The Rings Fighter (5 page)

The crowd had grown outside the back end of the stadium.

The giant double doors that stood there remained closed, surrounded by lawns on either side and white stone walkways, but Chloe could feel the excitement building to a kind of frenzy as the seconds ticked past. She’s noticed more and more media and cameras clustering, too.

Being the first Rings match with a female human contestant, the whole city was talking about it... and probably betting obscene amounts of money on the outcome.

Trazen himself had to work, of course.

As lead designer of the run, he had to be there early to ensure his operators––or “pullers,” as they called them––manifested his design accurately. He also had to be there personally to guide the runner and make adjustments as needed.

He’d left the house not long after they spoke over breakfast.

Rather than deal with the other servants, or even a Rings match she couldn’t bear to watch after letting herself harbor hopes that Kiji might be able to follow that path some day, Chloe sat alone by the pool and watched Trazen’s birds.

True to Mira’s promise, the indoor pool was a beautiful, tranquil spot, surrounded by potted trees, some of which grew up through the open sunroofs into the domed sky. Crystal blue water snaked around rock formations and sculpted waterfalls while birds played and flitted among branches overhead. Fish nibbled at her bare feet stuck in the water and sunlight created dappled patterns on the stone walls and floors.

She heard the occasional shout and laughter from the media room down the corridor, but otherwise, the house was quiet.

Eventually, someone found her, and told her she needed to get dressed.

True to Trazen’s warning, the clothes weren’t... .ideal.

She’d worn less before, of course.

Living under Agnon’s roof, she’d worn nothing at all a lot of the time, even in quasi-public settings. But that didn’t make her feel much better as she fingered and stared at the water-thin, pale blue material that left gaping holes around her waist and hips as well as up the sides of her legs almost to her rear end.

It took her a few good minutes from when she first examined the dress before she actually put it on. It took her a few more to stop frowning at herself as she stared into his bathroom mirror, looking at her own pale skin, some of it still bruised from Agnon’s hands and tail.

Another group of servants showed up at the bedroom door not long after she shimmied into the dress. Chloe found herself seated in front of more mirrors while she was primped and fussed over for another hour. By the end, she barely recognized herself in the mirror at all.

Even the color of her hair looked different, the blond strands highlighted with a green-gold powder that made it look even more fake and doll-like.

She’d always hated her blond hair.

She’d been picked on for it as a kid, called “lab rat” and worse. It made her a target and fascinated the Nirreth. Her mother dyed it for her when she was young, but the dye was no good and always rubbed off in her hands.

Part of her blamed her blond hair for Agnon taking her.

Chloe had always envied Kiji’s normal, dark-colored hair.

She fought Kiji out of her mind again as she sat in the trolley outside the Rings stadium, hands clasped in her lap, twining her fingers together as she fought nerves and waited for Trazen. She’d almost managed to distract herself, watching the crowd and listening to the excited jabbering in Nargili, when the crowd outside exploded into excited yells.

Chloe turned to see reporters swarming around a tall figure who emerged from the double doors of the stadium’s exit.

It was Trazen.

She watched him make his way through that crush of Nirreth and humans. He talked to reporters as he walked, laughing at something one of them said, his dark eyes flashing in the artificial sunlight, his tail snaking languorously out behind him. Looking away when she realized she was staring, Chloe focused out the opposite window, watching banners snap in the wind over the stadium grounds.

It made sense he would come out first. Whatever the outcome, the girl fighter would be injured from her run, at least in small ways.

Even so, Chloe was disappointed.

She’d hoped to catch a glimpse of her.

When the trolley door opened with a loud click to her left, she jumped. She hadn’t realized how quiet it was or how soundproof the vehicle until sound erupted through the open door, mainly voices yammering in Nargili.

The sheer volume caused her to flinch back.

She met the gaze of a tired but happy-looking Trazen. He looked freshly showered, changed, relaxed, but something about him looked borderline flushed too, like he’s just come off the run himself.

“Hello,” he said, his voice openly friendly.

Shutting the door behind him in the face of reporters who still shouted his name, he cut off the sound, leaving them in that fishbowl silence. Before she could recover from the onslaught, he sat himself next to her on the bench and wrapped a muscular arm around her, pulling her up against him.

Jumping a little in shock, Chloe looked up, even more startled when he kissed her briefly on the cheek, caressing her bare side with long fingers. The kiss came across as affection more than anything, and she broke into a surprised smile.

“Good run?” she said, quirking an eyebrow at him.

He laughed, a rumbling Nirreth laugh, from deep in his chest.

“Yes!” he said, sliding his hand up and gripping her shoulder briefly in long fingers. “A very good run!”

Looking away, he announced a location to the trolley’s navigation mechanism after uttering his access code.

The sailboat-like car began moving silently down the street.

Chloe continued to watch his face, thrown by the happiness she saw there.

She nudged his side with an elbow. “So? Tell me. I take it the Board didn’t decide to knock her out on her first trial run?” she said.

“Knock her out?” Trazen’s smile widened, growing almost human-like as he looked at her again. “They pushed her into full status... she’s to be picking her permanent team in the next few weeks.”

The news made Chloe blink.

She’d never heard of anything like that before on an initial run.

The Board generally required at least
three
trial runs prior to the contestant being ranked at full status. Potential candidates weren’t usually considered full competitors until their skill sets had been assessed from those three trials.

Most had hoped only for blood in this particular match.

Sex and blood... pure entertainment.

No one expected a human girl to actually
win.

She wondered why the outcome made Trazen so happy.

“Does that not mean... ?” She let her words trail when he looked over at her with his gold-flecked eyes. “Just,” she amended, her voice more diplomatic. “No one thinks the run was too easy? The run you designed for her, I mean?”

Trazen laughed, shaking his head.

“No, Chloe,” he said. “They do not think the run I designed was ‘too easy.’”

She smiled, not really getting the joke but watching his face in a kind of amused surprise.

“You are really happy about this,” she mused. “Why is that, I wonder?”

“She was magnificent!” he said, his voice holding an overt admiration. He squeezed her shoulder again, grinning down at her face. “Did you not watch the run, Chloe? She was magnificent! Like a predatory cat! I will have to be much more creative from now on... much more creative! They pushed me to make the run aggressive, so I thought someone might have paid to flush her out. But she blew everyone away! Simply magnificent!”

Chloe laughed in spite of herself, shaking her head.

“No. I did not watch it,” she admitted. “Was it really so extraordinary?”

“You
did not watch it?”
He looked down at her with a frown, although that happiness still shone in his dark eyes. “You
will
watch it!” he proclaimed, kissing her cheek a second time. “I insist! We will watch the whole thing together tonight... twice, if necessary...”

Chloe laughed again, shaking her head in wonder.

“But... she
beat
you, right?” Chloe said, her voice teasing now. “Didn’t she beat you, O Mighty Ringmaster? I would think your masculinity would be adversely affected, that a mere human female did so well on your run?”

He laughed, looking at her in some surprise. “You are educated?”

She flushed, realizing she’d spoken in Nargili. “Marginally.”

He smiled at her. “More than marginally, from what you just said.”

She nudged him with her shoulder, embarrassed, then covered it by rolling her eyes. “Answer the question. Did she beat you or not? Or are you trying to weasel out of telling me, Ringmaster Trazen?”

“Yes,” he said at once, smiling at her and kissing her again. “Yes, she beat me. She
kicked my ass
, as the human expression goes. It was quite impressive, Chloe... quite impressive. I have not enjoyed myself on a run like that since it was me running in the Rings... and you
will
watch it, and provide me with intelligent commentary with your ‘marginal’ education.”

Chloe laughed again.

Something about the pure sincerity of his happiness made it utterly irresistible.

He continued talking about the run the rest of the way to the restaurant.

Once they pulled up in front of their destination, however, his demeanor shifted.

Glancing out the window up at the pale blue, glass-covered structure, his long, Nirreth-dark face grew serious, more how she remembered it from that morning. He also moved away from her on the bench, unwrapping his arm from around her shoulders and studying her face. She watched him look at her in the dress and felt her own nerves worsen.

“We are not going in?” she said, feeling her face heat under his stare.

“Not like this,” he said. Hesitating, he gave a Nirreth shrug, holding up a hand in apology. “I must sting you first, Chloe.”

A light bulb flashed over her head. “Ah. Yes. Of course.”

How had she forgotten that?

Then, looking at Trazen, her nerves worsened for a different reason.

Nirreth tended to get pretty, well, sexual... if not out and out turned on... when they stung someone. Humans got turned on by the stinging process, too. The venom acted as a drug on both ends of the sting, lowering inhibitions in humans, making them want physical contact, making them affectionate, sexual, even emotional. But Nirreth...

Nirreth often lost control entirely.

She’d managed to forget about that, in the stress of everything else. While she didn’t mind Trazen stinging her per se––certainly not the way she dreaded it with Agnon or most of his Nirreth pals––he was still a stranger to her.

If nothing else, the idea was awkward.

Seeming to read something in her face, Trazen let his own expression smooth.

“I plan to take something, Chloe,” he said, his voice reassuring. “The venom won’t affect me. Well, not in the usual way.”

“Take something?” She gave him a puzzled look. “Take what?”

Rather than answer, he leaned back on the bench, reaching into a pocket of the dark pants he wore. After digging his hand deep enough, he produced a small metal case. Pressing a raised button on the side to pop it open, he removed a glass syringe.

“I’ll take this,” he said.

Staring at the cylinder in surprise, she looked up at him. “Will it hurt you?”

He smiled that faint smile of his, shaking his head. “No, Chloe. But it is kind of you to ask.”

Before she could decide why some part of her wanted to tell him not to do it, he’d already placed one end of the glass cylinder against the skin of his dark forearm. She watched, frowning, as he depressed a yellow button on the end, releasing the vial’s contents.

She watched his face as he grimaced.

Then, as his expression began to smooth.

When he met her gaze next, his eyes looked slightly flatter.