A Song of Silence

Chapter 93: A Colosseum in the Dark

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The Grand Assassin led the group to the stables. Snapping his fingers, terrified stable hands brought tacked and heated horses to everyone. Once on his horse, the Grand Assassin addressed the crowd. "Make your way to the colosseum. The competition will be held there." The colosseum? Fuck. It was made for city wide entertainment, not just for a few hundred. There would be tens of thousands of spectators then. Despite my every effort in the past, I hadn't quite mastered fighting in front of a crowd. My father knew this and was going to use it to his advantage. No doubt if I looked over at him, I would see a victorious smirk lighting up his face. Without looking back, I kicked my horse into a trot and made my way to the colosseum with an unwanted posse in tow peppering me with questions all the while.

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I dropped down from my horse and handed its reigns to a stable hand. The colosseum loomed above me. Several stories high, it was a behemoth of beautiful architecture and sloped arches. I could practically hear the roaring of the crowd from within. Fucking great. Throwing back my shoulders, I marched up the steps and walked into the looming building. The stone walls were smooth and bathed in torchlight. My shadow and the shadows of my unwanted posse bounced off the wall as the sound of many footsteps followed me. Corridor after corridor we went through as we made our way to the middle of the arena. For a place supposedly made for tens of thousands of spectators, it was surprisingly hard to navigate.

After too long, I arrived at the antechamber to the pits. Once I walked through the door in front of me, I would be under the sand covered platform that my father and I would battle in. A platform would raise me up and I would stand surrounded by a large crowd either wishing for my death or cheering for my victory. The crowd behind me seemed to sense that they could follow me no further and they went silent a few feet behind me. Ignoring them, as I had been doing since I had arrived in the city, I pushed the wooden door open in front of me and slammed the door behind me.

Finally, blessed silence. It had been nothing but noise, noise, noise since I had arrived and the silence that surrounded me was as comforting as a blanket. A sigh escaped me before I straightened up and assessed my surroundings.

The walls were covered in torches as the rest of the coliseum had been. The large room was mainly bare, except for a few suits if rusted armor that lined the walls and unkempt weapons strewn about. The elevator that I would be hoisted up on hung in the corner held up by ropes. The door behind me was sturdy and no doubt had locks on the other side. It was a place that many came to die. With any luck, I wouldn't die today.

From my knowledge of the colosseum, it was a hot and gritty place to fight. The morning sun stripped you of your energy while making you drowsy at the same time and dulling your senses. Any armor I wore would need to be lightweight and breathable. My only advantage against my father was my agility. He on the other hand knew my every move and was stronger than I would ever be. I surveyed the gear that I now wore. It was all lightweight and breathable, but it was black. That wouldn't do, not in this heat. Luckily, it had a feature that I made Xyla add into it when she had sewn it. It was reversible.

Ignoring my nudity in this disgusting room, I switched the fabric inside out to reveal a stark white. The armor padding confirmed to my body as I zipped the suit back on. There, now I would be much cooler and wouldn't have to waste too much of my energy in the sun. Not to mention the lightweight padding in my outfit would block blows from my opponents swords and allow me to be as agile as I liked. Putting my hair up in a ponytail so that it wasn't a bother during the fight, I strapped on the weapons that I had abandoned when I had reversed my outfit.

It would probably be half an hour until the fight started, so I worked on some stretches to limber myself up while snacking on some bread from my satchel. With any luck, I would get out of this fight, exhausted and with many scrapes, but alive. Only then would I truly be able to protect the innocent from fae makes like my father.

By now Azazel had most likely discovered my absence and read my letter. I had tried to explain everything, but I knew some things were best left unsaid. Maybe his rage would have been satiated by my explanations. I doubted it but it was worth the try. Above anything, I hoped he wouldn't interrupt the challenge. It would be disastrous if he did. What really peaked my interest though, was the High Queen freeing me. She had never liked me before and had said she wanted me out of her life forever, if not dead. I would have likely been executed within 24 hours if I had stayed locked in that cell. Maybe she truly believed I would be able to save those children. Maybe she believed I would return to the Capital city if I won the challenge. I would return. I had promised Azazel I would and I was done running from my problems.

Drinking from my canteen, I sat in the chair in the corner of my room and waited. And waited. And waited. No sign of life coming to escort me to my death. No sign of anyone or anything. I knew I could open the door next to me and walk out into the hall, but I would only be surrounded by admirers and kiss-up's hoping to get into my good graces if I won the competition. It drained me to put up with them and no doubt the Grand Assassin had put them up to it to keep me occupied and distracted from the competition. The bastard.

I stretched my sore and aching muscles that were a result from riding Millie throughout the night. Horse riding, no matter how many years I had done it, would always tense my muscles up. A hot bath would relax them right away, but I had no resources to get such a trivial thing. Not to mention, something was likely to happen to my gear and weapons if I took my eyes off them.

Shuffling on the other side of the door caught my attention. It was light and nervous. Let me guess, an assassin? My guess turned out to be right when the door was thrown open by a spry, young women holding a dagger dressed in a servants garb. Her eyes scanned the room and widened when she saw my dagger coming towards her face. She ducked, but I quickly kicked the back of her legs and she crumpled beneath me. Fear was in her eyes as I held a dagger to her throat. "We're you forced to kill me or was it a choice?" I ask her quietly.

"T-they said I would get many honors if I killed you. Please don't kill me miss. They gave me no choice.," she says, her voice quivering. Shaking my head, I take a few steps back from her and nod my head towards the door.

"Go before I change my mind," she quickly gets up and scampers out of the room. I slam the door behind her and put some wards on it. Nobody will be getting in that way to try to kill me now. There is a pounding knock at the door. Sighing, i unlace the wards and swung the door open. What lies on the other side surprises me more than anything.

"Hello, firefly," A voice says.