The Belly of the Beast

Ch. 69, Rules

Besides Yana and Xyla, there were few in the Belly who knew that I was unlettered. But one man knew my secret for certain, because I'd told him myself. A man whom many thought had little to no honor. Yerik.

He ran the betting pools, an extraordinary risk, with an extraordinary reward. I would have joined him too, if Yana hadn't expressly forbidden it. Still, despite Yana's attempts to keep me away from him, over the years Yerik taught me many of the darker lessons needed to survive in the Belly. Lessons Yana never even thought about. Like how to kill, skin and cook rats. How to pickpocket the dead. How to avoid the guards, and, when the opportunity presented itself, how to rob them. Even— though I'd never done it myself— how to kill a guard and make it look like an accident. If you ain't cheatin, you ain't trying. The rules are stacked against people like us, Z. So don't play by their rules. Make your own.

Easy enough to do, in the Belly, where I knew the machines, and the guards and the people. But here? Here I was going to need help.

So the day after I'd met the Eel, and the Letter Trial loomed yet again, I steeled myself, and sat at a table where Skull sat alone.. At least ten different plates of food spread out around him.

Skull wasn't one to mince words, so I cut straight to the point. "Why are you doing this? Why partner with me?"

"Why?" He shoveled a handful of something dipped in gravy into his mouth. "Because a winner gets to send money down to his level and I've got two little girls depending on me. Or because I've got three wives in cold beds without me. Or because I want the glory. Or because I like killing. Should I keep making up reasons or have you found one you like yet?"

I rolled my eyes, and then wondered how to move forward. With Skull, I knew the best approach was a direct one. "I need your help. To win the High Letter Trial..." I glanced around the cafeteria, and dropped my voice. "But I can't think of an... honorable way to do so."

He fake gagged. "Honorable isn't my special." Then he gave me a wicked, knowing smile. "Why aren't you asking your precious partner?"

I clenched my jaw, knowing he saw the reaction and hating it. But instead of making fun of me, he set his fork down and gave a dramatic, over-the-top sigh. "You know Z, I was in love once."

"I'm not in love," I shot back.

He smiled at the swiftness of my response, and I tried to get us back on track. "I don't want to talk about him." Him, as in the man who was a walking contradiction, both trying to help me, and having lived the life of the Top. Him, the man who both made me want to punch him, and kiss him. No. Stop thinking about him.

"Then what are we talking about?"

I lowered my voice. "I need help figuring out a way to cheat."

We both stopped talking as Xyla walked across the cafeteria, heading to sit with her team. Her hair gleamed, more than one man watching her walk, but her eyes were sad as she took in me and Skull, sitting at a table together. I endlessly thought about what she'd said, even hiding the ring inside my arm instead of wearing it, but decided it didn't make a difference. My parents, whoever they were, were long dead. Skull didn't bother to keep his voice quiet when he jerked his head in Xyla's direction, "Any chance you could put in a good word for me with your friend?"

"Not a chance in hell."

Skull grinned. "Aren't we though? In hell?"

I opened my mouth to say something, and he held up a hand, silencing me.

"Save it, little fox. If I knew how to cheat the trials, don't you think I would have done it already?"

Good point.