empty if not for the odd guard here and there, while the top space is cloaked behind shadows.
With one last hard shove, the guards leave me at the entrance and edge of the arena.
The feeling of someone watching me crawls down my back as I make my way over to the group of competitors who are spread out in the center of the arena.
Glancing around, I find no one staring directly at me, but my eyes are drawn to the stage, which is covered in shadows.
Shaking off the strange feeling, I spot Oryn and move toward him but stop when I realize this…friendshipcould be a means to an end, and he might not want to associate with a Sidus in public.
But my doubts are unwarranted as he sees me and gives me a friendly smile before walking the rest of the way over.
“Seren.” He dips his head, finishing off the rest of his sandwich with some type of meat in it. The smell of the freshbread hits my senses, making my stomach rumble. But the feeling quickly turns sour seeing the looks the other competitors are giving us both.
I lean closer to Oryn, and he dips his head down to me. “Your carefully built Caligo image might be ruined if you continue to associate with me in public.”
Oryn frowns down at me before following my line of sight and scowling when he sees the others disgusted faces.
“If I were to choose my friends based on what others think, I would only ever be surrounded by my enemies.” He glances down at me. “Ignore them. They are not worth our time nor energy.”
“You truly don’t care?” I ask, feeling slightly stunned by his reply.
“Not even a little.” He smiles as he looks at me, but that smile quickly fades the longer he stares.
“Are you not getting enough sleep? You look unwell.”
I glance away quickly, reminded of my early morning visit. “I’m fine.”
“If you’re worried about the plan, I can?—”
“I’m not worried about it,” I tell him with complete certainty. He stares a little longer, but I don’t back down, and soon enough he nods, agreeing.
“If you’re sure?” he asks, but with a wary expression.
“Positive,” I mumble, done with this conversation and happy for a change in subject.
The change of subject comes in the form of a tall, lean man who makes his way over to us, a scowl slashed across his face like it’s a permanent fixture. He is at least a head taller than Oryn and has dark, choppy hair that seems to mirror his bad mood.
“I hate it here. When can we leave?” the new man asks Oryn, as if they are familiar with one another.
I raise a brow at Oryn, and he chuckles. “Seren, this is Nevan. Nevan, this is Seren.”
Nevan’s eyes widen as he clears his throat. “My apologies for my rudeness. Being surrounded by so many Caligo seems to bring out the worst in me.”
“Being surrounded by your own kind makes you miserable?” I ask, wondering if I heard him correctly.
Nevan straightens up, wincing a little before looking at me. “I realize how it must sound, but I’m well aware of the reputation the Caligo have and prefer not to be grouped together with the small-minded few who ruin it for the rest of us. Not all of us are like that.”
“I will have to take your word for it,” I tell him.
“You must not have met many good Caligo, then?” he asks with a sad expression on his face.
“Before you two, I had not met any,” I tell him truthfully. With the exception of the guards, most, if not all, Caligo stay in the mountains, where the Sidus are forbidden to enter.
Nevan and Oryn share a look, but I ignore it to watch the lithe man from my first visit to the throne room moving from the shadows to a small dais at the top of the arena. It confirms my little hunch that others are watching us behind the shadows.
