Chapter 13
The next day, Ren had quite the appetite for breakfast. He said cheerfully, “So, Zafiyah, what’re we gonna go up against today?”
“As I said, there will be a series of tests. The first is your grasp of horse riding; it’s not a race, but more about just making sure you can ride a horse in a challenging desert environment while attacking targets successfully. In the second, you will have to survive a small pack of wild beasts with no weapons. And the third test is a test of your obedience to orders and your courage.”
“That’s vague,” Brenin observed. “What exactly does that entail?”
“It’s different every year, and they don’t reveal it beforehand,” Zafiyah explained. She seemed to be very amused by Kathryn’s anxious look.
Ren frowned. “So I gotta wait and find out? Well, whatever it is, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“We can only hope it’s an eating contest,” Chance said pointedly.
Ren glared at him. “There’s no need for you to be jealous of my skills,” he said coolly.
Kathryn said, “When you say wild beasts, what kinds of beasts?”
“Wolves,” Zafiyah responded.
Kathryn felt her stomach do a flip-flop, but Ren looked totally unconcerned. “Great! Well, it’s almost time. Chance, you look after her while I’m busy, will you?”
Chance only shrugged as a reply. He felt Kathryn could take care of herself just fine.
During the riding exercises, Ren unsurprisingly performed well, toppling the wooden targets with a practice sword.
Chance’s eyes widened once when, during a leap over a bale of straw, Ren hit three targets in quick succession, lopping off the baggy “heads.” He glanced over at Zafiyah and Kathryn. The difference in their reactions was marked. Zafiyah cheered and her cheeks were red with excitement. Kathryn gripped the rail until her knuckles whitened, and her face was pale.
In fact, she was filled with anxiety, more so than ever before in her life. While she knew better than anyone just how capable Ren was, she also knew she would be completely responsible if anything happened to him.
She also kept an eye on Xian and Valen, and both of them easily passed this portion of the contest.
When it came to fighting off the wolves, she had to turn her eyes away. She loved animals and hated the sounds of painful yelps and howls intermixed with rage-filled growls and snapping. When she glanced back, Ren was standing victorious in the midst of three dead wolves, covered in blood that wasn’t his own, with only a few scratches on his arms to show for it.
He glanced over at her and raised his fist triumphantly, grinning. She managed a smile back.
When it came to the third test, she gripped the rail harder as Tarik stood up to announce the terms.
He shouted, “Warriors! My men will bring each of you a jug of water. One of those jugs contains poison.”
The whole crowd murmured, and Kathryn started violently.
Tarik continued with a cruel smile, “Drink all of the water. That is the only test.”
“He didn’t say if there’ll be an antidote,” Chance muttered.
Even Zafiyah looked somewhat anxious. Brenin was outside one of the entrances again to watch for assassins, but the voice carried, and his face paled.
Ren was somewhat troubled. He didn’t mind risking his life in an out-and-out battle, but dying from poison wasn’t exactly on his to-do list. He glanced up at Kathryn, and she instantly shook her head at him.
As gratifying as that was, Ren hated the thought of giving in when he’d already risked so much. And he could see Xian in another group already reaching for the jug. Several other contestants hesitated or shook their heads in refusal. Looking at Tarik, Ren saw the little smile playing around the monarch’s lips. Surely they planned to offer an antidote; it was just a test of following orders and courage, right?
“Well, you only live once,” Ren muttered. He drank the water. It didn’t taste quite right – or maybe that was only his anxiety. As he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, he saw Kathryn’s horrified expression and looked away.
The man next to him collapsed to his knees, gasping and frothing at the mouth. He had to be carried off of the field. Ren felt his stomach twisting, but there were no other ill effects. After a few moments, during which the entire field was completely silent, Tarik began to clap.
And so did everyone else, and the arena erupted in clapping that continued until Tarik shouted, “The courageous warriors who remain will rest tomorrow and then return on the following day for a series of battles. I look forward to seeing your prowess once again!”
The watchers cheered as the 20 remaining contestants exited the field. All but Kathryn, whose face was filled with absolute fury.
Chance saw her look and tapped her arm. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you getting what you wanted?” he started to ask.
She brushed past him and left without a word.
Ren found them a minute later, and Zafiyah threw her arms around his neck, exclaiming, “My dear champion; I knew you would succeed once again!”
“Where’s Kat?” he asked, ignoring her as he gently extricated himself.
“She just ran off,” Chance replied with a shrug. “She looked really mad.”
Ren bit his lip. “Okay…Well, you two head back without us. I’m gonna go see if I can track her down.” Out of the corner of his eye he could see Brenin striding towards him, and he wanted to be gone by the time the old man got there to scold him.
“She probably went back to the house,” Zafiyah pointed out.
Ren shook his head. “No, if she’s that mad, she’ll want to be alone. I’ll see you in a few.” He hurried away, leaving Chance and Zafiyah standing there awkwardly.
As they went back towards the house, Chance whistled to break the painful silence. Zafiyah seemed annoyed, and after a moment she exclaimed petulantly, “Why is he always chasing after that wretched girl?”
“You mean the former princess?” Chance asked wryly.
Zafiyah kicked at a stone in the path, hopping on one foot as it hurt her toe. “Yes, that wretched girl! She never even kisses him. She hardly even gives him a smile. And she gets angry at him for risking his life for her like that; what a stupid, silly, idiotic woman she is!”
“Ah, now I see; you’re jealous!” Chance felt very proud of himself for getting the better of Zafiyah.
She glared at him. “Of course I am jealous. I am a beautiful woman, am I not?”
Chance was taken off guard and actually stumbled a bit as she seemed to really expect an answer. “Well, sure…I suppose.” He didn’t think there was any reason to say she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.
“You SUPPOSE? I am the most beautiful woman around for miles; everyone says so. And there is nothing interesting about that girl except the fact she used to be a princess. Now she has nothing to offer, and he still acts like her little lapdog.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Chance didn’t know why he felt the need to defend her, but he did anyway. “I think that he acts like her bodyguard. Apparently, he’s been working for her since he was a child, so isn’t that pretty natural?”
“Natural or not, it’s absurd. He is a beautiful, strong, more or less intelligent man who could have anyone he wanted. Why does it have to be her?” Zafiyah sighed and then cast him a sideways glance. “If you assist me, you know, you could have her, and I could have him. She is a commoner now, so she is more on your status than on his.”
Chance recoiled. “What? No! I’m not going to get involved in their little lovers’ quarrels. That’s their business, and mine is to lounge around and do very little while appearing very useful. Besides, Miss Kathryn has no interest in me…and I have none in her as far as a romantic interest goes. I have a better idea for you. Why don’t you stop chasing after something you can’t attain?” he suggested.
Zafiyah rolled her eyes. “I can attain anything I want,” she said loftily.
“Like blazes you can,” Chance retorted, borrowing Ren’s expression. “Why’s it your right to try to make Ren do what he doesn’t want? How would you like it if someone did the same to you?”
The young woman actually looked genuinely startled and confused for a moment. She recovered quickly and tossed her head. “Don’t be stupid.” Then she maintained a stony silence all the way to the house.
Ren found Kathryn just outside the arena, leaning against the wall and clutching her chest as she sobbed.
He hadn’t seen her cry since the day her father died, and he felt like a cold hand was gripping his heart. “Kat?” he started to say.
She whirled on him with tears streaming down her face. “How could you do that?” The words came between shuddering sobs, and he could barely understand her.
“You’ll have to be more specific,” he said, though he knew exactly what she was talking about.
“You don’t drink poison. You don’t ask for a slow painful death. You never would. Why did you do that?!” She grabbed him by the shoulders and looked up at him, but the calm look in his eyes defeated her, and she turned away, slumping against the wall as she cried in agony.
Ren gave her a few minutes to weep before saying, “Kat, I’ve been risking my life these past few months over and over. Why’d it bother you so much this time?”
Kathryn didn’t reply right away. In her mind, all she could see was the face of the man she had married, twisted in agony as he writhed on the floor before expiring, with the poisoned wine in his goblet spilling out like blood.
Ren put a hand on her shoulder. “Look, Kat. There are a lot of things I do because you tell me to do them. But sometimes, I have to make my own decisions.”
She pushed his hand away and looked up at him. She wasn’t sobbing anymore, though her eyes and nose were still blotchy. She said, “Are you sure it was your own decision?”
Ren felt the heat rising in his face for some reason. “What do you mean by that? Of course it was my own decision.”
“You told Zafiyah you were not a slave. But what choice did you have, Ren? You weren’t given your wages; your parents were. You were sent to my family when you were a child against your will. You never had a choice; not once!”
“Is that what you think about my feelings for you?”
Ren was in shock as he saw the affirmation in her face. He said slowly, “You think I just don’t have any mind of my own, and that’s why I do all of these things?”
“Why else would you do them?! Why else would you drink poison and risk your life day after day? Why would you be with me when I have nothing to offer you?!”
Hot blood coursed down Ren’s neck and he backed away from her a step with a look of pain and reproach in his eyes. “Because I choose to,” he said deliberately. “Because I can. Because I want to. Why is that so hard to understand?”
“Why would you want to do something like that?! Are you insane?” she yelled at him.
He shouted back, “Because I love you!”
Kathryn stood there frozen, looking up at him in silence for a moment. Then she turned away with the words, “I’m not even sure either of us knows what love means.”
He looked at her standing there, her thin frame looking extremely vulnerable and frail to his gaze.
He walked over to her and put his arms around her. “I know I love you,” he whispered, burying his face in her hair.
She didn’t react to his touch. She didn’t turn around. But after a long moment, she pulled away, saying, “We should get back.”
Ren watched her walk away from him, and something inside of him snapped. “Kat, if you don’t want me to love you, just say so!” he called after her angrily. “But don’t try to say that it’s for my sake!”
“We will talk later,” she said firmly without turning around.
“Like blazes we will,” he muttered.
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