closed chests lined the other side of the long, narrow, curving room.
Occasionally a surge of noise reached her from beyond the inner wall.
Devonne threaded her way through the clutter and finally
joined a pair of men hunched over a dark slate board. They looked up when they
heard her coming.
“Where’s Raje?” she asked the two lawyers, scanning the area
around them.
“In another staging area,” Whetlock said. “They apparently
don’t want the two of you conferring before this match.”
Another explosion of noise from beyond the wall drew her
attention. “Are there other acts on the program today?”
“I believe there are half a dozen matches or tests on the
schedule for today. You’re the fourth. The first began a few minutes ago.”
Devonne went to the wall and slid back a panel. The heavily
barred window behind it offered a view directly out onto the field at the
center of the coliseum. A pair of Sangari fought each other with weapons that
looked like short, heavy pikes, studded with wickedly pointed barbs and ending
in double-sided, saw-toothed blades. Both combatants had blood matting their
fur in several places.
“You might not want to watch this,” the other lawyer warned.
“It’s a blooding and likely to get ugly.”
“A blooding?”
“A grudge fight. To the death. With short-bladed and pointed
weapons to help ensure the battle will take a long time and be suitably gory.”
“Lovely.” Devonne drew the wood panel back across the
window. “They’re not going to make us do something like that, are they?”
“Nothing like that. What you saw there is more a traditional
Sangari thing. Combat for control of a clan enclave or to settle a debt of
honor.”
“Do we know yet what we will be doing?”
The two men looked at each other. Devonne’s stomach clenched
even tighter. “What?”
Whetlock hesitated before he said, “You have armed combat
today. Knives. But only to first blood.”
She let out the breath she’d been holding. “We can manage
that.”
“Raje said so too,” the other lawyer added. “I’ve been doing
some research on this whole challenge thing. It looks like the main thing you
want to remember is that it’s entertainment for these people. Since
you’re fighting each other today, you can’t really lose, but if you want to
improve your chances of the judges siding with you later, you want to put on a
really good show. Make it last for as long as you can and have lots of close
misses before one or the other of you finally draws blood. The prince thought
you and he could manage it.”
He paused when another roar from the crowd all but drowned
him out. After it had settled again he continued, “Be careful what you do and
say to each other. They have cameras and microphones to transmit holovids of
you. They’ll hear if you try to talk each other through faking it. Prince Reg
suggested some hand signals and words for you to use as cues for each other.”
The lawyer took out a stylus from a pocket and held it out. “If this is the
knife, when Reg moves his finger on it like this, it means he’s going to feint
to the right. If he curls it like this, he wants you to lunge toward him…” The
lawyer went through a series of things. Most of them made logical sense. Devonne
hoped she could remember them all.
More crowd noises suggested irritation and impatience this
time.
“One more thing,” the lawyer added. “The prince asked me to
tell you this. ‘Remember the dance at Blaise’s Keep.’ He said you’d know what
he meant.”
She knew and understood. A dance. Their match would be a
dance.
A buzzer sounded nearby.
“That means it’s time for you to get ready. I had to get one
of the Sangari to help me figure out where your outfit was, but we managed to
find it.” Whetlock lifted the bundle from a table and handed it to her. “We’ll
leave you to change. Someone will come get you when it’s time. They’ll give you
your weapon then.”
Both lawyers
Occasionally a surge of noise reached her from beyond the inner wall.
Devonne threaded her way through the clutter and finally
joined a pair of men hunched over a dark slate board. They looked up when they
heard her coming.
“Where’s Raje?” she asked the two lawyers, scanning the area
around them.
“In another staging area,” Whetlock said. “They apparently
don’t want the two of you conferring before this match.”
Another explosion of noise from beyond the wall drew her
attention. “Are there other acts on the program today?”
“I believe there are half a dozen matches or tests on the
schedule for today. You’re the fourth. The first began a few minutes ago.”
Devonne went to the wall and slid back a panel. The heavily
barred window behind it offered a view directly out onto the field at the
center of the coliseum. A pair of Sangari fought each other with weapons that
looked like short, heavy pikes, studded with wickedly pointed barbs and ending
in double-sided, saw-toothed blades. Both combatants had blood matting their
fur in several places.
“You might not want to watch this,” the other lawyer warned.
“It’s a blooding and likely to get ugly.”
“A blooding?”
“A grudge fight. To the death. With short-bladed and pointed
weapons to help ensure the battle will take a long time and be suitably gory.”
“Lovely.” Devonne drew the wood panel back across the
window. “They’re not going to make us do something like that, are they?”
“Nothing like that. What you saw there is more a traditional
Sangari thing. Combat for control of a clan enclave or to settle a debt of
honor.”
“Do we know yet what we will be doing?”
The two men looked at each other. Devonne’s stomach clenched
even tighter. “What?”
Whetlock hesitated before he said, “You have armed combat
today. Knives. But only to first blood.”
She let out the breath she’d been holding. “We can manage
that.”
“Raje said so too,” the other lawyer added. “I’ve been doing
some research on this whole challenge thing. It looks like the main thing you
want to remember is that it’s entertainment for these people. Since
you’re fighting each other today, you can’t really lose, but if you want to
improve your chances of the judges siding with you later, you want to put on a
really good show. Make it last for as long as you can and have lots of close
misses before one or the other of you finally draws blood. The prince thought
you and he could manage it.”
He paused when another roar from the crowd all but drowned
him out. After it had settled again he continued, “Be careful what you do and
say to each other. They have cameras and microphones to transmit holovids of
you. They’ll hear if you try to talk each other through faking it. Prince Reg
suggested some hand signals and words for you to use as cues for each other.”
The lawyer took out a stylus from a pocket and held it out. “If this is the
knife, when Reg moves his finger on it like this, it means he’s going to feint
to the right. If he curls it like this, he wants you to lunge toward him…” The
lawyer went through a series of things. Most of them made logical sense. Devonne
hoped she could remember them all.
More crowd noises suggested irritation and impatience this
time.
“One more thing,” the lawyer added. “The prince asked me to
tell you this. ‘Remember the dance at Blaise’s Keep.’ He said you’d know what
he meant.”
She knew and understood. A dance. Their match would be a
dance.
A buzzer sounded nearby.
“That means it’s time for you to get ready. I had to get one
of the Sangari to help me figure out where your outfit was, but we managed to
find it.” Whetlock lifted the bundle from a table and handed it to her. “We’ll
leave you to change. Someone will come get you when it’s time. They’ll give you
your weapon then.”
Both lawyers
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