The Rings Fighter (8 page)

Chloe heard the threat there.

She heard it, even as her eyes took in the crowd of armed Nirreth Agnon had brought with him. More walked through the front door of the building as he spoke, muscled and moving like fighters, wearing dark clothes.

It struck her suddenly, why Agnon would want to do this publicly.

Nirreth prided themselves on their ability to hold their own––whether via their own fighting prowess or their wealth and hired muscle. Agnon hoped to force Trazen into an unequal fight. He intended to beat him down publicly, thus diminishing Trazen’s status, in addition to taking Chloe from him by force.

Even if Trazen tried to use political connections to get her back later, he would lose face.

Moreover, Chloe suspected she wouldn’t survive long enough for Trazen to stage anything similar in response. Trazen may have the last laugh with Agnon eventually, but she wouldn’t be alive to see it.

All of that flickered through her mind even as Trazen rose from the bench.

Chloe had to fight not to clutch at him as he left her, watching him face down the half-circle of Nirreth guards who now boxed them in around the table.

A rustle of movement caused her to look behind her. She frowned, watching as the Nirreth who had just been laughing and joking with her and Trazen stood up and began to back off, to remove themselves from the ring of armed guards. Some part of her wanted to call them cowards, but she knew there would be no point. They weren’t fighters, any of them.

They were like Agnon. They hired other Nirreth to do their dirty work.

Trazen didn’t give those retreating Nirreth so much as a glance.

Chloe watched the dark-clothed guards rearrange their formation around the low table, too. They fanned around behind Agnon in a deceptively casual arc, watching the proceedings with dark, wary eyes, their tails flicking aggressively. She saw one of them motion the human females out of the way, too, and they walked in the same direction as the retreating Nirreth, their eyes glassed and confused by venom as they stole glances back at Trazen and Chloe.

When Trazen didn’t speak, Agnon prompted him again.

“We can agree on this?” he said. “That this loan will now be returned?”

“No,” Trazen said, his voice equally cold. “We cannot.”

“She is not yours.”

“And yet she is. I acquired her in full. For a fair price...”

“A price that was not paid.”

“...A
very
fair price,” Trazen continued, his eyes locked on Agnon’s. “Particularly given how badly you treat your toys, friend Agnon. Moreover, you are incorrect. That price was paid by me in full earlier this morning. A gift to the Royals in your name... gratefully received.”

Agnon looked past him at Chloe. Looking her over briefly, including the dress, he glanced back at Trazen, his dark lips lifting in a smile.

“You like her so much, Trazen?” he said.

“She is paid for. This discussion is over.”

“It is
not
over,” Agnon snapped, his tail coiling in another hard arc. “And she is
not
paid for.” When Trazen began to speak, Agnon cut him off, once more lashing the kinked tail. “I was able to intercept the gift you attempted on my behalf. I paid the Royals their tithe from my own treasury, and they accepted. Moreover, I returned the credits you had put up in my name to your accounts. I simply cannot part with her, I’m afraid...”

“The transaction occurred,” Trazen said, immovable. “That you returned the money to me is a detail. Seller’s remorse. I will give that money back to you, if you require it, Agnon––”

“I do
not
require it,” Agnon said, growling openly. “I require my property returned.”

“––Then I will view it as a gift to me,” Trazen continued smoothly. “But the sale is finished.”

“I disagree,” Agnon said. “Further, I have witnesses to our exchange who disagree that this transaction occurred in good faith...”

“Meaning what?” Trazen said, his voice growing dangerously soft. “Are you accusing me of dishonesty, friend Agnon?”

Chloe felt something in the tenor of the exchange shift.

Whatever it was, it raised the hair on her arms and the back of her neck.

She also saw the muscles on Trazen’s arms and legs flex. He seemed to grow bigger, even as his lean, muscular body went utterly still, even his tail.

“I
am
saying that,” Agnon said, his voice unmistakably cold.

The row of Nirreth behind him tensed, their eyes now uniformly locked on Trazen.

Agnon added, “I don’t know why you would deny that you had stolen her from me blatantly, Trazen. I had surveillance in that room. I lodged a complaint. I will have her back... or your blood in compensation...”

“Are you quite sure you want to do that?” Trazen said.

The silence grew even more loaded.

Chloe had to fight again not to grasp at Trazen’s arms, to pull him back. She had a sudden vision of Agnon’s goons pulling out sandblasters and killing him right there... or maybe a
pulre
blast to the chest that would likely kill her too, at this range.

Somehow, the thought of dying with him, after everything, was almost a relief.

Trazen let the silence tick by a few beats more, then let out a breath in a low hiss.

“You might want to think on this, friend Agnon,” he said, his voice silky quiet. “Give yourself pause here, try to hear your own instincts in your mind, even through the copious amounts of wine and venom clearly seething through your blood and skin.” He lowered his head, his stare more predatory. “Trust me when I tell you that you don’t want to do this dance with me. Not with me, Agnon.”

Agnon let out a harsh laugh. “You are delusional, Ringmaster...”

Trazen didn’t flinch. His voice notched lower.

“I say this in generosity to you, friend,” he said softly, his eyes as black as coal. “...As a favor. Go find yourself another human.” A low growl came from his chest, even as his tail gave a hard, flickering curl through the air. “...I do not care how many of your lackeys you threaten me with. If you cross that line with me, some of them might wish they hadn’t listened to you, as well... whatever you are paying them.”

Chloe felt her heart stutter in her chest.

Trazen’s words had come out different that time, stripped of politeness, any pretense at civility. The threat was palpable, transparent... even to her, and she wasn’t Nirreth.

Moreover, for the first time, it occurred to her that Trazen was right. Whatever happened here today, Agnon would replace her. Some other poor girl would end up exactly where Chloe had been, perhaps even with another Kiji in the pens as collateral.

The thought sickened her.

Moreover, it almost made her want to tell Trazen not to bother.

It struck her suddenly how quiet the room had gotten.

Glancing around the high-ceilinged restaurant, she realized that the other Nirreth and humans hadn’t left after they retreated from her and Trazen’s side. In fact, many new Nirreth and humans had crept closer to watch from other parts of the room.

That had to be the point of this though––maybe for Agnon and Trazen both.

After all, Trazen had waited for this.

The thought should have reassured her, but it didn’t.

Chloe caught a few curious looks aimed in her direction as well. Most of those watching seemed to have caught that this fight was essentially about her.

Glancing up at Trazen, she saw every visible muscle once more coiling and flexing under his silky skin. He looked like how he’d described that female Rings fighter to her, like some kind of predatory cat, ready to leap. It hit her again why he might feel so close to that dark-haired ex-skag, even if she was human.

She felt the shift... that time before her eyes tracked any of it.

One of Agnon’s people reached for a sidearm... likely a
pulre
from how and where he wore it, but Chloe never got a chance to see that either.

Before she could take a breath, Trazen leapt.

He moved so quickly Chloe could only gasp, banging her back when she flinched sharply into the table. Watching him tackle the Nirreth to the ground, she barely had time to comprehend the danger before he was on his feet again, holding a long, blood-covered knife he’d yanked out of a sheath the same Nirreth guard wore.

He’d sliced open the Nirreth’s throat before she saw more than a glint.

He moved on Agnon next.

The scuffle was short that time.

Before Chloe could make sense of it, it was over.

Trazen stood there, his breath slightly quickened. He gripped the shorter Nirreth in his hands, the knife’s blade pressed to Agnon’s thick throat. Trazen faced the circle of Nirreth guards, still holding Agnon’s throat in his hand too, the blade balanced on top of his fingers. The sharp edge already dented Agnon’s skin.

Agnon let out a frightened squealing sound and Trazen’s long tail lashed behind him as he growled, deep down in his chest, staring down the other fighters.

“He can’t pay you if he’s dead,” Trazen said.

Chloe watched the guards look at one another.

More than one had their hands on holsters at their sides, but everything happened so quickly, none of them yet had time to draw. Some looked openly startled, as if unsure what just occurred. All of them watched Trazen warily, but Chloe saw a faint admiration in more than one of those stares, especially in the older Nirreth.

She also saw no real animosity there.

They had no personal stake in this fight.

Even as she thought it, one of them stepped forward.

He kept his long-fingered, midnight blue hand on the holster at his left hip, but held up the other hand in a kind of three-fingered peace gesture.

“Do not fire, friend and Ringmaster,” the older Nirreth said, his voice calming.

Chloe blinked, then glanced around.

She realized only then that other Nirreth stood outside that main circle of bystanders now. Some had belonged among the faces she’d assumed only hung around to see blood. They now held weapons in their hands. Weapons aimed at Agnon’s hired thugs.

“We will go,” the guard in the middle said, his voice still openly respectful.

“And your fee?” Trazen growled.

“We will forgo it,” the other replied, bowing.

“Traitors!” Agnon spat, head back, gasping where Trazen held him. “Cheating spineless traitors! I already paid you!”

Trazen startled Chloe then.

He chuckled.

Giving the lead guard a subtle Nirreth smile, he nodded to him, indicating with his head and chin towards the front door.

“Go,” he said. “And I would keep that bounty, if I were you,” he advised, motioning towards the guard on the ground. “Take him with you. I don’t want to be left in bad standing in this place. And he is yours to take.”

Now holding up both of his three-fingered and long-thumbed hands, the guard nodded, his posture even more submissive.

“We will take him, Ringmaster. Thank you... for your mercy.”

Trazen grunted at that.

Still holding Agnon by the neck, he watched the guards go.

Chloe thought that would be the end of it, that the display was over, but once the last of those black-clad guards disappeared through the door, Trazen raised his voice.

“I do this in front of witnesses, so there is no mistake,” he said, his voice ringing out, cultured-sounding, despite the thread of savagery Chloe still heard under his words. “You all saw him threaten my life. You know the law... that it is right for me to defend myself.”

There was a silence.

Murmurs slowly rose around the room, thumps of feet and tails, signaling agreement.

Looking around him for dissent, the knife still pressed to Agnon’s throat, he added, “It is also my right to ensure it never happens again,” he added darkly.

“Now wait a minute, Ringmaster,” Agnon snarled, jerking against him.